Sounds pretty selfish - taking time off for yourself. However, I desperately needed to take some time off from work and attend to things I have been needing to do for quite some time. Besides that, I have a load of vacation time I need to take before it is all taken away from me.
Yesterday, I spent the day at the State Fair of Texas with my friend, Arnold. I had a blast, but the unfortunate piece, my back was really throwing me into many slow down fits. I felt awful, but Arnold was pretty patient. I greatly appreciated that.
I had not been to the fair since 2013 and my original plan was to try a few of the specialties at the fair, play some games (in hope of gaining some toys for the dogs and just overall entertainment), then head home. I mentioned to Arnold I was going to the fair and he wanted to join.
I tried to be intelligent about this whole fair business. When I went in 2013, I paid $17.50 to get in to the fair. My first time to the fair, 1997, I brought 4 cans of food and got in for free. I checked out the State Fair web site and found that Wednesdays were for the North Texas Food Bank - bring 4 cans of food and get into the fair for $4. Could not beat that! Well, I guess you could, if you were a senior citizen, but seniors got into the fair for free on Thursdays and that was not going to work for us.
Arnold and I walked around and looked at some of the exhibits. I ended up getting a second level butcher knife block with an icing spatula. Arnold was won over with the knives being dishwasher safe, so he got a set. He also set up an appointment to talk about window replacements and won $500 off the price.
We both got a corn dog, some salt water taffy, and shared Jack's Fries, funnel cake, and this year's specialty, Holy Moley Deep Fried Carrot cake. I brought home some roasted nuts, candied apple, caramel apple, and cotton candy. Oddly enough, I have not dived into any of those items at this time. I am just happy to have them. I also bought the dogs a couple of toys - I could not go to the fair and not bring back something to the dogs.
Going to and from the fair, Arnold and I rode the train. Interestingly enough, we only had to wait at the most 5 minutes for the trains to arrive to take us to our destination. I honestly love riding the DART when I can. It simply makes the trip that much easier.
The dark cloud over this is that I did not realize that the area where we parked was only for 4 hours between 5 AM and 5 PM. Arnold got a ticket and I felt horrible for that. I have said that I would pay for the ticket since it was me that suggested we park there. I just did not want to have to pay for parking, then pay for having to ride the train down to the fair.
However, overall, it was a lot of fun going to the fair. Arnold may not go again for awhile, but I think I will try to plan a day off every year just to go to the fair during the day. I have to admit, it was so much easier to head over to the fair during the day in the middle of the week. I have seen the DART trains overloaded with people heading to the fair at night and especially on the weekends. Let's not even talk about the Texas/OU game! I went the day of that game in 2013 - tons of people.
Even though there is a parking ticket involved, I managed to keep the spending down - outside of the butcher block. That piece was something I probably would have done sooner or later. Overall, I was pretty happy with how I managed going to the fair.
My back and knee gave me fits all evening and night after the trip to the fair. I was pretty exhausted and the dogs were not happy with me for leaving them all day. I keep telling them that it was way too hot for little doggies - it had gotten up to 97 degrees (whatever happened to the beautiful cooler weather at the beginning of this month?).
Having thought that this may be an issue before yesterday, I had marked today as a day to just lie in bed and catch up on rest. Furthermore, just relax and unwind. I also put my ticket to see Garbage up for sale. I made the fatal mistake of getting the ticket because I love the band and wanted to see them. However, the Southside Ballroom has no seats - standing room only. I know my back would not have tolerated that another day.
I hate not getting to see Garbage, but upon reflection, it was the best decision to make. I have been icing my back and knee off and on today.
To compound matters, my system is off today. Not sure what it was that I ate or did not eat - I was so tired last night that I did not have dinner and missed getting anything for breakfast for today. However, around 3 PM, I could not be too far away from the bathroom. I just pray that whatever was in my system has left and will remain gone. I hate it when that happens because I never know exactly what caused it. I mean, it is easier when you have had something to eat and you know - Oh, yes! That messed me up pretty bad - so you do not eat that or are very suspicious.
The rest of the time, I am going to spend working on the apartment. I want to clear the clutter and start feeling better about myself.
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