Random Bullets of a Grey Saturday

First of all, a shout out to my little sister: Happy Birthday, Sis! I already disbursed greetings in an email, on the phone, and in person, but one more delivery method rounds out the list nicely.

Sis and I are 22 months apart, so for the next two months, I am only one year older than her. This would drive me to tears as a youngster, when my two years of seniority apparently meant a lot to me. Funny how little it matters now.

SodaBoy & I went to Kmart today, to get a cheap combination lock for my two week free trial membership at the YMCA. We also went down the hair care aisle, as I needed conditioner. That turned out to be a big mistake.

Why is it that all hair care products smell like fruit nowadays? Who wants to smell like food? I just don't get it.

So we were sniffing all the conditioners looking for the least offensive, and somehow I managed to slosh some on my hand. As I was whining and grumbling, I looked over at SodaBoy. We are a perfect match... he had accidently splashed some on his face, and actually managed to get it up his nose.

We bought some product and left, walking over to the office supply store next door to get hanging files. In a miraculous display of coordination, I dropped the bag from Kmart. The conditioner lid shattered, spraying conditioner all over the inside of the bag and the new combination lock.

After that episode, we called it quits on the shopping and headed home. I had been feeling sickly all week: achey muscles, swollen glands, low grade fever. I announced to SodaBoy that I was taking a nap.

Instead, I ended up out in the backyard. I started pulling weeds. I was really enjoying myself. Once I got a big enough pile going, SodaBoy brought me the wheelbarrow, and I did a pretty good job filling it, although the job is not done, not by a long shot.

I'm working in the garden I hope to plant daffodil bulbs in this fall, and annuals later this spring. Soon, I hope. And I hope they can compete with the garlic mustard. I hope something can.

I am fighting a losing battle with the garlic mustard, which made up about 99% of what I pulled today. It is rampant in the woods behind the house, and just keeps spreading into the gardens. I did all this last year, too.

Mucking around in the dirt really improved my condition though. My shoulders and back muscles have loosened up significantly. It wasn't sunny out... in fact it was sprinkling on and off, and fairly cool, too. Certainly not what you'd call vitamin D therapy, but whatever it was, I'll take it.