chilly Saturday

It's tempting to stay in bed and tempting to get back in standing at the back door watching Chalow go outside and do her duties. I can see my breath. There is that Austin rarity, real frost, on things.

But when SuRu calls at 8:30, I'm prepared to say let's go. We drive to Clarksville and walk down to Sweetish Hill around the corner on Baylor, back up through an alley, back over to the park. Where, to our surprise, there is now a fenced 'off leash' area for dogs. I huddle on a table and try to protect Chalow while we try to get Zoey to play. Jake ends up hiding under the table from her. We walk some more, up Winflow and Brownlee and down to Sixth and back to Sweetish Hill this time stopping for coffee and a snack. It is cold sitting there especially since the sunny tables were taken. We meander and wind back to the car, getting back to it without much trouble even though we have both forgotten the actual name of the street where we left it.

At home, I go online and buy tickets to see the matinee of The Hours after FFP says he'd like to go. We go out there, I pick up the tickets, we go to Whole Foods and buy some shaving cream FFP has decided is his new favorite and then go to Old Navy and Linens 'N Things without buying anything.

We go back to the car, get our books. go into the theater and stand in a line forming to get into the show. I don't think it was sold out but it was pretty close. At Whole Foods a rather disreputable fellow was in front of us with a knit cap and some piercing. (It's all relative, isn't it? I was there in my worn out jeans with my polartec cap pulled down over the hair I hadn't bothered to groom today.) Anyway, the clerk told him to go out and enjoy the day (the sun was shining although it was still chilly) and he said he was going to see The Hours because he was a huge Virginia Woolf. Yeah, figures.

In the line to get in I hear someone talking about the movie Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Which doesn't have much to do with Virginia, really.

I figure we will see someone we know. I'm not expecting to see two of Forrest's cousins (our lawyer and our AC guy). The lawyer is with his female friend. I wouldn't have pegged them to come see this show. Not really.

We decide to go to Central Market and buy some fish. We go to Book Stop. I almost buy a Michael Cunningham book and FFP almost buys About Schmidt and I almost buy a New York map. But we don't buy anything. Then we go to Gap and buy FFP a muffler. We buy two, actually, because they are only $6.99 on sale and he can't decide.

Then we go to Central Market and buy spicy peanut sauce, a beefsteak tomato, salad mix, grapefruit, bananas, a couple of loaves of high-fiber bread, some cookies, some olive oil but no fish. The line is too long and we have some chicken we can thaw and use the peanut sauce. I'll come get some fish on Monday when it isn't so crowded. We are going out tomorrow night.

At home we put stuff away and change the wash and cook dinner.

We have a salad and then some chicken browned with lemon pepper and with the peanut sauce added. It's good. We'd talked about having a wine but we never open one. I have a Clementine for dessert but then, unfortunately, later fall prey to a coke and some ginger lemon creme cookies we bought. Most sweet things don't tempt me. These do. Yikes. Never buy them again! Or learn self control. (At my advanced age.)

At Central Market we bumped into two people we knew, well three if you count that Forrest had met one gal's companion years ago. One was the person who introduced us to the dance company that just had a benefit here. The other worked at the late Metropolitan Club where I had my 50th birthday party for 230 of my closest friends. She was showing a friend of hers from out of town around the market. She still remembered the party as one that had the best flowers, food, entertainment and liquor. It's good, I guess, to be remembered for a good party. I'm certainly not sorry I threw it but I doubt I'll ever throw one that big again.