Odds & Ends #19

I have been keeping myself busy since Melina left so I don’t dissolve into a puddle. She has been busily reaquainting herself with her friends and sent me a video today of her surprising her best friend. Apparently, she told a bald-faced lie to Ella that she wasn’t going to be back in France until the end of the month, and the scream that her friend let out when she saw her was adorable. These French girls — they are so cute.

Speaking of staying busy, I went to the market today. No Melina to push the cart and frog-march me through the vegetable aisles, making me buy asparagus and other healthy foods. I saw the pile of mangos that she usually picked over very carefully and got a little teary-eyed, and there was no Melina to hand me used plastic food bags for the fruit so I wouldn’t contribute to global warming or somesuch reason. No Melina to tell me that I buy too much toilet paper.

I have a list of projects that I want to complete this summer and fall, and as of this writing, I’m up to 39 discrete tasks, among which is re-painting my guest bathroom and buying a new shower curtain, which is turning out to be a lot harder than I expected. Who knew a search on “boho shower curtains” would yield such repellent options? Nevertheless, I am determined to find one I like, so I can figure out what shade of paint to buy. For someone like me, who can’t decorate her way out of a paper bag, I am encouraged that all I have to do is buy a decent shower curtain, and the decorating pretty much takes care of itself.

So, lots to do in the upcoming weeks. I have a visit to see my parents in MO in June. I always take the dogs, and this will be Wolfie’s first road trip and chance to be a country dog. Winnie continues to get older and older, and we have graduated to weiner wraps. Mom’s rugs will live to see another day.

This summer, I’m headed up to the mountains of northwest Arkansas to go camping with the East Texas gang. It’s so rustic up there, and the roads are rocky and gutted just to get to the campsite, and speaking of continuing to age, my poor Accord doesn’t deserve the beating. So I decided to rent an SUV to haul all my crap up there. Turns out that it’s an astronomical amount to rent a car in July from the place down the street. In browsing the vehicle options, I determined that it’s half the cost to rent a white Lester the Molester van, and even cheaper to rent a box truck. I I gave some heavy throught to being the person who backs up a box truck (resplendent with beeping) and unloads all my gear in the pristine wilds of the Cossatot River basin, but alas. I will stick with a dignified SUV.

All this to say, I am rallying. There’s a lot of things that I’ve let go around the house for the last year (I don’t think I’ve dusted in a year) while I cavorted with my exchange student, and I’m excited to get after them. Why, I’ve already gotten new carpets since she left! They’re so fluffy!!

All is well here at Chez Shasta & the Dogs. Roland Garros is starting soon: Nadal is back, and Djokovic will probably suck, but it’s something to look forward to. Now, off to stuff the duvet back in its cover, which is not unlike trying to bathe a cat.