Thanks for the Cyber Date!

How wonderful it was to go shopping and have lunch with my good friend, Barb, today!! I LOVE technology!!

I did have a great day. I had a good time last night, too.  We watched Avatar, which now leaves J as the last living person on earth who hasn't seen it, I think. It was good - definitely worth seeing, even if I couldn't quite get to "the greatest movie of all time".  I came home fairly drunk, though, since S decided not to drink. After 30-something days, I thought I would be cautious. I was, at first, but I finished the entire bottle by myself in the end. Of course, I didn't sleep well as a result, so after my glass of white at lunch today, I decided to have one glass with dinner. ONE. 

On the way home, I stopped at Tacoma Boys (I think I took you there...J calls it Trader Joe's on steroids...?) and picked up a piece of stuffed halibut for dinner (parmesan, crab meat and bell peppers - YUM!)  I opened my Brazin birthday bottle and settled in for a couple episodes of Criminal Minds and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of my evening.

I logged on to fb awhile ago in the hopes of catching a late-night chat with KO, (high school friend) as we had tentatively planned earlier today, but she's not there. So I thought I'd sent you the pics of my new fashion choices instead.

 One of the pairs of jeans; cute pockets, no?

The other pair is being hemmed; they're much dressier and dark washed.

Fun little summer top...to go with white capris

Casual halter to go with black capris or jeans

Sexy evening top...it's kind of a satiny fabric and I love the little bow on the side!

(There are shiny coppery-gold-tone buttons on the shoulders you can't see very well, and it's much brighter green than it looks in this picture.)

Gold-tone and orange bangles to go with green top...or whatever

Long silver necklace just because...

Practical every day black flat sandals...super on sale at DSW :)

Privos I've been eyeing for awhile...hey, it's my birthday...why not?!

Thanks for sharing my day out. Hope you had a good evening too.

Love you!

A

Sunday Snip-it

Hey, there.

From what I can tell you've had a good birthday weeked...new cut and color (that looks great!), dinner out, movie and vino with a good friend. I'm glad; you deserve it.

I hope we have a chance to talk later, as I think we have plans. If not, I'll write more tonight.

Happy Sunday.

Love,
Barb

Just Checking In

Hey, you.

Argh....already crazy busy and tired...it's super late but I wanted to check in quickly and say hi. Today I was at the school all day, came home and did some little stuff around the house, went grocery shopping, which, for whatever reason took forever,  then sat and shared the yearbook with JJ after dinner. Now, J is home (at 10:30) and packing to leave on his trip tomorrow.  I have a visit to M's architecture class as soon as I drop J off at the airport, followed by lunch with a friend (not a close friend, so not looking all that forward to it) then up to K's house for some more stuff after school with M.

Not that you need to know the play by play.  I wanted to call this afternoon but by the time I got home from the store it was after 6:30 and we were starving, so that pretty much took care of the time window. Maybe tomorrow? 

Thanks for the update on your uncle, although the news doesn't sound great. So awful that D has to deal with this as well as her own challenges right now. Sometimes it really piles on.  I guess John's sister, D, is doing fairly well, all things considered. She's taking the chemo well and keeping her spirits up. She's very excited that her little brother will be arriving tomorrow.

That's it around here...I will try to catch up with you tomorrow.  Love you!
A

Final-ly!

This is it! Finals week. Amen. It's 5:45 am, I'm out of the shower waiting for my coffee to brew (I forgot to turn the auto-on again last night after turning it off for the weekend) and I've made the decision to put my hair up (wet) in a clip, so I thought I'd use a few of my extra minutes to write.

It does sound like a busy week for you, but I bet the running around will be easier than the emotional stuff: all those goodbyes. From your itinerary I can see that J is headed out to visit with his family; I wonder if there's any news on his sister or if he's going out to lend his moral support as she begins her battle. Please tell J I am thinking of him and am sending white light his way for a safe trip, praying for his sister and his family. I would love to catch up this week if you have the time...I can ask for other details then.

News on my uncle is that things are still pretty serious. He's still in a medically induced coma, on a ventilator and a food tube, wired for sound. He seemed to stabilize over the weekend, but last night I got a text that they are putting him on dialysis. Let me back up, though. I know we talked at some point but I'm not sure I told you about the complications after his second emergency surgery that they did because his kidneys and lungs were failing, as they found out, because his colon was a necrotic. Apparently, a second problem area is not uncommon with bypass patients; when there's blockage in the heart, there's often blockage elsewhere. For him it was his colon. Anyway, after surgery last Tuesday they finally got his fever down--after days of trying--from 102.8 to 102 finally to 100.4 and then down to 99. They used a cooling blanket and all sorts of meds and still it took days. It started inching up again on Saturday and he had a little pneumonia/fluid in his lungs, so they said--as of H's son's graduation party/my uncle's grandson's party, that is--that they would be increasing his fluid intake so they could increase his urine output and try to get rid of that fluid in his lungs. But as of last night, while I was watching Food Network Star, I got word that they'd be starting dialysis.

Ugh.

I think the general feeling among my family is that he will survive. He will recover, but it will take months and months. And maybe sleeping through the worst of it is a blessing in disguise.

Off to school, but only 3 more days I have to get myself out the door by 6:45.

Hope you have a good week.

Love, Barb

Tired & Trying to Gear Up

Hey,

Sorry we didn't talk this weekend. It was busy Saturday and today I didn't feel well most of the day. Took JJ summer shopping in the morning but then crashed for most of the afternoon.

This week is pretty crazy coming up: taking K & R to the airport at the crack of dawn tomorrow, followed by end-of-year volunteer school stuff for JJ (day one of three) car stuff to get ready for drive to CA (oil change, rock chip repair, etc) two lunches with friends, J's leaving for NY Wednesday morning, then the boys finish school Friday and leave Saturday morning (6am flight!) for Arizona.

Everyone but my boys will be gone for my birthday, so I think the three of us will go out to dinner that night before they take off.  I have an appt in Seattle during the day, so I may treat myself to an appetizer and a cocktail at the Pink Door, and a stroll through the market, if it's nice out. I will text you a picture of me toasting you if I do!

I'm on my own until the following Tuesday, when J returns from NY, and we turn around and leave the next morning for my parents. It's probably not that crazy, I just feel like I have a lot going on. Maybe feeling under the weather makes it more daunting? 

I'm serious about the crack of dawn tomorrow, so I'm signing off to hit the hay. Hope you had a good weekend and that we can catch up this week.
Love you,
A

Last Day of Classes Reconsidered

Hey, A.

So sorry to hear about J's sister...Of course I'll say prayers. My family has certainly been in need of them and my friends have been generous in supplying them. And of course I hope she is in the 50 percent that responds well to treatment.

My uncle is still in ICU...he has been running a fever since his second surgery on Tuesday, but I think he is showing improvement. D is on her way to the hospital in an hour so I'll get an update from her later when I speak to her about when I can take her to chemo in her next cycle.

Okay...so all of that makes me not want to complain anymore about the students today and the last day of classes madness.

Let's try to talk this weekend?...

Love you,
Barb

Sad News

Hey,

Hope all is well with you...

Just wanted to update you on J's sister. We heard tonight that she's been diagnosed with acute leukemia, completely out of the blue. They will begin an intense chemo regimen tomorrow morning, but the success rate at her age (60) is only 50%. They have estimated that without it, she will only live about two months. With it, there's no telling how much time it might buy her, if any.

Hard night for J and his family; being so far away is very difficult for him. Keep them in your prayers tonight if you would...

Love you,
A

Self-Analysis

Hey,

A couple of days away from the incident and a session with Margy - now I'm feeling better about Monday morning's little blowup.

T asked me tonight why I carry so much anger around that isn't mine. Great question. Where does that come from? Why do I ingest other people's problems so entirely? Why is it so hard for me to be objective and/or neutral? I was thinking I have this problem with people I love, but then why do I get so caught up with CC? I certainly don't love her. 

There's that horrible part of me - the judgemental part - that thinks I know better than anyone else how to solve a problem, I guess. I feel like people share their drama with me, and instead of listening and letting it go, I pack it into my own psyche as if I own it too, maybe because I feel obligated (capable of?) solving it all.  I don't know if that's really it, or if I get myself all up in everyone's business because it's better than dealing with my own business.

Or maybe I just love my brother and I think his wife is kind of unstable and I'm worried about him, and that's perfectly normal.  I don't know why I hate her so much - really, if I had to break it down into reasons, I guess I could, but why am I so bitter?  Is it because she makes him so miserable? Isn't that his own fault? Isn't he the one who chose this? Why am I mad at her???

Clearly I need more therapy. Or alcohol. T cracked me up tonight when I told him about my tirade the other day; he said "Wow, you're a bitch when you don't drink." Hahaha! So true. Just clear headed, I guess.

Anyway, tomorrow should be a good day, coffee with my friend J in the morning, then shopping with K in the afternoon. I am down nearly two sizes, but not quite there yet, so I probably won't buy anything just yet. Still, it's way more fun to look now that I feel so much better :)

Hope you had a good day today. That light at the end of the tunnel just keeps getting brighter....wait, it's the sun!!

Love,
A

This Week's Episode of Maury

Hey,

I'm so sorry to hear things aren't going well with your uncle. What a horrible note on which to send your parents away.  Still, they must know they are leaving him in good hands.  Sending white light your way...

Coincidentally, J's sister, D, (the not-favorite one) is also in the hospital, as of a few days ago. She went in with abdominal pains, and after many tests (still ongoing) they are using words like white blood cell count, anemia, bone marrow biopsy....we should hear more during the week, but as it stands now, things don't look very good at all.

On a sort of lighter note, things went extremely well on Sunday - far better than I could have expected. We were very productive and M was in a relatively good mood the entire day. He and J went back up there after dinner tonight to do some more sorting; we should have this whole thing finished up easily by the time the kids leave for Arizona. I think time does heal, if not the wounds, some of the anger maybe.

Did I tell you my boys are going to AZ? They're flying out of here to meet my dad in Phoenix on the 19th (our last day of school is Monday the 21st, a half day - WTF?) then the three of them will road trip back to California. They should arrive about the same day we do - the 24th, and stay with us until they leave for Mississippi on the 29th. They're going to be exhausted by the time they get home on the 10th - it will have been three weeks on vacation. Still, I'm glad they're going. J and I will be home on the 6th, so we'll have a few days to ourselves at the beginning and at the end of their trip.  And, JJ is going to have the time of his life down south, I just know it. M is sooooo excited for his surprise.

I had a horrible run-in with CC yesterday, which really threw me for a loop. She caught me off guard early in the morning, in my garage, as I was unloading groceries. The minute she opened her mouth, she started crying and telling me she wants to "fix" our relationship because she thinks it will make things better for BroJ. At first, it occurred to me to be nice, sympathetic - after all, her life is falling apart - but the more she talked the more I couldn't listen to her tell me lies about my brother. After ten minutes or so of her blubbering all this crap about how he's crazy and needs therapy (um, how about you, Whacko?) I finally told her (ok, I was yelling) that I didn't want to be involved in her drama and that I wasn't interested in "fixing" a relationship with her. I told her she had made choices to control Bro J's life, and now she's a little late in trying to clean up the messes she's made. She kept bawling and saying "I know, I know, that's why I'm here! I'm trying to fix things!" but I just couldn't listen to her. You don't want to fix things, you just want him not to leave you and you'll do anything to stop him, at any cost. I'm so tired of how she manipulates everyone and unloads all these tremendous lies all over me (name that movie). I ended it by telling her to leave; I think I said "I can't even be decent right now", went into my house and slammed the door.

Nice. Mature. Not.

Still, I didn't feel as terrible as I thought I would, or should, maybe.  It was actually a relief to finally say the things I've wanted to say to her...instead of placating her and lying to her about how "there's nothing wrong", just to keep the peace.  You know what? F*** the peace.  Jesus, if you ask me enough times, if you push me to the edge, I'm going to tell you a bunch of crap you don't really want to hear.  The two of them have created such a fine mess that my few words of brutal honesty won't even make a dent.

I haven't heard from my brother yet - I thought I would get a call within the hour, berating me for going at her, defending her and telling me how much this isn't her fault....but I never got a call at all. Maybe she didn't tell him. Maybe she did and he's done defending her. Who knows.  All I know is that I coped by eating junk food.

Damn her!  And I was doing so well!  This, I can tell, is going to be the real challenge for me - the emotional, impulsive eating. Since I couldn't drink (it was 8:30 in the morning) I went for the next best comfort.

Today was better - I was really tired and didn't get much done, but I did manage the laundry and ironing and a few little things around the house. Tomorrow, checkup with MC2 followed by therapy with MC, so that should be a good day. A quick stop at Nordstrom to return a couple of things, then dinner at S&T's. Did I tell you how, after I wrote that strajava note about S and Buzz Lightyear, I got a text from S the next day day that said, "I'm missin' my friend. How are you? Where are you? Call me."  Funny, huh? So we went shopping that night at Marshalls and had a great time browsing and laughing until it closed. Silly me :)

Anyway, that's about it around here. I had intended to write a short little note, but the rambling took over.  I'm such an extremist...all or nothing, baby.

Have a good Wednesday - love you!
A 

A Complicated Sendoff

Hey, Amanda.

Hope your week is going well so far. I read elsewhere that M's concert made you cry...aww...

I'm off to my parents' in a bit for official family birthday dinner for me and my bro-in-law J. Since it is also a send-off for my parents, who leave for Europe tomorrow we're only having pizza so mom doesn't have to cook. I wish I could say it should be fun, but I fear the mood will be a bit somber...

For starters, my mother always gets emotional (and nervous) to begin with, but she and my dad went to the hospital today to visit Dad's brother (D's father) who just four days after his double bypass had his colon removed today. I'm not sure what happened between then and today, if they decided to do a CT scan to make sure everything was okay when he was having terrible cramping post-op and found polyps or what, but I do know that when D was first diagnosed her dad had a colonoscopy and they found polyps. I think they also may have removed a portion of his colon then. Regardless, L texted that he was lit like a Christmas tree and my dad and aunt (sister to both) were bawling all afternoon.

Needless to say, it will be a difficult sendoff, one with contingencies I'm sure...the just in case something happens to him, this is where you can reach us kind. Amanda, I have to be honest, I don't have a good feeling about uncle and his ability to bounce back from this. I hate to even breath that into the universe, but I'm scared.

Still, I hope to have fun with the kids and that we can salvage some time for fun in between all the worrying.

On that note, I think I may stop by a place closeby for a little happy hour first...

Talk to you soon.
Love,
Barb

Pooped

Hey there.


Sorry I dropped the ball there and didn’t sit and write on Saturday before leaving for Boston as I said I would. I let myself sleep in a little and next thing I knew it was time to shower and pack and go…

Sorry also that you’re in a bad way with this whole K’s housecleaning for M. I certainly don’t envy you the task of figuring out how best to be helpful and loving and supportive when you’d probably rather stick needles in your eyes. Or at least stand there and shout expletives at K’s spirit. F**KING COWARD. There, I said one for you.

Boston was wonderful, as always. After snapping at W when he got in the car, just cuz, we got along great. We started with lunch at Faneuil Hall (and it was free—with points on our McCormick and Schmick’s card) and headed over to the hotel after that. The hotel was nice and close to several restaurants so once we valeted the car, we were able to live without it. We didn’t even need to take a cab. It didn’t really feel like we were in Boston, but that made it feel more like a getaway for both of us. Meanwhile, we spent a great deal of time in our comfy bed room anyway. We had a late checkout today (2) then had a late lunch near Fenway Park, so I got another taste of Boston on the way out.

I drove home through some terrible thunderstorms, and now I’m just hanging out waiting for the season premiere of The Next Food Network Star. (S calls me food nerd, but I have her hooked—and cooking—too.)

Nine more days of school. I fear they will be excruciatingly long days, but the end is in sight.

I hope today went better than you anticipated it would…sending you white light.

Love,
Barb

*** SCREAMING SOUND ***

Good morning - and welcome back from BTown. I hope you had a great time, dining with Marsha Brady and all :)

I thought about writing this post elsewhere, but then I had such a good day yesterday that I wanted to share that instead. I'm so glad I had yesterday, actually, since what I have to do today sucks.

This afternoon we have to take M back up to his Dad's house to get stuff.  Since his death, K's house has been sitting virtually untouched, but for a few small things M has brought here. There is still food in the fridge over there. Because his grandfather wants to sell the house and settle the estate, all that shit has to be pored through and sorted out. The only person who can really do that is M, who clearly doesn't want to face the task - and shouldn't have to - but it needs to get done.

Since KR (grandfather) insisted on being the executor of the estate (and I'm really glad he did, at this point - I had no idea how much work goes into this) this is all really his responsibility. But since he lives a thousand miles away, I guess he just expected that we're going to take care of it.  I told him that I would help M get the things he wanted, but I put my foot down at sorting and selling the rest of it. Not my problem. After this, it's up to him (KR) to go through the rest of it an take it from there.

Thing is, M is thinking a little more clearly now and he's wanting to actually go through everything in the house - thinking about things like Christmas decorations, etc. He said we have to go through the attic. Attic??? There's more??? I told you, this place is borderline Hoardville to begin with.  So now we're planning to go room-to-room, starting this afternoon, deciding what M wants to keep.

Doing this all day will put him on edge, I'm guessing.  Me trying to "help", by trying to keep things organized, will likely piss him off.  This will likely piss J off too, which will set us against each other and really lock in the tone. I'm racking my brain trying to think of ways to be helpful that aren't me being OCD, but it's so hard. I hate being in that house more than anything. I don't want to go through K's stuff. I don't want to know what's in there. But I can't just leave M there by himself to do it - he's 17 for God's sake. He has no idea how to go through all that and make reasonable decisions. He'll want to keep things like washcloths and wooden spoons, because they belonged to his dad.  He's not going to want to leave anything for the estate sale - as he said, "perfect strangers going through my dad's stuff."  And I believe that's where J and I come in - we have to help him make those decisions, which he doesn't want to make, which is going to piss him off.

Of course we don't have room for any of this stuff at our house, so M will have to get a storage place. This costs money, which will come out of his SS benefits check every month, which, when I tell him this, will piss him off. I'll have to remind him to make the payments, which will probably piss him off.

Why do I end up being the bad guy in this? Why do I have to be the one who's pressuring him to get it done?

I want to be a big person, a loving mom who will do anything to help her kid. I want to get above my resentment and just help him...but I'm really struggling.

I guess I know, subconsciously, he's not actually mad at me, he's mad at his dad. But that's not how it comes out. I understand that I'm all he's got to be mad at; where else is he going to put that anger?  Still, it about kills me when he snaps at me, and I want to yell ugly things like If your dad hadn't been such a f***ing LOSER, we wouldn't be here in the first place!

I am so angry at that f***er, leaving all this, for others to clean up. As usual.

But if we get started today, maybe we can finish this up in a week (we did tell him we needed to get it down before going to CA) then we can close the book. At least that chapter anyway.

I thought I hated him before this. I can't even tell you what it feels like now.

Grrrrr........and it's raining again today, so I can't even get outside to enjoy a little Vitamin D before we take this on. I'm leaving you now, on this awful, grumpy note. Maybe if I take a shower and have another cup of lovely Keurig coffee (even without half&half) I'll feel a little less hateful. 

Sorry. Thanks.
Love you ~
A

P.S.

I just read this quote - dare you to write it on the last paper you correct in your career.

I could've eaten a bowl of Alphabits and crapped out a better essay.

LMAO!

Miss GrouchyPants, a la 7th grade

Hey -

Missed you today. I just texted to see if you were still awake, not really expecting that you would be. Sorry ... hope all is ok? I will try to text again in the morning.

Had a crappy day today, mostly. I started out by waking up very unrested, but not having slept poorly that I remember. I just felt groggy and grouchy. I had to run a few errands before work and had this absolutely strajava moment with S before I left. I'm even embarrassed to admit it, but I'm going to, just to prove to myself how dumb I am.  S has befriended this gal down the street, R, who happens to live directly across the street from CC.  (CC has wanted to be her bf forever, but R thinks she's a nutbag  like the rest of us do.)Anyway, however they ended up meeting, S and R started hanging out together a few months ago. They're very similar and have almost identical - majorly dysfunctional -  family backgrounds, except the part where R's dad was just sent to prison for 6 years, but that's another story. I really like R, and her husband, R2, who is hilariously funny.  They're also beautiful people, so they intimidate me a little. (R is supermodel tall and skinny, and gorgeous, which is always a blow to my self image, no matter how hard I try. But she's not the sharpest crayon in the box, so that makes me feel a little better.) Well, this morning at the bus stop, S comes out all dressed up and pretty, and when I ask, tells me she and R are going to the mall for the day.

Ok, is it my stupid hormone diet? The raging headache I've had for two days? Or my ridiculous self-esteem that sent me into a tailspin of jealousy? (Can you believe I'm admitting this out loud? I'm freakin' 46 years old.) I was bent out of shape all morning (she had no idea, it's not like I threw a tantrum) and finally got over it about lunchtime. I'm already feeling like I've lost all my friends since I quit drinking, like I'm no fun anymore. And the rain has kept everyone inside for so long we've forgotten how to BLU it anymore. And then here's pretty, perfect R, hanging out with my closest friend and I wasn't even invited.  The nerve!!

Ok, now I'm just laughing at myself. I call her (R) Buzz Lightyear - you know, Andy replaced Woody with him - which cracks everyone up, but today I just felt like pushing her off the bed.

Then, as if today were a good day to spend with 6 year olds, I taught kindergarten. With the raging headache. Some kid told me I was a bad teacher because I yelled. I seriously listened to him, even though he was a complete and total brat. I tried not to yell again, but it was really, really hard. They're so freakin' loud.  When did I lose my ability to be surrounded by total chaos?? 

I came home and tried to take a little nap to kill the headache, which had turned into mild nausea, but my phone kept ringing and I never fell asleep. When I checked my missed calls, they were all from CC - no message, mind you - whom I assume was looking for niece G, since she was up in this block. Get in your car, lazy ass, and drive up here and look for her.

Oh, did I mention how much I hate my SIL? This whole thing with Bro J and all their drama is more than I can write about tonight, but she's really gotten herself on my bad side. He's not exactly in my good graces either, but at least we're related and I have to love him.  She got all pissed off at him because he was talking to /confiding in me - and he's decided that it's just best not to talk to me then. Oh Good God, the two of them are a pair to draw to. 

Oh, I almost forgot the best part. I ate everything in sight after my non-nap. Totally blew my program for the day.

I'm going to go veg in front of Criminal Minds reruns now.

Hoping you had a way better day than I...


Love you,
A

Back from the Abyss

YAY!!! I got my email back! Send me an email, would ya, so I can get your address in my contact list again. Of course I lost all of that.

I did go check out the Mac Book today and am totally and completely IN LOVE.  Not having a spare grand in the bank, though, I didn't purchase it on the spot, like I wanted to. But all in good time....right now, with my new office program installed, everything is working fine again on this computer, so I'm good for now. Maybe at the end of the summer I can splurge.

I didn't get much else done today, except a quick trip through Nordstrom, which resulted in two new tanktops in the next size down!, a cool ribbed, turquoise t-shirt with a fleur de lis design on it, and a pair of killer metallic brown high wedge sandals. When I first got to the mall I was in all kinds of a mood to shop, since I actually got into my size 12 jeans comfortably this morning, for the first time in - well, I didn't even remember I had the jeans, let's put it that way.  But I ended up spending an hour and a half in the Apple Store so that pretty much killed my time.  No loss, though; I shouldn't be shopping yet anyway. I'm down 15.5 today and I'm not even halfway through.

Tomorrow I'm working a half day in the afternoon so I can get a few things done in the morning. I'm so happy about my computer I think I'll get some writing done.

Thanks for the invite next year - it sounds divine!
Love you,
A

Argh!!!

So pissed. I just wrote an entire entry here and promptly deleted it. I have to give up the computer to M now, so I don't have time to re-create it - I'll write in the morning. Sorry :(

um...

So a) I think you should totally come visit me next memorial day weekend, and 2) I'm so bummed I missed Fergie on Oprah!!!!

Will write more tomorrow...Glad you are safe and sound; sorry it wasn't a better weekend.

xo.
B

Not So Perfect on this End :)

Hey, Barb.

Your weekend sounds positively dreamy.  I can't even lie and say that "we had a great time, despite the rain", because honestly, the weekend was pretty dull.  We had a much smaller group this year, and since most of the kids are grown up, they don't keep us on our toes like they used to. Besides the absolutely sh***y weather - and I'm not kidding, it just sucked - there just wasn't much life in our group.  We were camping at a new place for us, and I really didn't care for it at all. It was on the beach, so no trees or any privacy, particularly no trees for tying off tarps. It was impossible to sit by the fire most of the time because it got ...... oh, why am I whining about it now? Suffice to say, I didn't really have a great time and I'm glad we're home.

I must also say, though, that going camping while on this HCG program was really, really hard, so that may have something to do with being miserable the whole time.  I stuck with it, though, through S'mores peanut butter covered Chex mix and a dozen other foods not naturally found in the human household. I was pretty psyched to have stayed so committed.

I worked today, ran a few errands, then holed up in the house to catch Sarah Ferguson on Oprah for a bit.  Tomorrow I have the day off  so I'm thinking of, among doing several necessary things, going up to the Mac Store and checking out a Mac Book laptop. My brother can get me a nice discount through work, and I've been wanting one for ages, and this one is a piece of crap, so... Bro J talked me into at least checking them out and playing around on one - he swears I'll be hooked.  I still don't have email on this one (I can read it, but I can't do anything with it - I got your note about FB!) which I'm getting very tired of.  Other than that, though, I have nothing planned and hope to get my floors cleaned. Exciting day.  Working Thursday and Friday...nothing coming up this weekend. Yay!

Now it's about time for dinner, but I wanted to get a quick note in before I did that....it's Glee tonight and I may not be back to the page later!  I hope this (short) week started well for you - I can't imagine anything less after such a fab weekend :)

Love,
A