On Saturday, we went to Dundrum to stuff ourselves with lunch at Nando's. During this visit, the ice cream machine was working so we each got a "bottomless tub" to go along with our food. I kept having to stop eating because of brain freeze. Eli pointed out the writing on the tub that said "Extra cold!" and considering I couldn't just wolf it down, it was definitely truth in advertising.
Once I got home, I began packing for my trip to the hotel. Being who I am, I had written a list of items I needed to take so it wasn't much of a chore to get it done. To save money, I was planning to take along food and snacks so I could have dinner (Saturday) and lunch/dinner (Sunday); breakfast would be the buffet offered by the hotel. I threw some perishables, non-perishables, and drinks into a tote, grabbed my backpack and suitcase, and I was off.
I got checked into my suite without issue. And then, I had an issue.
The mini fridge was warm inside. I tried adjusting the controls and then waiting a bit. And still nothing. This did not bode well for the perishables hanging out in my tote bag.
After trying for about a half hour to get the fridge to work, I called down to Reception.
The woman who answered the phone sounded very put-upon that I would dare call and bother her. I politely explained the situation, and she curtly said she'd ask Maintenance to pay me a visit. I didn't want to assume that her switchboard indicated from which room I was calling, so I mentioned I was in room 217. "I know that," she snorted and hung up.
Bitch.
Maintenance arrived within a few minutes and after examining the fridge, he gave me the grim news that it was dead and he didn't have a replacement.
So much for my Sunday lunch and dinner.
I ate a couple of slices of ham lunch meat and two containers of yogurt but wound up having to throw away the bulk of the package of ham along with a handful of cheese sticks. Eli was planning to join me for breakfast on Sunday, so I messaged him and asked him to bring my Choco Hoops cereal, pistachios, and some popcorn, planning to cobble together a franken-meal. The hotel had a couple of in-house restaurants, but I wasn't eager to give them more of my money at that point.
I didn't sleep well on Saturday night. The bed was comfortable enough, and the surroundings were fairly quiet, but I never rest easy the first night of a hotel stay. And I had the strangest dreams - dreams so weird I can't even begin to explain them.
After breakfast, I retreated to my room. Along with my laptop, I had brought three new books and some blank notebooks. I played around on the computer, did a little reading, wrote a bit. Online, I had seen someone mention doing a "27 before 2027" list. It's exactly what it sounds like: a list of 27 things to complete before the end of the year. These are not lofty tasks like climbing Mt Everest or something. They are small things that you want to get done and maybe keep putting off - cleaning out the junk drawer, making an appointment, writing a letter.
I got a good start on my list but by noon, I was flagging, feeling exhausted from not having great sleep the night before. I pulled the curtains shut - they did such a good job that it looked like it was closer to midnight than noon - and took a nap for about an hour.
There was an early NFL game on at 2:30 so I basically watched football for about seven hours before heading back to bed.
Sunday night's rest wasn't much better than Saturday's had been. It's interesting to me how certain things can become so deeply ingrained in one's psyche. Every time I woke up during the night, I immediately tensed because I was expecting to hear Patrick performing his one-cat opera. And I found myself subconsciously sleeping in contorted positions I've grown accustomed to since both cats enjoy crowding me during the night.
Eli again joined me this morning for breakfast before heading off to work. Our table was by the window and when I glanced out at one point, this was the sight to greet me. You may need to make the video full screen since I didn't zoom in while recording. (If you have the sound on, ignore the noises of people talking, music, and plates clanging.)
Look at that baby bringing up the rear!
That was an unexpected but delightful surprise.
After putting a serious dent in the buffet, Eli headed to the office and I popped back up to my room. Check-out was at 12:00, and I planned to leave around 10:30. But I was feeling restless and unable to settle, so I packed up my stuff and headed for home a bit before 10.
When I walked in the door, Patrick ran over and yelped at me a few times. I'm not sure if he were glad to see me or if he were castigating me for being gone. Norris apparently didn't care one way or another; it took him a while to appear from wherever he had been lurking.
Having some time to deconstruct the weekend, I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get more work done. Getting out of the house puts me in a different frame of mind and "being away from it all" tends to shift my brain inward, making it easier to do some mental interior decorating. But I didn't have much success this time around. Not sure if it's because I wasn't well-rested or what.
Many thanks, as always, to Eli for holding down the fort while I was away.
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