Home Sweet Home

Got some pics up on my Flickr. I've been adding to the beach set and may have a few more to add, but it's mostly done now. Here's the link. I know, it's mostly zoo pictures, but I didn't figure you wanted to see the 400 pictures of sand and surf and beach birds!

I'm so glad we decided to take an extra day off to recover from the trip. I was worn out by the time we got home last night, but slept like a log in my own bed (I missed my bed!) and have been absurdly productive today. **Clarification - I haven't taken my ADD meds in 9 days, so I started taking them again today in order to readjust. The productivity is a by-product of that, not any big desire to DO anything today! ** Luckily the house we rented had a washer & dryer, so I came home with 99% clean clothes. BRILLIANT idea. I did not, however, come home with much real food, so I had to go grocery shopping. I also had to hit Walmart, where I hate to grocery shop. Today however, since I went at noon, it was really quite not-unpleasant, so I went ahead and bought groceries there instead of tempting fate and driving to the grocery store, which was probably a madhouse. Didn't find everything I wanted, of course, but I can live without panko breadcrumbs and couscous until the weekend.

Now for a pet peeve that set me off while shopping today. Spices. I love spices. Love to buy all kinds and play with them. Thanks to my magazine shopping spree, I went armed with several new recipes I wanted to try, which required a couple of spices that aren't currently in residence in my cabinet. As much as I love using spices, I hate buying them. Why? Because I need fennel for ONE recipe, which means I need like a teaspoon of it. But can you buy a small bottle? NOOOOO. Gotta buy a full sized bottle. And it's just odd enough that they only carry it on one brand. It was almost $5 a bottle.

Vacation is over folks. No more vacation budget. I had my trusty calculator, which said in no uncertain terms that $5 a bottle for something I need 1 tsp of is RIDICULOUS. No, I didn't buy it. I'll figure something out, or price it at the grocery store to see if it comes in a smaller container there. But you better believe that if I can remember next spring, I will be planting myself an herb garden!

Having said all of that, I had to laugh when I got home and started unpacking the groceries. I went ahead and started unpacking the food we brought back from the beach, too, and found the grilling sauce, spinach artichoke dip, and 3 jars of salsa (we ate one while we were there) that I bought at Harry and David. All of which cost more than the fennel, and more than I would have EVER spent out of my grocery budget. Once again, I clearly lost my mind while we were gone. At least it didn't take long to readjust to reality!