The Countdown Begins

Yes, I did turn 48 yesterday - it was a good thing as I FINALLY got my yarn swift which came from Knit and Pearls in East Stroudsburg. It's a very nice one and I'll post pictures of it this weekend. They're weirdly expensive - I have no idea why but they are. David bought me a nice heavy maple one that I will be able to pass down generation to generation. That way they can all stand around a hundred years from now and wonder What The Hell Is That Thing. We have, for once, nothing on the boards this weekend which I'm looking forward to. I love having guests but once in awhile, it's nice just having the time to sit around and watch scary movies, one of my all time favorite things to do. Last weekend we watched See No Evil in which the Mean Person spent a lot of time picking everyone's eyes out and hoarding them in jars. The best part was he had a very dirty finger with a ragged nail that he used as his Eye Picker. There was also a meat hook involved which didn't make sense as he lived in a hotel - why would you have a meat hook? But he was pretty crafty with it, so I guess it's alright.  There were only a couple survivors and his mother of course was a twisted little thing - it always comes back to that, doesn't it? Anyhoo, I'm in the last stretch in the knitting dept, another inch and a half and I'm done with the hood of the sweater, then it's just the edging and it goes sailing off to the other side of the country, just in time for summer in Oregon. Timing is everything.

Dinner On Bayada!

Our office won an inter-office contest - 3rd prize was a dinner on the company.  I didn't participate in picking out the restaurant since I pretty much only know where John's Italian Restaurant is and of course the Chinese buffet neither of which I think the office is too interested in. So at 6 pm last night we headed out to the Mohegan Sun in Wilkes Barre and I got to be in a casino for the first time in my life. It was huge,  you drove along and there it was. We did valet parking, my Honda was very impressed and got there around the right time. I don't remember the name of the restaurant but it was very fancy. As you can see, I was the only one who remembered to bring a camera - when don't I have the camera? Dinner was great, very expensive!, the water alone was $50. I had the grilled portobello mushrooms which was strangely enough the same  dish I had been after at the Pocono Brewing Company. I did have a lot of fun, the office  I work in is very friendly - sometimes it's a bit intimidating for the same reason as they've all known each other for years and have worked in various places together.  We got done around 9 - those of us who live further away headed off (it's about an hour drive for me) those who live close by headed off to the main floor for a little gambling. That I just have no interest in, I don't think I would be very good at it, do you? The parking lot was pretty full for a Monday night but the place is so big it seems like there aren't many people there.  But it was fun and it's nice to work for a company that does such things.

Another Day, Another Guest

We're rolling right along, Janet arrived around 11 am with a present, my favorite kind of guest. We decided to go shopping in Stroudsburg, hit the outlets first of course.  We didn't spend too much time there as with the weather being warm and it being Saturday it was really crowded. As we started down the road we decided to stop at the Peddler's Mart - it's one of those places you drive by and always want to stop, but never really have time. It was really cool, full of antiques and just odds and ends. Janet was poking around when she came across an old cast iron mold for  a lamb cake  for $120 which she could NOT believe. She couldn't believe it because she had just bid and won one on Ebay for a total of $200. To add a little insult to injury it was 20% off.  She bought it as it's a tradition in Diane's family and you cannot have enough lamb molds.  We continued to poke here and there - it was just a lot of fun. Janet left after 6 as its a 2 hour drive for her. We slept with the windows open last night, boy did it get warm!! I mean really warm, like summer warm! David and I have never really been here in the summer so I'm not overly sure of the weather. In WV it gets hot but because of the moutains you can always find a cool spot. I have to help at a health fair today and I also have to find my summer clothes too. 

Out For The Count

I love my GPS - everyone knows this, it's what enabled me to be a visit nurse in unfamiliar territory and keeps me from ending up in Ohio. But every once in awhile the GPS  will be mean to you since it knows where it is and you don't. Yesterday was one of those days. All I wanted was a stinkin knitting magazine to sit with after dinner. So I put in the address of Borders after I left work  for the shortest distance. Holy Crap. I must've hit every stop sign and red light. It took me up hills and down, we managed to hit some of the worst roads in Scranton, traffic, construction, urban sprawl.  And I do mean EVERY traffic light and they were all red to boot. I tried re-routing and it only got worse, I finally gave in - we all know who the boss is in my car and it's not me. I reached the bookstore by 6 or so and was back home by 7. This was all exacerbated by the fact I was working on about 2 hours of sleep after an 11 hour day  so I was pretty punked out last night. I hit the pillows around 8:30 and passed out immediately - I don't think I moved all night.  But I feel much better this morning - I hate that half awake feeling you get when you don't have enough sleep and yesterday by five I was giving out. The weather this weekend is supposed to be very nice, Pearl and I have already been out and it's warm even with the sun not up so maybe I'll be brave and get out some short sleeved shirts!

Up All Night

Well, technically I did get about 3 hours of sleep, but I've been up since about 1 so I might as well have not slept at all. I am not a good insomniac I'm afraid, I can't get up and do something useful like some people do. I just lie there and fret, peeking at the clock and sighing with discouragement as the hours go by.  I finally got up and went in the guest room as I was just flopping around - Pearl of course decided to keep me company and promptly commenced the Bed Hogging. This didn't help in the least. Now I have a full day of being half awake - that's the part I really don't like, you just feel tired and out of it for the day.  We're busy bees these days, a lot going on at all times. We continue our search for a house and this one is going on the market this week.  In between it's work and a steady stream of houseguests, but I don't mind. In WV we barely saw anyone - now we see everyone.  I'm continuing to work on the sweater, I'm halfway through the hood and I might sew up the seams this weekend just so it will finally look like a real sweater. David and I continue to work on the budget, we do need to keep better track of what we spent. Part of the problem is with the debit card you tend not keep a good eye on your balance. The thing I miss about the checkbook is when you wrote checks for everything or had to do a withdrawal, you were always aware of your balance and how much you were spending.  I think before we started with the debit card we shopped less  and kept better records. We were going over the gas for the cars and since we both travel around it's hard to tell who got gas where and if we were charged double - or did we just get gas at the same time? So we're now going to start keeping better track and getting reciepts so at the end of the month we're not trying to figure out any mystery charges.

The Leftover Queen

It is very difficult to eat right - and it's very expensive to eat wrong. David was going over what we spend and we were quite alarmed to find we average close to $175 a week. Since it's just the two of us plus a few pets that doesn't make sense.  I know part of it is the entertainment budget but on closer inspection I noticed last week we have a lot, we buy a lot - and we only eat anything that can be prepared in 5 minutes or less.  So the mountains of Good Intentioned Ingredients  languishes in the pantry while we horse down cereal and cheese. So last week I started making tomorrow's dinner at the same time I was making tonight's. While making something quick I threw a couple of yams in the oven and simmered chili. The next night I had chili, tonight I had the yams and sauteed tofu while I made a Greek picnic pie to eat tomorrow and then I have that and the chili for the rest of the week.  This way I can eat things that take awhile to cook without having to eat at 9 pm. Anyhoo, Janet is coming by on Saturday and we are having a guest from England at the end of May, the guest room is getting quite the workout these days. The Hostess has been enjoying it of course, she lives for the guests.  It was back to chilly today but not as bad but now it's raining which is a big Eww in my book.  

My Scale Must Be Wrong

Yes, I'm afraid it's that time of the year, somewhere between Christmas Candy and Easter Rabbits I gained weight. It's a yearly event and you would think I would be able to control myself, but no. It's not really the easter candy that does it, it just adds a little extra umph to what's already there. At work they're starting a Weight Watchers group, but I'll be in Stroudsburg so I really can't join it. I have, however been investigating the online Weight Watchers and I think that might be the way to go. I just don't have time to attend a weekly meeting along with all of the other things I currently have on my plate. Yesterday was shopping day, We did AC Moores and Borders again, Ray is collecting some DVD detective series and Borders is having a 50% off sale, not to mention we always have a coupon. We also went to the used furniture store, what a disappointment, someone has jacked the prices in there shamelessly - I know because a table we'd looked at a month ago for $60 was now repriced at $150! (I wouldn't buy it at that price either, it needs repair and is not quite old enough to be a true antique), that will be our last trip in there. We did Wegmans and Sam's club, we're replacing all of the junk food with fruit and stuff - David swears they put some sort of addictive drug in Ring Dings, seems like it, doesn't it? I'll get on a kick with that stuff and it's awfully hard to stop eating it, I'm forever one more day, this is the last time, after this box is gone that's it, etc... and then I go and buy one more box.  We went out to dinner at the italian place in town, we usually end up there because it's too far to drive anywhere else and we like it there. The food is good and the staff is nice. We watched movies last night, Transporter 2 was on, I love those movies - everyone is getting chased and blown up. And now I have to get started - work is calling.

Pocono Brewing Company

Well, yesterday we didn't see the Indians AGAIN and this time it was due to David. Ray arrived about 10 am and right before we were ready to leave David found a house he wanted to look at in Saylorsburg despite making a lot of noise the last time we did this about NEVER taking me to look at a house again, etc... Well, he did it anyhow and got what he deserved because it turned out the house was almost 30 miles from the Indian museum, we got caught in a terrible traffic jam and Harry called to let David know the house had been temporarily taken off the market to boot, so there. Needless to say I was a little (a lot) crabby and we ended up skipping the museum and went to AC Moores and Borders which is always fun since I had printed up coupons for Ray and myself. At least we didn't have to skip the last activity which was going to the Pocono Brewing Company, I knew David and Ray would love that. I'd been there before but they hadn't - they have really exceptional food and a zillion and a half kind of beers of course, the beer list takes up a couple of pages on it's own. They no longer carry the Portobello Burger - that I found very disappointing. Given the way I feel about mushrooms (Donna is absolutely NO danger of my sneaking around her yard for those morels!) that portobello burger was amazing. They marinated it in some sort of balsamic dressing and grilled it I think, I tried to reproduce it but failed miserably. I ended up having a Reuben sans the meat and we had Black Forest Cake for dessert. I'm not sure what we're doing today, I think the grocery shopping and out for an early dinner most likely - the weather is holding up beautifully but it's still a bit cold. When it gets warmer we'll be heading up to Bushkill Falls as it's closer than I thought it was but it's still too cold to be wandering about the woods. 

They Wait.....

...is yet another cinematic example of why white people should not mess around with Chinese ghosts - someone is going to take a hit for the team and it will be you. I'm  not sure what was more amusing - the fact that the heroine injected herself with poison on the say-so of someone she only met ONCE( and in a basement no less) or the ghost with one of her peepers poked out trolling behind everyone constantly and just making a general nuisance of herself. Why do they have to be so silent and miserable? Why not just say what the issue is and get on with it, instead of randomly appearing with a constipated look on your phantom face and hoping some hysterical blond will figure out that you were a worker in a sweatshop that was having an affair with your boss and you accidentally discovered it was just a front for shipping illegal bear bile to China and the boss's wife saw you peeping and she didn't like you anyhow so she gave you a big old whack with the hatchet which is how you lost your peeper in the first place.  I myself would just write a little ghost memo or something. Anyhoo, I went to the chamber of commerce breakfast the other morning - I had to stand up in front of a room and introduce myself and talk to people I don't know again - that seems to be my life lately. The breakfast was pretty good but I couldn't take as much as I wanted to because I was late and ended up sitting next to a very skinny blond person. She had two wee little pieces of melon and a grape on her plate that she was picking away at - I took fruit too and some eggs and that was it. Bastards. We are still looking for a physical therapist so I've been working on that with our communications dept - that's our biggest stumbling block at this point.  I've put up some fliers around town, the communications wasn't too hot on that (since they had to make the fliers) but if one PT or OT sees it, it will be worth the effort - I operate under the You Never Know way of living most days. It's worth a try. Ray is coming out this morning so I should be getting up and moving, his room still needs a little de-catting and I have to make up the bed. I'm still working away on the sweater, I have a paper cut on my right index finger which is the worst place for a knitter to have one. If I leave it open it hurts like crazy and the yarn gets caught on band aids so it's a quandary, isn't it?

The weather has taken a turn for the best, it really warmed up yesterday so hopefully the weekend will be nice for our running around. In other news David got a visit from the neighbor across the road - the minister has been getting nosy about his last name and stuff AND he got a postcard from the church. They are trying to claim him I think!

Breakfast In The Poconos

Off to another event - today it's a breakfast with the local Chamber of Commerce which would be a tad more enjoyable if it was a bit later - I have to be there at 7:30 AM so I need to be out the door around 6:30. Now, you would think since I tend to get up stinkin' early that would not be a problem. The thing is I DO get early but that doesn't mean I am dressed and ready to go. I can potter for hours and I've come to enjoy all the time I have in the morning.  So this morning I have to skip a lot of my morning routine which includes sitting outside and reading while Pearl tries in vain to sneak up on the chipmunks, working out on  the elipse and just mucking about in general. I also do cleaning as by the time I get home from work I just don't feel like it. I've been eating dinner later and later, after I get things put away, the dog walked etc it's generally about 7 pm. Usually I'm pretty good keeping easy things to make and making things ahead on the weekend, but this week that all went out the window for some reason and it's been veggie burgers and speghetti all week.  Ray is coming out this weekend so I have to fluff up the guest room and plan some things to do, Wegman's will be on the grand tour as the easter candy is almost gone and I think we should turn our eyes to more healthful food, despite the fact there is no way a spinach salad can hold a candle to a boxful of yellow bunny peeps. But peeps are not good for you and yesterday at work while polishing off a box of green peeps that Laurie had given me I had a bit of nausea so maybe it's time to stop eating them. Nah, I just need to eat them slower.....

Busy Bees

The job is interesting, to say the least. I volunteered to do the emergency visit at 3pm which which seemed to surprise everyone  - because it was over 30 miles away. From the office mind you, it was 60 back to my house. Didn't bother me though - I'm a WV visit nurse and since my record for one visit is 167 miles round trip 30 miles was a flash in the pan. The only thing that made me mad was this was the ONE day that I forgot my camera and I was heading into unknown territory. I GPSed it but couldn't find the house so I called and got the person's dad who steered me to the house over the phone. He was a chatty thing and didn't mind talking to me for 5 or 6 miles.  On the way back I slide sideways into Barnes and Nobles and got a knitting magazine, whoo hoo on my part.  Today I had to go to a luncheon at the local hospital in Stroudsburg. I dressed professionally and brought cards since I'm no longer there for the macaroni salad, am I? The only downside was the parking sucked bigtime. I didn't have time to shark around so I had to take the first (and only) spot I saw and was lucky to get that. Heels are not always a good thing. I've gotten very good at just going up to people, I might resemble a psychotic lemur when I do it, but I do it! And no, I don't think I actually think I look like a psychotic lemur, at least no one has backed away slowly yet. I also did another interview and am currently embroiled in a snafu, not of my making (thank goodness! It's always more fun when it's not your fault, isn't it?). Friday it's the Chamber Of Commerce monthly breakfast, I have plenty of cards ready to roll. In other news, I'm part of the way through the hood of the sweater, now that I've reached the last of it, its dragging away - mainly because that's very large amount of knitting . I guess I'd better get back to the sticks!

The Day After

Mom and Fred took off this morning sometime after I left. I leave at 7:30 am so that's not so hard to do. We had a really great weekend, I'm so glad they came up to visit. So. We've heard nothing from the lookers on Saturday but since it was a spur of the moment thing and the house really isnt' on the market yet, it's ok. We just started looking and there's so many houses coming back on the market so I'm content to sit and bide my time. I'm currently watching the very last episode of The Rock Of Love Bus Tour, I missed it on Sunday, you know, entertaining and all that stuff - and I'm not sure if Mom and Fred would have had the proper appreciation of Brett trying to find that Special Woman That Will Rock His World.  OMG!! They're trying on ENGAGEMENT RINGS,  this is, as Bret would say - Totally Awesome.  He says that quite a bit, he hopes everyone has an awesome time, he feels awesome, that is awesome, you're awesome,  yada yada yada. It's down to Mindy and Taya, I'm thinking it will be Mindy because she has that Special Connection........ I digress. Do you like that picture of me and Pearl? I don't! My hair is not quite done, no make up and I'm wearing the outfit I shlep around the house in before work because I don't want to mess up my office clothes. So I altered it a bit, I did a dark blur around the border and did an antique tone - when  I looked at it, it sort of looks like one of those old pictures you find in a shoebox. That didn't quite come out well, but you saved anyhow because you had it printed and you hate to throw out something you paid for. And it's funny because when someone looks at it years later, they don't see you have no make up on or your hair isn't quite done. They see that looney dog you loved so much or those crazy red pants you always used to wear. They remember that couch and see the picture of grandma up behind you. Time has a way of changing perspective.

Hit Me With Your Best Peep

Happy Easter everyone! We had a nice holiday up here despite the temps staying down and the wind blowing a gazillion miles an hour.  We made a big Easter Breakfast of eggs and bacon for everyone  and  lots of  coffee. Fred headed out first since we don't have the good fortune to live right across the road from the Cat-Licker Church so he had to drive into town.  He thought the service started at 8:30 but it actually started at 8 am so it was a short and breezy service for some people.  Mom got to dawdle about most of the morning because not only did the Protester's service start nine-ish,  we do indeed live right across the road from the church so she literally walked down our drive, crossed the road and BANG there she was.  At 8:55 David decided to also take advantage of the proximity so he also went scampering across the road to the Big House with the Bonging Bell.  Being a heathen has it's bright side as I was only obligated to sit out in the yard with Miss Pants, also a heathen and read a book until the Holy Gang got home.   We did the deviled eggs thing and everyone has been horsing down candy right and left since we have enough to send at least an army into a sugar-glazed haze.  David and Fred went out for a Sunday drive so they could yammer some more I suppose and did a quick run at the supermarket for the few forgotten things. I'll put up pictures of dinner tomorrow but we did the whole nine yards, turkey was  the meat that was voted in (ham was vetoed right off the bat),  mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, on and on. We're currently sitting and digesting with dessert on the horizon - it's been a fun day. 

It's Never Too Early To Start On The Easter Candy

David went way overbought on the Easter candy, I have no idea who he thought he was buying it for. He bought a HUGE-O bunch, you name it ,we gots it. Oh well, it keeps. Well, everything but the peeps but so I'd better get started getting rid of them (I already got rid of one pack..)  We did not go see the Pocono Indian Museum because of Harry. He wanted to show David  a house so Fred was given the option of either doing the museum and then shopping afterwards with the girls or gallivanting around with Harry and David in Saylorsburg looking at someone else's house which is always  fun in a nosy sort of way  - he opted for the gallivanting. So Mom and I headed off to the outlets, Mom didn't see anything but I got a couple more outfits for work.  We looked and we poked, we went to a candle outlet. Everyone was  back in the mid afternoon and were just thinking about out to dinner when we got another call from Harry wanting to show the house. Now.  So we did the Tornado Clean Up and were shooing everyone out the door when Elaine and our first looky - loos were heading up the walkway. Elaine told us to stay so Fred was back on the couch watching the game, David was pointing out the highlights of the homestead and me and Miss Pants were out in the back field, away from the hulabaloo.  After that we went to the little local diner down the road - I was feeling french so I had the Boo- Fey. We're now eating Easter Candy and watching Banned From The Bible as no one was too interested in the Ten Commandments even if it is the one with Charlton Heston the hottest Moses in town. 

Happy Birthday And Other Sundry Items

Mom and Fred made it here with good time, they hit a little traffic around the Tappen  Z Bridge but nothing spectacular. As you can see Pearl is in full hostess mode,  making sure the guests feel welcome and sharing her time equally. My mother provided her own birthday cake, it's a Marie Anntoinette Cake from Tates in Southampton and is beyond good. It's hard to describe - the inside has vanilla, some strawberry and a layer of fudge, there's almond in the icing - you'll never get the recipe anyhow so quit worrying about it. I happen to know Kathleen locks her recipes up, at least she used to when I worked for her as a cake decorater years ago when her bakery was Kathleen's instead of Tates.  I worked there for a few years and have very fond memories of that time, especially doing the wedding cakes. I still have my equipment in the basement, dragging it from house to house as I know someday I'll get back to it. I digress.  David also managed to find a candle holder that plays a rather hilariously screechy version of "Happy Birthday" - Mom and Fred got a great kick out of it, Fred declared it was Very Tacky and they are taking home for the grandchildren. It was pretty funny, I have no idea where he finds these things. 

I of course gave my mom birthday presents and she gave me my present early - it's that black necklace up in the corner. She had  a pair of glass earrings from my Grandfather's mother's - mother in law made into a necklace for me!, the earring is the bottom part and is well over a hundred years old, neat, isn't it?  We spent the rest of the evening sitting and talking, Pearl was into the Hostessing and my mother and Fred have wisely bolted their door so they didn't get hostessed at 3 am. 
Everyone slept well I hope and we will be off adventuring today, I'm bringing my mom and Fred to the Pocono Indian Museum and then from there who knows!  I've been doing a bit of exploring with my two trips to Wilkes-Barre which were actually two trips to Barnes and Nobles, whoo hoo as they say. We have Easter dinner all bought and stuff, David bought a turkey so I'll be wrestling with that tomorrow even though tofu is much easier to wrangle Fred was not happy with that choice. Hmm.

Yes It Snowed AGAIN. Dammit Dammit.

I only posted one picture of the new rug, spanky isn't it? The cat would have liked to vomit on it but has been threatened so she'll have to secretly puke when we go out. Not much going on, the snow we got this morning somehow managed to melt although it's still way cold and stuff. Bastards. I got up early and did a bit of cleaning , David did the shopping and has finished installing the base board. Pearl is busy planning (plotting) her Hostessing Tactics and Evasive Manuvers for the weekend. Work has gotten a tiny bit less stressful, but only for the moment I suppose. The bright spot was dropping off paperwork at Kinkos in Wilkes Barre because I've never  been in Wilkes- Barre AND it was right across the road from AC Moores and Barnes and Nobles. I haven't been in a Barnes and Noble in forever so that was fun - and even better yet I have to go back again tomorrow to pick my stuff up! Whoo hoo!

Yes, It Did Snow. Dammit.

Why yes, it DID snow a bit yesterday. It  didn't snow a lot mind you, but with Easter right around the corner you would think it would stop. And it's not so much the snow but the fact it's back to being very cold, I refuse to start wearing my coat again though. It's the big wool sweater or the big wool sweater, nothing else will do. David has been taking up the rug for the past two days and trucking all the furniture into the kitchen as the new rug finally was installed yesterday. The cats are celebrating by barfing, they haven't hit the new carpet yet but are working towards it. Pearl enjoyed it of course, she is an Equal Opportunity Hostess and David didn't mention whether they enjoyed her efforts or not.  I'll post the pictures of the new rug tomorrow. We're busy getting ready for my mom and Fred to make a guest star appearance for the weekend, Pearl of course will be in charge of Random Entertainment and Claw will hide under the bed secretly despising the guests for putting her out of the guest room. Work has been especially rough, the honeymoon is over and I'm seriously questioning whether I made a mistake or not. Par for the course. 

I'll Be In My handbasket If You Need Me.

Yes, everything is rapidly going to hell, part of it is just me of course. People that know me well know I take the occasional ride down -  I come up again but sometimes it takes longer than others. And then I do tend to make my own troubles, I make mountains out of molehills, I can whip up my own personal frenzy likes nobody's business. David swears I believe if I worry about stuff it won't  happen, that I'll be able to stave off the direst of straits just by doing a reverse Peter Pan - and what's even worse - I do believe that!  So Pearl and I are parked on the couch watching Van Helsing for the umpteenth time, followed by the Day After Tomorrow for the umpteenth time. I COULD go find Sixteen Candles and watch that for the millionth umpteenth time but I'm just not in the mood right now. In other news the weather finally cleared up and Pearl has been out a zillion times chasing her rubber chicken and the stinky green rubber bone that she keeps trying to sneak in the house.  I've also been working on the sweater that is taking a million billion years due to all the cabling but we have hit the light at the end of the tunnel.  It has two - count 'em! - sleeves and even has a home - Kim was  the first to ask so first come first serve. 

You have to be quick when the item is not oversized, strange or neon orange, don't you? I've got work tomorrow, this time of year it's hard - by the time I get home and everything, the day is gone.

We All Know What Rolls Downhill

Sigh, things were rolling along just fine and then they took me off orientation so it's back to the drawing board and back for a little more orientation. It's not all bad but it's frustrating and I have to keep reminding myself that one of the reasons I decided to pursue this was to see if I COULD do this,. I've wanted to and talked about doing a management job so I need to step back and see how if the idea is that much different than the reality. And maybe give it a bit longer than a month. But I'm off for the weekend so I have time to regroup. Anyhoo, my mom and Fred will be heading this way for the holidays next week, I have to scout out a good Cat-Licker place for Fred, my mother can just go skipping across the road (we can even make her walk!) to the church there. They ring that bell EVERY Sunday at 9 am - but I suppose being a Getting Along With Others means not tapping on the door and asking if they can hold off on the Bell Ringing until 11-ish, not to mention it probably won't do any good. Sigh, the things I do to  be a Good Neighbor.  Today we headed out to do some shopping and get my oil changed, we ended up at the oil place for well over an hour due to the fact my oil pan was looking a bit precarious. I love when the mechanic comes out and starts blathering about pans and gaskets and I'm forced to sit there pretending it's not only understandable but interesting - inside all I can think is two things - how long and how much. David enjoyed the little mechanical chat and he parlayed back with bolts and leaks.  So they changed whatever it was, all I know is it was an hour or so and about $100 - thank goodness I brought my book!  We went to Borders and they are not only having a CD sale but one that I've been looking for - they had one copy. So I got a Buddist chant cd for $9, not bad! I had a coupon for AC Moores and got a booklet on doily knitting for $3 - I hate them on Saturday as there's two things I can  count on - it will be crowded and they'll have only two cashiers so the line is insane. After that off to Wegmans to stock up on all the things I can't find anywhere else and then back home. The weather this weekend is crappy - o - so, rainy and wet. Pearl alternately wants OUT and then is snuggling hard since she's cold. At the moment we're watching The Rock Of Love Bus - we are down to four and I agree with Mindy, Taya should be quiet. She appears to be a bit short in the smarts department but on the other hand she has an amazing rack so I guess we can forgive her for that. Mindy is crying because she REALLY cares about Bret and she thinks that Beverly is just in love with being in love with a rock star and she's afraid that when Bret really needs her to show some emotion she''ll hold back because she's in such a vulnerable place.......how can you NOT love this show?? The last picture down here is a screen door I saw and I really loved - it was so shiny and the pinky door really sets  the tone, don't you think? I really loved this door and wished it was mine with all my heart. Still do.