Weekend Solo Fun

This weekend Hubby Tony was at a training session for a volunteer commitment at a retreat center in the middle of the state. While he was gone I pretty much set my own schedule, since there was no one to answer to (except for Smokey Joe the foster cat.) 

Friday night I worked a shift at the church Fish Fry, then came home got ready for a Zoom meeting. Instead of setting up in the office I sat on the living room couch, the better to cuddle with Smokey Joe. Saturday I started the day with a cycling class, then came home and did things on my household To Do list.  At noon I fed the cat, then left for the afternoon. 

My plan was to go to an exhibit at the Art Museum in Forest Park called Art in Bloom, where art works are paired with floral arrangements. The exhibit is very popular so I figured I would have to park some distance away and walk the rest. However, I didn't think about how the almost-70 degree weather would bring so many people to the park. I crawled through heavy traffic looking for a parking space for 25 minutes. When my Maps app told me I would have had to walk a mile and a half each way I gave up. 

Instead, I waited through three cycles of a stop light to leave the park and drove to the neighborhood across the major street, where I walked around and admired the large brick houses. I got back into the car and drove another ten minutes to the Delmar Loop to window shop. When I had seen everything I wanted to I drove west to a bookstore, where I browsed through the stacks until it was time to head for church. 

After church I came home, where Smokey Joe was waiting for his nightly lap time session.

This morning I started a pot of beans in the Instant Pot before breakfast. When they were done I saved enough for tonight's dinner and froze the rest. I deep cleaned the hall bathroom floor, then left to run a couple of errands. Three stops later I decided to finish off my steps at the mall.

I parked in my usual place at the south half of the western parking garage, entered in the usual door, then decided to mix it up and walk in the opposite direction today. At the halfway point I saw a long line of people on the other side, which stopped at the entrance of the Build A Bear shop. I asked a lady what they were waiting for and learned that some characters from the Bluey animated television show were there for a meet and greet.

I continued down the mall and realized there were actually two lines. The second one was for the Lego store. When I asked someone in that line what was going on I learned they were waiting to get one of the new sets that the store releases on the first day of each month. 

I don't have any kids in the house and am not an avid Lego builder, so I was happy to walk by the lines instead of joining either one.