Wasting the Day....

This has not been one of my most productive days -- that I must admit. I woke up feeling like a crushed Styrofoam cup this morning...used up and not renewable....and that has pretty much been the whole days business.

I was able to make myself go to the grocery store here in town to get dog and cat food, but that was to prevent the dogs from consuming my little feline friends. There was a little incident at the cat food dish this morning and I felt compelled to fill the dog food bowl with something for the canines. However, Cocoa still likes cat food (and cat boxes) better than just about anything the dog food companies make, so she was a little disappointed to have lost the excuse to forage.

This past weekend my mom in law and I went to Temple, Texas to visit my sister in law and her family. Carol and I did a little exploring this time and struck out to find the downtown. I was amazed that Temple has this potentially fabulous downtown and yet it had all but died out. Next time we go, I will take pictures. I did get online and found out there is a drive to revitalize the downtown going. That would be so fabulous. I think it would be great since you can tell that at one time the downtown was a real gem. The architectural detailing on some of the buildings are amazing. I hope they offer incentives for artists to open galleries and studios in some of the storefronts. Supposedly there is a steakhouse down there. I am going to seek it out next time and look around at what other businesses there are. The biggest problem I see in Temple is that the highway/interstate divides the town and chain stores have moved to the other side of the highway, drawing business away. As in many towns, the chain stores have made a mess of the potential businesses with real personalities. Hopefully someone takes the reins and gets a solution going. In Tulsa, Home Depot opened a store in downtown and drew people to it. Wouldn't it be great if some of the other stores did the same. Then it would ease the excuses the residents have for going "all the way down there"..I fell in love with the downtown. It is amazing. Much like a gem that was once sparkling but fell down on it's luck. It's still a gem, waiting to be discovered. That is part of the reason my drive this year is to buy from local, family or indie owned places. I can't always find that kind of alternative, but when it does exist, that is the direction my money goes. There is a face behind the product and that is good.

I did blow the budget on wine though. I'll recoup and be more careful this week....Really...