I wonder if any faithful readers are waiting to be informed how my tomato salad turned out. If so, I am sorry to disappoint. The tomatoes are still in my refrigerator, the basil and chives are still in their respective gardens, I’m a terrible bum. On the brighter side, I can plug a couple of local businesses by telling you what I did do last night.
My oldest sister’s birthday is Sunday, and I thought I would send her a card. This is an unprecedented and I’m afraid dangerous proceeding for me. You see, I stopped sending out cards to people years ago, because I discovered I could not be consistent. How bad would I look if I remembered to send a card to one sister but not another? There is enough sibling rivalry in my family without adding the competition for Who Cindy Likes Best (then again, do you suppose that is a title my siblings would covet? I fear not).
I used to have the tradition of calling and singing to the birthday boy or girl. That was hard enough to remember. I surprisingly got no complaints about my singing voice. I like Facebook, because they remind you of people’s birthdays. Then you can “write on their wall” (I put it in quotes because it is neither actual writing nor an actual wall). I’ve taken to saying, “Your present is I’m NOT going to sing!”
Be all that as it may, Steven and I went to Hummel’s Office Plus. I found a card that mentions Margaritas, an important part of my sister’s life. Before making it to the cards we were distracted by the singing Halloween toys and decorations. I tore myself away before pushing all the buttons available. I must return and check them out later. Then again, I have no budget for even more Halloween decorations this year (oh yeah, right, like I’m really organized enough to have an annual budget).
From Hummel’s, we walked across the street to Brian’s Roast Beef Deli. Steven had a deluxe cheeseburger. I tried the Greek antipasto. It was an excellent meal for a very reasonable price.
When we got home I wrote a short note to accompany the card. I subsequently discovered I have two cousins with birthdays on Monday. I wondered if I should expand my card sending ambitions but reached no definite decision. It was not until this morning that I remembered I have a niece with the same birthday as my sister (her aunt). How could I forget such a thing? I’m mortified! What a terrible aunt I am.
Now what will I do? I suppose I could just go one generation at a time: cards for siblings this year, nieces and nephews next. That might fly. Only, I’ve already started mid-year with the siblings. In fact, I’ve missed all the other siblings’ birthdays. I guess I really didn’t think this card project through.
All I can say is, stay tuned to see if I am ostracized from the family for being such a dumb yutz (did you ever notice that “y” and “z” look remarkably similar in cursive handwriting? If not, no doubt it’s because cursive handwriting is no longer taught in public schools, but that is way out of the scope of this blog).
Hummel’s Office Plus is located at 114 W. Albany St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 866-5055. Brian’s Roast Beef Deli is at 122 N. Main St., phone 866-3664.
Mohawk Valley Girl 