Sep 15 - grocery shopping is news

When is grocery shopping news ? Well, when you arrive at your destination with enough time to partake, that is. We got away from Lumberton NC before 7 a.m. and were home in NSB before 3 p.m. That was a treat from two standpoints -- travel time and arrival time.

That's not to say that we're not tired of traveling. We left the cottage a week ago today, but then of course we've taken our time coming down. When you get right down to it, life isn't about point-to-point, it's about the journey !

So ... everything was ship-shape down here. The inside stays amazingly clean because of course there is little to no air exchange with the outside. It was a little stuffy, even though the A/C is pretty busy when it's 90F outside. It takes no time at all to unload at this end since everything is on one level. That's always a treat.

After a bit -- getting the computer going etc., I went over to Publix and picked up everything on my list and then some. My list only had 4-5 items and I brought home a car-full it seemed. Oh yes, lettuce, oh yes, V8 ... and so it went as I walked around the store. I even found flatbreads that we'd forgotten to bring with us, albeit much more expensive. We'll bring a couple of the big Costco boxes down when we come down in November. We fell into our normal routine, watching a couple of Stargate SG1 episodes while we had a glass of wine ... what will we do when we finish the series ? As usual, on our arrival, we went out for Sushi. We were not disappointed this time, no need to talk to the chef/owner.

Now we have stuff to do:
-- boat shop ... yes, I'm finally going to get around to that -- craigslist, boat trader etc. (mostly me at first, then both of us)
-- get the bathroom work scheduled/started with Vic for the cabinet and Jeff for the tiling (mostly Sandy)
-- shop for plumbing for aforementioned bathroom work (Sandy)
-- install new, wider, bathroom door (me, then painting Sandy) -- I brought down the finish nailer to facilitate this work
-- shop for a new lcd monitor for computer up north (me, already done and ordered) since the old monitor is switching colours as you watch it
-- get bike cleaned up and operational -- solve creaking problem in fork/stem/bars that developed during last ride (me, of course)
-- buy dog food (Sandy) since we only brought down the small container. We don't leave any here over the summer since it would go rancid / attract bugs in the garage during the heat of the summer.

It sounds like a lot, and perhaps it is, but life is so much easier here than up north that it's not noticeable.

Of course I'll get out on the bike, starting tomorrow. That will have to be early in the day -- it's already hot outside, well into the mid 70's, before the sun even comes up. I don't think that I'll need my long sleeved jersey !

I've had breakfast; Abby has had breakfast; Sandy is still sleeping, although we both had a restless night. Travel is tiring but not physically so. Her neck bothers her during the car rides which could ultimately cause us problems for long trips. Perhaps Abby needs to ride up front with me and Sandy lie down in the back ? I think that I'll keep that suggestion in reserve !

Onward ...