at least there were strawberries

[lizziebelle]

local strawberries!, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

I didn't have the best of weekends. Oh, it wasn't awful, but forces were conspiring against me to keep me from getting complacent.

Yesterday, I headed over to a local farm to get some fresh local strawberries. You can see by the picture I was successful. They posted later on their Facebook page that they'd had the busiest day in 30 years, and actually had to close the fields (it's a pick-your-own place) for the rest of the weekend! After all the rain we've had, I think folks were itching to do something outside, and descended on the place in droves.

Last night, I went over to my friends' place for a cookout, as friends from Vermont were in town. I managed to burn my hand on an iron skillet fresh off the grill as I knocked it off the stove and instinctively grabbed for it. I let it go immediately, but I have some blisters on my left hand. Ice, aloe, and various other remedies have made the pain fade to tenderness. Ouch.

Today, I was a slug. I even took a nap. Late in the afternoon, I heard water running (like the sound of a washing machine filling up) and discovered water spurting out from behind my toilet and starting to puddle on the floor. I nearly had a panic attack, as I used to have occasional flooding in my old place (as you may remember) but thought I was past that, as I'm on the second floor now. I called my landlady, and she panicked even worse than I did. She finally got hold of Steve, her handyman (who had just left here after mowing the lawn) and he found the problem and fixed it. Meanwhile, my neighbor helped me figure out how to get to the turnoff valve and stem the flow. It's all fixed now, but it's really not how I envisioned spending my Sunday afternoon. I was afraid to go out to the store to get a mop (all I had was a Swiffer), but I managed to make it there and back without incident. :::whew:::

After some lovely pork shu mai from Trader Joe's, I'm feeling much more grounded and relieved. Things could have been much worse. Must remember to count my blessings, even when things don't quite go my way.

And I still have strawberries.