Week 35 - Happy Being Home

I don't know what made me spend so long in Rhode Island. Maybe it was because I was using points to get a free ticket? Anyway, Monday was day 12 and I was already ready to go home.

I saw a message on Facebook that my sister's dog had died so I called her from Deanne's front porch, where I was knitting while she was dealing with something for her mom. She had an appointment at her mom's that she needed to be at so I called my cousin Bette, who was back in town, and we went to lunch at Cracker Barrel then she drove me to Deanne's after the appointment was over. Better than sitting in another room during the appointment for sure. After chatting with Mrs. for a bit, Deanne and I visited Mrs. Bassett, our old girl scout leader, then drove around East Greenwich for a bit sharing memories of growing up there. We went out to dinner at Deanne's favorite restaurant and I was happy that it'd be my last restaurant meal for awhile because I was flying home on Tuesday.

Deanne needed to talk to her brother on Tuesday morning so I was back on the front porch knitting, which was fine by me. We ate leftovers for lunch and I packed a sandwich to eat for supper and Dee dropped me at the airport. The lounge was not full and when I asked if they were looking for volunteers to check luggage, they said they weren't. Clearly the flight wasn't full but awhile later they came over and asked if I wanted to check my luggage and I happily handed it over. Then there were plenty of empty seats on both flight so I had room to spread out. Both flights were uneventful and I walked into my house at 11:05. I let the cats out and unpacked then showered. I was happy when they all came right back inside so I could go to bed. I guess they missed me. I was happy to be sleeping in my own bed surrounded by my cats. It's always good to get home no matter how much fun a trip is.

Wednesday was a catch up day with laundry, emails, tallying for my Ravelry sock group and trying to make food with what I had in the house. Grilled cheese on old bread from the fridge hit the spot. I picked peppers from my driveway pots and made sausage and peppers on Thursday and went to a talk at the museum on the New Deal in Saunders County. Then I hit the rummage sale at St. John's in Weston and found a few goodies. For supper, Andrea joined me for the BOGO burger special at Chip's. The last thing I need to feel back to normal was a grocery run and that was next.

I chatted with Lori on Friday morning and then went to the shelter to do the cats. Deb, who's in charge, was there and I talked to her about adopting Louie, having told myself that if he was still there when I got home from RI then it was meant to be. She said she'd prepare the paperwork and I could sign it Sunday. Yay! I went to Lincoln that afternoon and met up with Anne for some yarn shopping and ice cream at Zesto. I loaded up on produce and a few other things at the market and headed home for the weekend, happy that I could do some cooking. I checked the state fair website when I got home to find that 10 of the 12 things I'd entered had ribboned. My winnings were $104 and I'd be donating $100 for my cat so he's my ribbon kitty. I won't be keeping the name Louie but isn't he cute? That face!

I had a lovely, relaxing weekend cooking, cleaning a bit and the like. When I did the cats on Sunday I signed the paperwork and paid for Louie, arranging to pick him up Wednesday evening after he was done with his last meds. I ordered a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut and got an offer for a month of Acorn free. I took the offer and settled in to knit and stream the day away.

It felt great to get back to my regular routine and now I'd have a new kitty to look forward to. My first male cat in decades and he's such a sweetie but more about that next week. Until then....