Cleaning out to move

We're moving into the new building at work this weekend. I had to clean a bunch of crap out of my desk, since of course we're moving to a smaller space. As I was cleaning off a shelf in my cube, I ran across old cards. Little florist cards Michael had sent me with flowers through the years. I had just stuck them up there and forgotten them. Faded "I Love You"'s from a time when I was cared for and belonged to someone. It seems like a lifetime ago now. A lifetime of empty evenings and talking to the cats. And it's only been two years.

I just shoved them in my briefcase to take home, and put them on a shelf at home without reading them. It broke my heart a little to see them. It made me think about my Grandma Shumate and the strawberry seeds. She said about six months after my grandfather died, she ran across a packet of strawberry seeds he had bought and tucked away, thinking to re-sew their strawberry patch in the spring. She said it brought him back so vividly for a moment she just had to sit down and have a good cry over those little seeds.

Of course the seeds were symbols of lost potential unfinished plans that (literally) never came to fruition. I also think it was coming across them unexpectedly. After a death or loss, you start trying to prune that person out of your heart. Running across a little piece of them unexpectedly breaches your defenses. Those little cards went right to my heart in an in little shards, instantly.

***

In other news, I saw the doctor today. Usually this time of year I'm over there every other week; but since my surgery, I haven't had any throat infections this summer or so far this fall (knock wood). My weight is worse than I feared. I couldn't help but think about those macaroni pie lunches, pre-packed in my fridge at home. I stopped on the way home and got stuff for a salad for dinner. Suddenly I was truly ravenous for salad. Truly. Usually, dire news about my weight makes me instantly depressed, but since I have been getting laid (indeed with surprising regularity, and relish) lately I'm not as upset about it as I might ordinarily be.

The good news is that I don't have cancer. I have a cyst in my back, which was what stimulated me to make the appointment in the first place.

I spent the evening listening to TV and fooling around on iTunes. I'm working on a CD for Justin, and mulling whether or not I should give it to him.

Morning

Another failure for the glass lab. Toilet bowl cleaner doesn't work either. The little bowl is just as cloudy as ever. I filled it with vinegar and left for work this morning.

I read some good things about glass stove-top cleaner last night...

***

I realized as I was washing the breakfast dishes this morning that yesterday would have been the 8th anniversary for Michael and me if we had made it. I can't believe it didn't even cross my mind yesterday. Just as well. I didn't hear from him, and I wasn't sending a card this year like I did last year. Still, I'm surprised at myself.

I can't believe I've been single again for two years without even a prospect on the horizon - without even a boyfriend. I wonder if this is the way it will be from now on.

I am a naughty, naughty boy

After work tonight, I headed to the Ross's Dress for Less near work to see if they had any of those Nikes in. They didn't. I did find a pair of black pants I kind of liked (I HATE buying pants when I'm fat) and needed, and a set of orange sherbert colored Westpoint 100% cotton 400 thread-count sheets I definately did NOT need. I got them anyway. I keep trying to get some sheets as nice as the ones Lee has. I then headed for the one in Simpsonville to see if they had them. They did, but not the color I wanted, nor did they have my size.

After a run through the grocery store (where I found out they are changing manufacturers and no longer have the recycled paper towels I use), I headed home on the toll road. Since I don't have anything at the house really for dinner, I stopped for Chinese buffet, my rationale being that after the lunch I ate today, at least it wasn't more cheese.

So I was just a triple-whammy of decadence. More sheets, buring gas for no good reason, and eating Chinese buffet that I really didn't need at all. Not to mention coming home on the toll road, which just adds insult to injury.

I got in and put my sheets in to wash. I contemplated the fact that I may well be the Miss Havisham of Greenville, covetously gathering linens for a trousseau that may indeed never be needed. Albeit I'm a Miss Havisham who apparently gets laid more regularly than the original.

I then found out difinitively that petroleum jelly does not cure sick glass when I washed my platter. Nor does Bon Ami, which I tried next. I did find a website tonight that says you have to leave the jelly on for 4-5 days. I guess I could try that.

When I took my sheets out of the washer, they didn't seem to have pilled, but I noticed the package said they are combed cotton. Story of my life - I thought it was what I wanted until I got it home. Dammit. I hate furry sheets. I also won't have "sateen". Apparently no one makes good ole percale anymore. I did notice tonight that both Ross's stores had these ugly satin animal print sheets. In addition to the expected tiger and leopard prints, they had alligator in both a golden tan and a rich brown. These were slightly less horrendous, although of course I wouldn't have them on a bet. But at least they didn't automatically make me think of a trailer park.

I squirted toilet bowl cleaner on my little sick bowl, and went to bed.

Awakenings and disappointments

Well the denture cleaner didn't take off the baked-on food on my Fire King. I'm going to try oven cleaner next. It also doesn't remove mineral deposits on sick glass. My little bowl was just as cloudy as ever this morning. They do say that some toilet bowl cleaners work. I'll have to see about that. The oven cleaner didn't work on the mineral deposits either. I tried it on my little bowl this morning - they didn't budge. Maybe I'll try again and leave it overnight. I'm going to take the petroleum jelly off the big platter tonight when I get home. I was almost late this morning from playing in the glass lab!

A nice Sunday**

I had an unusual visit downtown to start the day today. Ever had one of those moments when you feel as if you had stumbled into a movie set? Well I had one of them this morning.

After that, I went over to White Horse Road, more to walk around than anything. The weather was absolutely glorious, and I didn't feel like doing chores. I didn't find any glass, which was fine since I found such nice things yesterday. While I was out there though, I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. He's an artist, and a really good looking guy. Our paths had just parted several years ago. He ended up coming by the house to visit for a while today, which was really nice. Getting caught up was good.

I also finally remembered to pick up some denture cleaner today. I have read that it is a good way to clean old glass, and I have a distressed piece of old Fire King that has baked-on gook all over it. While I was looking up how much cleaner to use to get it off, I wandered across a site of tips for cleaning cloudy glass. Apparently denture cleaner is also supposed to remove the mineral deposits on "sick" glass (glass that has been washed in a dishwasher in hard water, leaving a film of ugly mineral deposit). I have a little bowl that is sick, so I plunked it into the cleanser to see what would happen. I checked it a few hours later, and nothing had, so I decided to leave it in over night.

Another "cure" for sick glass touted is a generous coating of petroleum jelly, left to set overnight. I figure a good smear of petroleum jelly is good for most anything ;) I have a big Windsor platter that I bought a couple of years ago that has deposits on it, so I smeared it up and left it to sit.

Since I had my clinic for the sick glass going, I decided now would be a good time to get out all the glass I bought over the last couple of weeks, clean it, and get it in the display cabinet. It had been just sitting around the kitchen in bags. I got all the labels removed, and got it all washed up. I got out the beautiful stands I bought in Augusta GA when I was there, and spent a fun hour or so re-arranging the glass in the china hutch and fitting the new stuff in. I love playing with my glass.

I showered up and partially cleaned the shower, then packed up the recycling and headed to the grocery store. I got groceries and emptied the recycling, then came home and started cooking. I decided I didn't want checca sauce, and made a macaroni pie with cut up tomatoes in it instead, since all I've wanted to eat this week is cheese. Then I sat down and figured up how many calories were in it. Apparently, I'm going to be eating 1,400 calorie lunches this week! Yikes!! That is a good recipe though. I got it from a guy's wife that I used to work with, and have been making it to raves ever since.

In between doing all of the above, I had been feeding loads of laundry in and out, and mostly gotten the wash done, and changed the sheets.

I ate dinner while watching the Fox lineup - they had the new shows for Fall starting tonight. Then I packed up my lunches for the week and turned in. Month-end this week at work. And I need to go see Miss Kat this week.

An excellent glass day!

Fire King Sapphire Blue oven glass, 1 quart casserole, circa 1942-1950

Anchor Hocking "Bubble" 5 1/4" cereal bowl in sapphire blue, circa 1940-1965

FIND OF THE MONTH!! Colonial or "Knife and Fork" spooner/celery in crystal by Hocking Glass Company, circa 1934-1936 - this is a rare piece

It was an interesting morning. I really should be doing stuff around here, but really didn't feel like doing it. I decided to make a pass through the White Horse Road flea market, but as usual, found nothing. It's a nice walk anyway. I am making pasta with checca sauce this week (since I got a slew of tomatoes from Mom and Dad Tuesday night), so I didn't even need any produce; although I did pick up the pasta a the gourmet food place for 0.50.

Leaving there, I just really didn't feel like going home. I was pondering running down to Anderson Jockey Lot just for the heckuvit, even though it was overcast. That can work with you sometimes. Since there aren't a lot of shoppers, you can get good deals on an overcast day. On the other hand, if the sellers don't show up because of the weather, there isn't a lot to buy. As I headed back to the house, there was a traffic accident blocking the road. That was the last straw. I turned around and headed for Anderson.

There weren't tons of sellers today, but the front section was full. I decided just to walk around since I was down there. I did the yard sale section without seeing anything - even things I didn't want - and decided to head to the car. Just on impulse, I decided to walk through a building, since I had gotten a piece of pizza and wanted to finish it. After I did, I headed back towards the car across the front covered section, where I never find anything. I'm just used to walking that way because it's shady and completes a circuit of my route through the buildings. Oddly enough, there was a guy set up, up front with a table of old glass and ovenware. What caught my eye was a cobalt Manhattan creamer that turned out to be chipped. I didn't see anything else initially, and almost walked off, but he had set up a little lower table behind the real one. When I looked behind the big table, there was a little Sapphire Blue casserole - and he only wanted a dollar for it. There was a pink bowl that I knew was something, but I just wasn't that attracted to it. I later identified it as a bottom for the candy dish in the Jeanneatte "Swirl" pattern. It's worth $100 with the cover, but the cover was missing. I would have bought it anyway, but I didn't really like it. It's one of the patterns where the pink is a "muddy" unattractive color. More smoky pink than cotton candy pink.

The last thing he had on his table was a piece of crystal Colonial Glass. I wasn't sure what it was. I don't usually care for the clear Colonial, and the accessory pieces for the pattern are large and rather graceless, but I found this piece interesting enough to feel for chips and ask about it. He told me it was a spooner, and he wanted $5 for it. Out of curiosity, I looked it up when I got back to the car - more because I was curious about the pink bowl than the spooner, since I knew what the pattern was on it. It turns out the spooner in that pattern is a hard-to-find piece, and was valued at $75!! Needless to say, when I found that out I realized I had found a treasure and got all excited. I pulled up behind his booth, and he cheerfully sold it to me before I left.

I LOVE that rush when I find a treasure.

I was so excited about my find, I decided to stop at a little antique store I sometimes stop at on the way home from the Jockey Lot. In there, I found two sapphire blue "Bubble" bowls, marked for $3.50 apiece. A bargain, since they are worth $15 - I thought. I found out when I got home that I have been buying cereal bowls as berry bowls, since I haven't been measuring them. These are 5 1/4" wide instead of the 4" berry bowl I thought I was buying. These are valued at $14 in the book. It says a lot about how portion sizes have changed that I'm mistaking cereal bowls for berry bowls. People just really eat a lot more than they used to.

I was glad I waited to get gas until I was on the way home. One place was selling for $3.699, and I had planned on stopping on the way back; but when I did they didn't have any gas! Pissed me off that they're flagging that lowest price with nothing to sell. I spent just over $50 to fill my 15 gallon tank. If I had done that this morning, I doubt I would have driven on to Anderson.

A lazy day**

When I got home, I decided I needed a nap, since I was up at 4am this morning. I did manage to sleep a bit more before I got up for good, but it was a pretty crappy night.

When I woke up, I felt lazy. The yard was all wet, so I really couldn't trim bushes, and it was too late in the day to start painting the front door. I kind of thought Russ and Billy might call to invite me along on their dinner with some friends tonight, but I didn't hear from them.

I fooled around on the computer and made meals of dibs and dabs out of the fridge. I found out those shoes I wanted at Ross's were Nike Daybreaks, and they really do cost $80 retail. The cheapest I could find them online was $50. Still a lot more than the $17.99 they were at Ross's. And I'm not sure I can justify buying a pair of orange shoes that cost that much - cool though they may be.

Eventually I found myself flushing two hours of my life down the toilet watching "Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector". Yeah. It was that bad.

But I had a couple of little visits to break the boredom. I ended up not seeing the end of the movie, and didn't feel as if I'd missed anything. After losing my computer game I was playing, I went on to bed.

Dinner out with Michael and Joe

We went out for Chinese tonight. We had a good meal and I enjoyed seeing them, but Joe called to bail on a house visit tonight. I was pretty disappointed, but I understood. Sometimes those things happen. I had gotten up early this morning to straighten up the house a bit, so at least the place looks nice. I have a lot I need to get done this weekend.

I just messed around on the computer for a while, and watched a bit of tube, then turned in.

Fruitless searching, even though I was there

After work today, I went through both Ross's Dress For Less stores in Greenville, but they had neither of the pairs of shoes I liked, nor did they have the shirt I liked in my size. Dammit. In a way, it was frustrating, because it is time for new boppers. On the other hand, I just took a bunch of clothes to Goodwill. I don't need another shirt - I need to get rid of some more. I also don't really need a pair of orange Nikes, cool as they were.

I got home and virtuously had a sandwich and rice cakes for dinner.

Afterwards, I should have cleaned up the house since Michael and Joe are coming over tomorrow, but I found that I really felt like eating peanuts in the dark and watching TV instead. So that's what I did - ill-advised or not.

This was the first evening I've been home this week besides Monday, and I had to mow then. I petted the cats, and turned in, watching both episodes of South Park.

Dinner in Sparkleburg*

Sylvan or "Parrot" sherbert in amber by Federal Glass Company, circa 1931-1932

Quite unexpectedly, I got a text from James today inviting me to dinner in Spartanburg with him and Justin. I was delighted to accept. It's been a heckuva week so far. I'm really glad I went ahead and did the mowing on Monday, so I could go last night with a clear conscience.

We met at Justin's and he gave me the Parrot sherberts he had picked up for me. We then headed over to James's new apartment. They wanted my advice on arranging his new furniture in the best way. I told him what I thought would work, and why, and we tried it. He didn't like it much, but said he'd live with it for a while and see.

After that, it was off to McAllister's Deli for dinner, stereo blaring the soundtrack of "Rent" to all and sundry. James is quite fond of it, and he and Justin know all the parts. Apparently I need to learn them too. We had dinner on the patio since the weather was so wonderfully cool, and we could smoke out there.

Ross's Dress for Less is just around the corner from there, so after dinner we wandered over to look around. I was really glad I didn't find any sheets that I wanted - I already have so many, and don't really need to spend the money right now anyway. However. I did find two pairs of shoes that I really wanted. I'll be spending tomorrow night going to the Ross's in Greenville to see if they have my size in either pair. I also found a really cool t-shirt I'd like to buy. May as well look for it while I'm out. Interesting that these were the first shoes I have found since Michael left that I was really interested in. I finally could buy all the shoes I wanted, and then found I didn't want any for the longest time.

We closed down Ross's, and then adjourned back to the apartments. After some conversation at Justin's, I hung out at James's for a while before heading home. I didn't leave Spartanburg until after 11. I'm going to be dead tomorrow, but it was so worth it. :)

A nice morning, kind of gone to hell

I woke up at 5:30 this morning, and just decided to get on up. I caught up on my Bear411 messages, and was able to get a head-start on the morning routine.

I decided I had time for coffee, which I can rarely do on a weekday. I made one of the best cups of coffee I have made in a while, and sat on the porch, watching the sky change from deep purple to indigo to robin's egg blue. I really do relish these small luxuries. It's nice to be able to enjoy Fall again (the last two were pretty damn rough), which has always been my favorite season. I love the crisp evenings, and the fact that the mosquitoes seem to have gotten their last bites in when I mowed the grass on Monday. I love coming home in the evening and sitting behind the screen door, letting fresh cool air into the house. The trees will be changing color soon - I really need to get up to Hendersonville since it's such a pretty drive in the fall. We've been having the kind of weather that makes me feel like being outside. I'm thinking I may give the bushes a good shape up before it gets cold. They're a bit ragged at the mo.

I had some time to reflect on things as I watched the birds wake up and begin to sing and fly around.

First - I have lots of anniversaries coming up. My anniversary with Michael is next Monday. We would have been together eight years if we were still together. I won't be sending a card this year, since he didn't send one last year. I guess I need to let that go. Of course I just passed my birthday, and am another year older. The breakup anniversary is coming up next month on the 22nd. It's hard to think I've been alone for two years. I've changed so much. I'm getting used to solitude again. I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing. We just marked Ava's birthday too. And the holidays are coming up again. I will have to send cards this year, but I'm really on the fence about decorating. I just plain don't feel like doing it. I may if Justin and James can come down to help put the tree up. And now, of course, Grandma's birthday as well. I guess as you get older there are more and more year marks that come up.

Second, I have been smoking too much since Michael left. When I lit up this morning, I got sleepy initially. That's a bad sign. If nicotine helps you relax, that means you're getting dependent. I really am going to resolve to stop smoking during the week again. Also, I used to not smoke when I drank coffee. I thought it interfered with the flavor of the coffee too much. Now a cigarette and a cuppa joe seem to just go together like peas and carrots.

Third, I really have to take a moment to wax eloquent about the virtues and quality of 8 o'clock coffee. Michael got me started drinking it when we were dating, and I was really impressed with how good it was. He moved on to obscure, really strong stuff later; but since he left, I am back with 8 o'clock. I am drinking a bag of french vanilla right now, and I have to say it is as good as (or better than) anything I have gotten at Starbucks. Stuff doesn't have to be expensive to be good. I finished my cup and smacked my lips this morning.

After coffee and cigarettes, I got the monkey nerves and jittered through the rest of my morning routine.

I had some time left over, so I decided to go on to UPS to pick up my birthday present from Lisa. She sent it UPS, not knowing what a hassle it is for me to deal with them. The driver for my area won't leave packages on my porch, so I always have to go over there to pick them up, losing my lunch hour, or try to get there before they close after work, which is difficult. The woman yesterday gave me a wrong address, so I ended up on a wild goose chase this morning. I decided to go by the facilty I know about in Mauldin, and got stuck in a huge traffic jam - dammit - so despite the fact that I left the house early, I got to work late. And I still don't have the ^%&$%#@!! package. Sigh.

Dinner with Mom and Dad

Work went pretty well yesterday. I was able to reach a compromise with the product guy and the attorney about documentation in that big court case. Hopefully we'll be ready to go at the arbitration next month.

I'm plowing further into House of Leaves. I was having a hard time getting in to it, but kept on because Justin had recommended it. I think I'm finally beginning to follow the thread more easily. It's a tough read though. I've been reading on it for about 4 hours now, and I'm only on page 75. I usually read slightly more than a page a minute, but then so many popular novels are written on a 7th grade reading level.

I talked to Michael online, he and Joe invited me to dinner again Friday night. That will be nice.

After work, I went over to Dick and Eve's for dinner. It was a nice enough time. Eve made a vegetable supper, which was nice of her. We had creamed corn, fried okra, corn bread, cole slaw, sliced tomatoes, and cooked cabbage. It was quite a spread. She kept telling me to eat more and more. We had a civil enough conversation, despite veering into politics. At least we didn't get into a knock-down-drag-out fight this morning, although dad drinks whatever Kool-Ade the RNC feeds him. Tonight I was treated to a brief tour of:

- the Clinton muder conspracy theory, courtesy of internet rumor
- the reverence for Ronald Reagan as "one of the best presidents in history"
- the dispargement of community organizers, courtesy of Sarah Palin

They both think Sarah Palin can walk on water, for some reason. She's just Bush in a skirt to me. The return and reinforcement of the partisan politics we really need to move beyond - especially with the crises that are facing the country at present. But then they are hardly alone in their Sarah worship, and when you get all your information from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News it's really hard to be objective. Interstingly, Dad aired the opinion tonight that GW is a "friend only to big business, and could care less about small businesses", which I found interesting. He also intimated that he is not thrilled with Bush in other areas. If Dad is unhappy, there's got to be a LOT of people unhappy, because Dad would vote for roadkill if it ran with the RNC. He's hard core. Of course, he will be holding his nose and voting for McCain, chiefly because of the great reverence for Sarah Palin. He votes almost solely on gun control issues, since he owns a gun store.

The family is going to celebrate Grandma Shumate's birthday at the rest home next month, so I will have to go to that. I've been needing to go see her anyway. I haven't been up there since she had to go there.

Thankfully, we were able to move beyond politics, which is a great step forward in our relationship. There was a time that I just didn't go over there during an election year.

Some program they were waiting for came on, and it was the season premier, so I went on home and went to bed.

Just couldn't resist

James and Justin sent me this picture today on my cell phone. It was so adorable I just couldn't resist posting it. I just love them.

More drama, and apparently I'm going to be part of it this time *sigh* *

James called me at work today, to tell me that Russ has given him the third degree about our spending time together. I wonder if now I'll be ostrasized too. He made the "dead to me" comment about Justin at the bear party last Thursday.

I did sneak home for lunch today. I needed the time out of the office.

Justin called later, apparently he was out antiquing and found two Parrot sherbert dishes marked for $7 each. That is a deal, since they are worth $20 apiece, so I told him to pick them on up for me even though they're amber, and I have never cared much for the amber glass. I do like that pattern though. It's really unique, and was made only for one year.

I'm dealing with the lawsuit from hell at work. This guy is trying to stiff us for $225K, and decided to counter-sue to make it more painful for us to go after him. I spent about an hour today, off and on, talking to the involved product manager, who is complaining about having to pull up two years of order and pricing history. I'm thinking "welcome to my world". We have to produce the discovery to refute his totally bogus claims. Just the way the system works.

When I got home tonight, I just had to mow the grass before the neighbors burned me in effigy - especially since I'm going to dinner at Dad and Eve's tomorrow, so I won't be able to do it then. The neighbors on either side of me still haven't mowed theirs, but I can't take it any more. The hardest part is getting the mower started. I am vowing a solemn vow to get it serviced when the season is over. I haven't seen the new neighbor at all since the night I went over to tell him his car light was on. That's odd to me. The porch light has been on until yesterday I noticed it was turned off - either that or the bulb burned out. I haven't seen a car over there since the first night. That house has a weird history of people starting to move in and then not moving in. It has been vacant almost as much as it has been lived in since I have been there. I hope that guy didn't change his mind. He seemed nice, and his friend girl was very nice. Plus he was cute. I want that eye candy. For now, it's still a mystery what is going on.

After the mowing, I had a smoke on the porch, showered, and virtuously ate a sandwich and rice cakes for dinner. I watched some of The Daily Show, and some of The Colbert Report. I have to say, Stephen Colbert just gets funnier. I used to think his show was too shrill, but he has found his stride, and is turning out some killer satire at this point. I just hate the interview portions of both shows. It's usually someone lame, and even when it is someone important, they're just on there to sell a book. It does come in handy for doing chores though. I usually wash dishes during the interview portion.

When chores were done, I fooled around on the internet for a bit, then hit the sack. Another long day tomorrow.

A lovely day visiting with my nephew and antiquing

Princess cookie jar in green by Anchor Hocking, circa 1931-1935

Dogwood footed sugar bowl in pink by MacBeth-Evans, circa 1929-1932

Bubble flat soup bowl in Sapphire Blue by Anchor Hocking, circa 1940-1965

The morning started off slowly - neither Lisa nor any of her family are early risers. I laid in the bed and read for a while. Ava got up eventually, and when Lisa got up to see to her, I got up with them. We had a leisurely morning. Lisa made a huge breakfast, and we drank enough coffee to float a barge. I changed a poopie diaper after Ava had her breakfast. I always try to do a couple for each baby - it kind of gives me a stake somehow.

After we digested breakfast a bit, I talked to Cole about going into town. The third book in the Eragon series was released yesterday, and he really wanted a copy of it. It is so rare for him to express a want of any kind that I wanted to make sure he got it. We got dressed and headed into town, after a brief adventure with the GPS guide Lisa loaned us. I have never used one before, and it kept losing our location, which both Lisa (by phone) and Cole assured me had never happened before. Eventually, it picked us up when we got near the highway, and directed us into town. When it works, that is a handy little gizmo. Russ and Billy have one. Of course, I rarely go somewhere that I need directions, unless it is to Lisa's. Anyway, I don't have the $150+ to drop on one right now.

Since we were going to be just down the street from Mom's, I called her to see if she wanted to have lunch with us, but she had a date with her new guy today. His name is Rob, and she seems to really like him. At her invitation, we went by the apartment for a short visit before we went to lunch. I met Rob. I liked him. He seems like a really nice and easy-going guy, and was genuinely friendly towards me. He also seems to be what she's been looking for. I hope things work out. Of course, this means my 61 year old mother can find a boyfriend, and I can't, but I decided not to dwell on that. She's been out for four years now, and I've only been out for two.

Since we were also very near a great antique store near her house, I decided to drag Cole over there for a bit before lunch. It is a huge place, the kind that has lots of little rented booths. There is one booth in particular where I can usually find a bargain, and she didn't let me down today. I found that Dogwood footed sugar for only $3. That was a deal I couldn't pass up.

I also found the Bubble flat soup bowl - which is apparently one of the more scarce pieces in that pattern - marked as a "small pie plate" and priced at $4. I know the book value on that one is $14, so I picked it up.

I found the Princess cookie jar marked down from $30 to $15, and couldn't resist. It has only some small flea bites out of the inner rim where the lid sat. With a lid, it's worth $55, but even without the lid, I thought $15 was a pretty good deal. Plus I haven't bought a cookie jar since I got so disappointed with a fake Mayfair one I bought when I first started collecting. I got a badly chipped up amber Madrid cookie jar at the flea market last summer, but it was in such bad shape I just bought it and gave it to Justin to use as an unusual planter. I figured I could look for a lid later.

By the time we got out of there we were both starving. Cole wanted to go to Macaroni Grill for lunch so we did. We had a late, huge lunch, and I was able to introduce him to tiramisu, which he had never eaten. He worries about his weight all the time, just like Lisa. He wouldn't eat but a couple of bites of dessert, because he was worried he had eaten too much yesterday at the party. I tried to reassure him, but he is a very sensitive child, and plus he sees the way Dad and I have gained weight. I guess it is better for him to worry about eating healthy than not, but I hate to see someone so young be so worried about so much. He takes after the Brewers (my grandmother's family) in that way - they're all fretters.

After lunch, we went over and got his book, since the bookstore was right by the restaurant.

By the time we got back, it was about 4:30pm, and I really hadn't intended to stay so late. But I rarely get time with Cole, so it was very worth it. I had already packed my stuff up, so I relaxed for a minute, and then hit the road.

On the way out, I hit the antique store near their house. It was a good one, with a lot of glass, but some of it was mis-marked, and all of it was high. I did see a couple of pieces I would like to have, but some of them were just too high for me to justify the money, and for some reason they had a large inventory of pieces that had been messed up going through the dishwasher. I did see a piece of beaded block - a pattern I rarely see - at a good price. I thought it was a cup, but it turned out to be a sugar bowl with one of the handles broken off. I looked until they closed the store down, and then hit the road again - having eaten up more time.

I stopped outside of Clinton to get gas, because they were advertising it for $3.699 a gallon (which amazingly now is a bargain). The station was complete chaos. There were about 20 people waiting, and since all the pumps were going simultaneously, they were pumping very slowly. I ended up being there over 20 minutes waiting to fill up, and I wondered if it was really worth the couple of dollars I was saving. But I stuck it out, and got my gas.

I got home about 7:30, and was just all in. Since I had such a large lunch, I was still full, and decided not to eat any dinner. I unpacked the few things I had taken and went to BED. The lawn still needs mowing, but it was really too late to do it anyway by the time I got in.

A long long day

Ava reclining on her little Tinkerbell couch. Lisa got her this. It seemed to be a big hit. She spent a good part of the day sitting on it for moments at a time, or jumping around on it. It folds out into a bed too.






Guess who bought the cha-cha leopard coat? She's modeling it for us. Believe it or not, there was no prompting involved. She just did this on her own.

It's a good thing I rested some last night. Today was really long.

I got up and had to do the 8,000 little things you have to do before you can leave town. I did take some time to have coffee on the porch, then went to the flea market for produce. I did stay longer than I intended becuase the weather was gorgeous, and there were a lot of yard sale people out. Still didn't find any glass though.

When I got home, I had to eat, clean up the kitchen, finish packing, do the cat chores, take out the garbage so the house didn't get stinky, and then get cleaned up myself. I also gussied up Ava's present a bit, since it looked so sad. I still got the award for ugliest gift.

Then I headed for Chapin, SC, my sister's new home, and Ava's birthday party. Lisa has a penchant for living off the beaten track, and this place was no exception. Turning off the highway, I saw a sign for an antique store, but didn't have time to stop. I got there about 12:30.

The party was a bit much for me. A bunch of Lisa and Carl's friends were there, and they had brought some kids with them. There were three there that were between 6 and 8, and they proceeded to try to tear the house down and break Ava's toys. They were too old to play with her too. Still, I was in a good mood, and prepared to be sociable. We ate lunch, talked, and watched the kids play. Ava is a very happy baby, and not shy, so we watched her play with her toys and stuff. That went well once a couple of the guys took the noisy kids out on the boat for a while.

My mother and my dad and Eve both brought rocking toys (Mom brought a rocking horse, while Dad brought a rocking stuffed elephant. They seemed to get along pretty well about it though. It's always weird when Mom and Dad are together. Their divorce was really ugly, and the custody trial didn't help any; but they seem to have worked through the worst of the hostilities these days. We spent a good while opening all the presents - the older kids "helped" Ava, who really was too young to really grasp what all was going on. Lisa loved the coat, which was good, and Ava seemed to like it too. I was happy about that. Ava actually wore the coat around for a while "modeling" it for us (at 1!!). I was pretty surprised, but glad to have pulled off a coup.

The birthday cake didn't go over too well with Ava, who has never been given sweets to eat. She didn't really know what the cake was for, and when she tasted it she didn't seem to like it that much.

I was pretty ready, when everybody left, just to settle in for a visit with Lisa, Carl, Cole, and Ava. After cleaning up from the party, Lisa fixed dinner, and we just watched the tube and watched Ava play with her new toys. Her favorite thing seemed to be the little sofa they gave her, and some plastic discs that came off the packaging from one of the toys, which she carred around for a good portion of the evening.

She's a surprising little child. Very bright and happy. She did lap after lap around the coffee table, visiting with everyone, laughing unexpectedly, watching a bit of television. She was adamant about wanting one of her new pairs of socks on, so I put them on for her, and she ran around delightedly. She also really liked the baby doll she got. She made a bee-line for a sparkly pair of flip-flops one of the girls wore, and spent a good portion of the afternoon today trying to figure out how she could wear them. Lisa may have the "no girly stuff" rule in effect now, but I suspect it won't be something Ava agrees with when she can express her opinion.

We just relaxed and talked and watched the tube. Carl did a delicious salmon on the grill. Cole and Reagan fought over cleaning up the kitchen.

We watched TV until about midnight, and I finally had to call it quits. I was just worn out.

Lazy me

When I got off work tonight, I just didn't feel like doing anything. I'm not leaving until tomorrow, but there are some things I really needed to do tonight.

I went to Babies R Us to find a gift, since Lisa said Ava needs clothes more than more toys. Everyone else will be bringing toys anyway. Since she's too young to know who brought what, I figured I would get something she needed. Babies R Us is a major place. If the airlines had marketing like that, they would be doing much better (of course they would then have to pretend that they gave a rat's ass if you lived or died, so I guess it wouldn't work). I was standing in the middle of 8,000 baby dresses, looking for lesbian babywear, since Lisa will have no pink, no frills, no lace, no ruffles. It would do no good to buy them, Lisa wouldn't let her wear them.

Then I saw a whole rack of baby leopard-print coats. Apparently they are putting out a baby hussy line now. Lisa loves leopard stuff. So I called Lisa, and found out she didn't have a coat for Ava for this winter. So that just worked out perfectly.

Since Ava's favorite toy right now is her dad's deer call (*sigh*, I know), I asked about a baby kazoo, or other baby toy you could blow in that would make noise. The guy looked at me like I had lost my mind. So I got a cute bib instead. I was afraid to buy a regular kazoo for fear she would break a plastic one, or hurt herself on a metal one.

After I checked out, I noted that they have a "free" gift wrap station at the front of the store. The paper and tape are free, but the boxes and bows and stuff are for sale. Pretty slick. I was able to wrap the coat and bib I brought with no box, but it looked kind of like a purple potato when I got done. I figure Ava's one, she won't care what the present looks like.

I ran by CVS to get some prescriptions, and got a card there.

The lawn really needs mowing, but I was just plain too damn lazy to do it. Plus the neighbors on either side haven't mowed theirs either, so it's not like mine is sticking out as looking bad. I do feel bad going off for the weekend with it looking the way it does, but apparently not bad enough to do anything about it.

I did a bit of laundry tonight, getting ready to go. I did a bit of packing, but really didn't feel like finishing. I'll do it in the morning. I have been sleepy. I am eating some leftover pizza and going to bed.

The bear dinner for September

Was at Russell and Marty's house tonight. I went to see Russ and got my hair cut, then rode over to the dinner with them. It turned out not being as far out as I thought it would be. They had gotten veggie hot dogs for me, which I thought was very nice. The party was a cookout on the beautiful multi-layered deck behind the beautiful house they recently bought. They gave a tour.

There were only about 8-10 of us there, but we had a really nice time, sitting on the deck in the beautiful evening, eating and talking. Marty and Russell are so happy together. It does my heart good to see them.

Bad dreams

Just as well I didn't get very far into the scary book last night. I had vampire nightmares last night. I was an evil one too - not nice like Edward and Bella. I spend the night running around in old abandoned buildings hunting down terrified young women. Most unsettling.

When I woke up from that, I started on another set that I can't remember now. But they were pretty unpleasant as well.

Blissfully quiet at home

It was deliciously cool when I got off work tonight.

I had to go fill up with gas for the weekend, but BJ's pumps were shut down - again. This is really pissing me off. One of the reasons I got a membership was to get the discount gas, and this is twice I have been over there that all the pumps were shut off. So I went next door and burned up another 45 fucking dollars for gas.

I went by the library on the way home to get a book on CD for this weekend's trip to Cola. They have laid in a big supply of Rita Mae Brown's mysteries on CD, so I got another of those. The last one I got was actually pretty vile - spending the first disc in discussion of grape vine diseases, pests, and bio-terrorism. When it finally got started it was OK. I'm thinking this one should be better since it is from earlier in the series. I often think about how she has come down in the writing world since writing Rubyfruit Jungle. I know that most people don't think of Agatha Chrstie as an inferior author (although a good many scholars do), but what would it be like to go from writing your magnum opus - a piece of art, and a beloved touchstone from young lesbians - at a very young age (29) to grinding out whodunits to pay the bills? I wonder about those things.

I got home and put a pizza in the oven for dinner. I finished the last of the Twilight series books. It was OK. The storybook ending was pretty pat, but I want to talk to Justin about why he was so disappointed about the whole book. *spoilers* I mean, I could see that the ending she had written towards would kill Edward and Bella, with Renesmee going off with Jacob to start a new life. It read like she abruptly changed her mind about the ending, or her publisher/editor pushed her into writing a happy ending. There were several deus ex machina introduced, most notably the sudden manifestation of Bella's shielding abilities preventing any real showdown. The story, as it stands, is not finished. A real happy ending wouldn't leave the characters in unresolved danger. The Volturi will have to be rekoned with before any true resolution is effected. So is there another book? There was certainly the setup for one, despite the difinitive ending, that they would be together. Forever. THE END

I suppose I would be more offended if I had been more serious about the books. As it is, it was just a pretty mediocre end to a pretty mediocre series. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't that great. It was entertaining. Some of the characters I really liked. I liked Jacob and Alice the best. The rest of them were kind of generic and rather one-dimensional, except for Rosalie, who I didn't particularly like.

I played around with starting another book Jusin loaned me called House of Leaves; but since Justin said it was the scariest book he has ever read, and since I haven't been sleeping that well lately anyway, I let it lie for now.

It was just nice to lie around with the screen door letting in all the beautiful Fall weather. There will be another head wave before it's done, but tonight was lovely.

Lots of talk on the phone, between bites

Well I talked to Justin today on the phone. Actually twice. Once at work and once at home. Yep, that's blog-worthy at this point. He called to talk about the Mayfair platter, which, when we he went back to look at it, was chipped up. I had checked the handles, where things usually chip, but not the sides apparently. So he didn't get it. I felt bad about sending him to Inman for no reason, but he did some shopping of his own while he was there, so I didn't feel so bad about it.

I've decided I'm going to buy that Ruby Red Bubble bowl I found last weekend. I want it. I'm kicking myself for not buying it now (because was three fucking dollars over book), but I do that sometimes. I'm trying to be more selective with what I buy a) because of limited room and b) because I have bought so much stuff lately. But this piece is haunting me now. I'm gong zen about it. I'll be in Columbia all weekend this weekend, so I won't be able to get back there until the 27th. If it is still there then, then I am meant to have it. If not, well I guess I'll kick myself about not buying it for the next several years, and then let it go.

I have eaten everything that wasn't nailed down today. One of my reps came in from Atlanta and took me to a 1,200 calorie lunch at Macaroni Grill today. I don't do that very often - in fact I seldom go out for lunch - but I just can't get the skinny shit when I go there. The "regular" (read lard-encrusted) food is just soooo wonderful. I counted that as my birthday lunch. (How much longer can I stretch that? Or my pants for that matter?)

I did some shopping on the way home, and figured out I will spend another $100 this week on vitamins, pills, and toiletries. Ouch. There goes getting my budget back in line. Additionally, I received my first bill from Verizon for my independent phone line - for $140. Apparently they bill a month in advance, so I got billed for two months service simultaneously - couldn't happen at a worse time. I also got billed for New York City sales tax - despite never having lived there - because my phone number was previously on a New York account (Michael's) and they just didn't switch the states, despite the fact that my residence and the billing address are both in SC. Sometimes I think if anyone did their job competently at a utility I would just collapse in utter shock. It just amazes me. But then maybe the woman used to work for the airlines. I despise the airlines with the red-hot intensity of a thousand suns. But I digress.

I got home and had nachos for dinner, since I figured today was blown all to hell, calorie-wise, anyway. I finished up the last of the designer birthday cookies for dessert. At least they're out of the house, right? Only two more Choxie bars to go and the house will be fairly dessert-free. Which it really needs to be, unless I'm going to change my last name to "the Hutt".

Daniel called tonight. He is a younger guy that I heard from on match.com earlier this year. He is a nice enough guy.

And Dad called. He just always manages to piss me off without really trying. Or a lot of the time. Tonight they called to find out if a local bar was a gay bar. There was going to be a benefit there for the daughter of a good customer of his who died. OK first, even if it WAS a gay bar, is he going to catch the gay or something? Sadly, I have become used to his entrenched horror of anything that smacks of counter-culture. What pushed me over the edge was a later remark. The gay men's chorus I was in (before it imploded) had given a concert at this bar years ago, which was why he thought it was a gay bar. To his credit, despite his discomfort, he did attend the concert, althought I won't go into the specifics of his behavior. He was there, outside his comfort zone, and that was a huge concession for him. Sadly, I was the ONLY guy in the whole chorus who had both of his parents there (how fucking sad is that for South Carloina?). But I digress.

This was the remark that did it for me "Well when we were there the last time, I saw these two big women slobbering all over each other, so I thought it had to be a gay bar. But I don't mean any offense." How the fuck could that be said without meaning offense? Can you not just say "two women kissing"?? I don't understand why his every casual remark must drip with judgment, if that is not what he really feels. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But if I referred to his customers as "those phallically-challenged weapons-obsessed rednecks" (my dad owns a gun store) I can guaran-damn-tee you he would be up at arms in seconds. But then of course that would make me like him. So I guess I'll lay it down and let it go. Again. Sigh. Being the bigger man requires a helluva lot of keeping quiet - and cookies apparently.

I had to go watch some "Family Guy" episodes to re-gain my sense of snarky balance and composure.

A mostly quiet night of video voyeurism

After a quick dinner and starting on a bit of laundry, I was surprisingly still awake. I decided to flip on the boob tube for a bit.

I watch "Intervention" sometimes, I have to admit, because they have hot troubled young guys on there. I don't know why this draws me the way it does, but it does. Of course there aren't always guys on there. Two of the ones I watched tonight were about girls. But anyway.

So I'm sitting there watching this show, and I am really wanting a cigarette. Or a drink. Or an injection of heroin. Or something like that. How sick is that? Why would I feel that way? Are there others that feel the same way when they watch this show? I'm really curious. I'm fairly certain this is the exact opposite of the show's intentions (provided that it isn't secretly financed by a drug cartel), but I wonder if it has this affect on other people. Maybe if they didn't have the people on the show be so attractive? Have you noticed that the addict they choose is usually very photogenic? And usually the most attractive member of the family? (Although one girl had a really hot cousin tonight - Yowza.) It seems like the hidden message here is the same as the Boy George recovery - addicts are cool and hot, healthy people seem to skew ugly, fat, and boring. If I'm shallow enough to respond in this way, I'm thinking there have to be others more shallow than I who see it as the true meaning of the show. I didn't have a cigarette or a drink, but I sure wanted one.

Russ called. Apparently the guys giving the bear dinner this month are freaking out because no one has RSVP'd. OK, I love Marty and Russell, but I'm kind of wondering where their minds are. First, they are giving a cookout on a week night. Hello. Everyone has to work the next day. Second, they live in Piedmont. Gas is over $4 a gallon right now. And third, they are wanting this to be a charity event. That is very admirable, and I'd love to see SCBears raise some money for a good cause. Generally, though, most people want to have a bit more than a hamburger and an 2-hour gathering to part with some bucks - particularly after traipsing to the outland for said hamburger. I'm just saying. Russ and Billy are going, of course, to support the group. I'm going with them. But I'm not expecting a huge turnout.

I emailed Justin today and updated him on the Megan Meier case, since it came up last night and I didn't know what was going on. I followed it diligently for a while, but then there were no updates for so long, and I realized that it was very improbable that there would be actual live footage of God smiting Lori Drew personally, so I just kind of dropped off. She has apparently been charged with three counts of illegal access to a protected account, and one count of conspiracy. The laws she was charged under are generally used to prosecute internet fraud, and the charges are unlikely to stick in the unlikely event of conviction. What a pisser. Still, I guess living as a public pariah, losing her business, her husband losing his job, etc is a pretty tough punishment, although it doesn't seem to have had much of an effect on OJ Simpson. He's having to struggle along on only $300k per year. My heart just bleeds for him. Still, I doubt the Drews had a huge NFL pension to draw on. But I digress.

I also asked Justin about going back to get that Mayfair platter I forgot about yesterday, and he's going to go tomorrow :) I'm happy about that.

Ugh.

The alarm went off this morning, and I willed myself to move. Nothing happened.

I eventually clumped into the kitchen and made myself a huge cup of very strong coffee - something I almost never do on a week day. But I felt more alert after I got about half of it in me. I made it to work on time - just.

Manhattan creamer in pink, by Hocking Glass, circa 1939-41

A long, but very good, day**

Colonial or "Knife and Fork" platter by Hocking Glass, circa 1934-1936

I had been really looking forward to today. I went on to bed last night so I'd be well rested and ready to go this morning. Unfortunately, it is on just such occasions that insomnia loves to interfere. I was up at 4:30am. And just could not go back to sleep. I had a text from James, and my phone was beeping. After I got up for that, I couldn't get back to sleep. I laid awake, turning things over in my mind. I messed around on the computer for a while, put a movie in, laid back down. Nothing was working.

Finally I dozed off and woke back up around 8. I got up and made a big cup of coffee and went out on the porch, where I called James about 8:45. He wasn't awake, and had texted me about 2:30am, but he said he still wanted to go today, so I headed for Spartanburg. We had a really nice visit.

We had wanted Justin to come with us today, but he was off with his mother-in-law doing horse stuff, so we were kind of on our own. Neither one of us knew exactly where the antique stores were, but I had looked up some directions on line for a couple. But I didn't know if they were the ones I needed to go to or not. I needed to pick up a Chirstmas present, and had to go back to the store from last week to pay for the bowl they didn't charge me for.

We started off at Barnyard flea market in Duncan, but there wasn't much there today. What glass I found was pretty over-priced, and I left it where I found it. The vaseline glass asshole has been making the rounds up there, telling the dealers that glass that glows under black light is vaseline glass (not true - much green depression glass glows under black light), so they have all priced stuff through the roof, which just pisses me off.

After that we headed back towards Greer to do a couple of stores there that James wanted to do, but it was still too early. We had lunch and coffee, and found an antique mall over there that opened at 1pm instead of 1:30. I found some nice pieces in there, and a lovely selection of pink Adam. I was going to buy a divided relish, since I love that pattern, and love Justin's divided relish so much, but when they got it out of the case, it had a crack. I ended up buying a Colonial green platter. It was very nice, but not a super deal, since it came from an antique store. Still, I was happy.

Since we were so close anyway, we ran by Russ and Billy's house to pick up some stuff that James still had there. Russ is visiting his family this weekend, but Billy was home, and we visited with him a bit before leaving him to his quiet day.

We then headed back towards Spartanburg, to find the stores I had planned to shop today. At the first, a smaller newer place, I got my first Christmas gift for the year. I was pretty happy about that. The next one we visited usually has pretty high prices, and I hadn't intended to go there, but they do have a beautiful selection. I found a pink Mahahattan creamer to go with the sugar bowl I got the other weekend on sale for half price, so I bought that. They had a large Bubble berry bowl in the ruby red color, and it was beautiful, but at the time I decided that it was too high, and that I didn't have anything else to go with it, so I didn't get it. Now I kind of wish I had. It was really pretty. I did see some other pieces, but there was so much in there, I forgot to check prices on all the ones I meant to check.

After that, we went on into Inman to the store where I bought so much last week. I explained my situation, and they looked up the records to charge me for the bowl they forgot to charge for last week. We also somehow got roped into helping to move a table. It wasn't until later that I realized I had meant to check my reproduction section on a Mayfair platter they had on sale. I would have bought it too - they had it on sale for half off. I was pretty pissed about that when I realized it.

Then it was time to head for Justin's for dinner. He was back. We stopped by the store and picked up a few things, then headed for his apartment. By that time, James and I were ravenous - we'd had a light lunch at Panera Bread. Justin and I did a gleeful post-mortem on the day's finds, and then James and I attacked some spinach and artichoke dip. We had a lovely meal on Justin's Heritage Green Taylor Smith Taylor dishes, and then had tea and dessert. There was much snarky conversation and inappropriate laughter.

By this time, I was pretty worn out. Four and a half hours of sleep and a long day of shopping had me pretty whooped. I ran back over the James's apartment, and helped him unload some stuff. After a very pleasant little visit to end the day, I headed home. Really tired, but really happy. It was one of the best days I have had in a long time.


My life lesson for today was - If you want something, you'll never know if you're going to get it until you ASK. If you never ask, you never get disappointed, but you can sure miss out on a lot of stuff.

Back to reality - chores must be done

Since I'm playing tomorrow. I got up this morning late and went on to the flea market to do a walk-through and buy produce. I met my friend Andrew and his friend Michael over there, which was an unexpected pleasure. Since I was walking around with them, I ended up staying a lot longer than I intended, and doing all the inside buildings and stuff. I was enjoying myself though, and it was good to see Andrew. I finally broke off though, and headed on home. When I got back I ate something and took a little nap.

Then it was right into the kitchen to start cooking. I made a big Mexican Rice Pilaf to eat on next week, and have hot lunches out of. This was one Michael's favorite recipes, and I hadn't made it since he left, but I can see why he liked it so much. It turned out really good.

That done, I cleaned up the kitchen, got cleaned up, and did a bit of laundry.

Then it was off to the grocery store. I stocked up on lime seltzer (among other things), since Joe likes it so much, and I ran out last night. I'll be ready for the next visit now.

I had intended on going to bed early, since I have such a heavy day planned tomorrow, but Lifetime had the premier of their movie about the life of Coco Chanel on, with Shirley McClain playing old Coco. It was really good, and I didn't end up turning it off until late.

Yay! More birthday!

I had planned on going home and just falling in the bed tonight after being out so late last night, but Michael emailed me and invited me out to dinner with him and Joe. Well of course I wasn't going to turn down a chance to visit, especially since I so enjoyed seeing them last week.

We went to East Buffet, so I could have more of the addictive coconut shrimp there. Mmmmmmm. They have to put crack in the sauce or something.

After that we ran over to Dollar Tree because Joe wanted to go so much. He is the sweetest-natured guy. It is just irresistable to be good to him, because he seems to appreciate things so much. When we got back to the house, he had some more lime seltzer since he liked it so much last week. I ended up giving him some ginger and green tea teabags to help with his stomach, and lending him a book to read. He admired a hat that was on my hat rack that I never wear, and I wanted to give it to him (since I never wear it), but it seemed like too much. I'll offer it to him next time. (Hmmm, maybe I should clear that with Michael first.)

We just sat and talked and remembered old times, and Michael caught me up on some of the stage stuff he has been doing the last couple of years.

It was a lovely visit, and I was really glad to see them.

The Jubilee Continues

Apparently I have now reached the age whereby one no longer has birthdays, but week-long jubilee celebrations like Queen Elizabeth II. Not that I'm complaining. On the one hand, that means I'm old. On the other hand, it means I have also grown into my royalty. Apparently my princess days are over, but I get to be Queen now.

These were the thoughts I was having today as I got ready for my third birthday dinner.

Unfortunately, I got a call from Miss Kat as I was getting home. She and dana are unable to make it. I hated that, because I would have liked to see them, but I understand things come up, and I'm sure there was a good reason. Trying to look on the bright side, I decided this meant that we could go to Saffron for dinner, which we did.

I was hungry, and really wanting some Indian (it has been way too long since we ate there, I decided). I ended up being there like 15 minutes early. Since Russ is never on time to anywhere, I settled in to wait. I wandered around some shops, got a lighter, etc.

Billy showed up in a bit, and had Ben with him, which was a pleasant surprise. I hadn't expected to see him. He even brought me a card, which I thought was really sweet of him until I read the card. That little ho. Apparently I am too old for cards about how old I am to be funny, but not yet old enough for them to be funny again. Billy and Russ gave me a card and some Choxie bars, which I love.

We had an excellent meal. But then the food at Saffron is always fantastic. I had a dish of homemade cheese cooked in a spicy tomato cream gravy - sheer heaven. And so incredibly bad for me, but you only live once. We had a lovely time talking and joking over dinner, and we caught up on all the latest in each other's lives. It was really nice. The only thing that would have been nicer would have been if Miss Kat and dana and Justin could have been there. But Miss Kat and dana would not have been happy at all with the food, and Justin's presence would have been complicated.

After dinner, I made sure to have some gulab jamun, delicious spongy milk cake balls, fried and served drenched in sweet rosewater syrup. I have eaten these many places - I adore Indian food - but this place makes the best I have ever tasted. They are sheer heaven. They are so sweet they only bring you two of them. That's all you can eat!

After dinner, I decided to go over to the house to visit for a bit. I knew I'd never get to bed on time then. When I get over there I never want to leave. And that's the way it was tonight. I sat out on the screen porch in the deliciously cool evening, petting the dogs, smoking, and talking to Russ and Billy. Not all the topics were pleasant, but it was stuff we needed to hash out anyway. For the most part, it was a lovely visit. I always enjoy being at their house.

Once again, I'll pay for it tomorrow, but it was SO worth it. What a great birthday I've had.

The strange food of the psyche

I slept through the night last night - one side effect of having so much on the go is sleep has been like falling in a hole - but I had disturbing dreams.

The first I can't detail here. Suffice to say it pointed out a frustrating desire which I have been trying to deny for a while now. So now I'm forced to deal with it now, and I'm going to have to do it by myself. Sigh. Apparently dreams trump even the Southern Power of Denial, which I had heretofore had thought could not be vanquished when sufficient will was applied. I need to go see my grandmother anyway. Maybe I need a refresher course while I'm there.

In the second, Michael and I were sitting in an office, separating our health insurance coverage. It sounds boring, but it was heartbreaking in the dream to know that I could no longer protect him. We never even had a joint health insurance policy. I woke up really sad. I'm sure that this was just the product of several things going on right now, but it's the kind of thing that usually puts me into a funk for a few days. Fortunately, I don't have time for that right now. I have a third birthday dinner to prepare for tonight. Lots of people I love will be there, which is wonderful. Plus I have a couple more little things to do that I couldn't do in front of James last night. Busy, busy, busy...

A visit from James

Tonight was the only evening I'm going to have at home this week. I had a whole list of stuff to do. But when James called and wanted to hang out tonight, I wanted to see him too. I ran a few errands on the way home, finding out in the process that Barnes & Noble will not exchange that duplicate cook book since Eve didn't save the gift receipt. I'm all mad at that, to quote Justin. I think I'll ask him if there's anything he can do.

The visit with James went well. I am really comfortable with him around, and he seemed content to hang and talk, and let me do what I needed to do.

Since I got the new table to replace one of my existing ones, I gave the spare to James - he's furnishing his new apartment. When I put the one I bought last weekend into place, it looked smashing. Sherman was totally right - it belongs in the bedroom. It was just one of those times when you put a piece of furniture into place, and it looks as if it was made to go there. It doesn't feel new at all, it looks so right.

I got a pizza in the oven and a load of laundry in, and then we settled in to visit. We split a bottle of wine, and smoked and talked. I was really comfortable with him there, and glad for the company. He's living alone for the first time, and adjusting - something I can relate to very well. I can still remember my first solo apartment. Being alone again has freshened those memories I suppose. It's hard to think that I've been on my own for almost two years now (!!).

We split a bottle of wine and I put in The Women, which he had never seen. He was entertained enough, I suppose, but he only finished watching out of politeness I think. So many young people just don't appreciate the great old movies. Justin is very unusual in that respect.

After the movie was over, I sent him home and got ready for bed! I had a quick phone call with Scott and then turned in. I just can't seem to get caught up on my rest this week.

Unexpected popularity!

After work today, I had a dinner invite from Justin and James. I thought that was awfully sweet of them, but I had to turn them down. Tonight I had made plans to have dinner with my parents. They agreed to go eat Japanese food with me, which was a huge concession on their part. Usually we just go get Mexican, because I know they'll eat that. But (and I never thought I'd say this) thank goodness for Benny Hanna-style teppanyaki restaurants. They opened the door to my step-mom being open to trying real Japanese food. We went to Irashiai, one of my favorite sushi places in town. They have a full Japanese menu, and sushi as well. I know enough about it to order things that they enjoyed. Dad even tried a piece of sushi, although I don't think he was very impressed with it.

After a huge meal and pleasant conversation, we went back over to their house for talk and presents. I was really hoping for money, but they got me a vegetarian cookbook. I already had it, but it was a nice thought just the same. They also brought me some bear salt and pepper shakers from Dollywood. They took my nephew Cole up there last month. It was a nice thought, since I had admired theirs, but theirs are Big Sky Carvers shakers, and these aren't - they aren't nearly as cute, unfortunately. But it's the thought that counts.

While I was on the way back to their place, Russ called and we got set up for my third birthday dinner at Monterrey's for Mexican on Thursday. I really wanted to go to this great Indian place called Saffron, but Miss Kat and dana wouldn't really find anything they wanted to eat there. This was just easier for everyone. I always love nachos, and I'll have a margarita, and everyone will be happy.

Anyway, I stayed over at Dad's and talked until way too late. We pretty much ran out of safe subjects by the time I went home. My phone had been ringing too. I had a voice mail from Sherman, trying to reach me in person to tell me Happy Birthday - he had emailed me earlier in the day. Lisa, Cole, Carl, and I guess even Ava called to sing Happy Birthday to me in my voice mail.

I've had more attention this year for my birthday than I've had in years!

With all this going on, I haven't really had a chance to get down like I usually do around my birthday. That is a very good thing. I feel attractive, thanks to certain parties who shall remain nameless; and wanted, since all my friends are inviting me out. It's not like my self-esteem relies on being desired or anything, but it sure doesn't hurt. And whether or not it actually works out with any of these guys it's really encouraging to see that there are possibilities out there. Staring into the void was getting a bit old.

Meanwhile, I'm exhausted. I went home and fell into the bed.

Just call me Delta Dawn

I'm 41 and my daddy still calls me baby...

Well, not really.

An unexpected date

Well Scott started sending me emails today at work. We traded back and forth, and he went more into some of the stuff he's been reading about on my blog. It started with a really nice email he sent late last night, just to tell me he was thinking about me.

It's nice to hear from a guy who doesn't play the "I'm not interested" game when he is and all that crap. He's very up front. It's flattering that he's taken the interest to read about me, and is open enough to tell me about it. He has a good sense of humor, and he teases me, which I love.

In some ways, he seems more open to meeting someone different from him than I am.

When he asked me out for coffee tonight, I thought "Why not?" I did want to meet him, and it was only coffee after all. Truth be told, I'm tired of trying to see the future and vet guys to see if they'll work out or not. I'm tired of looking for the perfect guy who's going to accept and agree with everything I do before I ever even meet him. It's exhausting. So if all we end up doing is getting coffee, that's cool. And if I piss him off and he doesn't want to see me again, I'll live.

***

We met downtown, and went over to Reedy River falls to talk while we drank our coffee. When I first saw him, I thought "Oh shit - this guy is out of my league looks-wise." He did look really good. And of course, since I was meeting someone for the first time, my body was doing some strange kind of water-buffalo bloat and I looked about 20 pounds heavier than usual. But he didn't make an excuse and leave.

Talking with him was an experience. We agree on a lot of things, and we both have a mature outlook on life where we have been in relationships and know about compromise. We're both bewildered by the way some people live. Neither of us is particularly materialistic. He was picking up his cigarette butts to throw away. If he recycles too that would be hot. We both like to laugh. He's smart, and funny, and doesn't let me get away with anything. That's good - I need that. I'll definitely have to be on my toes, but it's really good to be around someone who can not only keep up, but add to the wit in the conversation.

There are some serious differences too though. I'm not sure he would want to have as much of a social life as I am used to having. I don't know how much I would miss that, though. Do I just need a break? Or am I really changing in my need for that? Right now, it sounds great to give up the round of parties and stay home, but I'm thinking eventually, Party Steve would get restless with that. The main difference, of course, is the open relationship thing. He has definitely drank the kool-aid on the monogamy thing. He dresses it up in a bit more new-age kind of mysticism, but underneath it's still the same old line "Couplehood is a perfect chalice, and the touching of another pee-pee shatters that chalice, invalidating all that came before and soiling the purity of our love." That kind of thing. Patently silly and totally impractical to me, but then he is hardly alone in that viewpoint. So many Americans feel that way, and live lives of serial monogamy because of it. So few people can be pracical about sex. There is so much baggage that goes with it from our Puritanical roots.

But I'm not throwing out the baby with the bathwater here. We're not getting married today. And we did have a really good time tonight. It worries me that he seems judgmental of things he doesn't agree with - he uses the term "sleeping around" in place of "open relationship", and called this woman a whore tonight. I am notably skittish around that word, since many would say that's what I am. I prefer the terms "free spirit" or "earthy", but don't kid myself that many wouldn't see it that way. I haven't even gone into the kinky thing with him - I don't know if he's read enough of the blog to have gotten into that or not. He was notably non-plussed when I talked about nudity tonight, and seemed pretty horrificated when I mentioned River's Edge. He apparently thinks about it in much the same way that others who don't go do, and obviously just could not comprehend why anyone would want to be naked around a bunch of friends. But then, in all fairness, neither could Michael, although he put up with me doing it.

But he's smart and very sexy. He makes me laugh. He may not be casual about sex, but he's not afraid to touch me. I liked that. He put his arm around me, touched my neck, etc. After being in a relationship with no touching or displays of affection, it felt like rain on very dry earth. In a way it seemed more intimate because I knew it wasn't going anyplace - didn't announce an agenda. And he sure gave me a kiss that made me think he would be worth the wait. He also apparently finds me attractive based on things that he said, and that's flattering. The fact that he would express that after we had basically had to agree to disagree on the poly thing intrigues me. Plus, I just love a guy who keeps me on my toes.

I wanted to give him a good night kiss before we parted, but after hearing about his privacy thing, I don't think PDA's are on the agenda. (We'd had a good enough time with coffee and talk that we ended up going for a late dinner.)

So I am intrigued. I never really pictured myself with the "country boy with the heart of gold", but there are sure worse things. Plus I had a tendency to picture that kind of guy as a bit simple for me, but there's nothing simple about Scott. When I met Michael, I didn't expect anything to come of that either, and got surprised. So I'm going to just realize that I'm not getting married, and am not under any pressure to. I'm going to enjoy myself, and see where this goes. Nothing wrong with having a hot, smart, funny guy to go out with, right?

Plus, he loves to play cards. I love the way he looks at me when I say something he finds amusing when I'm being all serious. I can see him fitting in with my friends and them liking him. He reads - I didn't get around to asking him what, but that's always a good sign. Plus we agree on at least one counter-culture thing. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Another pleasant Jockey Lot Sunday

Well I was back up at 5:30, thinking about forests, trees, and the proximity of my nose to my face.

Since I couldn't sleep anyway, I clicked over to TCM to see what was on. I was in luck. There was an old Joan Crawford coming on that I hadn't seen before - "Harriet Craig". For some reason, TCM plays all the obscure Bette and Joan at 2 fucking am, although there is always time in prime time for yet another salute to the endlessly identical war movies of John Wayne, or yet another showing of "The Guns of Navarone" or some crap like that. Meanwhile the gay people who actually watch are waiting to see "Torch Song" (which by the way I STILL haven't seen dammit). But I digress.

Harriet Craig was a good movie. Def a star turn for Joan, and just the kind of thing she would have relished - practically a type-cast for her. A woman obsessed with the perfection of her house and the complete control of the people around her. One wonders if someone at the studio was thinking she might take the hint. At any rate, it was an easy role for her to play. Some heavy-handed symbolism (a perfect, cold, porcelain Ming-dynasty vase that was they symbol for both her cold heart and her loveless marriage - no points for guessing what happens to it) was more than compensated for by a closing 20 minutes when all her lies came back home to roost, leading her to increasingly desperate ploys to try to hold her life construct together. From a sheer voyeuristic standpoint, it was positively gleeful to watch her get her comeuppance.

Anyway, by the time that was over, I had eaten and gotten mostly ready to go. I called Sherman at the hotel. He refused to let me cook breakfast for him. Since he was up, I led him over to the house by phone, both because he was checking out, and because he said he would drive today. I had coffee on the porch, and we had a smoke while I coordinated meeting Miss Kat at the Jockey Lot. On the way down, Sherman explained, a bit petulantly, that he would no longer try to help me figure things out since I obviously thought I had all the answers. Sigh. I bantered a bit with him, but basically refused to take the bait about getting into a serious discussion. I just reminded him that he was only four years older than me, and that I had limited tolerance for his playing Yoda.

Miss Helen came as well, as did dana. It was good to see everyone. I thought I had found a bottle dana might be interested in, but apparently I had over-estimated my bottle-spotting abilities, LOL. We did the first two rows of the yard sale part, but then everyone wanted to go inside to get out of the sun. It was viciously hot today, and very humid. So, I missed the rest of the outside, but I bought so much stuff yesterday I didn't really need anything new to have to find a place for today anyway, and there was nothing out there that was worth risking anyone having a heat stroke over. Also, we got kind of a late start, so everything had probably been picked over anyway.

By the time we got back to the car, I was ready to be in the air conditioning. Sherman and I got back to my house and relaxed with a cool drink for a moment, then decided to go on to lunch. I had one of my favorite lunches, chiles poblanos with Mexican rice. Over lunch, we started talking about cars. Sherman had picked out some special new Dodge muscle car that he wants (he is apparently very into cars) and was asking me what I thought about it, since I had been carefully non-committal when he talked about it the night before. Under questioning, I eventually told him that I just don't have the ego to drive a car that gets 13mpg. I just don't think that I justify that kind of carbon footprint. This of course made him defensive, and he went into the whole "its-my-money-and-if-I-want-to-spend-it-on-gas-that's-my-business" thing. Which of course kind of wasn't the point, but I didn't pursue it. He then explained to me that it wasn't an ego thing, he just liked the car. I understand that, but it's kind of a short-sighted view to me. I didn't go there. I could tell that after the self-justification died down, he would think about what I said, whether he agreed with it or not.

We ran over to Wal-Mart because Sherman said there was some stuff he needed to pick up. I'm afraid I kind of harshed his buzz about the trip, since he asked if I needed anything from there, and I just said no. When he asked follow-up questions, I just finally told him that I don't shop at Wal-Mart because they are evil, and explained why. He agreed as a former small business owner, but said he shopped there anyway, which I just don't get. But I was willing to go with him and people watch. He ended up not getting much stuff though.

After that, he left for home, and I laid down to take a much needed nap. I slept for about an hour, but the phone kept ringing, and then it would beep because I had missed calls. I heard from a really nice guy in Cola that I went out with a couple of times. I went on-line to check my messages, and had one from a guy name Tom that I used to talk to on Bear411. He lived in Anderson, but moved to PA to be with this guy that he met online. We had sniffed around each other at one point, but ended up never meeting. He told me that he was making plans to move back here, and said he wanted to call me.

It turns out the last year of his life has been hell. The guy he moved up there for turned out to be a shit. He lost his job. He's about half frozen during the winter. The people are bitchy and mean. And just basically nothing has gone right, and he's homesick. He was really broken up, and it just broke my heart to listen to him. He's obviously so miserable. About all I could do was listen, so that's what I did. I tried to re-assure him and tell him things will work out. I hope they will. He really is a sweet guy. He just needs to hie his butt home.

I've heard from a guy who lives in Asheville this weekend as well. We talked for a while before, but he's a young'un and I didn't think he would be really interested in me. He's making the noises though, and talked to me about going thrift-shopping. He doesn't talk like a usual 20-something, so maybe I'll meet him at some point. I did send him an email about how I wasn't worried about the youth thing now, but did think about in 20 years when I am 60 and he's still in his prime. I haven't heard back since then, so I may have scared him off LOL.

I've also been hearing from a guy named Scott*. I had talked to him last year, but we never met. He sent me a really nice email yesterday with his picture, which I definitely remembered. He is a good-looking guy, but we had ended up not meeting. There was some block there, but I can't remember what it was. We talked on the phone briefly yesterday and traded a few emails, but of course I have had so many irons in the fire that we haven't had time to really talk for any length of time until today. I had apparently mixed him up with someone else I talked to, and so the things that I thought I remembered were all wrong, which was embarrassing. But he was nice about it. I love the way he laughs, and he has a sexy voice. He has apparently been reading this blog, which gave him ample fodder to tease me with. I kind of like that, and it's flattering that he would be interested to bother reading more about me.

So it seems it's all or nothing. Either I can't get a date with fucking Green Stamps to offer, or everyone wants to meet me at once. Feast or famine. Just the way things go, I guess.

I was supposed to cook lunches this afternoon, but just really didn't feel like it. I have been on the go all weekend, and I am tired. I finally decided on sandwiches and ran to the grocery store for fixings. Of course, since I had counted on them having it, the Bi-Lo near the house didn't have any veggie balogna dammit. I hate that store. Every time I start counting on their carrying something, they quit carrying it, or stop stocking the shelves regularly. I didn't feel like driving across town to Publix, so just came home in disgust. I guess I'll figure something out.

I ate a bit of supper, watched some Fox stuff, and went on to bed. I am worn out.

*Name changed by request to protect an apparently strong sense of privacy.

More cheating. This a Manhattan 3 3/4" footed sherbert in crystal by Hazel-Atlas, circa 1938-1943. I can't find a picture of a pink one anywhere. You'll just have to use your imagination.

OK, I'm cheating a bit here. I found the smallest Fire King utility bowl on Saturday, the 6 7/8" one. But I can't find a picture of it (usually a good sign that they are hard to find, since I can find pics of the other sizes everywhere). Sh0wn is the 8 3/4" bowl. There was also a 10 1/4" one in the set.

"Philbe" refrigerator dishes in sapphire blue. I got both sizes - 5x5 and 9x5. These are often mistakenly listed as "loaf pans", although I'm sure they would work for that too.

"Philbe" casserole "pie plate" lid in Sapphire Blue by Fire King