Tuesday, November 20, 2007

How do I love this job? Let me count the miles...

In a few minutes, I'll be off to Clinton, 10 miles south, to join the South End Koffee Klatch for a couple of hours. At noon, I'll head for Coupeville for lunch at the hospital cafeteria and to do my chaplaincy rounds. At 2:30 or thereabouts, it's farther north to Oak Harbor to visit a shut-in member and give her the memorial service info that I gave to others Saturday, plus the latest edition of Quest, the newsletter of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, and last Sunday's sermon manuscript. After visiting her for an hour or so, I've got to hit the Oak Harbor Safeway or Albertson's for cat food, as the price at my local grocery store is much higher than it is at a chain store. And tonight is the book club, if I can find out where it's meeting.

I figure I'll log about 100 highway miles on the job today. At current IRS rates, that's almost $50 of job-related car expense, unreimbursed. Good thing I have a fuel-efficient car.

But I'm looking forward to the day. The Koffee Klatch is always great, lunch at the hospital is delicious and free to volunteers, our shut-in member is a hoot and I love visiting her, and it will be good to be able to throw in a grocery trip at the same time. Since Maxie came to live here, my catfood bill has gone up by another 5.5 ounces per day, so it makes sense to get it on sale. Here in Freeland, the price is 55 cents per 5.5 ounce can; at Fred Meyer, Safeway, and Albertson's, it ranges from 40-50 cents per can.

But they're worth it. They are all thriving and healthy, and the two older cats are running it off as Maxie chases them and does his tricks to get their attention. Max has turned into quite the lovebug, wanting his human mama to hold him when he gets tired of chasing and wants to purr instead. I love the lovey-dovey stuff, but not the snags it puts in my sweaters!

5 comments:

Mile High Pixie said...

Oh yay! Happy kitties make a happy home, you know. I've often thought of getting another kitten to whip my two almost-ten-year-old cats into shape. And good for you to have a fun/interesting day on tap.

Joel said...

Are we going to be seeing you tomorrow for some religiously-sanctioned gluttony, or are you going to turn into one of those old women who eat out of cans with the curtains drawn, muttering to their cats?

Lilylou said...

Joel, I had hoped to be able to come to ML for T'giving and the religiously-sanctioned turk-fest, but I decided not to try to predict what the pass would be like and accepted an invite here. Now I see that the pass will probably be fine and I'm regretting not coming to see everyone, but it's probably just as well, with gas prices at 3.27 here on the island. Also, I have an event on Saturday night at my house, so I'd have to be home on Friday anyhow. Have fun without me while I mutter to the cats. At least I'm going to have real turkey instead of Friskies' Turkey Chunks Deluxe.

Lilylou said...

PS. That Turkey Chunks crack does not refer to what you will be eating at your Mamma's house tomorrow. It does refer to the boatload of catfood I got at Safeway yesterday at a slightly cheaper price than the local market.

Joel said...

That Turkey Chunks crack does not refer to what you will be eating at your Mamma's house tomorrow.

Dang! I was looking forward to seeinng her face when I repeated that, blinking innocently.