Charlie Bucket's Grandparents Had The Right Idea

Friday was one of those days. If' I'd known how it would turn out, I'd have stayed in bed.

It started with some preparations for the Christmas dinner to be held Saturday evening. Or that was my intention, anyway.

First thing, I had to bake an Oreo Cake as one of The Veteran's gifts. Farmer H was going over there around 4:30, and I knew I wouldn't have time this year, what with the change in Christmas dinner four days early.

Turns out all I got done by 2:00 was baking that cake. And boiling the eggs for deviled eggs. The Pony had mentioned that he really likes my potato salad, which I had not planned to make. Since I'd already denied The Pony his own Oreo Cake, for lack of time, I could not refuse him potato salad. So I put some potatoes on to boil.

I got the cake completely ready, labeled plastic tubs of Chex Mix, got the scratchers together, wrapped 3 gifts that had arrived Thursday, and then peeled some eggs, diced potatoes and put together the potato salad. I let The Pony taste-test it. He decided he might want some for lunch, since my trip to town was delayed.

The Pony held out the big styrofoam bowl, rather than the small one I expected. I glopped a serving into his bowl with a long plastic stirring spoon.

"How's that?"

"Good. Another one just like it will be fine."

Well. By the time I stored the remainder in Chinese soup takeout containers, I only had ONE AND A HALF LEFT! Seriously! I usually have THREE AND A HALF CONTAINERS FULL OF POTATO SALAD! Yes, I'd cut back on the amount because I had only bought a 5 lb bag of potatoes. But still! All that work, for ONE AND A HALF CONTAINERS of potato salad!

By then, I'd had my shower, and was contemplating putting together my 7 Layer Salad when my best old ex-teaching buddy Mabel called for our Christmas gift rendezvous that had been postponed due to ice. I also had to stop by the dead mouse smelling post office for a package I had a notice for, and go to the store for green beans, since I remembered that green bean bundles are Genius's favorite. Which I had also not planned on making.

While in town, Farmer H came home with 3 more packages from the mailbox, and UPS dropped another one off while he was loading A-Cad with the gifts for The Veteran's kids. So...more wrapping that I scarcely will have time for.

Whew! It was after 5:00 when I got home. All I wanted was to sit down at New Delly for a break, to eat my lunch (now lupper) of Hardee's chicken tenders. The Pony had already devoured his by the time I got to my lair. Where I discovered that

I HAD NO INTERNET!

I was ready to cry. I quizzed The Pony, who was playing computer games, but not online. He swore he had done nothing. I thought maybe HIPPIE had interfered, since I'd been connected to the casino internet automatically the day before. But then we figured out that we'd both been on the internet Thursday night when we got home.

So...I unplugged the router thingy. Didn't work. I went to Farmer H's basement workroom to unplug the satellite dish thingy. But my way was blocked by two long cardboard boxes, topped with a Rubbermaid tub, topped with a plastic rifle case. In moving some of that out of my way so I could reach the electrical plug, I stepped sideways. My shoe sole caught on the carpet remnant that was on the floor in that location for some unknown reason, and I almost fell sideways. Good thing those boxes were there to grab and steady myself.

I think I DID actually cry at that point. The Pony came running down the stairs to my rescue. Mostly providing moral support, and not tech support. He did make note of the router brand, to look up info on his phone about possible fixes. HOWEVER...that unplugging business of both satellite dish and router did the trick.

I was meaning to go back upstairs and cook the roasted vegetables while wrapping all those gifts, but I fell asleep in front of New Delly after eating lupper.

I might still try to do that after a short rest with my feet up in my OPC (Old People Chair). It's only 10:43 as I type this.

Oh, yeah. Every single one of my scratchers was a loser.