Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Restaurant choices, candidates, a funny day, and Scotland

Betty and I had our weekly dinner tonight and once again--second time in two weeks--I chose Pappadeaux, which was mistake. Last week, the stock show was still in town and there was a wait. Tonight there were even more cars in the parking lot, and we couldn't figure out what was going on. Duh! Mardi gras. We stood and waited for about 30 minutes--and all I wanted was a baked potato! My stomach was a little off today--I think it was that blasted chili. I'm too Scottish to throw it out, so I froze it, will probably throw it out later. We had a good visit and enjoyed supper--for a seafood place they serve huge and fluffy baked potatoes, which was exactly what my stomach felt like.
I came home to a veritble flock of flies in the kitchen. Got in a couple of good air shots and probably killed three or four but they seemed to multiply before my eyes. Good news of the day is that I found my sunglasses--in the rosemary bush! I had them on Sunday when I was weeding and come Monday morning I went all over the house wondering where I had absent-mindedly set them down. Finally today, I took a broomstick out to the rosemary bushes, and there they were! So I was one for one on good/bad news but then tonight I missed a phone call I was expecting because dinner took longer than I thought. And then in the flurry of trying to juggle two lines, I accidently erased the message. Nolanda, apologies and please do try again. I think this just wasn't my day.
Like a lot of the country I'm watching election returns, though it's often hard to decipher what's really happening from a string of seemingly disconnected numbers. The general impression I'm getting is that McCain will win for the Republicans but not enough to declare victory and Mike Huckabee is doing better than anyone expected. Not sure, but it looks to me like Hillary is doing better than Obama. (Is it a holdover from earlier days that everyone calls her Hillary but him by his last name, Obama? I wonder if feminists are upset about that?) I guess I'll wait till morning to have my guesses confirmed. If I'm right, our Texas primary will have some significance. I've already voted--one of the advantages of growing older is that you can now vote by mail.
Scotland plans are proceeding. We picked a London hotel today and asked Jordan to find out about the cost of first class railway reservations. We'll go directly from London to Inverness in the heart of the Highlands. I've had only one answer from the B&Bs I emailed, so I tried again tonight. On another front, I've arranged to board my animals. Wynona will go to the cat room at the vet's--she won't be confined to a cage all the time, and she'll have people to love her (plus figure out her new weird eating habits). But Scooby is going to Granbury (about 30 miles away) to Canine Fitness Camp--they pick up and deliver. What a deal. I doubt he'll want to come home.
I've also begun a list (I'm a chronic list-maker) of things to be sure I have enough of for the trip--medications, makeup, etc. And a list of questions for Jeannie--what clothes should I really take, what do we do about currency, etc. I'm thinking ahead about comfortable shoes and am relucantly getting into buying "old lady" shoes that will protect my hammer toe. Clothes are a big concern to me because everyone talks about how cold it will be but it's hard to pack many warm clothes in a suitcase! And a biggie--I who never go anywhere these days without my walking stick have ordered a collapsible wallking stick (it's really a cane but I hate that word). This one has dogwood blossoms on it--none of that black-and-aluminum stuff for me! This trip is really becoming a reality, and I'm terribly excited--and a wee bit trepidatious. (is that a word?)

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