This will be short as it was a busier-than-usual Monday.

• Last week I gave away a few more things. I have a ton of reusable bags, which I’d been keeping because I do find they don’t last forever. But I had some heavier items and didn’t trust a paper bag to be sturdy enough. So I loaded them into one of the many reusable bags. Even though it was the smallest donation I’ve made to date, it felt good to get rid of some things.
• I’m still experiencing trial and error with my grocery shopping routine. I’d been going on Wednesdays and Sundays, but found Sundays too busy. So I switched over to Tuesday and Friday. Unfortunately, I’m finding Fridays busy too but will stick with them for now. On my last trip I had to stand in line for a while, and found myself next to a display of 3 for $10 bargain books. Two things I love: bargains and books. But I seldom bother with these displays because I’ve found that those are books I’ve read already or they’re not at all interesting to me. This time was different. Two books I wanted to read sat on top of the pile, not far from a third book by an author I’ve read and liked. I was very, very close to throwing all three in my cart, but I reminded myself that the library is a much better option.
• I got a nice new datebook for Christmas, and have been using it pretty faithfully to keep track of appointments and obligations. But I learned that it doesn’t help if you don’t pay careful attention to dates. For the life of me I swore today was the 21^st, and this was important because I had an appointment for my annual physical at 6:30 on the 22^nd. Mondays are busy because Emma has dance, and when we get home we immediately have dinner. At 6:45 we were about to sit down when the phone rang, and the very nice nurse asked me if I was coming to my appointment. “It’s tomorrow,” I said. “The 22^nd?” Oops. Luckily a later patient came early and I live close so I was able to run over. It takes a really long time to get an appointment with my doctor so I am glad it worked out. And it was a definite reminder that I need to pay better attention to dates.