A Busy "Day Off"

Yesterday was a very busy day, taking me from one side of the city to the other - up and down, up and down. Things fell into place, though, something that doesn't always happen. I had my morning swim at the WBL YMCA, then had my car checked over for winter with an oil change and lube and stuff and still managed to make it home early enough to join DH at Breugger's Bagels for a bagel and coffee - something that's becoming a Wednesday morning tradition.

Breugger's Bagels are close to my house. Lately DH has been wanting to meet
me there for coffee on Wednesday mornings. If I've already had breakfast, I
only have a cup of coffee, but if not, I'll let him buy me a bagel. They're
really good! 

As an example of the differences between DH and I, you can just focus on our choices of bagels and coffee - such a simple food item and such divergent tastes. DH always orders a Cinnamon Sugar Bagel with Honey Walnut schmeer. I, on the other hand, order an Everything or an Asiago Bagel with an Olive Pimento or Garlic and Chive schmeer, and I always have them add Tomato Spread on top of that. We both get large coffee, he adds cream and sugar, mine gets a single sweetener packet, he usually gets the House Blend, I usually choose the Dark Roast. The only similarity is that we sit at the same table and we're each having a bagel and a cup of coffee. I find it amusing.

I always choose a savory bagel for my morning treat and I
usually have them add some of their tomato spread on
top of the cream cheese. 

Afterward, I headed to the store to get the computer turned on and make sure things were ready for the day while he headed to the home supply store to pick up more glue for stone. We were ships passing in the night from then on. I left the shop to begin my "day off" before he arrived. My first stop was Michaels for a white ink pen - at least that's what I originally was looking for.

I ended up with some white charcoal sticks.
They are highly compressed to still make a
strong line when needed. In fact, I'll
have to remind myself to stroke lightly. 

I had two coupons for Michaels - a 50% and a 40% off - each of which could be used on different items. SCORE! I stood in front of the markers and then the white paint pens and vacillated. Suddenly I was thinking that the intense white coverage they would provide would be too dramatic for what I envisioned. I continued looking because the art section is quite a bit larger since their remodel earlier this year, and voila! I came upon sticks of white charcoal. Perfect! A short time later I was heading to the next stop with glue, white charcoal, and cardstock, in my car. Now I'm ready to hit the next phase of my holiday cards.

Health insurance is a racket, but in the US, you really
can't afford to get sick without it. The "Affordable Health
Care Act" is a joke and is anything BUT affordable. It
has allowed a lot of people who previously couldn't get
insured or who couldn't afford insurance to be
covered, and that's GREAT! But for those of us in the
middle class, we earn just enough to not qualify for
help while our premiums are going through the roof! 

Our health insurance for next year is a major concern, I'm researching it and spending quite a bit of time trying to find something we might be able to afford, but it's looking bleak. I stopped by to talk quickly with my accountant but he only confirmed what I had feared - we won't qualify for subsidies, we we'll be paying through the nose. The clock is ticking, sign-ups begin on Tuesday, November 1st. A quick stop at the grocer and a fast 15 minutes showing the next tree removal specialist around the yard and I was finally free to work on my cards once more. I ended my day with a lovely talk with Aearwen. Ahhhhh - decompression!

Things are falling into place and today is a Project Runway night, making me so happy! Have a great Thursday. Today should be a bit less packed than my Wednesday "day off" turned out to be.