I'm late! I'm late!

I've been so busy getting ready for a big affair at church this weekend I almost forgot the social event of the season...The Willow Manor Ball!  A lot of my bloggy friends will be there, so I wanted to stop in for at least a few minutes and say hello  to everyone.

What to wear?  Many of my friends got their dresses weeks ago (and posted pictures of them so we could all ooh and aah). Since I'm doing this at the last minute, it was a bit of a scramble. Fortunately, I work at a mall, so yesterday after my shift I ran from store to store and finally found something perfect.  Can't go wrong with basic black.

I didn't have time to get new jewels, so I'm recycling the earrings I wore two years ago. I think they're classics, though, don't you?

I decided to rent a convertible for the trip. I hope the weather cooperates so I can put the top down!









For the past two years I've taken a date with me, but this year I'm going by myself.  My plan is to talk with all the sensational guests and listen to the fantastic music, although I suspect that if I want to dance I'll be able to find someone who'll sway with me.

Maybe I'll see you there?

In Fourteen Hundred And Ninety Two...

Today is Columbus Day. I had to work. Hubby Tony did not.

Usually he's left for the office by the time I come downstairs in the morning, so it was different having him there today. As I got dressed for work, he was downstairs making his plans for the day. When I left, he had already started on his activities.

In my experience, Columbus Day is celebrated by the post office, banks, government offices, and some schools. I don't know how many people got to stay home today, but it was enough to affect traffic in a good way; the bottleneck I always run into getting onto the highway wasn't there.

While I was at work, I had a dinner inspiration. Since Christopher Columbus was born in Italy, wouldn't it be nice to celebrate his day by having Italian food for dinner? In between fielding questions at the Customer Service desk I put together a menu and wrote out a grocery list.

I asked Tony to pick up a loaf of good bread while he was out. After I left work, I drove to the grocery store and picked up the rest of the ingredients. My list started with a head of romaine lettuce for salad. The main dish was pasta (whole wheat rotini) with sausage and vegetables in red sauce (salsiccia, a container of sliced baby bella mushrooms, and a can of crushed tomatoes). I already had onion, garlic, red wine, and beef broth.

When I got home I fed the cats, then put the sausages in the oven to bake. I cut an onion into large pieces, then started sautéing it while I minced garlic. After five minutes the garlic went in the pan, too. I added the mushrooms, turned up the heat, and cooked them until they were dark brown. A big splash of red wine to deglazed the pan, then I poured in a cup of beef broth and the can of tomatoes. I seasoned the sauce with basil, oregano, and a teaspoon of sugar and let it simmer. When the sausage was done, I let it cool for a few minutes, then cut it into bite-sized pieces and added it to the sauce pot and simmered it while I cooked the pasta.

I prepared the salad and put it in a bowl. Tony came home bearing bread and cups of spumoni for dessert. It didn't take long to slice the bread and set the table. I plated the pasta, but put everything else on the table so we could serve ourselves. After we'd finished, I asked Tony to "serve" dessert. He got the ice cream cups from the freezer, took off the lids, and added a spoon to each. Couldn't be easier.

The whole meal was wonderful, and there's enough for leftovers tomorrow, too. I'd like to think Christopher Columbus would approve

Nature is the Art of God--Sir Thomas Browne

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Mobility Tour

The mall I work at has a supply of wheelchairs and electric mobility scooters available for customer use. Usually people come to the Customer Service desk to pick them up and drop them off, but if someone is unable to walk that far they'll ask for special assistance. If there's more than one person at the desk we're happy to do it; otherwise one of the Security officers takes care of it.

The other day I got a call from a woman who was finished with her scooter. Would someone come and pick it up? I volunteered to take care of it. The lady and her companion were waiting right where they said they'd be, close to one of the entrances on the far side of the mall. After helping her get through the exit door, I sat on the scooter and prepared to ride it back.

The speed dial on our scooters are permanently set to the lowest setting, which is the equivalent of a slow stroll. Perfect for mall browsing, but not so great for getting somewhere quickly. I decided to make the most of it, though, and moved past the stores at a sedate speed, noticing all the new merchandise in the display windows, and making mental notes of things I wanted to go back and check out. Even though I was just crawling along, I almost ran into people a couple of times with my rubbernecking!

You drive the scooter by pushing one of two levers with your thumb. The one on the right controls the forward motion, and reverse is on the left. After the first hundred yards, my thumb was starting to get tired, but I forged ahead. I refrained from honking the tinny-sounding horn, because I didn't want to draw any more attention to myself. I finally made the last turn into the Customer Service area without any incidents. I pulled the scooter into the storage area and plugged it in so it would be ready for the next user...which I hoped wouldn't be me!

Songful

I've been looking a song for a church event next weekend. After a lot of thought and listening, I've narrowed it down to two that are completely different.

The first is "Answer Me" by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings



And the second is "Down to the River to Pray" by Alison Kraus from the soundtrack of the movie O Brother Where Art Thou.



The director of the event has the final say, but I thought I'd also poll you, my bloggy friends. Which do you like better?

More Fun!

Back in August Hubby Tony and I went to Six Flags with Sons Brian and Donald and Daughter-In-Law Nicole. I hadn't been for a few years, and despite the fact it was close to 100 degrees that day I had a great time. There were very few people in the park and the lines for the rides were very short or non-existent. In four hours we'd done everything we wanted to do and left.

Brian and Nicole have Six Flags season passes, and yesterday they were planning on going again. Donald wanted to go with them, but he needed a ticket. He started searching around for a deal, but it was Nicole that came up with the solution. She and Brian wanted to get passes again for next year, and the park's currently offering a promotion: any season pass bought and activated now was good for the rest of this season and all of next year. To get the best price, they wanted to purchase a "family pack" (which included a free parking pass), but that required four people. After a bit of thought and discussion with Tony, we decided to join in. That's why, for the first time in my life, I'm the proud holder of a Six Flags season pass.

After Tony and I got back from church we piled in the car for the trip to the park. There wasn't much traffic getting into the park, and no lines at the admission windows. Instead of getting the usual ticket, we received paper vouchers that got us into the park, and served as our receipt at the ticket activation office. That didn't open until noon, so when we got into the park we took a quick vote on which direction to go and headed towards the first ride of the day.

Again, the park wasn't very crowded. The longest we waited in a line was 15 minutes. Until we got to the ticket activation office. That line snaked back and forth a couple of times, almost reaching the sidewalk, and moved in slow spurts. When we got up to the office, we found out they were having sporadic computer issues, causing all their terminals to shut down. Fortunately, they were all working when we needed them.

When I stepped up to the terminal, the first step was to scan the bar code on my voucher, then type inmy information (name, address, and email address). After that, I moved to the picture-taking station. The attendant scanned my voucher, which pulled up my information. He held up a small camera attached to his computer and told me to smile. Thirty seconds later he handed me a card with my name and photo on it.

This year's Six Flags season is over at the end of October, and it's only open on the weekends, so I don't know if I'll make it back before they close, but I'm looking forward to my visits next year. We had to designate one person to be in charge of the parking pass (it was one of the young people, since they'll probably go more than Tony and I will) so if I want to avoid the hefty parking fee I'll have to have quality theme park fun with them!

Deals On Demand

Another weekend, another family visit.

Son Brian and Daughter-In-Law Nicole came in town late last night. This afternoon we watched the Cardinals game (sadly, after a great start they lost big time to the Phillies). After the game we were hungry, and started thinking about where we'd like to go out to eat.

I've been using Groupon for several months to get discounts at local businesses, but tonight I didn't have any for restaurants. However, the Website offers another option I've never used before, called Groupon Now!

Groupon Now! allows you to buy deals that are good for limited hours today and the next two days. They guarantee that if you can't use the deal within the stated time they'll refund your money.

The deals are divided by type. You can choose to:

• Eat Something
• Get Pampered
• Get a Treat
• Go Shopping
• Have Fun
• Exercise
• Take Care of My Ride
• Visit a Museum

Within each category, the deals are listed by when you can use them and how far away each place was. I used the Groupon app on my phone, which uses its GPS to figure out my location, and was pleasantly surprised to find that a Chinese restaurant just a couple of miles from the house was listed. A couple of clicks later I'd purchased the deal. Everyone got their shoes and jackets, and we were on our way.

Succulent

I've had a small pot of aloe vera growing behind the kitchen sink for many years, which is a perfect location for a plant that likes sun. The sink's in a corner, with windows above it (facing to the east and north) on both sides.

Aloe's a very forgiving plant, which grows without a whole lot of effort on my part. All I do is water it every couple of weeks. I can't remember the last time I repotted it, but the last time I noticed it was getting a bit overgrown, with several of the plants spilling over the sides of the pot:

I was amazed. How could they continue growing like that? I added repotting the plant to my list of things to do. In the meantime, I put the plant back in its spot, carefully propping the dangling plants against the windowsill so they wouldn't break off. This week I got around to the repotting.

My normal plant maintenance area is right outside the back garage door. All the supplies I need are close to that door and easy to bring out. I can do my work in the grass, so there's no mess to clean up. When I dumped the overgrown aloe out, it was pretty root bound, but the individual plants were easy to pull apart. I figured out there were nine plants wedged in the pot, along with several pups (little, new plants without much roots). Some of the plants were nicely-formed, with straight fans, but others were grotesquely shaped, and growing almost horizontally.

I put the three nicest plants back in the pot with fresh potting soil. They should have plenty of room to grow now. The extras went into three 3" pots, each with two large plants and a few pups. Aren't they crazy looking?

I offered the extras to my Facebook friends (and had one taker). I'll post the rest on Craigslist; they should be gone soon.

Mall Walking With A Twist

I usually work in the afternoon or evening, but because of some employee realignment I've been asked to open the Guest Service desk at the mall a couple of days a week. The new schedule started today.

After three months at this job, I know how long it takes to get to work in the afternoon, but mornings are a big unknown. My shift starts at 9:30, technically after rush hour, but I wasn't sure about the traffic flow and didn't want to be late. This morning I allowed myself double the usual time to get there. I didn't need it; I pulled into the mall parking garage 30 minutes before I needed to clock in. What to do with all the extra time? I could join the groups of walkers in the mall, but that didn't sound appealing. The weather was too nice (brisk, but sunny) to spend any more time inside than I had to. Instead of going inside, I decided to walk around the outside of the mall.

I know that one time around the first level on the inside is approximately one mile, so I figured the outside perimeter was the same. This was an opportunity to get some great exercise! I parked in my usual area of the garage, and left my purse and lunchbox in the locked car. Instead of heading up the stairs to the mall entrance, I headed down to street level, turned left, and started my stroll.

Walking, I was able to notice things that I never see while I'm in the car, starting with the sidewalk that surrounds the entire building. The area by the parking garage was landscaped with a mixture of evergreens, ivy, and euonymus, punctuated by several spindly trees. (I suspect they don't get enough sunlight.) The other side of the building had foundation plantings of junipers and yews, but in several places there were also clusters of white asters that looked like they were newly planted. I wonder if they had just been swapped out? There were large flowerpots in front of all the doors, planted with a mixture of decorative grass and annuals.


The parking lots in front of each entrance to the mall had clusters of parked cars, but the parking lots in front of the big anchor stores were completely empty. (Their doors don't open until 10:00). As I passed by one of the restaurants, I smelled something wonderful. They must have been getting ready for lunch already.

It took me a little under 15 minutes to complete one lap around the building, and I decided to go for a second one, figuring that if I ran out of time I could always cut through the mall! On this round there was a little more activity. I saw several people standing by entrances smoking. They didn't look like mall walkers, so I suspect they were getting their nicotine fix before they started working. I completed my second lap at 9:25-just enough time to go back to the car and grab my things and clock in right on time.

Bye Bye Bye

I think I may have mentioned that Son Tony has been in town since last weekend? (Yes, I know, EVERY TIME I'VE POSTED! You’re probably getting tired of reading about it.) Sorry about that. It's just been so good to have him here.

I started out last week attempting to maintain my everyday schedule and still spend time with him, but at some point I gave up and spent the rest of the week in a frenzy of activity: eating too much, not getting enough sleep, and generally having a wonderful time. I decided to look on it as a mini-vacation. The entire family was here again for the weekend so we could attend the Cardinals baseball game on Sunday. For the first time in months every bedroom was filled, and the coffee pot was working overtime.

Today I took Tony to the airport before I went to work so he could catch his plane back to Phoenix. Before he left, we had one last lunch together--St. Louis style pizza at Imos. Tomorrow I'll start chipping away at the backlog of projects, paperwork, and cleaning that have accumulated. Vacation is over!