Day 4910

No surprises today. We got up a little later than we do on weekdays, took Dawn on her morning walk, and had a big breakfast. Dawn is scared of the neighbor's cat and always wants to make sure the cat is not around before she'll leave the yard. The city has begun a program to eradicate poison hemlock from the park, so I'm always looking for the stuff now when we walk. The pictures of the poison hemlock look a lot like Queen Anne's Lace which grows everywhere in the park. Dawn likes to eat grass, so now whenever I see Queen Anne's Lace I think it might be poison hemlock. There's always something new to worry about. 

I went back to the mall to walk after breakfast. There always seems to be something new. Some stores change out their window displays every week and other stores never change. It's quiet before the stores open and it feels a bit like I'm walking through a strange sort of museum. The stuff in store windows seem like cultural artifacts to me, just like museum pieces. I have no interest in buying this stuff, but it is interesting. Oddly, there are lots of real museum pieces in the mall as well. I pass a sculpture by Henry Moore and then look at a bunch of brightly colored shirts in the Psycho Bunny store. It all kind of blends together for me.

When we took Dawn on her Sunday outing today there was an amusement company setting up rides in the park. It was hard to tell whether this was for a public event or a rich person's birthday party. It could go either way in Dallas. The place was crowded and we had trouble finding a parking place. Dawn got her walk, but we had to park near some horse stables near the edge of the park. Either I'm getting slower or everyone else is getting faster. By the end of our walk Janet and Dawn were way ahead of me.

Sometimes I feel cheated at the ice cream store. They just plop a scoop of ice cream on top on an empty cone, making no attempt to fill the cone. At least with soft serve ice cream like Dairy Queen, the cone gets filled. The ice cream is good though and Dawn loves it. Even though the cones are no bargain, getting ice cream has become part of our Sunday ritual.

I didn't do anything useful this afternoon. I've fixed the screen door several times before, but I can't bring myself to get started on this project. I could probably fix the cracks in the sheetrock myself as well. I've done that before too. There's a lot of stuff that needs to be done, but I keep postponing things. My interest in doing my own home repairs has gone to zero. I hate to accomplish nothing though, so I did a load of laundry.

Tomorrow it's back to my weekday schedule. I've got plenty of shredded wheat and strawberries, so I'm good for the week. I'll probably call and see if my glasses with the progressive lenses are ready. It's already time to mow the front yard again, but maybe that can wait a day or two. I'm sure I'll find something to do.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3628

I'll never get used to Texas weather. It was so warm today that our air conditioner came on again. It was actually a very nice day; just a little unexpected. I should have taken advantage of the situation because warm weather like this won't last long. Another cold front is probably already on the way.

I got my grocery shopping done right after breakfast so I could be home again when Janet needed to leave. Ginny did well when we were away for Thanksgiving dinner, but we hate to leave her penned up. This is her vacation and we'd like it to be enjoyable. By all indications, Ginny is having a very good time. She is totally relaxed now and like many female Dalmatians is showing us her bossy side. She reminds us a lot of Dot. She is very gentle and well behaved, but isn't shy about letting you know when it's time to get up, when it's time to go to bed, and when it's time for dinner.

I should have made my travel arrangements today, but I never got around to it. I didn't go up on the roof either. Basically all I did was fill the car with gas, get a few groceries, and take my walk when Janet got back home again. Looking after Ginny gave me a good excuse to sit around the house and be lazy. Ginny is definitely a good dog to take a nap with.

The park was packed with people this afternoon. I guess everybody knew that a seventy-five degree day on the last day of November shouldn't be wasted. It's weird that even Mom's pushing strollers are faster than me in the park, but I'm still pretty speedy at my gym. It's all relative I guess. Twenty-five year olds move faster than seventy-five year olds.

The Pelicans were gone today. This happens from time to time. I wonder where they go? They never seem to do anything individually. It's all or nothing with these birds. They probably just get bored swimming around Pelican Bay all day. They'll probably all be back tomorrow. All this group activity makes the one Pelican who stayed behind last Summer seem even stranger.

I still haven't fixed the big divot in the front yard made by the speeding car a few weeks ago. My neighbor hasn't fixed her yard damage either. I wonder how long it would take for nature to just fix the problem naturally? The missing grass would eventually fill in. Erosion would round out the sharp gouge. In five years everything would probably look fine again. I probably can't get away with ignoring this for five years though.

It's back to the gym tomorrow. I'd better get the water off the roof too. There's no point in tempting fate. If I keep up my part of the bargain, maybe we can avoid further roof leaks for another year or two.

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day