A friend turns 90 on Monday, so I wanted to get her a gift. She loves to garden, so I decided to get her an azalea bush. Well, I should have thoght better! We left here and drove a bit to get to Lowe's where there were no working electric carts. So, a guy got a wheelchair and I was pushed erratically though the garden center. One employee just wagged a finger and said "over there." Another, thirty minutes later, said, "on the rolling stands."
The young guy who was pushing me kept showing me roses and petunias. It was not his job to know the plants. Finally, after great tribulations and insults, I called for a manager. The manager of the garden center came and wondered why I could not find the azaleas. Well, I did not want Encore Azaleas, the kind that are supposed to bloom for 8 months. They don't and were $29 or some outrageous amount.
As it turns out, Lowe's does not carry regular azaleas, Coral Bell, the color I want or any color of that sort. I left after the manager helped me and went to another big box store. Just the thought of searching for an electric cart made me ill and more exhausted. I could not stand being in the parking lot, so we left.
Next, I went to Publix where I knew the plants would be much more expensive. We sat in the car for 30 minutes waiting for a cart. Why do I try to shop on Sunday afternoon? I went in and only found some three inch pots of plants. I had settled on those on sale 2/$5. And, they were not flowers. Then, I saw a plant up high, a red azalea. Aha!
More than half the buds were dead. The manager of the floral department came and I asked him if they were reducing it or could they dead-head it for me. He said, "How about I give it to you for free?" FREE? He said yes, and I was happy!
My friend loves to dig and plant flowers. I knew this would fare better with a little neglect than flowers and still she would have flowers to make her happy. That is why I did not settle for something else when searching for azaleas.
I took it to the car and went back to get Tommy's cereal. Luckily, Cheerios were bogo. And, they were heart shaped. Tommy ate the last of his cereal Sunday morning and only told me after the box was empty. I have asked him to tell me ahead of time, but he doesn't. I decided that a package of expensive chicken was cheaper than eating out and better than eating meatballs again. So, I brought home a small package of expensive chicken.
We arrived home 3 hours after we left and I was exhausted. I deadheaded the azalea, watered it and put it out for an hour in the late afternoon sun. It looked much better when I brought it in. I have addressed the card and will take this to my friend tomorrow. I will put it out in the morning and transport it in a sunny place in the car on Monday.
I waited until the hour and did my one minute of "marching." Then, I just went to bed for an hour. I was going to cut Tommy's hair, but was too tired. When I got up from the rest/nap, I did two more sets of one minute and an hour apart.
Right now, I am waiting for the chicken, potatoes, and onions with dry Italian Seasoning to bake. We will also have a salad. One breast or less will be dinner. Another portion will be here for Monday night. I may make a chicken sandwich for our lunch when we go out on Monday. At any rate, I won't have to cook until at least Wednesday, I hope. There were three breasts and we might have eaten half of one breast.
To finish my Sunday, I will load the dishwasher. I suppose I will wash my hair before setting out for Cullman on Monday.
Monday
I slept almost 6 hours last night. I only had a one hour nap on Sunday. Sometimes, a short nap does not work. I just get more tired and cannot sleep. I also took a good slug of my liquid melatonin before bed last night.
The azalea has been watered again and is outdoors once more. The tight buds are now showing a bit of red. I don't know if it will bloom more before I can get it to her. There are actually two plants in the pot. I hope she will separate them when she plants them.
This post is way earlier than I wanted to post, but it is either now or evening, so it will be now.
Just being out exhausts me! Do you find that the older you get, the less you can stand shopping?
