i know i stole your coat...you can have this song i wrote

Tonight I went to a retirement party for one of the sheriff's deputies. I don't know him all that well, although I do know his wife, who is the editor for the local paper, and so used to work with my mother. However, this is the deputy who came into the convenience store when I was working one night back in high school, and asked me if I checked IDs when I sold cigarettes. I said that I did (mostly true - but I knew a lot of the people buying and so stopped checking the ones whom I knew were 18+), and he told me to make sure that I kept checking them. Twenty minutes later, I saw his car waiting in the parking lot when a kid I had never seen came in and asked for a pack of cigarettes. I ID'd him, saw that he was underage, and said I couldn't sell to him. Then the deputy came back in later and said I'd done a great job. And my employers thanked me the next day. So, even though sheriff's deputies are not always popular with everyone in a small town, I must say that I always liked this guy.

Anyway, the retirement party included barbecue pork sandwiches and baked beans, so I was pretty happy. Laura/Ziv would be happy to know that there was an abundance of plaid, as well as a couple of people wearing overalls - but we also had ample furniture, which I'm sure they would find shocking.

The rest of my day was uneventful. I made the mistake of staying up until 4:30am reading last night, so I didn't wake up until noon. It looked nice outside, so I decided to go for a walk - you know you live in the middle of nowhere when you go for a 45-minute walk and only see two cars. Granted, I spent half of the walk on an unmaintained dirt road, but still. One of the two cars was our postman, whom I've known forever, and he stopped to say hi. And happily, I didn't see any of the mountain lions (aka cougars - but of the feline variety, not of the 'older women preying on younger men' variety) that are supposedly invading southern Iowa, so I came back with all of my limbs intact.

Now, even though it's relatively early for me, I am going to bed. I didn't write today, which means I need to write more tomorrow to make up for it. Goodnight!