Busy Week

The first Wednesday of the month is always busy for me since it is senior citizens day at Krogers and I try to do as much of my shopping for the month as possible in order to get the discount they give us old codgers. I usually bump into someone I have not seen in a long time and that is both a pleasant bonus but also a time user. Then I have to put all those groceries away or at least carry them in the house and make sure the freezer and fridge items are taken care of properly. (The others sit in bags on the kitchen floor if the cabinet top becomes full.) Then the first Wednesday also usually brings our board meeting for the Illinois Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association, which usually means a trip to nearby Carbondale but sometimes car pooling up to O’Fallon with other members to make the traveling more fair for the two members north of here.

This was a Carbondale month (most are), so I found myself cramming in a couple other tasks that day. One was finishing a project in the preschool room at our church house. I needed to do that in order to get supplies out of the trunk of my car, so I could fill the trunk with groceries instead. Gerald is always a little amazed at how I collect things in the car, but there is always logic to what I carry in an effort to be more efficient. (Why carry things into the house to clutter the house when the stuff is going someplace else? Why not carry things I need to take some place just in case I find myself traveling by where the stuff needs to be taken? I try not to make extra trips to recycle since I assume any extra traveling might cancel out the advantage to the environment that I am trying to gain by recycling. I did finish both extra projects on Wednesday, but I did not get books back to the village library or the other four or five errands on my to-do list. I had to finish them yesterday and today. (I just phoned the library to renew the books.)

Yesterday with help I got the garage cleaned out, which made me feel good since it had been a couple years since it had a thorough cleaning. The lady who helped me could not refrain from commenting that I was like her daughter—I saved everything. Yes, the teacher in me can’t resist saving things I may use to teach with or to have when grandchildren say, “Grandma, we need jars for catching fire flies.” Or frogs or whatever.

I put away a few groceries yesterday and today, and in a minute I will go finish putting the rest away. By now I have bought more from other stores. I bought the last fresh peaches the stand had—all five of them. Gerald has brought in apples from an orchard and fresh corn that he shucked for us awhile ago into a huge bowl. I put the watermelon in the downstairs fridge, the two cantaloupe from Posey County, Indiana, in the tiny fridge in the garage, but I have no idea how I am going to make room for all that sweet corn. But I will. I have roasts thawing in the fridge to put in the oven in the morning. All the beds have clean sheets.

Four sets of family company are coming. Some may arrive tonight. Some may start from Chicago area in the morning. One car is arriving at midnight tomorrow. The Taylors are coming and will probably sleep in the camper at the other farm—except I am sure Brianna and Geri Ann will want to sleep together here and catch up on their giggling and high school news. I am not sure who will be eating here or when as they visit other family members, but I am ready with luncheon meats and ideas to make sure no one goes hungry. Busy weeks are good weeks. And the weekend will be good as well.