Midweek Miscellany

Finally a chance to write! And I haven't even started reading blogs yet....

First of all, the blackened tuna turned out great, and the mango salsa went very well with it. I'm not sure I'd make the mango salsa every time, but the tuna was spicy enough that the sweet made a good partner. I will definitely make the blackened tuna again--it was quite easy, and a nice blend of spices. Oh, and I got a dozen roses, too. Isn't that sweet?

Fellow blogger Laurel and I exchanged a couple of emails about the Packard Predictor. I don't know if you've read Laurel's blog, but she runs a restored gas station on Route 66 in Afton, Oklahoma, and has several Packards on display. I love hearing her stories about the "Roadies" that come through! Anyhoo, she mentioned that she'd love to have the Predictor in her collection, but since it's the only one, that might be kind of difficult. I was surprised, because while I knew it was a concept car rather than a production car, I thought they'd made at least 2 or 3 of them. I emailed my contact at the Museum, and she forwarded my email on to the archivist, Andy. He wrote me back right away, and said that yes, the '56 Predictor is indeed the only one ever made. How cool is that? It's in such beautiful shape, too. Looks like Laurel and I love our "rarities!"

Today was errand-running day, because the snow is supposed to fly tomorrow, and it sounds like it could be a doozy. First stop was our library branch, where my book was in (I had it transferred from the main branch to our local branch--what a great service!). Remember when I wrote about the 1918 influenza pandemic? While I was researching, I came across the title of a book by Katherine Anne Porter: Pale Horse, Pale Rider. It's a fictional account of a girl who falls in love with a young man ready to go off to war, and it is set during the outbreak. I knew it was a must-read! It's actually a novella, so I should be able to knock that out pretty quick. I'll let you know what I think of it. While I was at the library, I heard someone go, "Pssst!" I looked up and it was Aubrey from the lab! It was great to see her, and she had some wonderful news--she bought a house! I'm thrilled for her. We had a nice chat and got caught up on a few things.

Let's see...then it was a stop at Circuit City. They just opened this one by us last year, and they're already closing it! CC is in a fix financially, and they're closing several stores. What a drag that they're closing this one. Everything is on sale right now, but it's odd how the prices seem higher than they were before...! Hmm, interesting! I've been wanting to get a car adapter for my MP3 player for a while now, and I did find one for a pretty good price. That will come in handy when we drive to Missouri for Thanksgiving. I also picked up the new Pretenders CD, "Break Up The Concrete." Chrissie Hynde rocks!

A quick stop at PetSmart for some Enchant-a-Cat litter (it's really Exquisicat, but I like Enchant-a-Cat better, so I call it that), and a peek at all the kitties. Awww, they are so cute! There were a couple that looked just like Sheeba, and I wish I could bring all of them home with me! But Sheeba wouldn't be happy with me, and I also don't want to be known as the Crazy Cat Lady of Nutwood.

Then on to Target, where I got a few more presents for Ken, so I think I'm done with his Christmas shopping. A couple of house things, and I treated myself to another CD. Cousin Shane wrote to me the other day about how he bought some new CD's recently, because of the band names. We used to do that once in a while--if we were intrigued by a band name, we'd get the CD despite never hearing anything by them before. One of the ones he got was by a band called The Wombats, I believe. Ha ha! I haven't done that for a while, and I think the last one might have been The Ass Ponys (and I ended up liking their music quite a bit). I did it today with a band called The Ting Tings. I can hardly wait to listen and see if I like it or not! Isn't that a fun name for a band?

Finally, off to the grocery store. (I got this monster head of cauliflower on sale--the thing is huge!) I was happy to get home and get everything unloaded. We're well-stocked, so groceries won't be a problem. I'm off to do some reading now, books and blogs, but I also want to get my new CD's on the MP3 player. That actually might have to wait until tomorrow. Hope you all had a good day!

My plan is to write about something more substantive tomorrow. I haven't figured out exactly what, but I will!