More This More That

Once again I have lots of random thoughts floating around in my head so this post may skip around a bit. You know the whole "Stream of Consciousness thing" Let's see, what should go first?

Oh yeah!

This is something that has been on my mind for some time.

I wonder if most of you that live in or around the Tri-Cities have had occasion to visit the new (well by now semi-new) Richland Target? I have quite a few times. It's sometimes a nice change from the Kennewick store. There is just one thing that really gets on my nerves about this new Target, and it's " surrounding, help-pay-the-rent, neighbor stores." You may be thinking, now what has Susan found in an Innocent shopping center to cause her such anguish? And of course you know I will gladly share my pain with anyone willing to listen. What I don't like about this nice little slice of retail heaven is their. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PARKING LOT!!!!!

Yes that's right I have a real problem with their parking lot. In my opinion it is one of the BOSSIEST parking lots I have ever seen. You pull into it and it doesn't really matter which side or end you use, you are instantly told by the big black BOSSY lines and arrows exactly which way you have to go. And to make it even more Anal Retentive, there are concrete curbs everywhere! No more "oh gee there is no one in that section I guess I will just cut over a few parking lanes and then go right (or left).

Oh no no no you can't do that because of those stupid curbs.

And you can't go more than three or four car lengths before coming to a super, super bossy STOP written on the pavement. I just don't see the need for such a (sophisticated?) system here in our nice, mostly safe (at least while doing a bit of parking lot driving) little, homey Tri-Cities. It's almost like they have a bad case of "small town parking lot syndrome"

Okay enough of that I feel so much better having gotten that off my chest.

Now I would like to direct your thoughts towards,

Watermelons.

I love a good watermelon. The only problem with them is that I have a side by side refrigerator. In layman's terms that means that the refrigerator section of my side by side is just not very wide. Now Donald and Lisa, THEY have a REFRIGERATOR. The freezer is a drawer on the bottom so the shelves in the fridge don't have to share space with the other side. The only drawback I can see in this is that they don't have an ice dispenser in the door. And they don't have much room in their freezer for things like ice cream. They have solved that problem quite nicely though, they simply come to my house and eat my ice cream. In fact I am so gosh darn accommodating that I think of their preferences when I do my ice cream shopping.

Oh sorry I guess I got a little off track there. Back to Watermelons.

Now this is my dilemma with watermelons. They are so big that once it is cut and we have eaten our fill, there is still a good chunk of watermelon that really likes to be in the nice cold fridge. Have you tried putting it in the fridge though? If you don't double wrap it with plastic wrap you will have watermelon soup on the shelves of you fridge. Well that seems simple enough, doesn't it. Double wrap it with plastic wrap. Not as easy as it sounds. Wrapping anything the size and shape of a cut watermelon is a huge pain in the neck. Even with the finest plastic wrap which money can buy.

That, by the way, would be Walmart's store brand. Really. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

Well as far as I am concerned the less time spent in the kitchen wrangling with a cut watermelon, the better. I actually have decided that since that watermelon will probably be all gone in two days maybe three tops, that it is mostly alright to just leave it out on the counter.

Does that horrify some of you?

I hope not. I am the only one in the whole history of my family who has ever had food poisoning and it came from a restaurant, not from my sometimes questionable kitchen practices.

So yes, most the time it stays out on the counter. That of course comes with it's own set of problems. Now instead of watermelon soup on the shelf in my fridge, I have it all over my counter. And as everyone knows a mess on the kitchen counter doesn't stay on the kitchen counter. Oh no no no. It quickly takes the path of least resistance and ends up all over the floor.

So sorry watermelon growers, even though I love your sweet juicy product, I won't very often buy it because it is just too much trouble.

Now don't bother to suggest the little individual watermelons. I have been tempted trust me. It's just that the best price I have ever seen on those is 2.50 each. That probably doesn't sound like much AND if I was just going to buy one just for ME, I might do it. But then I would have to sneak it into the house and wait til everybody was gone (this hardly EVER happens). If I was to sit down in the middle of Sorenson Central, and try to enjoy my sweet little individual watermelon, EVERYONE , except for Shawn (he's not a fan) would ask "Where is MINE????" So as you can see watermelon is something I am deprived of on an almost daily basis.

I guess I will add a few positives. Here are a few things I like.

I love Fabric Stores. I love fabric. I love the feel of it. I love the colors and the patterns and the different textures.

I love flowers. We have quite a few. I help pick them out and Don plants them.

I love my wonderful patio. In Lisa's blog about her perfect weekend, the picture of Donald and the girls roasting marshmallows were taken on my lovely patio. (The fact that it was all my idea and that Don at first said "We can't have that much cement back here") makes me love it all the more.

I love going to the park by the Library with Lisa and the girls. And this week it will also be with my two oldest granddaughters as well because Abbey and Lindsay are here with me for several days.

I love Cats and Kittens. Actually though this isn't entirely true. I like them in theory. I just don't like being jumped on or being expected to pet them and scratch them or heaven forbid, HOLD them.

I love Hanford's Friday off. (No explanation needed on this one)

Oh there are so many things I could list but I don't really want to compete with Donald for "longest post ever" so I guess I will bid everyone,

A Fond Adieu.