A day without Sam.

When Sam’s not here I frequently get into a lot of mischief. Mostly this refers to shopping online, which kept me busy until 3 this morning. I blew a wad of dough (no pun intended) at The Prepared Pantry for a supply of our favorite New York Rye and Black Russian bread machine mixes, bought a highlighted wig (on sale) plus a bottle of styling goo from Paula Young, and came dangerously close to hitting the “submit order” button on Overstock.com for the following essential products: 1) $145 worth of oversized Egyptian cotton bath towels; 2) a pair of coordinating tub mats; 3) a stainless steel Oster convection/toaster oven that’s BIG ENOUGH TO BAKE A 12-INCH PIZZA; 4) a set of four stupid overpriced red mixing bowls; and 5) 3.4 oz. of Calvin Klein Euphoria spray perfume.

In retrospect, bread and fake hair should be more than enough shopping fun for one day. I didn’t really need those last five products, anyway, although new towels would be swell. And the tub mats.

As I write this post Sam is in Houston eating lunch at a sushi restaurant on the Katy Freeway service road and says he plans to head for home afterwards. It’s a 4½-hour drive — about 250 miles — which means he’ll be pulling into the garage around 5:30 p.m., which gives me just enough time to finish my leftover Chinese food, fold a load of laundry, design a postcard mailer for one of my clients and then go back to Overstock for those Egyptian cotton towels. And the tub mats. Plus the perfume (maybe).

Hey, did anybody see a news story this morning about Jimmy Buffett? I think the poor guy finally wasted away in Margaritaville ... he fell off a 12-foot outdoor stage in Sydney and cracked his head. I’m hoping it was a fundraiser for Nose Plugs for Australia (see post).

Thank you for reading this.