PORCH PONDERINGS

Busy Day

Today was the run to Billings day. The entire day, in Billings, doing nothing but running from store to store, from errand to errand. Now I am home and thinking about doing nothing. I am exhausted.

Last night we had the most amazing light show courtesy of God. A thunderstorm came through about 10 PM with wonderful rain and wind and brilliant flashes of lightening and crashes of thunder. It went on for over an hour. I eventually went to sleep about 11:30 or so as things began to wind down. Our bedroom faces west, so we could see it approaching, see it as it got worse and worse, watched the trees whipping back and forth, watched the rain hit the windows, and then listened as the storm eventually passed further east. What a great storm! I love Summer thunderstorms. As long as there is no hail involved, it can do that every night. We got about an inch of rain. Great for the garden. When I talked about this today in town, they said they saw the light show, but no rain south of us. Unusual, usually it's the other way around. We usually miss the storms.

So today I went to Walmart, priced a toaster, went to OfficeMax, checked on badge covers, went to Sherwin Williams, got paint for the new room, Got my hair cut, HOORAY, went to CostCo, returned something and got more stuff for us and a friend, went to Bed Bath & Beyond, got a sheet for the bed, went to JOANN fabrics for some interfacing for a project, went to pay, no wallet, WHAT?, wait, went to car, there it is, went back in and paid, went to a place called 'Mooyah' for lunch, and, this is a good story. So I thought maybe I'll sit outside. But at last minute, no, I'll sit indoors. As soon as I thought that, the clouds exploded and there was a deluge. Then I walked to my seat to wait for food. "Did someone leave a book?" That would be me. "Thanks, it's a library book," And if I lost it, it'd probably set me back $40 or more. So I get my food. The help walks by, "Can I get you anything?" "Yes, some salt?" Cause you know, no condiments on the tables anymore. Annoying fact now. "Sure thing." I wait, and wait. She walks by a few more times with ketchup for people, helping other people. I finally get up and get it myself. Ufhhff,,, Anyway, so,,,,,,on to the next stop, Winco, food store, get to checkout, they don't take credit cards, I forgot to put a check in my purse, darn. But I have my debit card. "Do you still take debit cards?" " You bet." Then I see a sign on the cashier's shield, those plastic things they have up now. 'We are now no longer able to sell coins due to coin shortage.' Hmmm.... Never knew about this. Since when is there a coin shortage? And since when do they sell coins? So I asked her about this. They are no longer able to give people rolls of quarters, that sort of thing. Hmmm.... okay, good to know. Guess I won't go there asking for a roll of quarters. Which reminds me of something I tried to do a while back. I went looking for a penny dated in 2020. No bank would sell me a penny. They wouldn't even look for a penny with that date. We wanted to put it in our room we are remodeling - sort of for a time capsule type thing, Strange. I digress. So after the food store I go on to the Dollar Store to buy more reader glasses, I lost a pair the other night walking home after a meeting. So this time I bought two extra pair. Now I have three pair. One by the bed, one by the computer and one in the kitchen. Of course, by doing this I have cut down drastically on my aerobic exercise in a day, but I'll survive. After the Dollar Store, I go to Walmart to buy the toaster I found in the morning. I priced one at BB&B before lunch, but they wanted $50 or more, and I figured that was too much, and I would not pay that much for a toaster. So toaster and other stupid goodies in hand, I head to my final stop of the day, the gas station. I tinker with the idea of ice cream for the long drive home, an hour, but decide to forego it.

And boy am I lucky I did! Hubby surprised me with Lactaid Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream when I arrived home. We unloaded the car, I read a card from my grandson, we ate ice cream on the wonderful porch in the cool of the Montana summer evening and enjoyed the end of another day in Paradise.