Postcard from the W/E-It was a Wet One…

Woke to overcast skies on Saturday morning, it had rained all night. With John still sick after a week of sneezing and sniffling, I would be on my own for most of the weekend. I decided to beat round three (or was it four or five) of incoming storms and head out for an early run. Although the humidity was high, the temperature hovered around 60 F, conditions I find appealing for a good run.

I don’t get the opportunity to run on my own much these days, John is often at my side (or usually ahead). While I enjoy his companionship and encouragement, if truth be known, I enjoy the occasional run alone. It is my time to let my mind go blank, dream or sort though things that maybe bothering me.  So Saturday’s run was a treat.

The run seemed effortless. I wound my way through the streets of the neighborhood and out to the new boardwalk along the river.  Before I knew it, my legs began to feel heavy.  I looked at my Garmin and realized I was near 4.0 miles. Where had the time gone?  Knowing I was not going to make 5.0 miles,  I stopped at 4 and walked the rest of the way home.  It was a very good run for me!

After the run came a 3 hour grocery run (3 stores and lots of walking up and down the aisles), we were out of most of the essentials.  I came home to a bored and restless John, who offered to buy dinner if I would drive.  I said yes, of course.

We struggled per our usual routine of trying to agree on a restaurant, finally settling on a burger place (I shutter at the thought as I write this) called Stock Burger .  Not long after we left the house, we noticed the sky had an odd color with a series of heavy, unusual looking clouds.  The further northwest we traveled, the worse things appeared.

At first, a few rain drops fell, then a heavy rain started and suddenly the sky opened up and buckets and buckets splashed (crashed) down.  Next came the hail, big, loud pieces of ice pelting the heck out of the car.  I haven’t looked too closely but I am hoping for no noticeable damage. Finally the worst of the storm passed and the rain went from intense to heavy. We made it to the restaurant in one piece though a bit damp getting from the car to the front door.  The burger (and fries) I ordered negated every step I had run in the morning.

I was hungry and dove into the burger. Got through most of it and the fries before my stomach started cramping.  I could not eat the rest.  I did manage to put away the vanilla cake donut with maple frosting and carmel drizzle below before the cramping turned into intense pain.  I thought for sure I had food poisoning but a couple of Tums and laying down eventually solved the problem.  By all accounts, eating this type of food is poison but sometimes it is hard to resist!  John had the same type of stomach cramps later in the night so we have marked Stock Burgers off our restaurant list.

The rain continued through Saturday night and all day Sunday.  Knoxville received a record 2″ of rain in 24 hours. We considered throwing life rafts out for our newly planted coleus, azaleas and dogwood but the sun should be out tomorrow to dry things out.

Sunday has been a lazy day.  A little bit of cooking, some laundry but mostly writing and resting.  Rainy days are good for that sort of thing. We found ourselves restless mid-afternoon and headed downtown for lunch (food seems to be a theme for the weekend).  Even with the rain, the Sunday crowd was out.

Comfort food at Sweet P’s hit the spot.  John had a andoula sausage sandwich and mac and cheese while I settled on pulled chicken (somewhat healthy) and mac and cheese (ouch).  We were home an hour later and back to relaxing mode.  All in all a needed restful weekend!