Day 79

Sometimes it's a wonder at how much I can get done in a day.
Today we did a ridiculous amount of driving.
We were literally all over the city (North, South, East and West).
Spent more money than I meant to (as always), which just means we will be having a lot of english muffins this week, or grilled cheese.
Whichevs.

The day begins with traveling to the East Side of Milwaukee so E. can do his tips and I can get some coffee. I bring my book, but hope that there is a crossword available.
There isn't, and I won't even tell you how miniscule the want-ads were.
This recession is pure bollocks, I tell you!
Maybe I WILL become a bartender after all!
Then I could start a new blog "Bartendin' Blues."
Cos that is the most ridiculously cliche title ever.
But still awesome.

Anyway, so we head to the Brady Street Supercenter, I read my book, take a look-see at the sports page, try to have some missed connections, and drink some coffee.

We then have to go to the UWCU tyme machine to deposit our StubHub payment! Yay for rich baseball fans! We help each other in this recession.
We are both hungry and decide to head to Beans & Barley for our most favorite vegetarian chili of all time. Upon entering we are ELATED to find the "Mozzarella Rustique" sandwich back on the menu! This is one of my favorite sandwiches of all time that had been sadly missed by yours truly. PLUS! There was another NEW mozzarella sandwich on the menu.
Obviously.
These both had to be tried.
In addition to the chili.
So what was going to be a $10 lunch, turned into like a $25 lunch.
But it was so delicious.
And I'm not gonna lie.
The knowledge that I can get that sandwich again.
Sweet sweet victory.
And it was definitely worth the mental elation it gave me.

Since we were generally on the side of town for Trader Joe's, we thought we should run out there to pick up a bag of lemons and limes. They are quite cheap, and my citrus-butter asparagus used up the last of the green and yellow citrons.
PLUS! A friend with a family farm has some asparagus to share AND we should be getting more from our fabulous crop share this Friday.
If you eat seafood, I would think the citrus butter would be equally delicious on that, but be warned: It's been a while since I've eaten seafood, so this is pure projection.
Recipe you ask?
SURE!

Citrus Butter
1/4 cup fresh squeezed citrus juice (I used lemon and lime, but you could use whatever you like!)
3 tbs. of butter, chopped into chunks

• Boil juice until reduced to about 1 1/2 tbs.
• Pour over butter and whisk until combined
• Add S&P to taste
• Pour onto your favorite dish! (We did asparagus)

It most defs is yumzoes in your tumzoes.

After Trader Joe's we headed to the library. E wanted some books on plumbing, I wanted some books on container gardening.
But, the library was closed.
Apparently it opens at 1230 on some days.
Is this a joke?
Frustrated, we headed home because, well, we both had to go the bathroom.
And the next place on our list was the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, which we needed the plumbing book for, hoping we could find something we needed there.
So we go home, E finishes his Steve Martin book, and we head back to the library.
Niether of us found anything we were really dying to have, but E. did pick out a book on plumbing, and we headed to the Re-Store.

Niether of of had ever been there, and we did not know what to expect.
BUT!
It was amazing! I think what happens is that contractors drop off their extra stuff there, or donate the stuff they found in the house.
So.
Things we wanted:

• old stove for $500, it was electric, BUT it had a built in fryer (seriously!) AND it looked brand-freaking-new.

• old sink, for $30 like my grandma used to have, would go quite well in my kitchen, if I do say so myself.

• drafting tables! They were $30 each! I told E. we should get one and use it as an island in our kitchen.
• brackets for $.50/each! This should be perfect for library dining room!
• tiles tiles tiles! mostly colors you don't want, but LOTS of white ones so we could save at LEAST 50% off the price of tile when tiling the foyer.
• doors, spindles, ugly cupboards, windows, furniture, TONS of stuff, we definitely will be going back

After our trip to our new favorite store, I found out E has some serious anxiety about the state of our downstairs walls.
We had about an hour before we had to meet my dad and his friends (including lady friend) at Conejito's so I decided to tackle the scraping of our stucco'd walls.

In all honesty I had about 1/4 of the wall done.
Are you ready to be shocked?
I got 3/4 of the wall done in an hour.
And I have the battle scars to prove it! AND I don't think We will even have to dry wall that part. If I can find some gloves I may continue on tonight.
And really oddly, I enjoyed doing it. There is some weird primal part of me that likes to do mundane things with her hands.
I'm not artistic at all, but I do love the task of pulling weeds (once I'm doing it) and sraping/peeling stuff. I'm sure this is indicative of something psychological with me, but what, I will wait for PO or JJ to tell me.
I WAS always really good at shop.

The game was awful, as Suppan pitched a doozy.
And I mean that in the Groundhog Day doozy.
Not in a pitchers' duel doozy.
But.
BUT!
E and I caught a foul ball!
YES!
I had never done that before! And it was truly a team effort:
The ball hit my scorebook that I was reaching out, bounced off of it, hit the ground and into E's hands.
Way to go us.
It was the highlight of an otherwise ridiculously poorly played game.