Home alone with nothing to do, and it shows.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had the house to myself on a Saturday night. Where is he, you ask? Working a per diem side gig in the glamorous world of academic catering. Stop your jealousy right now. It’s a world reserved only for a lucky few, and there’s nothing we can do about it!

I spent the first hour or so in complete silence. No tv, no ipod; just the music of my snoring cats. Eventually the desire for electronica kicked in, and now I’m flipping channels, surfing the interwebs. Unable to commit to giving anything my full attention, I had put on QVC. Home shopping channels are a treat I only indulge in at this time of year, but I wasn’t enjoying it tonight. It’s way more annoying than I remember. There are no interesting products being shown, and the hostesses voices are grating. A plush lion cub that purrs? And you’re gonna demo it over and over really close to the microphone? Time to flip! Only one scant channel away is Silence of the Lambs. LOVE it – and a far less scary choice. “It rubs the lotion on it’s skin or else it gets the hose again.” Classic!

But I can watch this anytime. I’m pretty sure he owns this movie in a couple different forms. I’d better take advantage of my free access to the channels I don’t usually get to see. That means HGTV! I dig me some House Hunters. It’s not as good some of the highly judgmental, super fun design shows (“They put down LAMINATE? Unthinkable!” or “No jacuzzi in the garden tub? Are they ANIMALS?!”) but it has it’s own obnoxious charm. Tonight’s couple is looking for a $1.2-1.8 million retirement home in Wailea, Maui. They already have a a 4800 sq ft home in southern California with the usual acreage, pool, basketball court, mountain view but alas, no beach. So what will their $1.2 -1.8 mill buy ’em? Around 2000 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 bath and a small pool. I can’t imagine that anyone spends $750-900 per square foot. That’s crazy! I just figured out my house, and my best guesstimate is that it’s under $135/sq. ft. Of course, no mountains, no ocean, no pool. Damn. There goes my self righteousness for now. But still, that’s a lot of money!

What I really should be doing now is looking for information on the wii anyway. I don’t really know that much about it, and I’m interested in finding out more. I’m particularly interested in it’s functionality for seniors. Mom really needs some exercise (so do I, for that matter) and I think she might enjoy playing some of the easier games. She has a big enough tv and enough space in her living room. I’m just not sure that she has enough control of her fine motor skills to play. Does anyone out there have experience with this? I’d love to hear your favorite games and your takes on Nintendo, geriatric or otherwise. Is there a best way to buy it bundled? What’s a waste of money? Speak up, readers.

Hello world!

I’ll start this here blog by telling you just a little about my day. It was the kind of day that inspires one to begin a blog.

First I had the day off, and then I didn’t. Freedom is fleeting, you know. The highlight was getting proofed for a bottle of vodka at the liquor store, even if it did come with an apology (ooh, ’66? Sorry ’bout that, Ma’am). The low point was when a man in Big Lots looked at me and asked, “You work here, right?” Sigh. Smack dab in the middle of the middle, I researched incontinence products, medicated a recently adopted cat, looked for an eternally lost cell phone and took a pre-Thanksgiving shopping trip to Wegmans. And I did all of this with my mother.

The trip to Wegmans (which is the world’s best grocery store, for those that aren’t in the know) should have been a quick in and out, but nothing is easy when shopping with Mom. Everything requires a detailed discussion, and sometimes a sales pitch. So despite my best efforts, we ended up shopping amongst the rush hour masses. And it wasn’t just any rush hour. It was the Friday-afternoon-before-the-weekend-before-Thanksgiving Rush Hour. Gathering? Hunting? Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.

You have to find the joy where you can, though. Just as I was getting aggravated for the millionth time, I saw a 20-something guy carrying a six-pack of Genny Light on his head with a huge grin on his face. I stopped and laughed. Way to drink locally, homey!