stamps | The Everyday Alchemist

As anyone who has broadened their horizons in a direction outward of their home sphere will say to people who have not, you really don’t realize how much you take for granted the accessibility of loved ones. Look at me, I’m saying it to you right now, although I have no idea of how broad your horizons are. Having people you care about within whim-distance of you (that is, close enough to see “on a whim”) is something truly special. While the situation was less than ideal, I was very pleased to be able to go pick up a friend whose car had died, thankfully after all the kiddoes were dropped at school. We had already talked about meeting at her house for coffee, so I had my new favorite Ariel mug in tow. At least that way I felt less like a mooch about the free coffee, and got an extra shot of Torani Classic Caramel syrup. We got to visit and chit chat and goof around, which are some of the things we do best together. We discussed the possibility of going all Breaking Bad in order to generate extra income (although neither of us is a chemist) and I got the news that someone I know is pregnant, and it might be twins, and if you’ve happened to pop over to the WMC and read my latest featured post, you’ll know how happy I am for her, so we talked about that, too.

Alas, if a friend gives you a ride, she will want coffee. If you give that friend coffee, she will stay at your house for four hours and not get anything else done or her blog updated. Which is why I’m here now, at nearly 1:30pm.

Oh, but I did manage to send Shelby off this morning with a cute little Minecraft-inspired bento box lunch I prepared last night. I’ve been pinning the crap out of school lunch bentos lately, and I was inspired. Behold:

Please, contain your excitement

It’s not award-worthy, but it’s not awful. It’s a ham and lettuce sandwich, cheddar and mozzarella cheese cube building blocks and a Creeper apple. The details are made of nori attached with honey. I’ll let you know whether she was stoked or appalled.

I have actually gotten a few things done today. I picked up the kitchen (mostly) and did the dishes. I also realized I hadn’t sent in the house note, and had no stamps, so I rushed out to the post office, with nothing but a twenty. After some nice-but-somewhat-catty bantering between the two postal employees behind the counter, I started to get uncomfortable. I mean, I know it sucks to make that much change, but I did offer to buy a few more stamps to make it easier, though I was not in the mood to buy two entire books, which was her response to my offer. The other woman said “You’re nicer than me, I wouldn’t have sold it to her…” in a tone that clearly stated that cattiness was not my imagination. Then when I asked where the drop was for the outgoing mail, she smiled and said “I’ll take it for you,” which had just enough cartoon villain in it to make me wonder, after handing her the envelope, if my house note was really getting paid on time this month. Guess I’ll find out, won’t I!

So now I’m back at the house, excited that I’ll get to make a list with things already crossed off of it, and that I’m about to have artichoke hearts on toast. Toast I made in the oven, because who loses a toaster that’s sitting on the counter? This girl.

Enjoy the list, and really check out the artsy mugs Disney has out right now. But don’t buy the Ariel one. That one’s mine. There can be only one.