Picnic at Audubon Crossings

Started a very hot, sunny day with another Rick Steves episodes. His trip to Barcelona, Spain is a favorite of mine. Barcelona is quirky and fun, with its tapas (small plates of snacks) bars, enormous elaborate unfinished churches, beautiful Art Noveau downtown area, and a museum dedicated to surrealist Salvador Dali nearby.

Work was...actually pretty boring. The heat must have scared a lot of people off. It was busier earlier in the day. By the 4PM rush hour, it was dead as can be. We did have a few annoying customers. The woman who showed up last month with those eight hundred coupons was back. This time, I was able to head her off by pointing out that she couldn't use the shampoo coupons for travel-sized items, and that the meat coupons clearly said they were for GROUND turkey, not one turkey burger. She fussed and ultimately left with nothing.

(I repeat what I said last month - please limit your coupon use. Read what they say carefully, and make sure you buy the item that's listed on the coupon, not the cheapest item the brand sells that you can get your hands on.)

I got off right on time at 5. My coin change jar was mostly full. I tried to empty it on Friday, but the Coin Star machine was full. No such problem today! This time, I had no trouble unloading it. I ultimately ended up with $15.68. I probably should have waited a little longer, but I don't have a lot of money on me.

While it was still pretty hot at 5PM, there was a really nice, cool wind. I thought it was the perfect night for a picnic dinner at Sonic. I wasn't the only one who did, either. The patio was packed when I arrived. There was a big family eating dinner at two tables on the side looking out to Chick Fil'A. Another, older woman ate by herself in the middle of the patio. Two little boys braved the heat to eat their lunches in one of the sunny tables looking towards Arby's. This time, everyone behaved well, even the boys, who were too busy plowing through burgers to make noise. I thoroughly enjoyed my grilled chicken sandwich, tater tots, and Diet Dr. Pepper. Even workers from the other Audubon Crossings shops came over for milkshakes. (I saw two people from the Comcast office and another guy from Cricket.)

When I got home, I went right into a soothing, tepid bath. I decided to try one of the suggestions from The Women's Comfort Book and give me a self-massage. As you can guess from the fact that I live alone, I don't touch people too often, or anything else. I think that's a lot of why I have the toys around. They're something to touch, to hold, to cuddle. My massage felt wonderful, especially my legs and back. Maybe I should save money and see if I can find a reasonably-priced professional masseuse in this area to do this for me.