Sleepy Feelings

I am rather "bushed" this morning and it is showing in my somewhat "clumsy" gait as I meander about on campus. It was a result of a rather busy weekend.... it was my wife's birthday.  As such, it was FUN, but it was also quite out of my weekend routine and very busy:

1.  Her birthday was Friday.  So, immediately after I was done with the very pleasant Retiree's Cigar Group on Thursday..... I high-tailed it all about TWO towns (one the Retiree's Cigar Group town, and the other the town I live in) stopping and shopping at a whole bunch of venues to get "accessories".... not the presents I had already gotten for her.... but the flowers, bows, wrapping paper, present bags, cards, balloons, treats, cakes (yes, plural, more in a minute), ice cream, and various other items to help make the times (yes, plural, again more in a minute) festive.  

2.  My wife had to work late on Thursday, so after my shopping foray (I am not particularly fond of shopping, but I can do it very efficiently), I did a very quick (slightly abbreviated) swim, and then got home to wrap (I am extremely meticulous about wrapping and it has developed into an "extravaganza" of its own with all the ribbons, bows, etc), arrange the flowers as artfully as I could muster in a vase, put the first cake (that I had with me) and the ice cream hidden away,  Then I wrote out notes of love, appreciation, and gratitude in the five birthday cards (my wife loves cards for any occasion, so I evolved over the years to get her multiple cards for EVERY occasion I can think of, but especially on her birthday), and then I carefully hid the receipt for the second cake (to get Saturday) in my beast of burden (my vehicle) so that if she rode with me she would not see it.  AND THEN, I had to find various hiding spots all over the place at home that would be unlikely spots she would stumble across any of these things.  The flowers are usually the most challenging.  I ended up hiding them behind some boxes of Christmas ornaments in the storage area under the basement stairs this time, hoping our cat would not ferret them out and want to nibble on them.  The helium filled "Happy Birthday!" balloon was also a bit of a challenge to hide as well. 

3.  Then I had to clean up ALL my messes so there were no remnants showing and get dinner ready for when she eventually arrived home.  Luckily it was "Tacos" (including my taco salad bigger than my head) so it was a relatively fast preparation as we had most of the ingredients ready to grab and go in the fridge as part of our meal prep work earlier in the week.  

4.  Then I sat down at my den/office desk and was pretending to work on the computer when she arrived home, like is my usual mode on Thursday while I wait for her.  The reality was I didn't do a damn thing of merit on the computer.  Instead, as there was not much time before she would arrive, I relaxed by looking at pipes and pipe tobaccos in an online website I like and find very relaxing and enjoyable..... but even then I had only ~15 minutes of that before she came home.  

5.  Friday afternoon, two of our kids were available and dropped by.  We went out to dinner, and actually went bowling!  My wife's family is very into bowling, so I ended up bowling with them all regularly during our marriage, even being in a league for a number of years.  Neither my wife nor I had been bowling for about 9 years now (basically stopped when my FIL grew ill and passed away, and then my MIL developed dementia).  We played three games.  It is funny, the bowling movements are different enough from my running that my left hip was rather sore by the end of the evening.  

6.  Saturday, the whole day was occupied by a simulation event my wife had for work (and I volunteer at as well (I have spoken of this before, it is a simulation on poverty.), but the participating audience was ~100 community leaders this time so the simulation was impactful in a different way, as most of these folks were more "high falutin" and did not have much association with working class struggles or struggles of the working poor.  It opened up some eyes.  The only other two things we accomplished were to attend Mass and to go to the grocery store to get foods for the Sunday gathering  (I also very early in the morning ran to get Sunday's cake and hid it.... I should have mentioned that first in this #6 statement.).  

7.  On Sunday, we hosted at our house, a gathering of my wife's siblings, some of our kids, and anyone else who could make it over and had a large spaghetti/pasta feast with garlic bread, beans, and other accoutrements.  We ended up playing "Uno" for a few hours as well.  

It was a fun few days, but very active, so I was bushed when we sat down Sunday night to relax and watch an hour of tv before bed.  This morning, I dutifully got up and ran, and prayed the rosary like usual.  But, I have felt tired all day.  I am certain I will be a bit sloppy (I will try NOT to be) on my bass clarinet this evening because we have a scheduled concert tonight.  

But, the one very happy occurrence, is that even though I was rather tired all weekend long, I did have enough fortitude to reminisce and remember various pipes and pipe tobaccos each evening as I drifted off to sleep.  It is  nice to have that back.  Those memories are so pleasant and beautiful.  

PipeTobacco