Plenty of Nothing

The heat really takes it out of me. We've been under an extreme heat warning since Friday noon and I'm exhausted. Even indoors, even in my air conditioned home, I feel uncomfortably warm and depleted.

And outside? Fuhgeddaboutit!

All I did this weekend was:
1) Close on my (gulp!) home equity line of credit
2) Get my hair cut/colored
3) Pay bills
4) Do laundry
5) Grocery shop
6) Sleep (alot)
7) Watch baseball

I feel like I'm wasting time. Wasting summer. Wasting electricity.

And I've got nothing to show for it. I haven't even vacuumed because I couldn't bear to be without the AC, and I was afraid plugging one more appliance in would blow the circuits. So my home is hideous and I'm boring.

Sunday Stealing

I LOVE A PARADE

1. Do you like parades? Not really. My antipathy comes from being dragged to the local ones when I was a kid. Now that attending is my choice, I don't mind them as much. But I can't recall when I ever went out of my way to attend.

2. Rate the following parade attractions in order of affection:
*. horses; 1
*. marching bands 4
*. floats; 2
*. anything that gives away candy: 3
*. politicians ride in cars? 6
*. antique cars/tractors; 7 *. fire trucks; 5

3. Have you ever been in a parade? Yes. I marched with my Cadet (Girl Scouts) troop. I was very proud of my sash. I had lots of badges. Also, as I walked by, my mom ran up and grabbed my hand. I was embarrassed at the time, but it's a nice memory now.

4. Do you bring lawn chairs to parades?  No. My father complained about people who do this. My father complained about everything related to the parade: we couldn't park near enough to the route, people took the best seats with their lawn chairs, the bands played too much pop and not enough patriotic music ... I felt like screaming, "If it's so bad, why did you make me come?" In fact, I'm sure at one point I did scream this. I was the only one in the family who wasn't somehow in the unspoken pact to just let my dad complain and cause unnecessary tension without addressing it.
 
5. Does it bother you to have to park a long way from the parade, and then walk back to the car afterwards? I don't have a car, so no. But this was one of my dad's pet peeves. I don't know why, really. If you're going to the same spot at the same moment as many of your neighbors, why would you expect to get the perfect parking spot?

6. Do you wave at people you know? Yes

7. At people you don't know? Yes

8. Do you take pets -dogs particularly - to parades? No

9 Have you ever been to a big parade in person (Rose Bowl, Macy's, etc)? No

10. Do you attend more warm weather or cold weather parades?  Warm.