Summer In the Rain

It was still sunny when I got up this morning, and the sky remained bright, bright blue. It was even cooler and windier than yesterday...and more comfortable than it has been in weeks. My apartment was so chilly this morning, I finally switched the fans off. I had a bowl of oatmeal and continued dubbing Superman: The Serial, then headed out to hit the gym and run errands.

Lucile Roberts was really busy this morning. I was surprised. I got there around 10AM, earlier than I have the past few weeks, and morning classes are rare. I'm glad I was able to get an elliptical machine. By the time I finished my 20 minutes (and was sweating up a storm), the weight area was far less busy. I was able to move onto the arm weight machines and hand weights.

The Acme was even busier. There was a very, very long line at the customer service desk. I'd completely forgotten today is the first day of the month. A lot of people had just gotten checks, and with the bank gone, everyone now has to cash their checks at the front desk. Good thing I wasn't getting a big paycheck.

I did have some grocery shopping to do. Acme was having a sale on skinned chicken thighs, and I needed to restock ground chicken. I found a small container of cooked fresh mussels. I love mussels! It had a coupon on it, too. I ended up getting it for $1.36. My whole and unbleached flour containers needed to be refilled. This is probably the last week or two of buying grapefruit and pears at the Acme. Once we get into June, more fruit should start appearing at the Farm Market. I picked up Emerald Roasted Cinnamon Almonds and more of the Emerald Trail Mix bags. Was out of whole wheat tortillas, and I noticed yesterday that my brown sugar container was empty.

Heavy clouds had been building up on the horizon since I was in the gym. The shower started while I was riding home from the Acme. Thankfully, it didn't last long. It stopped shortly after I arrived home and put everything away.

I decided that the mussels would be perfect for a Spring Seafood Pasta Salad. I sliced celery and asparagus, boiled spiral pasta, and tossed them with the mussels, light mayo, and dollar-store Old Bay Seasoning. It was spooned over a bed of organic red lettuce from the Farm Market. Yum! Refreshing, tasty, and very seafood-y.

I made Mint-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies while I did the last few chapters of Superman and ran a Bowery Boys movie, Bowery to Bagdad. I made these with honey and apple concentrate instead of sugar. They're very tasty, sweet but not too much. Alas, once again, I burned a batch...and I'd just taken the last batch out of the oven when I had to run off to work.

It was still just cloudy when I rode back to the Acme. Work was busy, but not quite as much as it had been in the morning. I guess I missed the worst of it. There were some mildly annoying beginning of the month people. Otherwise, I was in and out with no problems.

I found out the other reason for it slowing down when I headed out. It was raining...and doing it much harder than it had when I was grocery shopping. Good thing I brought my rain jacket because I thought I might be cold. I rode home and got wet. It's rained on and off ever since.