Happy Halloween!

Lisa sent me this adorable picture of Ava, standing on Carl's hand again. She was dressed up like a little clown this year. Isn't she precious!

Donnie and Donna converse around ye olde fire pit.

Laura and JB at the party

I turned out to be in greater demand than I first thought.

I invited several friends over tonight to give out candy and watch movies, but nobody came. I thought Anna from work would, but she stood me up. I wonder if she has social anxiety disorder. This is not the first time she's done this, and she was really nervous the one time she had dinner with Jaimi and Rhonda and me. I was pretty disappointed.

But not for long. Donnie called and said Kimbley and Laura were having a movie night. So I put a note on the candy, left it on the front porch for the kids, and headed over there. I took a bag of candy with me to share with folks there. I had a great time! K & L have a DVD projector, and set it up in their back yard, along with a big screen, and we watched movies on the deck. We watched Rosemary's Baby first. I had never seen it all the way through, and I can see why it was such a hit when it was released. It's a good movie. Then we watched The Strangers. The promos for it scared me to death, but the movie wasn't that scary. After about the 4th "pop-up" scare, I was like "Oh, please." I read the reviews on it when it came out, and although it was supposed to be "based on true events", I couldn't find any record of the family it supposedly happened to. Still, it was entertaining to call them on all the horror movie cliches. (Banana peel feet, many sprained ankles, putting down the gun, etc.)

By the time that was over, most of the people were heading out. But Kimbley and Laura wanted to watch Rocky Horror too, and I'm just always up to doing the Time Warp again. I got home about 3:30am.

My senior moments continue. I stopped for a new pack of smokes before the party. When I got there I finished the old pack, took one out of the new one, and promptly threw the full pack into the fire, thinking it was the empty. When I then bummed a cig, I lit the wrong end of it. I just pinched the filter off and smoked it without. But I'm thinking geez, I'm a moron.

Smoking issues aside though, I had a great time. It was really good to see that gang, I hadn't seen them in a while. Prolly not since the Hat Party this spring.

Donna F was there. It was really good to see her, especially since the last time I did didn't go so well. We were at the Anderson County Fair when we got into it about GW, so that was in 2004. She was a big Bush supporter, and I'm like "HOW?" I think it has to do with issues she's talked to me about. But then many of them are 'Pubs, for whatever reason. I'm assuming they are fiscal conservatives, since a lot of them have money, but GW hasn't really been much of a fiscal conservative on a national level. Donnie had a fucking "Joe the Plumber" t-shirt on! I just roll my eyes and go on. I do love them. They are sweet people. But being a gay Republican is kind of like being a Jewish Nazi to me. I just try not to think about politics when I'm around them.

At least that stupid marriage amendment isn't on the table this time, unless something happens to McCain. If he wins, I would support life support, drugs, teenage female hormones, or implantation of a robust midget to keep that man alive. Sarah Palin scares the bejeezus out of me. The last thing we need is a female W in the White House, and in power. Esp a photogenic female W. Lord, please NO! That's all I can say.

Lovely evening*

Well I have to say it was lovely to come home and not have to worry about yelling at (or worse, trying not to yell at) a kid.

Talked to Russ today. It seems they have changed their minds, and now will be going to Charlotte tomorrow night, which means I am out of the party they were going to take me to here in town. Oh well. More time to give out candy, which I really love to do. I'll tune in some good scary movies on cable, or pop one in the VCR.

I'll be feeding Oliver for Russ and Billy on Saturday. It's going to be a busy day. I'll be painting (grrrrr), driving over to feed the dog, and trying to get a head start on getting things together for the beach. Russ tried to talk me into going to Columbia for Sir Michael's birthday, and I'd really love to go, but this weekend is just going to be frantic enough already.

I talked to Michael tonight, and tried to get him and Joe to go out to dinner with me, but it was dependent on Joe's acceptance, and I couldn't wake him up with his phone. Apparently he sleeps a lot during the day now. He hurt his leg, and has been out of work.

The beautiful artist came over and visited for a while tonight. It was really good to see him. It had been too long. I was so glad to run into him at the flea market the other week.

I talked to Justin in the phone tonight for a good while, catching up on what has been going on with him. He is so busy right now with school and things that he doesn't have much of a social life. I also caught up on what has been going on with James, which is apparently much more fast-paced. I missed the re-run of Barak Obama on the Daily Show, which I wanted to see, but it was worth it. I did catch the tail-end of it.

I got a Halloween card from my Mom. She always sends me one. Halloween used to be such a huge thing back when I was younger, in the bar days. She has never forgotten. We're both counting the days to the beach.

Don't let me kill this kid - part deux

I took my time getting home. I really wasn't looking forward to this.

He was sitting in his car waiting when I got there. When I walked up and looked at the job, it was fairly obvious what he had done. It looked as if he showed up in time to roll everything again, but he obviously had done next to no cutting-out with a brush (never mind that the brush was dirty). There was still paint showing through in places. I asked him if he thought he was done, pointing out places that weren't covered, and he said "Yes. No one is going to walk up and look at it the way you are." It was pretty much on then. Ugly things were said on both sides. He told me he didn't care, and to finish it myself if I wanted it done that way. I told him it was pretty obvious he didn't care from the job that he had done. I ended up telling him I wouldn't pay him what I promised him because he did a half-ass job. I paid him the reduced amount, and told him he better get back in school, since he obviously wasn't going to make a working man. He then took the check, cranked up the rap music, and peeled out down the street. He has a big, new, gorgeous Mustang that he obviously didn't pay for, and which would have eaten him alive in gas this summer.

Of course I felt like shit. Honestly, I felt like the crochety old man yelling at the "young whippersnapper". But if I had paid him full price for that crappy job I would have felt that I had been taken advantage of. So really it was a no-win kind of thing. The boy has problems, and I know that. I really did want to help him out. But I'm not going to reinforce that he can half-ass his way through life, and I'm sure not paying to reinforce that. He obviously has no idea the way the world works, and doesn't appear to have ever worked for money. He'll learn. He has taken a job at a restaurant. Working in food is a brutal education. People can think of an amazing number of things to dock you for if they are paying you themselves - voluntarily. I'm afraid David has some tough lessons to learn.

But he's hot. And he's a straight white male, so the world is pretty much geared to his whim. He should be fine.

I cleaned all the brushes and rags properly, and put them away for this weekend. Looks like I'm going to be painting on Saturday, which I was trying to avoid. I wonder if my house is going to end up egged, or worse, now. True that would be stupid, but this kid is really not a paragon of maturity and judgment.

I ate some toasted cheese and tomato soup, watched the Daily Show, and went to bed.

OK, I was up about 1am, and the phone showed that Jeremiah had called. I was already asleep though when he did.

I put the paint stuff out and came to work, and left a text for David to call me when he got up. When he called, I went through some more painting tips with him, and told him to call me if he wasn't getting coverage, or things weren't going right today. I also suggested he might show up a little earlier to make sure he had time to do the job, since he didn't have enough time yesterday.

I called him at 2:30 before I went to lunch to see if everything was going OK. He wasn't at the house yet. He showed up at 2pm yesterday. I asked him if he would be able to come back tomorrow if he needed to, and he assured me he wouldn't need to come back tomorrow. Despite his optimism, I am not having a good feeling about this.

I guess I'll find out shortly.

Dear Sweet Lord Jesus, don't let me kill this child

I prayed as I got a good look at the house when I got home. The color is right. The boy I hired to paint doesn't have the sense God gave a billygoat. From the road, it looked OK. When I got up close, it looked as if the house had mange. I painted the front and one side with 4 gallons of paint. He painted the front and two sides with a gallon and a half. It was put on so thin you could read the newspaper through it. The Barney Purple shone triumphantly through. There was probably more paint in the mess around the house than there was on it. The boy, up to his elbows, the brushes, the bucket, the roller pan, two rollers, and the two clean-up rags were saturated.

Trying not to yell at him, I just basically asked him what he was thinking? I got no good answer to that, besides the fact that he had planned to "touch up" some spots, and that he had never painted cinderblocks before. The whole fucking thing needed touching up. I guess the most amazing thing to me was the he was acting like this was perfectly normal - as if he couldn't tell it looked like total shit. When he asked if he should come back tomorrow, I told him yes, I thought he should, since the job wasn't done.

I went through a little painting 101 with him, and showed him how to load his brush. I showed him how to paint so that it went into the rough surface. I painted a test patch on one of the doors to under the house, and explained that tomorrow he could compare what he had done to the door I painted. If it didn't look the same, I explained, that meant it wasn't covered yet. I told him to lay the paint on thickly, as if he was being paid on how much of it he used. Then I told him to clean up the brushes and leave.

As he left, I asked him where the house key was. I had left him a key, trying to be good to him, so he could get in the house and get a soda or use the bathroom. He had lost the key. In the four fucking hours he was there. I think he sensed imminent physical danger. He took off pretty quickly.

I then went around the house, cleaned up the mess he had left, cleaned the brushes and roller pan properly, and put them on the porch for tomorrow.

After that, I changed and went to the store to buy more paint rollers.

It never crossed my mind that even the most inexperienced painter could fuck this up. It took me about 3 hours to do the front door (including taking it down, removing the locks, and sanding it down), the front and one side, cut it all in, and clean up. With the base coat on there to keep the paint from soaking so much into the blocks, it should have been easy to do the job in 4 hours. These are just flat fucking walls for crying out loud! And this boy is going to spend two days doing it. Hopefully. If he comes back tomorrow. I guess that the reason I was so upset was that none of it was done correctly. Rather than call and ask, or go back over one area until it was right, he just fucked the whole job up.

The idea for paying to have this done was so that I wouldn't have to worry about it, and to have extra time. I spent an hour painting and cleaning up when I got home last night, and felt like and asshole for being upset about the kid doing a half-ass job. Not to mention being out the $100 I'm paying him to do it in the first place. Plus I about had a heart-attack when I got home.

Needless to say, I was in a pretty black mood afterwards. I ate some supper, watched the Daily Show, and turned in early. Even Family Guy re-runs didn't make me feel much better.

No word at all from Jeremiah.

When I got off work tonight, I had to go by the hardware store to get a new paint roller pad for tomorrow. The house should be no longer Barney Purple as of tomorrow afternoon. I also picked up a new roller thing to give to my neighbor across the street. He really saved my life when mine broke about 2/3 through the job when I did it before. When I took it over to him, I explained that I was having the house painted a more tasteful color tomorrow. He was pretty indifferent about it. They live across the street, and since they were getting the full effect of the view I figured it would matter; but honestly, with the way they keep their house and yard, even with the house the color it is now, they get the best end on the view thing. That's as much as I'm saying.

First though, I ran through the antique store over near my house. I had a couple of things I wanted to pick up. One is a Christmas present.

I gave in and went the the Chinese buffet for dinner, which I really didn't need to do, money-wise or calorie-wise.

When I got home, I was just worn out. But I had stuff to do. I had washed sheets Sunday, and needed to fold them, so I could put a load of darks in to wash. I'm out of socks. When Michael was here, he wore lots of dark clothes and I didn't have this problem, but since I don't wear dark stuff usually, I'm always out of dress socks now. I never have enough dark clothes to make a load. Anyway. I sorted out the laundry, and there were like two pairs of socks in it. So I'm thinking "Where the hell are all my socks?" I looked in the closet, I checked to see if they were in the wrong drawer, I'm really going crazy, because I'm the only one in the house, and it's not like 15 pairs of socks can just vanish. I finally realized that they had to be in the dryer. I had washed darks last week, and just thrown the sheets in on top of them in the dryer. But I was really stumped for a minute there. I think it may have been my first senior moment. I'm pretty horrificated.

I went out to the out-building and got all the painting stuff out so I can just put it on the front porch in the morning for David. I'm pretty stoked about getting this done, even if I feel kind of lazy for having it done intstead of doing it myself. This $100 job is now at $330 and counting. Hopefully this will be the end of it. And it really should add some curb appeal to the house. Dad's been after me to do this forever. Although he would have a fit if he knew I had painted it purple. That's another reason I had to have it re-done quickly. If he had seen it the way it looks now I would never have heard the end of it.

Texted a bit with Jeremiah, who thought about coming over, then asked what time I had to get up and told me he had a headache. I felt special. I'm becoming more skeptical about that situation. For someone who was supposed to get so attached so easily, and to whom I was supposedly "perfect", he isn't making much of an effort to see me. He did text me this morning, but I got the impression that was more to test the waters of how mad I was after he stood me up last night.

Glass, glass, GLASS!!

Fire King "Jadite Swirl" 7" mixing bowl

"Aunt Polly" 6" sherbert plate in blue by US Glass Company, made in the late 20's

No. 612 "Horseshoe" cereal bowl in green by Indiana Glass Company, circa 1930-1933

Coronation "Banded Rib" 4 1/2" berry bowl in ruby red by Anchor Hocking, circa 1936-1940


Coronation 8" berry/serving bowl in ruby red


Oyster and Pearl 6 1/2" deep bowl in ruby red by Anchor Hocking, circa 1938-1940

Patrcian "Spoke" 6" sherbert liner/bread plate in green by Federal Glass Company, circa 1933-1937

"Bubble" 6 1/2" bread plate in sapphire blue by Anchor Hocking, circa 1940-1965

Russ texted me last night and asked if I wanted to go to the Jockey Lot today. Of course I said yes, but I wasn't expecting the amount of glass I found! This is one of the best glass days I've ever had, and certainly the best ever in Anderson. There was a dealer there liquidating some of his old stock, and that is where I got the Ruby Oyster and Pearl bowl (bought for $6, book value $22, but there is supposed to be a metal handle that is missing), the Cornation large berry bowl and two 4 1/2" serving bowl (large bowl $8, book value $15; small bowls $3, book value $8), and the horseshoe cereal bowl (bought for $9, book value $30). I was very excited about the horseshoe bowl, but when I got it home it has a bit of sickness on it where it has been through the dishwasher.

The other glass though, was just scattered on random tables. The Aunt Polly saucers I almost missed (bought 4 for a dollar, book value $10 each). The Jadite Swirl bowl Russ recognized and pointed out to me. It goes with the larger one I already have. It's in great shape, but was dirty - fortunately not dishwasher sickness, just greasy smudges. I don't know what it's worth, but I know it's worth more than the $5 I paid for it. The jadite stuff went through the roof when Martha Stewart talked about it on her show and in her magazine, but prices are going back down a bit now. The bubble plate was stuck in a box of a guy getting ready to go. It was $3, which would have been a bit high for the more common 6 3/4" plate, but this is the rarer 6 1/2" plate that is worth more. At $3 I wouldn't have cared if it was a bit high though. Just walking in, I found the Patrician Spoke plate, along with a mystery sherbert I haven't identified yet. I paid $5 for both, and thought I had paid pretty much all the money on them, but the book value on the plate is $8, so I guess it doesn't matter what the sherbert is worth. I have to sit down and go through the book to see if I can find it.

There was so much glass that I actually ended up leaving an American Sweethheart monax creamer - despite having the platter to match - just because I had bought so much already and because I have so many creamers. I still kind of wish I had gotten it, but I had $1 left in my pocket when we left. Plus I had such a great glass day that it's really hard to have any regrets. I'm getting more into the ruby red now than I have been. Usually it's so expensive, but I picked up some of the less expensive patterns in it today, and I just love that color.

I passed up three different tables with white "Panelled Grape" on offer. I am determined not to start collecting any more 40's, 50's, and 60's. I'm already collecting Holiday and Blue Bubble and I don't have room for all the stuff I have now.

***

I got my produce at the Jockey Lot as well. When I got home, I hauled the recycling, ran by the grocery store, and started cooking.

I took the leftover cornbread and biscuits from last weekend (kept in the fridge all week to stale them up good, since staler is better for this recipe) and made some Berryman House tomato casserole. I have to say it turned out really good. I made a big pot of sweet and sour cabbage with apples, carmelized onions, tomatoes, fakin bacon bits, and of course plenty of cabbage. It turned out well too. I couldn't help but think that Michael would have loved it.

While I was cooking, I put in Hocus Pocus, one of my favorite Halloween movies. I also started texting Jeremiah about coming over. He was visiting with his family, he said, and would be over later.

After I finished cooking, I cleaned up the house some since it was a disaster area. I met with a guy Russ knows about getting the purple covered up this week. I just finally gave in and decided to pay to have the painting done. I should do it myself, but the weather has been crappy the last two weekends and it will soon be too cold. Plus I have been so busy lately, I just haven't had time. I look at is as buying time more than paying to have the work done. The little guy that came to look about doing it is cute as a fucking bug. He's a child though, and straight, plus he's the son of a friend of Russ. So it was "salivate-but-don't-even-think-about-it" time.

I got cleaned up and settled in to rest for a bit. I was pretty whooped. I continued texting with Jermiah, trying to nail down when he would show up. No dice.

By 7:30 I got a return text telling me to go ahead and eat supper.

By 8:30 I was pissed.

By 9:30 I was over it. I sent him a text and told him I was going to bed, and that in the future for him to please tell me if he had conflicting plans - not to keep me waiting for him all evening. He texted back. Apparently he fell asleep on the couch. I'm still pretty damn over it. But we'll see what happens.

A lazy day, an unexpected meeting, a nice party*

The pumpkin carving party. I'm in the middle. My Jack-O-Lantern is next to the dog's butt.

Needless to say, I was pretty worthless today after being out so late last night. It was overcast and ugly this morning, plus it was way too wet from last night to think about painting. I went over to the White Horse road flea market about 9:30, but there was hardly anyone there, and then it started raining on top of that. I didn't even buy produce.

I came home, ate something, cleaned up the kitchen, and decided to lie back down for a while. I ended up sleeping until about 1:30, when Billy called to see if I wanted him to pick me up a pumpkin. I asked him to please do so. They were invited to a pumpkin carving party tonight, and told me I could go too. At that point I decided to stir myself, but just went online and started messing around there. I ended up talking to a nice guy named Jeremiah. He's awfully cute. He kind of reminds me of that little chick that Foghorn Leghorn used to try to teach to play baseball and stuff in the old cartoons. He ended up coming over to hang out for a while this afternoon.

He's young - 26. And he likes NASCAR, which I can't bear. He also apparently has a vegetable phobia. But he said I'm pretty much his perfect physical type, and he likes older guys. Buit he's drinking the gay guy monogamy Kool-ade, and he has made disparging remarks about meeting guys who are "freaks" that does not bode well for telling him about LOCK. But I'm kind of at the stage now that I'm tired of vetting everyone for husband material before I even go out with them. He's a nice guy. He seems into me. And nothing says that we have to get married. If he wants to hang out for a while I think I'd like that. So we'll see what happens. But we're going to have to come up with a creative nickname. Jeremiah is just too many syllables for me to be keeping track of. I have a strict two syllable name thing on intimates.

***

The party was great. I was a bit put off when I got there. There were kids there, and everyone seemed way into this pumpkin carving thing. Frankly, it seemed a bit wholesome for me. But as it got later, and the pumpkins got finished, people started talking and drinking more, the kids left, and it seemed like more my kind of thing. The house was in a bit of a suburban environment for me, but the decorations and things were really cool. They have been having this party for 6 years, and apparently have it down to a science, completed with special pumpkin saws, outdoor lighting, plastic tables to carve on, pattern books to make fancy pumpkins with, and a "staging area" to display the completed pumpkins. Russ and Billy chose fairly elaborate designs, but frankly, I go to a party to party, and I'm kind of old school about jack-o-lanterns anyway. I like the face ones. So I just did a fairly simple face one, and was done with it. Russ worked on his for several hours, but it paid off - he won the grand prize for best pumpkin. Sadly, he benefitted from Billy's mistake. I watched him working on his pattern and advised Russ on how to make a better start. But Billy's turned out good too, really - it just wasn't as detailed as the pattern.

There were a lot of lesbians there, which I like. I love hanging with the women.

The guys that gave it are Tom and David. David is a photographer, so there were lots of photographers there - this was a well documented event. One guy really never said anything. He just made pictures the whole evening. Tom is a talented chef, so the center of the party was an amazing buffet. The food was beautiful, delicious, and very rich. He had taken cookie cutters, cut out tortillas, and toasted them to make Halloween-shaped chips for the dips. I was impressed, because that is the kind of thing I just can't stand to do. I just don't have the patience. He made one of the best spinach/artichoke dips I have ever tasted, although in all fairness, I haven't met a spinach/artichoke dip I didn't like.

We didn't stay really late though. Although it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon, it turned off cold fairly early. Plus Billy and I both ate too much rich food. Plus we had all been up so late the night before. It was just a good night to turn in early. I hate that I didn't get any pictures of the pumpkins and the carving, but I had forgotten my phone.

A LATE night

The "anti-onion ring" I got at Denny's tonight. It's being a "no Drew" ring in this picture. I just thought this was very unusual, and thus preserved it for posterity.

Tonight was the bear dinner for October. The plan was that we would go to Spartanburg, eat, and then go to the Wompus Woods, a haunted trail thing here. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It was cold drizzly yuck pretty much all day. I wasn't really torn out of the frame about it, since I'm not that into scary stuff; and supposedly this trail is really scary. There has been a heart attack and a seizure already this year, and one of the girls at work told me her 15 year old daughter went and wet her pants.

So after work, I went over to Russ and Billy's house to ride up with them. Russ was late, which isn't unusual, but he then called and said he was in a car accident. Fortunately, it was minor one and no one was hurt. There wasn't even that much damage to the car. But since South Carolinians drive like idiots any time water comes from the sky, there were wrecks all over the place, and Russ spent several hours waiting for the cops to come and write out the accident report. He missed dinner, which he was most discombobulated about. Russ HATES to miss anything.

Billy, Ben, and I rode up for dinner at Denny's. I know, big thrill. But that was a central place that everyone could find. Also, since it was closer for them, Bill and Drew came tonight, and they don't usually come any more. Cougar was there, and looking good in a black leather biker jacket. He sat next to me at dinner, and I enjoyed talking to him. It was pretty much unanimous that we weren't going to the wet mucky haunted woods tonight.

When we got home, Russ was there, feathers all ruffled. He was quite put out. But we watched a bit of telly and went out to smoke and talk on the porch. Two of the newer bear group guys called and came over, and we ended up having a game night. We played "Apples to Apples", "Taboo" (my personal favorite, although I didn't do that well tonight), and "Scattergories", which was also fun, but harder than taboo.

It was a great evening, and I had a really good time. It was really late when I got home though. About 3am. I'm going to be in serious sleep depravation, because I had insomnia last night, but since I had been sleeping like falling in a hole all week, I figured I could handle it.

A good talk with Rhonda

Had a pretty good day at work today. I decided to call Rhonda tonight, since she is one of the people I need to return calls to. I'm really bad about calling people, because I work on the phone. The last thing I want to do at night is talk on the phone usually.

We had a really good converstation though. We caught up a bit on what has been going on in each other's lives. Her son Tony has dropped out of high school. Sigh. He is such a smart boy, and has so much potential. At one point his grades could have earned him a scholarship to an Ivy League school, but he just quit trying. He's had a very turbulent childhood and home life, and it just seems like nothing matters to him anymore. But he has his GED now, and she says he's going in to nursing school. I hope he makes it. He's a good kid, he just really needs a boot up his ass, and Rhonda just won't do it, for whatever reason. Rhonda and I also talked about food (and the challenges of cooking for her lover Sabrina), and talked about my Kindred project.

To join, you are asked to complete a project for the group. You have a year to complete it. It should be something that benefits the group. I'm thinking about doing a recipe book with my best tried and true recipes in it. Rhonda seemed to think it was a good idea. I'll bounce it off Russ and Billy this weekend and see what they think.

It was really good talking to Rhonda. I miss her.

A visit with Miss Kat and dana

I came in to work today with a loaded schedule. Weekly slides and a full call slate, but I got everything done. Just nothing extra.

When I got home, I had the sweetest emails from Rhonda, from Lady Beth, and Lori sharing their happiness that I had been invited to join The Kindred. I was very touched.

I called Miss Kat to find out what they were up to tonight, and she invited me for a visit. I had been almost two months since I had seen them, and that is just way too long.

We talked about my invitation to join The Kindred, and my worries about what I had to offer the group, and of course she knew exactly what to say. She told me that if the group didn't feel that I had anything to offer, the invitation wouldn't have been extended in the first place, and that all I needed to offer the group was myself. It was lovely of her. When I got home, Lady Beth had sent me a wonderful email saying the same thing. You know, I really should have known that without them telling me. I guess it's just hard for me to take in the reality that such a wonderful group of people want me to be one of them. When we were talking about it tonight, dana said that she had put in "about 150 votes" in my favor when my membership was discussed. Still makes my eyes tear up when I think about it.

While I was with Miss Kat, she gave me my birthday present they had for me. It was a lovely Mayfair pink bowl. As if that wasn't enough, she then filled it with some luscious lime and powdered sugar cookies that she makes. Needless to say, any thoughts of watching my weight were immediately forgotten. We had tea and cookies and talked until dana went to bed. Then I realized I needed to get on home anyway.

And still more family stuff*

When I got to work today, I had a fairly full day planned.

Then Cindy called. I haven't talked to her in almost a year. She too wanted to talk about the whole Eve and Dad estrangement thing. It was good to talk to her, and it was good to hear her side of the story. Paul is the only one who has called me during all this before today, and I wanted to hear what she had to say about it.

But the whole thing is just so sad. Everyone is hurting over this situation, and Dad, although he was the one originally wronged in this, seems to be the main reason there hasn't been a reconciliation yet. He's just gotten so hard.

And I'm left back in the same position I was before. I have heard two completely different versions of the same story. Both sound pretty plausable, in all honesty. And the "proofs" involved really don't prove anything one way or the other. It seems that we are now heading toward legal action, which will just further and cement the split. I don't know of anything I can do to head that off, and I guess if it comes to that I'll end up in the middle of it and everyone will be mad at me. Since the family seems irrevocably spit anyway, I guess that doesn't make much difference. But at least right now everyone is still talking to me.

After I got off the phone with Cindy, the computers crashed at work, and that ate a huge chunk of my day. I did get some work done late in the afternoon, but didn't make a dent in what I had planned.

After work, I went to visit with a buddy of mine who calls me when he's in town. It was good to see him. After that, I went to the drug store and the grocery store. I didn't get home until about 8pm.

I stuck some white sweet potatoes Eve had given me in the oven to bake (they wouldn't have been good when they got back) while I ate dinner. I did a bit of laundry and turned in early. At least I have a bit more justification for being tired tonight.

More family stuff

Surprisingly, I had to drag myself out of bed this morning. I went to sleep early, and slept well. Yesterday just really took it out of me. I was exhausted. I'm leaving for the beach with Mom on 11-5. I really need some time off. I just keep telling myself it's coming. I wandered into the shower and thought about how wonderful it was just to be back in my own home. Then I got a bit choked up when it came to me that Grandma will never know this feeling again. Just to enjoy a shower in your own home, in a moment of privacy.

I got to work and started on my Monday routine. Then Paul called. He wanted to ask about Grandma Shumate, and how things were going with Dad and Eve, as far as their feeling towards him and Cindy were concerned. I had to tell him that things have not changed.

I did try to be the voice of reason with Dad yesterday in the car. He was going on and on about how much he hates Paul, and I just finally reminded him that Paul is the keeper of the keys as far as visitation with Brenden goes, and that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. His response was that if the cost of seeing Brenden was being civil to Paul, then it was too high. Once again I am flabbergasted. I KNOW they are hurthing over this. They half-raised Brenden. It is just incomprehensible to me that Dad can't stop cutting off his nose to spite his face - he can't be civil even in his own interest. I just can't understand it.

Anyway, by the time I got off the phone with Paul that conversation, in conjunction with the long trip yesterday, and my just being heartsick over this whole Grandma in the nursing home thing and this estrangement and Brenden problem all conspired to give me a bad case of the "don't-give-a-damns". I did get my calls done, but not much else.

After work, I just went home, had a salad, did some laundry, and went to bed.

A long long Sunday

Sometimes insomnia is a gift. I was up at 5:30am this morning, and had some spare time to do more stuff around here while still showing up on time to leave for North Carolina.

I have to say Dad was pretty much on his best behavior today, but it was still a long day. It's 3.5 hours up to North Wilkesboro. So 7 hours in the car total.

I hadn't been to see my grandmother since she had to move to the home. The place that she's in is very nice, and on top of a hill with a lovely view of the mountains. It's clean and smells nice. The windows are down at wheelchair height so they can see out. There is a beautiful courtyard outside where they can sit in the sun, and play with the two resident dogs, or watch the three resident turtles that live out there. There are also two cats that live inside. There is a beautiful living room area where the residents can entertain their families when they visit. The staff seems very nice, and to truly take good care of the residents. There are many activities that provide opportunities to socialize. I know she isn't as lonely as she was before.

But it's still a home. Most of the floors are industrial tile. Most of the residents are in wheel chairs that they aren't going to come out of. Many have dimentia, and just wander amlessly around. My grandmother is living out her nightmare. She shares a room with another woman and has little to no privacy. She isn't able to go to the bathroom on her own any more. It's hard to see her there. Especially because she is confused as to why she is still alive. She has been ready for the Lord to take her home since she had her stroke and couldn't take care of herself any longer. For her to be living the way she is now is akin to the trials of Job. She has had to give up so much of who she is.

But today was a good day for her. When we got there to pick her up, she had been ready for three hours. I was glad to learn that we were going to her house for the party, rather than have it at the home. It was the first time she has been to her own house since she fell months ago and broke her pelvis. The whole family was there. My dad and his brother are getting along well these days, and I know she is happy about that. She was less happy that they are leaving for a cruise on her birthday tomorrow, but she was pleased that they are able to do something fun, and wanting to spend time with each other. We all ate and talked and told funny stories. Lisa had Ava with her, and Ava is such a happy and active baby that she always puts on a show. My cousin Tonya brought her son Logan with her, and he's a cutie. I think Grandma would have been happy just watching them play.

We were at the house until about 4. I told Dad finally that we would need to get her back in time for supper, which I know they serve fairly early. People had started to leave anyway at that point. Grandma told us all she loved us, and wanted us to know it because we may not be all together again. She's 87 now, and so fragile. I tried to explain to my Dad on the way home that she wasn't being maudlin. At her age, and with her mind as good as it is, she understands that the end is coming, and she has things she wants to say first. As anyone would. But Dad can't see her death as being like any other death, which I guess I can understand.

When we got her back to the home, she made a bee-line for her room, and I immediately knew what it was. She had held it as long as she could. I pushed her back there and immediately pressed the call button to bring an attendant to take her to the bathroom. So she got to hold on to that much of her dignity. She would have been mortified if any of us would have had to help her. I think more and more now that BB is right. The ones that are out of their minds have it better.

We visited for a while after that, but before long we had to go. We took her to the dining room so they could coax her to eat a little supper, since she had declared that after one piece of pizza and a piece of birthday cake, she didn't need anything else to eat today.

We left and started the drive home, talking about the day, and sharing impressions of the family. I hadn't seen my cousin Mark in 6-8 years. He has some problems, and still lives with my Uncle Chris and his wife Pam. They are really worred about what's going to happen with him while they're gone. I think it's terrible that they can't even take a vacation without having to worry about him. My other cousin Tonya, his sister, has reluctantly agreed to see about him while they're out of town.

Lisa looks wonderful. Really beautiful and happy. I so want her life with Carl to work out for her. Cole looks good. It's nice that I see enough of him that he isn't shy around me. I seem to be able to put him at ease. Ava is of course a joy.

The blot on the day for Eve is that Cindy wasn't there, and that she hasn't seen Brenden in so long. We were talking to a woman at the home this afternoon who is in charge of social activities for the residents. Her daughter is a missionary, and she was remembering the last time they came home for a vacation, when her little grandson would come running to the door yelling "Mimi, Mimi!" every afternoon. The look on Eve's face at that moment broke my heart. I know she was remembering a time not so long ago that her little Benden used to yell "Mimi, Mimi!" when she came in.

Of course, Dad didn't notice that, and didn't understand why she got upset when he was teasing her on the way home. But she pretty much shrugged it off and went on. She has her faults, I'm the first one to say, but marriage to my dad is no picnic. Of course, he was upset too by having to leave my grandmother in that place that he knows she hates, and from seeing her so fragile. He knows he doesn't have much longer with her. I know that on some level, I'll be glad when she gets to move on. She's ready to go, and wants to go. I know that the grief I will feel will be selfish - tears I'll shed for missing her. But Dad is really not good at letting people go. For any reason. I really do think that if he could he'd take her home and keep her, just as she is, for the rest of his life. I'm so glad he can't.

We stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel, and then it was just the long road home. Thankfully Dad's mood seemed to improve after we ate, and he was kinder to her the rest of the way back. Politics barely came up, and when it did, he didn't go on and on the way he usually does.

Still, being around my dad is always kind of perilous. And trying to appear charming, gracious, and clean cut all day just gets to be work after a while. By the time I got home, I was exhausted. I had to finish unloading the car, since the cat food was still in there, but as soon as I did that, I collapsed. It was a good day overall, but I'm pretty glad it's over.

A lovely, if lazy, Saturday*

Sharon, or "Open Rose" 12.5" platter in amber by Federal Glass Co, circa 1935-1939

Windsor "Diamond" pitcher in pink by Jeannette Glass Co, circa 1936-1946

When I woke up this morning, I just decided it was too damp to paint still. It may or may not have been, but I suppose I am just not virtuous enough to write off my entire weekend. I had offered to help Russ and Billy at the shop today, but they said there really wasn't anything to do over there today. They did invite me over tonight though, which I was happy about.

I was honestly feeling too lazy to go to the flea market today, but boy am I glad I did! I was too lazy even to go to the store for coffee, which I was completely out of, but then remembered I would have to have fruit for next week. Since I'm going to be gone all day tomorrow, what I got done for next week would have to be done today. I dragged myself to get dressed and headed over. It was a pretty enough morning though, and once I got there I decided to walk around a bit.

The first piece of glass I found was the Sharon platter. Ordinarily I don't buy amber glass because I don't like it that much, but this looked to be in pretty good shape, and I like to have serving pieces because I can use them to entertain or at parties. When I picked it up to get a better look, the guy told me wanted a QUARTER for it! So of course I couldn't resist that. It has some wear marks on it, which really don't bother me. It also had some rust stains on it (apparently a lot of folks had tin kinves then, and if they rested on the glass wet, they would leave rust marks - I know this because I have some of those old knives), but those come right off with toilet bowl cleaner. There is also a very small flake chip on one side I didn't notice until I got it home. Book price on that piece is $16, but in the shape it's in, prolly only about $12-14.

The other piece I found was the Windsor pitcher. That guy knew what it was, but only wanted $15 for it. Book price on it is $25. I couldn't reist. I had looked everywhere for one last year, and only found one in an antique store that I thought was too high. I quit looking when my friend Terry sent me a bunch back in May. But as I say, this was a deal, and I couldn't resist. I didn't realize how dirty it was until I got it home, but it scrubbed up nicely.

Since I was cleaning glass anyway, I decided to go ahead and put the display cabinet Russ gave me back together. It went back to one piece beautifully, and I got it all cleaned up and the shelves and sides all put back in it. Then I arranged glass in it. It looks GREAT. I'm really happy with the way it came out. Justin will be pleased too, since I'll be able to have more of my glass on display. I've decided to clean out some cabinets in the kitchen so I have more room to keep more glass downstairs.

While I was doing that, I baked some glass with oven cleaner on it, which I have heard sometimes taks mineral deposits off. I didn't work on my little green "test" bowl, but it worked like a charm on the old Fire King pie plate lid I got on my birthday shopping trip. It had baked on food in all the little crevices, but came clean as a whistle. It looks great. I also put on my broccoli for lunch next week and cooked it.

Well after all that cleaning and fixing, I ate some lunch, and then decided I needed a nap. When I woke up about 4:15, it was because I had a message on my phone, but whoever it was didn't leave their name. I thought it might be Michael, but when I called him, he said it hadn't been him. Since I had been meaning to talk to him anyway, we talked for about an hour. Mostly that was me catching him up on stuff around here.

By this time, I was late for Russ and Billy's. They had asked me to come over early, since I can't stay late tonight. Eve, Dad and I are leaving at 8:30am in the morning for NC. I got cleaned up and went on over. We went out to El Matador for dinner, which was lovely as usual. When we got back to the house, we watched the latest "Little Britain", which is always funny. We also watched the last episode of "True Blood". It is still making me mad because of the way they're protraying Sookie's brother, but it is a good series. Bill is being shown in a more sympathetic light now, at any rate.

Dinner out with Russ and Billy

Today was a long day. It makes the week seem so much longer when you're really not looking forward to the weekend. I need to paint tomorrow, but it has been so drizzly and yucky here, I've about decided I won't be able to do it.

I did get paid today though, so I went and bought the paint. I brought a clipping of the coleus I wanted matched with me to work and kept it in water, so I'd have it with me already tonight. The lady at Home Depot this time wasn't nearly as cool and sassy as the girl that waited on me before, but she was very nice and very helpful, and didn't bat an eye when I told her I wanted the purple from my coleus matched to paint the house. The electronic eye couldn't read a leaf, but she was able to get amazingly close to the color I wanted. I am encouraged. Even if I am not thrilled about painting again. I also went by the pet store to get cat food on my way home, and my food and litter costs are up by $12 a trip! Since it was $50 per trip before, that is quite signifciant.

After the shopping, I went out to Iraishai with Russ and Billy for dinner. I had read an article today about sushi, and was ravenous for some. It had been a while since I had any. We went to Iraishai since it is really close to Russ's shop, and he was working late. Unfortunately, the food quality was just off tonight, and I was disappointed in dinner. The best thing we had was a dish they call green beans age which is just tempura breaded and fried green beans served with a pepper paste and mayo dipping sauce. About as Japanese as tacos, but really tasty. Had I known my sushi was going to be so mediocre, I would have just had a plate of them.

The big surprise at dinner tonight was that Russ and Billy told me that they are going to sponsor me for membership in The Kindred! I was absolutely blown away - it was the last thing I was expecting. The Kindred is a leather family. It's hard to describe if you've never done any BDSM, but basically they are a chosen family. You pledge your loyalty and fealty when you are accepted for membership. I already know most of them through the time I have spent at LOCK functions - and most of them feel like family already. They are people I love. It is a great honor to be asked to join. They also told me that Carmina and Adder are going to be invited! I was excited about that too, since I adore both of them.

When we finished dinner, we went by the new shop for a while. It is coming along, but pretty slowly. I told Russ I just didn't see that he could be ready to move in in a week. I think he's going to delay the move another week. I don't see how he can not do that.

We looked at a bunch of funiture the guy that owns the building has just sitting around everywhere. Some of it is good stuff, but unfortunately much of it is just sitting around outside in the rain, or in a leaky-roofed building, being ruined. I don't understand why you would get stuff like that and then just let it ruin. Russ says the owner, a guy named Ben, wants me to look at some lots of glass that he bought and tell him what they are. That should prove interesting.

A long, long day

Well true to form, since I could sleep later this morning, I was up with insomnia. From 2:30 to about 4:30am. As usual, when I got back to sleep I had Kafka dreams. In this one, I was a female fugitive, for some reason lost at a carnival. My guy was looking for me, and randomly biting people to test to see if they were me. It made sense in the dream.

When I woke up, I made coffee and had a cigarette to get me jump-started.

Work was fairly boring, but that's better than something going wrong.

My old friend Ty Richie was on my mind when I woke up with insomnia last night, so I wrote out a three page letter to him, just kind of catching him up on what's been going on, and telling him I want him back in my life. It always hurt me the way he moved away and just kind of dropped me, but I think I understand better now why he did it. I've only seen him a couple of time since. I miss him, and want to go down to Atlanta to visit. I hope I hear back from him. The last time I tried to contact him was after an ex of his here in town died, and I didn't hear back from him until I got a Chirstmas card in 2006. Strangely, he didn't include a phone number or email address. I didn't send any cards last year so he didn't hear from me. I had put the card aside, thinking I would write back, but haven't until now.

I did the Fred Flintstone out the door at 5:30 since I had an appt to get my hair cut. I got to the shop and had a bit of time to read on the latest piece of trash pot-boiler I'm reading. I'm about to reach the heart-stopping conclusion. So tripe-y though. I'm really hoping they are through the sex stuff. Here's an actual quote:

"He kissed his way down her center, leaning into(sic) her until she was lying on her back. He nipped her tummy with his teeth and nuzzled her mound. He stroked her thighs, gradually separating them.

Then his mouth was intimate with her.

Kendall gave herself over to the breaktaking sensations. Without shame or modesty she allowed them to undulate up through her belly and breasts. Delicately his tongue probed and flicked and stroked and laved until she shattered like a fine piece of crystal."

That's a direct quote, folks, I can't make shit like that up. Needless to say I was laughing out loud. I really thought about adding italics for emphasis, but the whole passage is such a tribute to schmaltz, that I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I won't even include the part where Kendall, a good girl who fell in with bad company, is post-coitally begging the Federal Agent she escaped with (and who conveniently, of course, was in a car accident and had amnesia long enough to fall madly in love with her) to remember her and their time together before she is forced to make a run for it for the sake of her child.

I'm obviously killing any brain cells previously stimulated by my work on House of Leaves. I'm honestly just reading it for the hoot factor at this point. I was enamored of her big-busted red-haired and lusty best friend named Ricki Sue (I swear, that is the name the author gave her), a woman who frankly, seldom met a penis she didn't like. But alas, Ricki Sue was just killed by evil inbred mountain twins who are also chasing poor Kendall for revenge for the alleged mis-handling of their brother's trial (she was a public defender before she went on the lam), but not before she had sexually exhausted both of them. Ricki-Sue obviously was made of more hardy stuff than fine crystal. Had she been real, I'd like to have shaken her hand. And yes, I generally hate books written about the South by people who have obviously never set hoof here, but two caveats: 1) I didn't know that when I picked up the book; and 2) I only picked it up because I had finished the book I had on my lunch hour, and it was either find something off the communal shelves in the cafeteria or go back to work early.

(The book, for those of you who either a) have a great appreciation for bad writing; b) feel the need to lower your IQ to that of the average Sarah Palin supporter; or c) just have no taste at all, is The Witness by Sandra Brown.)

Also, while I was waiting, Michael called. Joe was working, and he asked me to dinner. He came by the shop while I was getting my hair cut.

Russ is moving the shop next week, so while I was there, I decided to go ahead and cram the display case he's giving me into the car. Because Michael was there, he got roped into helping me carry it. First, I took out the glass shelves and asked him to carry those. As I started carrying the cabinet, one of the glass sides popped out, scaring us all to death. Mercifully, it didn't break. I got it part of the way out after that, and then Michael was like "Why don't you let me help you carry that and come back for the glass?" Which made sense. He grabbed the top, and I got the bottom, and three steps later, it came apart in the middle, both pieces falling, and more glass falling out of it, although mercifully, again, not breaking. So that was two heart attacks, and we were barely out of the shop. We laughingly picked up the pieces and took them to the car, where they were much easier to load. I think I can get them back together.

We went out for Mexican, which was good since I was craving nachos as usual.

I got home about 9, got all the pieces in, and was exhausted. As I started to get ready for bed though, I remembered that I was totally out of cat food. I was supposed to get some tonight and forgot. So I had to go back out to the store. Sigh. They just had to settle for Purina Cat Chow tonight.

I got an amazing amount of work done today, especially considering that we had the %$$%#!! quarterly meeting this morning. At 40 minutes, this was the shortest one I have ever attended (even if about half of was about reducing travel and entertainment expenses, which affect about 20% of the staff). I was grateful. I got my weekly Wednesday slides in on time, amazingly, got my regular calls done, and did all my account reconciliations. I left work feeling self-satisfied.

Eve called today about the trip this weekend. Apparently I am to be at their house at 8:30am, just like on a workday. This trip just sounds worse as we go. I really love my grandmother. I also asserted to Eve today that I wanted politics officially barred as a topic of conversation for the ride - that I wouldn't spend six hours in a car with Dad yelling at me. She agreed. Not that she can really do anything about this, but she'll mention it to Dad, and hopefully it will make some difference. At least I feel as if I've made an effort to avert a fight.

I stopped on the way home for cole slaw. I made hot dogs and chili tonight. While I was at the store, I got my Halloween candy. I'm all ready for the Trick or Treaters now. I just loving giving the kids candy :) It makes me happy.

Scooting out of chores again

Paul called today at work. He wanted to test the waters and see how things are on this end. I told him, in regards to him, they were the same as ever. Dad was born right and has been going uphill ever since. He vented for a while, and told me he has released the money to Dad, and was waiting on a release from Dad. He had made release of the funds conditional upon the release, but told me that he had released the funds anyway, even though Dad said he would never sign a release. I told him he could count on never seeing that. He also said an apology would go a long way to fixing this problem, but I told him not to hold his breath for that one either. I reiterate here that Cindy was wrong in the beginning, but expecting Dad to be gracious is just unrealistic apparently. It is amazing to me that the man has absolutely no diplomatic skills. He wants to see his grandson, but can't bring himself to say a civil word to his son-in-law to effect that end.

I really needed to cook tonight. I need some veggies to take for lunch tomorrow.

But when I got off work, I was starving. I had brought a light lunch today, and all I could think about was pizza. So I went to the pizza buffet. When I got out of there, Mom was calling me. Since we didn't get a chance to talk to her last weekend, we talked for a half hour.

I left the parking lot, and was going over to get broccoli from BJ's. I knew they were closing the BJ's here, but I didn't know tonight was the last night they would be open. Most of the stuff was gone, but I went in to see if they had any of the stuff I use from there. It was gone already. Plus it was really depressing. By this point it was already about 7:30.

From there I left and got down close to the house. I stopped to get some stuff at Kmart, and bumped around in there for a bit, but there was nothing I wanted to buy. I decided to go to the grocery store and get the broccoli that I intended to buy at BJ's tonight. By the time I got home it was almost 8, and too late to start cooking.

I fed the cats, did some laundry, and watched the Daily Show. I turned in early, since I have to be up so early in the morning to go to that *&&^%$!! quarterly meeting at work. I really don't have a problem with them having an hour-long meeting so that the managers can pat themselves on the back, but to do it on MY time, and to drag me from my snuggly bed at 5:45am to do it, has got to be outlawed somewhere in the Geneva Convention. Not that this country abides by the Geneva Convention anymore. Hopefully that will change soon.

The long way home

I dragged myself into work today. I had a helluva week ahead. A big court case was supposed to go into mediation this week. That meant putting together discovery, meeting with the attorney, dinner out with him and my boss tomorrow night, plus the mediation itself on Thursday. Thursday night I'm getting my hair cut since the shop is closed the next week while Russ moves it. Plus, I have laundry and chores I skipped out on Sunday to do. But then, things unexpectedly opened up, and the mediation was moved to the first week of December. So my week got a lot less crowded.

When it was time to get off, there was a traffic jam so bad I couldn't even get out of the parking lot. So I didn't. I got my book, went to the breakroom, and read for an hour.

I had lots of stuff I needed to do Sunday and didn't do. I went by the library, turned in my overdue library book, and paid the fine. I also got a book to read, since I don't have anything on my order in list there right now.

I went by the grocery store, and picked up some stuff I was out of, some stuff that I wasn't, got some money, and decided what to have for dinner this week.

By the time I got home and fed the cats it was almost 8. I made a spinach salad and sat down to watch the Daily Show, but it was a re-run from the 8th. Apparently they want a lot of mileage out of having Michelle Obama on the show. I guess that was a bit of a coup for them. But I had already seen it, so I watched Spongebob instead. I turned in early. I'm still missing sleep from the weekend.

Getting some stuff done

"Columbia" 6" cake plate/saucer in crystal by Federal Glass Company, circa 1938-1942

Since I played all day yesterday, I really needed to do some chores today.

I went to the flea market for produce. I found a little Columbia saucer to go with my set that matches my cake plate. The lady who sold it to me was so nice it was a pleasure to buy it from her, and tell her a little bit about it. The little plate had apparently belonged to her grandmother, and she'd found it in a box under her house, wrapped in paper towels. I could tell she was pleased that it was going to someone who would treasure it.

I got all my produce and then got home and started cooking. Today I made Greek potatoes. I was trying to copy a recipe from one of my favorite Greek places here in town, called The Olympian - their Greek potatoes ROCK. These were pretty good, but not as good as theirs. I'm going to have to keep trying.

I cleaned up the kitchen, did a bit of laundry, and was laying down to read and have a nap when Russ called. They had such a good time at Fall for Greenville this weekend they were going back today. Plus the weather outside is just gorgeous, and Billy thought it would be a shame to be cooped up indoors, which it would have been.

I ate some lunch, got cleaned up, and headed over there. Lori came too, which was good. It had been way too long since I had seen her. dana was going to come, but ended up staying home to finish painting the bathroom. Miss Kat is out of town, and she wanted the house to be nice when she got home.

We strolled downtown, eating and talking, and looking at all the purty men. It was fun. We ran into some of the bear guys we know, and talked to them for a bit. By the time we left, I was full and tired. We headed on back to Russ and Billy's house, and relaxed on the porch for a bit.

Then I got a bit of a shock. Of course the election was being discussed, and Lori said that even though she believed more of what Barak Obama stood for, she was voting for McCain because she just couldn't vote for a black man. "It's just the way I was raised." she said. It upset me very badly. First, that someone I know would be so overtly racist. Second, that she would do something as important as VOTE based on something that she herself seemed to understand was not really a good reason. Third, because "that's the way I was raised" is such a fucking cop-out! She is a grown woman. I believe when you become an adult, you transcend your upbringing and you decide what kind of person you are going to be. I'm quite sure she wasn't raised to be a masochist/submissive either, but she seems to manage to wrap her head around that with no problem.

Of course I didn't say any of this. Lori is my friend, and I love her. I don't think it would have done any good. She seems to have made up her mind. My feelings now are conflicted. I previously adored Lori. I kind of like I bit into a big gorgeous peach and found it had a big rotten place in the middle.

It's not that she is voting for McCain. I know many people who will be. Indeed, living in SC, I know he will most assuredly win the state. I never tell anyone how to vote, although if we are discussing politics, I will share my opinions about the issues. I very much believe you should vote your convictions on the issues, whether you believe the same thing I do or not. And I really wish everyone would vote. It just kind of makes me sick when I hear a reason like that. I think a voter card should be like a driver's license. You have a responsibility to vote responsibly and know the issues if you're going to do it. I can't imagine taking that right for granted - a right that many people around the world are dying to secure. A right that many of our own countrymen died to secure for us. I find it appalling that so many uninformed people go to the polls and blindly vote for a party or on the basis of some half-baked political ad innuendo. But then I guess there has to be some explanation for eight years of W. I'm getting down off the soapbox now.

We ended up watching some more episodes of "True Blood". The series started off good, but I'm getting kind of impatient with it. The last couple of episodes were pretty stupid, with a large part of them dealing with Sookie's brothers expolration of "V" - none of which happened in the book, and which succeeded in adding lots of gratuitous sex and half nudity to the show. So on the one hand, the guy that plays the brother is hot, and I enjoy seeing him half-naked. On the other hand, they have taken considerable license with the story and his character, and it's kind of pissing me off. I can't help but wonder what Charlaine Harris thinks about all this.

It was good to see Russ and Billy, as always. We watched a new episode of BBC's "Little Britain" that they are doing for US distribution now. That show just gets funnier. I LOVE it. Then I said good night. It was a lovely afternoon and evening, for the most part.

A lovely unplanned Saturday**

I stayed up WAY too late last night reading when I got home. I turned in about 2am. Of course I still woke up at 6:30am on the dot this morning dammit.

I decided not to go to the flea market because there was nothing over there I really needed today, and I didn't need to waste money. Plus I was too lazy. I had a little adventure downtown, and ran through the Goodwill on the way back, running into Eddie Crane. He was bemoaning working downtown during "Fall for Greenville", the annual food fair they have downtown every year once it is cool enough not to get heat prostration. It used to be fun, but I haven't been in years. It's basically an exercise in socially acceptable and expensive gluttony, neither of which I need to be involved in at the mo.

Plus, I've been boycotting things they block all the streets off for just on general principals lately. I thought I was NEVER going to get home today. They had blocked off not just Main Street, but the streets for blocks and blocks around it. The bike race was going on today too, so they had to block off the whole bike route. I was pretty over it by the time I got home.

I ate some breakfast, and then laid down to read for a bit. I planned to finish my book today, but I really needed some sleep first. I fell back into my book though, and then wasn't sleepy.

Then Michael called and asked if I wanted to go run around with him today. I didn't get to see them last Sunday as we had planned, and they hadn't gotten with me about dinner this Friday because of a tough school schedule Joe has right now. Joe was going to be at the library today, so it was just the two of us. I was delighted to accept. I haven't been off just "bumping around", as he calls it, in years.

And sometimes pleasures are just all the sweeter for being unexpected. :)

We met Joe for lunch in Easley, and then went on a tour of the Goodwills and thrift stores in Pickens-Anderson-Clemson area. It was nice just to be out and around together, chewing the fat and shopping. I went by their house and got to see it. They have like 7 cats, all of whom were fascinated with me. We went through a big antique place in Easley that I hadn't been in in years. They had a great selection of stuff to look at, but the prices were pretty high.

On the final stop at the Dollar Store, we ended up near a Ross's Dress For Less; a store I dearly love, although I get in trouble there. Michael proceeded to remind me that rather than waste my money on antique glass I don't need, there are so many other things I can waste my money on. I found the cutest flannel sheets. They are ice blue and have little polar bears all over them wearing scarves and ski hats. My old flannel sheets are all pilled up, plus they have a hole in them, so I rationalized replacing them. These are Wamsutta, so I'm hoping they won't get all pilly. Plus they are just adorable. I got a couple of Yankee candles, one for the bathroom and one for Christmas. They are really expensive. The last Christmas one I bought I paid like $16 for - these were much more reasonable. I also bought a ceramic blue and white bird. It called out to me. It reminded me of a terra cotta one I got at Garcia's years and years ago, but I gave that one to my friend Allison.

Russ called while we were in Anderson. I had forgotten about being recruited to be part of the "distraction squad" that were going to Fall For Greenville today. Ben got roped into going with a guy who thought they were going on a date, and they had been trying to create a group atmosphere to diffuse that aura. Oops.

After all that, Michael dropped me back at my place about 7. I had told Russ and them that I might give them a call, but I was really tired. I ate a bit of supper, fooled around online for a bit, and was contemplating an early night after I finished my book when Bobby called.

He ended coming up from Easley. It was really good to see him. I lit some candles, and we ended up being up until about midnight. I was really bushed, but it was really worth it.

Dinner with Justin

I had an OK day at work, but hat to tell off a Business Development rep who was driving me nuts. We'll see how this plays out. He was pretty mad when I got off the phone. He's trying to set an account back up that we had to sue and levy their bank account to collect the last time they did business with us.

I had planned on just going home tonight and reading. I started Pen Pals by Olivia Goldsmith today, and it feels like a guilty pleasure after the inscrutability of House of Leaves, despite a rather grim beginning. I'm luxuriating in the ease of comprehension and sane plot line. It's about women in prison, and despite the start, I am promised a novel of revenge. Should be good. Goldsmith also wrote First Wives Club.

Justin called. He was in town and said he wanted to go to a "nice restaurant for mediocre food". We ended up going to Atlanta Bread Company. Over sandwiches, salad, and soup, we caught up on what has been going on the last couple of weeks. Apparently James has a new boyfriend - despite the whole "no relationship for a year" thing. Sounds like Lisa. Justin continues to lose weight, and although frankly it worries me the way he is doing it, I didn't feel it was my place to intercede.

Not so Justin. After dinner, we decided to do a bit of shopping, and rode over the Kohl's and looked around. We then went on to Target. I wanted to see if they had any of those chili pepper Choxie bars anymore, but sadly they don't seem to be making them any longer. As I was looking at the candy, Justin was like "Are you sure you want candy?" Yeah. I let him live anyway.

That little comment aside, it was good to see him and catch up. I really needed to go shopping, since I need some new work pants, but didn't buy any. Amazingly, I didn't buy anything. Yeah, even I was surprised.

Ugh.

I woke up this morning when the alarm went off and dragged myself out of bed. I made and consumed coffee and a cigarette to get me moving. I got to work and stayed awake by running back and forth to the bathroom all morning. I actually ended up having a fairly productive day, surprisingly, although the afternoon did stretch on interminably. At 5:30 I did the Fred Flintstone down the dinosaur's tail and hied myself homeward.

I stopped by Office Depot on the way home, because where my new desk is, I need rear-view mirrors for my computer. Apparently they are called something else, because when I asked for them they looked at me like I was crazy. I did get some recycled paper towels though. Publix has had some kind of dispute with their provider and has stopped carrying them temporarily.

I finally finished House of Leaves today on my lunch hour. It was much more interesting when I got to the end and they started explaining what they had been doing. When the penny dropped it was very gratifying. I suppose that was a construct on the part of the author - to leave you feeling disoriented and not sure what was going on in a book about a labyrinth. The end was poignant, but I did feel like they took an awfully long time to get to the point. To make the point feel more hardly won, and thus more resonant? I can't help but weigh the added weight to the point by having it be so difficult to obtain against the number who miss the point entirely by giving up on the fairly bewildering text before reaching it. I suppose the author figured that only the more diligent readers deserved the closure of the end; and that perhaps there are enough books that are more direct. Fair enough. Don't know if I would read anything else by that author or not though. Justin said it was the scariest book he has ever read. I did find it scary, although not in the way that I was expecting. Overall though, I just found it to be very sad. Among the saddest books I have read, although admittedly I am not a big fan of sad books. I am not one of the "beautiful death of kittens as art" crowd.

When I got home, I called Tom, the guy from Knoxville, and we talked for a while. He seems like a really nice guy. He has some issues, but then most people do when they're single at our age. We did end up having the Big Talk, and he wants to come for a weekend. If nothing else, I think we'll have a fun weekend. He was married to his wife for 20 years. They are separated, but still living in the same house while they work out financial stuff. He has two boys, 20 and 17. The older boy is diabetic. If I hadn't seen Michael and Joe so happy together, I'd be heading for the hills, but I'm re-thinking my previous hard-line stance on not being "Gay 101". I'm at least going to attempt to meet the guy before I make up my mind.

After that, I had a salmon salad and watched Michelle Obama on the Daily Show. She is a lovely woman. But then I'm not threatened by empowered sassy women, which she clearly is. She was obviously holding it in check for the campaign, and surprisinly at ease after having been under the microscope of the press and public for two years (!!). That alone was impressive to me. I think I like her more than I do him. But then I usually like the First Ladies more than I like their husbands.

After that, I went to BED. I was really beat.

Cooked tonight*

I took some of the broccoli I bought this week and curried it tonight. It turned out pretty good. This was a smaller, experimental batch, but I still have two lunches out of it for next week.

Watched some old Mad TV skits on Youtube. Better than watching telly since there are no commercials. Well not many. Listened to The Daily Show and part of The Colbert Report while playing computer games. Also caught the season premier for South Park.

I was feeling pretty lonely tonight, so I had a friend over for a while. His name is Bobby, and he's from Easley. I hope to see him again. I ended up not getting to bed until after midnight, but it was so worth it.

I'm also talking to a guy named Tom on match.com. He lives in Knoxville, but we have a lot in common. He's nice looking and seems excited about meeting. We're going to talk on the phone next. He seems like a really nice guy. I'm pretty stoked about it.

Thankfully, my latest bout of insomnia seems to have passed. I slept like falling in a hole last night. Maybe it was the new sheets - hmmmmm. It's amazing the things I will do to justify buying more linens.

The office was much colder today. It seems they had turned the AC way up to deal with the sun issue yesterday. It was overcast today, and we were all freezing. I don't understand why the thermostadt doesn't actually go by temperature, but then I guess that's too logical. It was pretty damn cold today. The sun did come in eventually, but we got an email today telling us that the official position on blinds had changed, and that we would be getting some. So that will be nice. In the meantime, I'm taking a jacket in to work.

I got regular groceries on the way home today. My "extra" check for October is way gone. I am eating out too much. So I virtuously went home and had a salad for dinner. I thought about Miss Kat, since I had extra Caesar dressing. I have got to drop some weight - I know that's not the way to do it. "Low-fat" Caesar dressing is a relative thing.

Interestingly, I found at the store tonight that they now make Pop Tarts with fiber in them - 5 grams apiece - which I found pretty impressive. Since they were on sale, I got some, and felt more justified than usual in eating them for dessert.

I did a bit of laundry, and intended to get to bed early, but I got sucked into the world of Youtube and ended up watching a bunch of old MadTV clips. I also watched the lampoon of the VP debate on the Saturday Night Live website. It was absoultely hilarious! I'm sure the SNL folks are hoping she gets elected - she's a gold mine for them. I watched some of the other clips, but most of them were pretty lackluster. I didn't see anything worth staying up to see except for the Palin stuff.

Errands and chat

Well apparently this move isn't going to be as bad as I thought. I still didn't have power when I got to work this morning, but they had it on in about an hour. As an added bonus, there were cute electrician guys running around all over the placed, one of whom had sexy tattooed arms and pants that were falling down a bit - Yay! It wasn't as hot in the office today as it was on Friday, but when the sun came in directly on to me, it did get a bit warm.

I decided to do stuff on the way home tonight, and resolved to spend some money. I was having one of those nights where I didn't really feel like going home. I paid $3.699 for gas, and then saw it cheaper several other places, but I was thrilled to get it for that a couple of weeks ago.

I ran by the Goodwill on Woodruff, but didn't find anything. Since I had eaten a healthy lunch of saffron rice and black-eyed peas, I treated myself to the pizza buffet, which I really shouldn't have done.

After that I went to BJ's for snausages and stuff for the freezer. I asked them why they haven't had gas for - weeks -, and the woman could visibly have cared less. She said "We can't get any." This is pissing me off, and I'll remember it when it comes time to renew. Maybe I'll get a Costco membership this year instead. It would be a lot easier to get in and out of there for sure. I think they have gas too. This whole "no gas" thing at BJ's has thrown my little cost/benefit analysis of my membership there all catywompus this year.

Then it was off to home.

I chatted for a while on line. There was one really beautiful guy who is obviously still in the throes of a bad breakup. I felt sorry for him. He's way too purty for me though.

In the end, nothing was going on, and I went to bed. On my lovely new peach sheets.

A disappointment, but a good day anyway

I got up this morning and made my coffee. I then walked outside to look at the house. It is just too purple. I frequently ride the fine line between tasteful and tacky, but I think I've just gone over the line this time.

I was just trying to motivate myself to get ready to leave for the mountains when Joe called to cancel for today. I was disappointed, but I understood. Plus, I was just feeling too lazy to do anything today anyway.

After a while, I decided to head over to the flea market, just for the heck of it. I found one piece of glass, but it was too damaged to buy. I remembered that Russ was supposed to go over there this morning, and called him, but he had slept in. He called me back though, and he and Billy came over and walked around White Horse flea market with me again. I did end up buying two little pink bowls, but I haven't been able to identify them. After that we went out for Chinese buffet, since we were all starving. We did a bit more shopping, and I went home for a nap while they went to do more work on the shop. I felt kind of bad not going to help, but I was pretty much all in. I haven't slept well since lsat Tuesday night, and I'm feeling it.

I slept for about an hour, then got up and did a few chores. I packed lunches for next week. I downloaded a bunch of old Schoolhouse Rock stuff off Acquisition and mixed a CD for Russ, since he had enjoyed the Varla Jean Merman satire of them. I had been thinking about the real versions of that stuff the other day, and thought it might be cool to hear them again. It was.

I headed back over to their place tonight, and we ate diet food and watched two more episodes of True Blood. It is a good show, but the tone, I think, is much darker than the books. Sex also takes a much larger place in the story than it does in the books. I am no prude, but the show is pretty explicit. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand it is hot. On the other hand, they ride a fine line with it distracting from the story. Then too, I have never had any patience with soft porn. If I want to watch porn, I'll watch it, and watch the real thing. Generally when I sit down to be entertained, I prefer to see more story and less sex. Geez I sound so Republican.

A full day, with mixed results

When I woke up this morning, I went on over to the office, just to get it over with. Still no power in my cube. I guess this move is going to be a clusterfuck in spite of all the company's worries about not disrupting work flow.

On the way back, I dropped off the knee-walker at Dick and Eve's, since it had been in my back seat for a week. I'll need the back seat clear for tomorrow, since we're taking my car to the mountains.

I went by Home Depot for paint. I have been meaning to paint my front door as soon as it cooled off a bit - it looks terrible. It needed painting when I moved in, and I've lived in the house for 11 years without doing it. I knew I wanted to door and the foundation to match when I painted it. I have a cinderblock foundation on the house that is very unattractive.

The paint girl was great. She was really nice, and cute. A little black girl with Cleopatara eye makeup, and a juicy badonkadonk butt wedged into a pair of black jeans with back sequinned back pockets. I just wanted to take her home with me. She even gave me a discount on my paint.

That done, the fun part was over, and I went home to start sanding and painting. I put a coat on the door first so it would have maxium dry time. Then I started in on the foundation.

It went faster than I thought it would, despite the fact that my roller broke and I had to go across the street to beg one from the neighbors. Thankfully, they obliged, since I couldn't even close up the house to go to the store.

When I got done, however, I saw that I made a serious mistake in choosing colors. The deep wine-y plum color I wanted turned out Barney purple. It's pretty heinous. I'm hoping maybe it will cure darker. Or that I'll get used to it. Or some miracle will happen that will keep me from having to paint it all again. Dammit.

I'm also afraid that the paint will come off the front door. It probably has lead based enamel or something that needed to be primed, and I didn't prime it. If the paint comes off, or starts to, I'll probably just strip the door and finish it back. It is a nice old solid wooden door. It is probably pretty under all that paint.

Russ and Billy were free tonight, so we went out to El Matador for more Mexican - yay! After painting all day I was ravenous, and we dug into decadently huge platters of nachos - washed down with a couple of margaritas. I couldn't finish mine. They were heavily laden with jalapenos, though, and eventually, we had to start picking them out. I was already regretting the pablanos I had last night.

We went back to Russ and Billy's house after supper and watched the first episode of the HBO series "True Blood", which is based on the Charlaine Harris "Dead Before Dark" series of books that I liked so much. They have done a really great job with the series. Most of the casting is spot-on, and the guys are hot. They also frequently find ways for them to run around half naked. It's a sexy show.

I left around midnight, so I could get home and get some sleep. We're leaving at 10 for the mountains in the morning. Plus we were all beat. Russ and Billy had worked on his new shop all day, trying to get it ready, and I was tired from the painting.

I was very relieved to find when I got home that the paint had not vapor-locked and pulled off the door from it's being shut this evening. I was worried about that.

Dinner out with Michael and Joe

The day got off to another rough start - I was up for three hours with insomnia last night. I just did the coffee and cigarette thing, deciding to skip watering the plants in my morning routine. I needed the coffee worse.

We were supposed to come in and move our stuff on Saturday, but my boss was gone, and IT didn't want to be here all day Saturday either, so we all broke down and moved to our new area this afternoon. I got all my stuff moved, set up, and re-connected, and then found that I didn't have any power. Dammit. I guess I'm going to have to ride over tomorrow anyway, to at least push the button and try to test my system. I don't want it to look like I just totally blew it off, but it would have been nice not to have to come in tomorrow.

Also, it was like 85 degrees in the new area this afternoon. That is worrisome. I've been hot in the old building, to the point that I wear summer shirts to work year-round to try to stay somewhat comfortable. In the new building, we have large windows, which I am right beside, that face full West. From about 2pm on, they're going to have sunlight streaming in. I'm going to be like a rotisserie chicken in there. We have already been told the company will put up no blinds. I don't know what I'm going to do. I need to get a fan for sure. To make it worse, it was only about 72 degrees outside this afternoon. I can't imagine what it will be like in the summer, when the temp is over 100 degrees every afternoon.

Of course I ended up being at the office late, so I had to dash home, fluff the house quickly, and then get a shower. I was all dusty and yukky from having to move all that dusty stuff and clean my desk.

We went over to Corona's for Mexican. The restaurant was really crowded, and I know Michael doesn't like crowds. Fortunately, I got there before them, so was able to go ahead and get in line for a table. Our table was pretty crappy, and we got the surly waiter, but the food there is really good, and Michael seemed happy with it.

Afterwards we went back to my place to talk and hang out for a while. We ended up out on the porch. It was really nice outside.

They have invited me to go leaf-peeping in the mountains on Sunday, and I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't done anything like that in years. Usually my Fall things are a trip to the beach with Mom, which I didn't get to do last year since I was waiting for the surgery; and the Fall Campout, which I'm not doing this year. It will be nice to get up to the mountains for a bit. Maybe we can stop and get some apples. Maybe some cider. Some lunch at a little restaurant in Hendersonville... Nice.