I've spent most of my 3-day weekend in solitude and watching movies/Downton Abbey due to the very cold weather and snow, but I did have an old friend come by for lunch today.

For the 1st time since I went vegan, I unapologetically made a vegetable soup for our lunch. (Also some guacamole and carrot sticks, some bread and for dessert, plain yogurt with fresh blackberries drizzled with honey. In the past, I would break my vegan-ism and make something with meat in it to accommodate my guest.

Fortunately, my friend seemed to like the lunch I made, and he brought me a half dozen eggs from his chickens, which to me is always something special. I won't eat store-bought eggs anymore, in fact.

The leftover soup will serve as my lunch for the rest of the work week.

In a previous post I wrote about the Origami collapsible metal shelves I bought from Amazon and how I had to return them because they were damaged. When I went online, I indicated I wanted to do a return and opted for replacement rather than a refund, as I really do like these shelves.

But then Amazon directed me to drop off the shelves at a UPS store, which I've done before, but I was so annoyed they were damaged and especially upon finding a former customer's return label for the shelves (because they were defective), so I decided to call Amazon and the woman I got agreed to have UPS do a pick-up at my door, which at least would make it a little easier for me with all the snow and ice around here.

They were supposed to cal me to schedule a pick-up but the driver showed up at my door during my lunch with my friend, so that was fine with me and I gave him the package.

But after my friend left, I noticed the replacement shelves from Amazon had already been delivered and were already sitting in front of my garage, but they had somehow delivered 2 replacements instead of one! I'm guessing it's because I started the process online but then when I talked to the woman from Amazon on the phone, she probably processed another replacement without realizing I had already indicated I wanted a replacement online.

I haven't yet been charged for the 2nd set and I'm wondering if I will be. Because it's kind of a pain to do the returns, I will just keep both. They are really quite handy and would work well in the basement, garage or in a kitchen pantry, if I had one.

One big benefit of having my friend over is that I had decided I wanted to give him a tour of the upstairs, so I cleaned the place from top to bottom. Everything looked pretty good, I have to admit. If only I could keep it looking this way. Normally, when guests come over, I only worry about cleaning the first floor.

Tomorrow it's back to my regular work routine although I MIGHT wind up working from home, depending on the weather. They're calling for 1 to 3 inches, and if it's coming down steadily when I get up, I may just stay home. Right now there's just a 66% chance it'll be snowing between 7 and 9 a.m. so we'll have to play it by ear. If it's sticking to the road, I'll stay home.