Some People

Go on vacation and bring back stuff that is a whole lot more interesting than four big containers of coffee creamer. I even had to check a second bag (for $15) to bring this stuff home. Yes, I have tried the local brands of coffee creamer and they just aren't as "wonderful" as the Publix brand.

I also returned home with 6 (maybe more) pairs of Smartwool socks. Some were expensive and some were marked down to $5. I like them because they stay warm even when wet and they feel cozy. Not itchy.

So here I am back home after 12 days of having a very good time with my best friend K. We started the vacation with three full days of burning brush and pine straw. Big. Hot. Smoky. Fires. Man, did we stink! And after a full day of burning, we relaxed with cocktails. Lots of gin. I tried to stay on my diet but fell off the first evening with the spaghetti and meatball leftover's from K's husband's birthday dinner and the chocolate birthday cake and ice cream. It was downhill from there with Meatball Subs and birthday cake the next night. And I had Hooter's wings a day or two before I returned home.

It even SNOWED while I was there. Not the 20 inches that fell in Maine on the evening I traveled to Atlanta, but a decent 4 inches of wet snow on the ground. And no snowplows. Lots of snowmen showed up the next morning lining the streets in K's subdivision. They sported hats made from baskets and beer cap eyes. No carrot noses.

Riley has returned from his 11 days at the kennel looking very trim and exhausted. He's been asleep most of the time since we picked him up yesterday. And I think he had another bath which probably is a very interesting "story" the kennel isn't sharing with us. They only said he was a "very good boy".

I am still in my robe and socks. Drinking coffee with Publix creamer. Tired but happy. Even though I had an enormous stack of Medicare "this is not a bill" statements from my dad's last month to open. The bills will arrive at some point in time.

My dad's empty house has used $79 worth of water and sewer and $13 worth of electricity this month. Guess it's time to have the caretaker shut off the water and then turn off the heat ($166). The lawyer is sending me things to sign and the bank has STILL not transferred the accounts into my name. It was delightful not to have to think about all this for 12 days.

I think I'll check the fridge for supplies and then make a trip to the grocery store for something to make for dinner tonight. Vacation is over.