This has been a nice day. The weather was beautiful
and I've seen many of my favorite people. I started the day by having breakfast
with my Dad.  I love my Dad.  I don't understand him, but I love him.
It will hold us for another couple of months.  Then I came home to a phone
call from CWF, who picked me up for coffee/tea and a nice chat.  (We're
trying to make this a weekly thing.)  Hubband and Boy picked me up at the
local Star*bucks so we could go to Ann Arbor.  We bumped into Nana in the
parking lot and got to chat with her for a minute before we headed off.

We were going to Ann Arbor so I could visit
Hollander's, which is a paper and book binding supply store.  It's a great
place, but expensive.  I had not been there in about a year, but we
received our refund on Friday and decided to put aside some of the windfall for
frivolity. (After I paid a bunch of bills and put some in the savings, of
course.)  I got several sheets of beautiful papers, three sheets of linen
book cloth, two large sheets of text weight paper (approx. 25" square), and a
large spool of linen thread.  I came in under budget, too! We drove an
hour, spent an hour in the store, and then drove an hour home. 

On the way back we stopped at Beni*hana's for
lunch, where Boy enjoyed his first Japanese style meal.  (I enjoyed my
first taste of calamari, too.  It wasn't bad.  Tasted like tuna with a
lobster-like texture.)   It was fun and Boy was in a talkative mood. 
Hubband, who had been irritated by the traffic and a cold that had suddenly come
on, seemed to improve his mood as well.  I, personally, don't know how
anyone could not feel great on a day such as this!

Just before we made it home, we stopped by SAM*S to
do a bit of stocking up.  I'm still not sure where we'll put it, but what
we bought should help us work toward a lower grocery bill over the course of the
next few weeks.  We let Boy pick out his Valentine's Day gift (Simpson*s -
Season Five) and I nabbed two DVDs that were calling my name
(Friday*Night*Lights and Ray).  I also grabbed one of their rotisserie
chickens - a steal at $5.  We're all rather full from out large mid-day
lunch, but I'm going to cut the legs off for the Boy and then cut up the rest
for sandwiches.  Hubband did that with some turkey at Christmas and the men
ate sandwiches for a week.

Now we are home.  Hubband is downstairs
watching The*Right*Stuff, Boy is watching his DVD, and I am trying to decide if
I want to read, watch a DVD (I have 5 I could choose from - 3 that need to be
returned some day), or just veg out here.  I may read, since I'm have way
through the new David*Sedaris book and just received two new Anne*Lamott books
in the mail today.    (See what I mean?  It's a great day!)

If the weather holds out, tomorrow should be
wonderful, too.  We're going to pick up a chair from my grandmother. 
This is a chair that has been in our family for as long as I can remember. 
I have pictures of most of my family members sitting in it at one time or
another.  Grandma hasn't cared for it since she hurt her back last time,
says it's hard to get out of, and with her wheelchair, it's taking up too much
space in the apartment.  I had long ago claimed it.  Nana's home is
far too small and she just purchased new furnishings that would clash horribly. 
I, on the other hand, have always thought our dining room needed a "cozy reading
nook".  (Especially since my husband is bothered when I read in bed and I
seem to be going through a bout of insomnia these days.)  It may not fit in
perfectly - as the dining room set is a little more "country" and the chair is a
pretty substantial wingback, but the pattern will look nice in the otherwise
dullish room and we can always use an extra chair at the table.

I guess I'll wrap this up, then.  I'm off to
pull apart a chicken and see if I can find room for the enormous amount of
canned food products we just bought.

Ta-Ta!