My Shuffle has a sense of humor

I would find it very difficult – and very boring – to walk as much as I do without portable music, and the Shuffle my children gave me for my birthday in 2005 is perfect. I have about 95 songs on it that range in tempo from warm-up walking to determined marching to flat-out running.

Of course they don't pop up in that order when I use the shuffle setting, which makes my walks pretty interesting. Maybe somdeay I'll put the songs in some kind of logical list and use the "play in order" setting. So far, though, I've enjoyed the random selections.

It's been hazy, hot and humid here in the Middle of Nowhere, and yesterday I thought I might just walk to the post office and back, which is the shortest distance [1.6 miles] of the various loops I do. When I got back to my driveway, I wasn't too hot or tired, so I continued on, thinking I would add the two-mile loop. But at that turnaround point I just kept going. Yesterday's total walk ended up being 5.6 miles.

As I was trudging up the last hill before home, the best hill-climbing song ever written popped up to help me make it. Followed immediately by Eminem's "Shake That." Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous!

Later in the day I had to go to a nearby city that has a yarn shop and a scrapbooking store. I don't like driving to that city, but my needs are immediate and I can't wait for delivery. [I'm the Queen of Internet Shopping.]

There was road construction, and while I was sitting in a long – no, endless – line of traffic, the car overheated. I turned the air conditioner off, lowered the windows and grabbed the owner's manual to see what to do.

Turn heat and fan to highest setting and direct air flow to the floor until the indicator moves out of the red area.

Great. It worked, anyway, and my feet are now well-done.

Well, the yarn store did indeed carry the brand, but not the color I need. One more insurance ball for the Diamond Patch would give me some peace of mind. All the diamonds are done. All that remains are the neckline and two very short sleeves. And maybe a quick crochet around the lower edge. According to my new scale I have 45 grams of yarn left.

That should be enough. Right?

Anyway, the scrapbook store was closed, with a For Sale sign on the building. Sigh. And I couldn't find exactly what I needed/wanted at the dinky, messy, disorganized JoAnn's. Sometimes it's, um, challenging living in the Middle of Nowhere. I'd love to have a Target and a Michael's in the neighborhood. Even a Target or a Michael's!

[Oh, Debbi, for crying out loud! You have a home and a car and fuel and you're looking for craft supplies! Get over yourself!]

There. I feel much better now.

Since the whole trip ended up taking longer than I'd anticipated, I picked up a McDonald's Grilled Asian Chicken Salad for dinner: 380 delicious and satisfying calories with the sesame-ginger dressing. It felt like a reward.

Can you believe I just said a chicken salad was a reward? Sweeeeeet!