NOTHING IS EVER SIMPLE

According to my calculations I've made 18,250 meals, give or take one or two hamburgers, since I got married - a very conservative estimate I might add. And not a one was a TV dinner. As a 50s girl you made everything from scratch. I have a huge library of cookbooks - some antiques, some collectibles, - none are wanted by any organization. No wonder I'm burned out! Is it any wonder I'm not thrilled about getting on that treadmill? You try eating 3 ounces of meat while your spouse consumes a pound or more and doesn't put on an inch around his waist. He's a 50s guy and they were brought up by their dear mothers to be meat and potatoes men. And they want fried chicken like mom used to make. My very own mother played into the scenario too and won him over with her fried chicken. While wrinkles are not a huge problem for me, all of that spattering hot oil has left its mark on my hands.

My plans yesterday were to get my curtains up and the boxes and bags of "catch-all" stuff moved out. I thought it best if I did my daily sprint on the machine first, just in case I couldn't get on it later. It was a good plan - until I got out of bed. The storm moving across the mid-section of the country decided to invade our state with snow and plummeting temperatures. We are lucky they held off this long. In hind sight, I should have started with my evening cocktail and worked backwards.

Dakota is a Southern Guy from Iowa. He knows not of these sub-zero temps. To make matters worse, I removed a lot of undercoat in the fall that he'd been wearing for a very long time. It should have been taken out much earlier. So this sweet senior had to wear a coat, which he was not familiar with and he had to make his trip out in the early morning dark quickly so he would not freeze his feet. This was not a good time for a new learning experience for an 11-year old Golden. Let's just say that it was a bust. His rear legs collapsed from the cold and he had to be carried in. Dakota is, by all accounts, a very large guy. My husband is a very senior citizen, not in shape to pick up a dog of this size. Dakota is a cooperative dog and my husband is a softy for the big, brown eyes. Together they made it back, but Dakota decided it was best to stay inside for the day.

Meanwhile I was preparing to attack my new activities room. I crossed off my exercise sprint and went to work on the other parts of my plan. I planned to do the curtains - that is until I discovered the brass curtain rod didn't have any brackets. Again I changed gear and went looking for the brackets that should have been attached to the rod. They were nowhere to be found. Grumbling all the way, my husband went down to the hardware store for brackets while I changed my plans again. He soon returned and informed me that the hardware store didn't carry the brackets. WHAT? When did a hardware store stop carrying rod brackets? That's UN AMERICAN! It now took a huge adjustment to plans. We moved the top rod that was already up, to the middle of the window and found a different type rod in the basement that could be used at the top. With a huge sigh, I asked my less than patient husband to please put the alternate rod up. Several minutes later he stood at my office door and informed me that there were no brackets for the rod. That's it! I'd had enough. I told him to take down the rod in his office that wasn't being used as we just put blinds up and use those brackets. A heated discussion ensued. But I kept my resolution in mind and I won!

Things got worse. I opened one package. There were two curtain panels in the package but no valance! This cannot be happening. By now it was nearing dinner time. I was sure the store description on the Internet site stated two curtain panels and valance. That's the way it was in the 50s. I had already shut down my computer, my husband was not a happy camper after spending hours on curtains, so I suggested we just put up the panels and tomorrow I will check the web site. He had covered the end of the rod with masking tape - I had suggested scotch tape, and I tried to get the first panel on. There was too much tape. I finally lost it! Take the d**** tape off. I struggled to get two panels on. I cannot share the next conversation with you.

Back to my original plan for the day. I was going to make dinner in the morning so I would not miss a minute of American Idol. That didn't happen and you've already read about the rest of my day. I abandoned the curtain fiasco, skipped my daily treadmill routine, and headed to the kitchen to feed Dakota and make my cocktail while putting dinner together. I managed to get it all done before American Idol came on, and settled down on the couch with the fireplace ablaze and inviting and enjoyed what was left of my day. I made no plans for today and so far things are going well .