Busy Day

  Normally I get this written in the morning, but we had lots of things we wanted to do today. It was very important to get an early start.
  The weather was supposed to be nice so we decided to go to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in the morning. C wanted to be on the road by nine AM. We decided we would have lunch there. After that we would continue to do the rest of our errands. We needed to grocery shop, go to Trader Joe's and buy cat food and litter. If we started out by nine we could get all these things done and not get home too late in the afternoon.
  I remembered that today was Stamp Out Hunger Day. It's the day you are supposed to put food by the mailbox. The letter carriers pick up the food and donate it local food shelves. Since we have a post office box it meant that I would have to take it to the postal station. I didn't think it would be a problem, I was pretty sure the station opened at nine. We could drop it off on our way out of town.
  We didn't get rolling until 15 minutes past nine, but that was all right. We went to the postal station. It didn't open for another 15 minutes. I didn't know what I was going to do. I couldn't leave the food at our mailbox because most likely it would be stolen before it could be picked up by the carrier. C was kind enough to wait until it opened so I could drop off my food. While I was waiting for the postal clerks to open the doors to the service counter, I checked our PO box. We got junk mail and a card from a friend. I had to wait a couple minutes to drop off my food to a clerk who seemed to have no idea what was going on. Am I the only one who donates on Stamp Out Hunger day?
  C picked me up and we started off. While we were waiting at a stoplight I opened the card. It was a thank you note with a check in it. I guess I had loaned this friend some money several months ago and she was paying it back. I had forgotten all about the loan. Since the bank was on our way out of town I asked C if he would mind making a stop to deposit the check. He didn't mind. As I got out of the car to go into the bank he asked me to bring him a cookie. The bank I go to has coffee and cookies by the door for the customers. I was happy that there was no line. In less than 10 minutes I was out of the bank with a cookie in my hand.
  Then we started toward the Arboretum. I was happy. It would be our first time there since last fall. It would feel good to get out and walk in the fresh air and get some exercise. On the way we listened to Stephen Colbert talk about a statue of Satan that might be placed near the Oklahoma Statehouse. I chuckled as I listened to it. It reminded me of a speech that I gave at a Tall Tales Contest about how hell did freeze over when I got married. (I always said that I would never marry.)
  We got to the Arboretum and I was worried. There was a line of cars waiting to go in. It was plant sale weekend and also Mother's Day weekend. Fortunately we were allowed to go into a faster lane as we are members. It does have its privileges. I thought we would have trouble finding a parking spot. Silly of me to worry. C always manages to find a parking place and most of the time it is a good one.
  We got out of the car and walked into the main building. It was good to be back. We walked though it and into the old building. The conservatory had been enlarged. The tea room was set up for a mother daughter tea complete with pink cloth napkins.
  The grounds were still pretty bare. There were some daffodils and other early spring flowers waving in the breeze. Other plants were showing signs of life. Volunteers were working hard putting new plants in. We walked down the woodland flower walk. It is good to go there early in the spring because that's when you see the flowers. By late spring and summer the flowers are gone.
  Other gardens had large blocks of tulips planted. Many of then were green buds waiting for warmer weather so they could open. There were enough open for me to know that it would be gorgeous in a few weeks.
   After lunch we decided it was time to do the rest of our errands. We decided to do them on our way home. We found a Trader Joe's that seemed much bigger than the one we usually go to. It was a little crowded. Not as bad as we expected.
  We went to the grocery store. I hadn't made a list so we had to guess at most of what we needed. The big question was, what would we have for dinner tonight. I suggested pizza, but I didn't want to go out to a restaurant. I thought we might look at what kind of frozen pizzas the store had. C was a little wary of this. Frozen pizza tends not to be good. We looked at the selection and there were a lot to choose from. C found one that he thought would be good and put it in our cart. We finished the rest of our shopping quickly and went on to the next errand.
  We checked the location of the place where we were going to buy cat food and realized it was near to the Homestead Pickin' Parlor. C needed new guitar picks and that is a good place to get them. It was not on the schedule, but it would be a shame not to stop since we were so close.
  We got to the pet food place and I noticed that there was a Land's End nearby. I wanted to get a red fine gauge knit cardigan. I knew I could find one there. I asked C if he minded another unscheduled stop. He didn't.
  We got the cat food and litter. I found a sweater. We needed to get going. C didn't want to drive in the rain and it looked like it would rain soon.
  We got to the Pickin' Parlor and went inside. I decided to go in because they carry hammered dulcimer things. There was music filling the store. Eight guys were having a jam session in a small back room. They were all pretty good and it was clear that they had played together many times before. There was a dobro,two guitar players and guy playing the smallest bass I had ever seen. There were two more guys playing mandolins and one doing some really nice things with a closed back banjo. I listened to them for awhile while C chose his picks. I could have listened to them all day.
  While C was being rung up we chatted with the counter guy. I mentioned that we had a room for the all our instruments, which were four guitars, a banjo, two harps and a hammered dulcimer. The guy said we must be living right. I told him if I had my way we would have two more harps. I had forgotten to count a second banjo and a viola.
  We went back out to the car and headed home. We would be home just in time to feed the cats.
    I was a little stressed because I still had many things I needed to do. C said that he would cook the pizza so I could write. After dinner I can practice my instruments.
   It was a good day. We got a lot done and had fun doing it. Tomorrow will be a relaxing day. I'm looking forward to it.