Headed to town

Today was, as they say in THE WIZARD OF OZ, a horse of a different color.

I needed to pick up a prescription that I had transferred from California, so it made sense that I would take Chef #2 (Mark) to the airport and run all of the ranch errands at the same time. So this morning, I spent an hour checking and watering all of the plants and starting a tray of seeds ("Irish Eyes" they're called - very pretty), and then with JW's list in hand of where to go to pick up what, headed off to Cody in the H3.

I dropped him at the very small airport and headed to Albertson's for a grocery run. You know, every time you walk into a new grocery store it takes you twice as long since you have to figure out where everything is!

Then, it was off to the Ace Hardware for spray paint, the lumber yard for finish nails and staples (where I spilled the whole box of staples on my way out the door. Awesome.) and Wal-Mart for my prescription and paper towels.

With the hour drive in, the errands in town, and the hour drive back to the ranch, I didn't get back until 3pm! Then I spent two more hours in the greenhouse.

As I was trying to hurry, California-style, through all of my errands in town, I found myself getting frustrated with how long everything took. I had to constantly remind myself that I wasn't in California anymore, and everyone was not in a rush. That in fact, I wasn't in a rush either. There was no hurry, as long as I wasn't deliberately dawdling, and I should embrace and enjoy the fact that every checkstand employee wanted to talk with me - more than the usual "How are you today?", "Fine" exchange. And that the people in line behind me were NOT frustrated because the checker and I were having a conversation!

So, as I said, a horse of a different color!

Oh... and I got glutened last night, but it was my own fault. Reminder - if you can't read the labels or you didn't make it yourself - ALWAYS ASK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE PLANNING TO EAT BEFORE YOU EAT IT! All told, though, considering that I ate a whole chip worth of gluten, and that I haven't been more than contaminated for a year, my response was not even CLOSE to as violent as I expected. After I realized I had just willingly consumed gluten, I tried in a panic to make myself throw up. I couldn't. So I sat and dreaded the rest of "cocktail and appetizer hour" and the three course meal that was to come. Surprisingly, I ate the whole meal (mmm again!) and only had a minor stomach-ache and not the digestive fireworks that usually follow. Instead of losing my vision, it all just fuzzed out around the edges - at least I could still see. I had a low-grade headache and woke this morning with stiff and puffy finger joints (something I haven't experienced since I gave up gluten-full foods). That's not bad, actually. And I'm not being facetious!

In other news, Jason's still hard at work, too. Indy's asleep next to me. And we woke to temperatures of about 4 degrees this morning. It has been darn cold all day - the wind chill is the killer. We're expecting snow every day for the next week! What a contrast to the sunny, warm weather they've been experiencing in Southern California!

And I am the airport girl again tomorrow, as Alice will be headed home to California as well.

Happy Monday!