This way lies madness.....

I should have had sense to see the way things were about to go when I had to stop at the end of my street to encourage two lizards not to hitch a ride on my car while I went shopping.  For some strange reason, anole lizards absolutely love my car.....of course, maybe they were on there just because I haven't moved the car in the past six days and they figured it was a stationary object.  (eBay sales have been slow this week.)

My first stop was the hardware store.  No, not the one with the UnHelpful Hardware Man; this time I chose one that's closer to the grocery store (which was my other objective for today).  As I walked through the door, I realized that I had no idea where they would keep the monofilament that I need for another of my little projects, so I decided to track down an employee--the guys in this store are never visible but I caught two of them while they were having a chat.  After they ignored me for a minute or so, I asked them the location of monofilament.

"What is it you're looking for again?  I've never heard of that."
"Monofilament.  Fishing line.  Plastic thread."
"What are you talking about?"
"Monofilament."  (***deep sigh** I know obstinate unhelpfulness when it's staring me down.)  "Never mind.  I'll just use wire."

It was a blatant lie, of course, I don't intend to use wire, but it was an easy excuse to walk away with my head held high.  Is it just me?  Surely not everyone has this problem in hardware stores.  Anyway, five minutes later, I was walking out of the store with my purchase of TADA! monofilament.  It's probably the wrong size and won't work but I was darned if I wouldn't buy it after I finally found it all by myself.

At the grocery, I was confronted by a trolley out front of the store with about ten flats of strawberries on it.  $2 a flat!  Seriously.  Okay, so some of the strawberries are moldy but if even 50% of the fruit is good, this is still a huge bargain.  So a flat goes in my cart.  The berries will take time to sort and it will have to be done today even though I have other stuff to do but it's such a great deal.

What else is on clearance?  Eggplant.  Again.  Doesn't anyone ever eat this stuff?  (Okay, so I admit that I don't like it either.)  Yes, there is more Pretend Ratatouille in my future.  And I grab an odd assortment pack because it's got an artichoke and two iffy avocadoes in it.  I can deal with that.  Lots to do now but what the heck.

And then there's another bargain that I pick up without thinking too hard about it.....and I really should have thought, but I don't realize the error of my ways until I get home.  Arugula.  Two full one pound containers of organic arugula.  I never buy arugula.  I know it's salad.  But what can I do with it before it goes off?  It sure won't fit in my dorm-size fridge.  Arrrrggggghhhhh!

Argula.....it's like cabbage on steroids, right?  **another deep sigh**  I have a feeling that I'm about to invent arugula soup.

Just now I got a notice reminding me that I'm signed up for an eBay Webinar that I will have to attend in two hours.  **thud**  Yeah, I've got nothing to do.  At all.  

Zillions of strawberries.  Good ol' eggplant.  Arugula soup.  eBay.  

And, you know, I just realized that the tree cutters from the electric company might just show up today.....they were supposed to be here last Thursday but they weren't.  What do you bet it will be today?

It's gonna be an interesting afternoon.  I guarantee it.  Life is an adventure.

.....adding a post-script to say that things work out.  They really do.  

Before I got cooking that arugula, I said a little prayer of thanks for this blessing and sat down on the little red footstool next to the cookbooks to research cooking arugula.  The first book I pulled off the shelf was Judith Barrett's Saved By Soup.  Sure enough, she had two recipes for soup with arugula.....and the best thing is that one of the soups is a combination with lentils;  you just add the arugula shortly before the end of cooking.

It's too hot here in summer to use the crock pot but today was nice and cool, so I was inspired and the first thing I did this morning was put lentils in my little red crock pot.  They've been bubbling away happily all day.  When I saw that recipe for Zuppa of Arulula and Brown Lentils, it was at just the perfect stage to add the arugula. 

God is good.  He looks after the little stuff.  And he even knows when you need the arugula that you didn't want.  I could never have planned this to work out so well, and I sure never imagined it.  Thanks for the laugh, God, and for the really good soup!

I still have enough arugula and most of the ingredients to try the other recipe (Arugula Vichyssoise) , too, and I'll do it with a smile.