A post in which I have a lot to do

I was up fairly early this morning, but tried to sleep for a while longer.  As usual, it didn't work, and I finally decided just to get up and get cleaned up.  There was a lot to do today.  I got in touch with Mom and jumped in the shower.  By the time I got out, Lisa and Ava were stirring, but not yet up. 

Lisa put on a pot of coffee and got Ava up while I started putting my stuff back together.

When Mom got there I made waffles.  Lisa and Mom both love waffles, and since there are so few things I can make that all of us will eat (neither of them are big on casseroles or exotic foods, and many of the veggie options I eat are exotic to my mother, etc) I make them when I get the chance.  The real secret to making them is having a decent waffle iron.  I got mine as a gift years ago.  It was something I thought I wouldn't use, but I really have enjoyed it.  They don't make mine any more.  I don't know what I'll do when it finally dies.  We settled in to hot waffles and coffee while a movie played in the background.  We visited for a while, and Lisa (largely unassisted by me - I can't get the hang of her kitchen, which is organized similar to Granny Brown's) cleaned up the kitchen.  While she was doing that, I made up the rest of the waffles for her to put in the freezer.  (You can freeze homemade ones, and they're much better than Eggos.  Just pop them in the toaster oven and they're as good as new.)

Then it was time to go.  Love them all, and enjoyed spending time with them, but I had a lot of stuff to do today.

I drove home, unpacked, and set about ticking things off the list.  I put in some laundry, and cleaned up the new mirror.  I got it hung, and tried to decide if I like it or not.  The old one is too big for the space, but has been there ever since I moved in.

the new mirror, in situ

I put together the spinach casserole I meant to make last week before I was distracted by green beans.  Then I had a light lunch, cleaned up the kitchen, did the cat chores, got cleaned up, and went to the grocery store. 

My feets were killing me.  I had to sit down for a bit.  With all that done, I could have stayed in for the evening, which is probably what I should have done.  But I was feeling a little lonely.  I don't usually, but it crept up on me today. 

I got in touch with Rhonda, but she had eaten.  I sent the boys a text, and tried to call them, but no dice.  I had just given up and made a salad when the phone rang.  It was Billy.  They had been at the movies, but were out and headed for dinner.  I met them at Lieu's. 

It was good to see them and get a bit of boy time in.  We talked about going back to the house for a visit, but they wanted to stop at Trader Joe's for some kind of queso they had read about that was Weight Watchers friendly.  Russ has been cutting down on his shopping, but apparently he is feeling the strain.  We went in for one thing, but ended up spending over a half hour in the grocery store.  They were closing.  By that time, I was thinking about doing month-end tomorrow, and the fact that I wouldn't have time for much of a visit once I got to their house; so I picked up some of the Trader's veggie snausages, said my goodbyes, and headed out. 

As I was getting ready for bed, I had a text from Lisa.  Apparently Ava had been a perfect angel today while they were out shopping, and was all tuckered out.  I was glad it was easier for Lisa today than it had been yesterday.

Ava, all tuckered out in the buggy at Target

A post in which we are shopping

We were up fairly early this morning for a spare breakfast.  I wasn't expecting a banquet, but Lisa kind of fed me like I was Ava.  Well, it's not like I really need a big meal anyway... I thought. 

Lisa is no shopper.  When she asked if I would go shopping with her today, my response was "What for?  Chainsaws?" much to her amusement.  But she likes flea markets and stuff, and an estate auction would be more her kind of thing.  Plus, she needs some furniture.

The auction, though, proved to be a disappointment.  The store I thought was being auctioned off was a different one.  Although there were plenty of vintage items, there was almost no Depression Glass.  It was a strange sale.  The woman who owned the place had purportedly been a hoarder, and apparently had OCD tendencies.  There were many of the exact same item.  There were six or eight of a particular pattern, bowl, and color - just the exact same piece.  There were bags and bags of buttons.  There were boxes of glass shoes, and glass top hats.  There were numerous "pickaninny" pieces.  They're out of vogue for the most part, but like anything that they don't make any more, some of them are worth big bucks.  There were a couple of those that went high, but for the most part they were (again) repetitive reproductions.  I don't like it anyway, but even if I did it wouldn't be worth Rhonda dis-owning me to buy any of it.

the auction

The house was open too, and I wandered through.  Although the tile floor in the bathroom was beautiful, and you could tell it used to be a nice place, there was a lot of really dated ornamental brickwork inside, and nothing had been changed or updated in at least forty years.  It wasn't very clean either.

Ava was pretty good and patient through this.  I was surprised.  We weren't staying a long time though.  There was no glass to speak of, and Lisa had wanted to go to look at the furniture, but the furniture on offer was pretty awful.  She said as soon as she walked in the house, she knew nothing from that place was going home with her.  

Ava, playing 'queen kitty' at the auction

We weren't there but a couple of hours.  Lisa bought a small table for Cole's room, and I bid on a mirror.  I've been looking for a new one for the bedroom.  This one was really nice-looking, and I figured it would go higher than I wanted to pay for one at the moment.  I hadn't even looked at it that closely.  When it came up, though, Lisa told me to bid on it anyway.  I did, and surprisingly got it for $10.  When they passed it back to me though, I found out that the elaborate frame was made out of resin, not wood.  I've never seen anything like it.  I was disappointed, but I figure if it fooled me, it would fool the casual observer.  The mirror in the frame is beveled and pretty nice - that alone was worth the price I paid.  So I decided when I got home I'd put it up and see how I felt about it, even though it was a little more bedraggled upon close examination than it had seemed.  It was an even better deal than I thought, because the bid had been recorded at $5, so with dealer premium I got it for $5.85.  That's cheap as chips. 

We were both hungry, and there was pretty much nothing on offer but junk, so we cashed out and headed to Columbia to meet Mom for lunch (Mom didn't come to the estate auction, she finds them depressing).  The problem was that Ava had found her whiny britches somewhere.  For some reason, she is extremely clingy with Lisa, and although Lisa was in the car, Ava was upset that she wouldn't hold Ava's hand.  In the back seat.  While she was driving.  So Ava cried, screamed, and carried on all the way into town.  By the time we got there, I was looking for a free-lance exorcist with a drive-through window. And thinking about crib death. 

After a quick detour through a local Goodwill, in which we both turned up nothing, and Ava continued to channel the Forces of Darkness, we dropped by Mom's place and picked her up.  Then it was off to Consignment 1st.  This was where Mom had gotten her sofa.  Although they had some really nice things today, they had some really nice prices on them.  If I was going to spend that kind of money, I would just have gone ahead and bought new stuff and picked out exactly what I wanted (well, I would have if I were Lisa - we have very different taste - I don't usually buy new furniture).  Additionally, for some reason, there was a surplus of white sofas today. (Who in the world buys all this white furniture?  Have they no children?  No pets?  But I digress.)  I did find a couple of Windsor juice glasses in Ruby Red.  I have a set of the regular 10 oz. tumblers, but had never seen the juice glasses before. They weren't cheap, but they weren't outrageous either, so I couldn't resist.  I bought the pair for $10.

Windsor 5oz. juice glass by Anchor Hocking in Ruby Red

We had to beat a fairly hasty retreat, since my precious niece turned a vase over on a glass-topped table (fortunately breaking neither), but since we weren't buying anything anyway that was no huge deal.  We headed for Lizard's Thicket (which my mother loves) for lunch.  At that point I was ready to eat just about anywhere. 

After lunch, I was feeling revived.  We headed out to Big Lots to see what was on offer in the way of furniture.  Lisa was in the market for something distinctive, moderately modern, and cheap.  Unfortunately, those things just don't go hand-in-hand usually.  Her big complaint with the furniture at Big Lots was that it was 'all brown'.  Well, as with most new things now, it did come in 8,000 eye-shattering colors of beige.  Because that's what most people want.  People are no more inclined to commit to a color now than they are to commit to a marriage, or RSVP to an invitation.  It's all linked somehow, I'm convinced.  At any rate, I had to have a talk with Lisa about her expectations.  Unfortunately, as with many things, it's 'do you want it cheap or do you want it good' (or fast).  Lisa hates to shop, and she didn't want to spend a ton of money for this furniture, which Ava will most likely destroy anyway.  Plus we didn't have any way to get it to her house - she was going to have to have it delivered.  So she was kind of boxed in.  I hated it for her but I had to kind of lower her expectations.

After great hemming and hawing and much discussion, Lisa made her selections and set about arranging delivery.  This was where I was impressed.  Lisa completely discounts her power over men.  I'm sure it can be annoying at times (having to swat all those men away constantly and all), but after today there can be no doubt that it exists.  The Big Lots guy first knocked 25% off the delivery fee.  He then snagged her the non-floor model of the TV cabinet she wanted (offering the other shopper a discount to take the floor model, which had minor scratches - there were only two left).  He then told her they would deliver in about an hour.  Although I was watching (as closely as I could while chasing Ava around the store to be sure she didn't wreak actual property damage or injure innocent by-standers), he did not in fact crawl on his belly like a reptile.  Lisa of course thought nothing of this, because she lives her life this way, surrounded by willing slaves.

So we dropped Mom off at her place, stopped off for some ice cream, and headed home.  I was exhausted.  I turned on my laptop and amused Ava with cartoons (she had to unplug and move the TV for the delivery), then helped Lisa clear the room a bit so they could get in. 

The furniture arrived right on schedule.  After they brought it in, we unwrapped it and put the legs on, arranged the room, etc.  I helped her figure out how to mount the television and got it on the stand.  Then she got everything hooked up.  Cole still wasn't home, so we arranged to meet him (along with the ubiquitous Zack) for dinner.  After a pretty extensive wait (they had eaten earlier and were really in no hurry to get to the restaurant, we later found) we got the call and met them at a local Mexican place called El Poblano.  It was pretty decent (although the twin fountains at the entrance made me have to pee). 

After supper, Cole and Zack headed back to Zack's house, and Lisa and I headed for the house.  We made a stop at the store on the way to get ingredients for waffles.  I had brought my waffle iron just in case, and I planned on having a good breakfast tomorrow morning.

We put in a movie when we got back, and luxuriated on the new furniture, but we were all pretty wiped out.  Ava had picked out The Castle of Cagliostro to watch tonight, but it's pretty long.  I gave up the ghost not far in.  It had been a very long day.  As much as I adore every fiber of Ava's little body, after today I'm thinking there may be a reason why the good Lord didn't bless me with issue.  I'm just sayin'.

A post in which I am off to Columbia

It was pretty busy today.  I had a large account go south and ended up coordinating about 400 documents to try to get the case ready for legal.  I got it all done, but I spent most of the day doing it.

I got home and threw stuff in the car.  I had put  a list together so I wouldn't forget anything, and was able to just go through and tic things off.  I was on the road by about 7pm, which is pretty good. 

I had told Lisa that I would eat on the way down, but my stomach felt wonky, and once you get past Simpsonville, there really aren't many places to stop.  So I showed up at Lisa's tired and hungry (later).  Now I knew not to expect largess in Lisa's pantry.  Funds are short, Cole's gone all the time, and neither Lisa nor Ava eat enough to really bother dirtying a plate.  But I was quite surprised that the cupboard was mostly bare.  There were some Chinese left-overs to be had though, and I was glad to have them. 

Ava and I played as Lisa and I talked.  She is really all about kings and queens right now, so we were royalty for most of the evening (act surprised).  She is also usually a queen kitty now, instead of a regular cat. 

Ava and I, playing 'King and Queen' - shut up

I was also surprised that the living room was fairly empty.  Carl had apparently taken most of the living room furniture, so she had kind of filled in as she was able.  Since her settlement had come in, that was one of the things we were going to do tomorrow - shop for some furniture. 

I had taken several movies with me, and we put one in - it was an early Miyazaki, and was pretty long though.  Just as we both decided we were going to have to go to bed, it ended. 

A post in which I am out with the boys

I was up early to cook some brussels sprouts for lunch tomorrow (I won't have time tomorrow) and got gas on the way in to the office this morning, so that was two more things off my list of jobs that had to be done.  I also put up one pair of shoes in preparation for David (it bugs him when I leave shoes all over the place, as I am wont to do).  That isn't really much, but it's something, and one more thing I don't have to do in the morning.

I keep trying to force myself to work on that *&^%$#!! ISO manual, and I keep putting it off.  The bright side o' that is that I have done every freakin' thing else on my desk as an excuse not to work on it.

Well my little coalition about dinner tonight fell apart today.  I called Rhonda on my lunch hour to explain about dinner tonight, and to tell her I would be there at 7pm to pick her up.  She decided not to go.  Sigh.  I suspect that she decided this because she thought it would be too much trouble for me to come pick her up, even though she lives like a mile from the restaurant.  Despite my explaining this, she was having none of it.  Well I couldn't force her to go.  But it made me feel bad, because I had told her I would take her to dinner this week, and I felt like I was being capricious in that promise because I wanted to see Vince. 

I rarely want any new music, but I've had an ear worm for Katy Perry's Wide Awake for the last several days.  I would really like to have the song to play in the car tomorrow night, but my iTunes is locked in the increasingly obsolete old desktop computer.  I haven't even turned it on in over six months.  Since I don't know how to rescue my music, I thought I would just go by and buy the freakin' CD after work, despite all that remained to be done.

Russ then called this afternoon to change the time for supper.  Apparently Rhonda and I weren't the only ones to think we would be done too late for a school night.  He moved the time to meet to 6:30pm.  I called Rhonda back.  She still refused to go.  She told me she had made other plans.  I suspected she was 'woman-ing out' on me. When I told Larney that, she told me she would go upside my head for making such a sexist comment to her.  Which would be one of the many reasons I don't socialize with co-workers.  I promised to take Rhonda to dinner next week, and she seemed OK with that.  She told me she still loves me.  Even if I am a sexist bastard (my paraphrasing there).  I'll add for the record here that when I 'woman-out' I own it.  Because I do that sometimes.

I didn't have time to worry about Rhonda later.  After work, I had to HUSTLE.  I was a little late leaving the office.  I had no time to stop for a CD.  I hadn't packed any casual clothes because if we weren't going to be there until 7:30 I would have had plenty of time to go home and change.  Fortunately traffic was working with me, and I was home at just about 6 on the dot. 

I tore into the house and out of my clothes.  I went outside and re-set the wheels on the lawn mower so Khavis could mow tomorrow.  I raced back inside, and out of my working-in-the-yard clothes, and into something suitable to go out to dinner.  It wasn't the best outfit (I should have changed shorts), but I had no time.  I ran out and jumped back in the car by about 6:18. 

I made it to Irashiai only a few minutes late, to find that I was the second one to arrive.  Vince was in the bar by himself.  So I joined him and had a vodka cranberry.  Lovely.

The boys arrived shortly, and we got a table.  John and Jake (a newcomer to the group) were joining us, as was Todd.  Dinner was telish, and was enhanced with copious bonhomie.  I managed not to eat as much as I did on my birthday, so I wasn't stuffed to threshold of pain.

After supper we went back to the house for a visit.  I asked Logan to cut me a CD of Katy Perry, but of course that was how the cro-magnons did it.  He first wanted to lend me a flash drive with the songs on it, and then sent them to me via something called Dropbox, which of course I couldn't get to work.  Dammit.  If they 'simplify' technology any more, I'm going to be watching squirrels for entertainment.  Still, it's not like I don't have other CDs (yes, Virginia, you used to actually have to buy a CD, which was readily accessible with any CD player), and book on CD, so it's not like I won't have anything to listen to tomorrow night. 

It was a nice evening, and it was good to get some boy time.  I got to spend a little time with Jake, who just appeared fully formed from the head of Poseidon a couple of weeks ago, but seems to be a featured player now.  He was pretty nice.

After getting home and cussing out the computer, I turned in.  Tomorrow will be a very long day.

A post in which I have much to do

So I paid for watching Cabin in the Woods last night.  I was up three different times, and had problems going back to sleep each time.  I kept thinking about the monsters they had in boxes under that cabin and being worried that one of them had been let loose in the house with me.  Of particular worry was that ballerina with all the razor-sharp teeth that made up her face (I can't handle it when they use kids in these movies), the IT-esque clown (I hate all clowns, but especially evil clowns), and my old phobia the wolf man.  Sigh.  I hate that I'm such a weenie, but I just don't enjoy that stuff.  So I just kept turning on the TV and trying to distract myself.  It didn't make for a fabulous night's sleep though.

My schedule is just nuts.  I firmed up with Lisa that I'll go down there for the auction Saturday morning.  That means leaving to drive down Friday night.  David comes Friday.  I had also asked Rhonda out to dinner one night this week.

I got in touch with Rhonda and confirmed her for Thursday night.  That meant that anything else I needed done I had to get done tonight.  I needed to:

- buy fruit for Friday's lunch (I only have enough for four days)
- prepare a green vegetable for Friday's lunch (the green beans run out tomorrow)
- pick up various other odds and ends at the grocery store
- pack a bag to throw in the car Friday night
- prepare the house for David to come
- fix the wheel on the lawn mower so Khavis can mow on Friday
- pick up my prescriptions
- put gas in the car

So I stopped at the store on my way home.  As I pulled in I got a text from Billy.  He wanted for us to go for sushi with Vince tomorrow night.  So I got in touch with Rhonda, and made sure that was OK.  It was, which solved that problem.  But Russ wouldn't be done with work until at least 7:30pm (think 8ish), which means I won't even be able to sneak in anything else tomorrow night.  But I had pretty much planned on that anyway, and I really want to see Vince.

As I was checking out at the grocery store, I remembered the fruit I hadn't picked up.  That meant I had to go back out.  Dammit.

I got home, put the groceries away that I had bought (the veggie bacon was what I really wanted anyway) and fell into the internet vortex briefly in a most irresponsible fashion. 

I was hungry, but I wasn't going to allow myself to eat until I went back out.  I knew if I ate first, I would get lazy and not go back out.  I could have picked up fruit Friday morning, but a) I hate having to go to the store before work; and b) I already have David coming Friday morning, and any extra time I have I'll need to do the things I need to do to get ready for him the morning of. 

So out I went.  I got my prescriptions and picked up some other stuff I needed from CVS.  I went to the store and bought the fruit (and also picked up some eggs, which I also needed).  When I got home I stuck dinner in the microwave (thank you Eve for the enchiladas), and washed dishes while my dinner heated up.  When it came out, I fell upon it like a ravening wolf.  While I was at the store, I had picked up some Sweet Dreams cookies.  I need those like I need nuclear waste in my shorts, but they are so delicious that they are hard to resist.  These were on the sale rack tonight, and were $2 off.  It was just more than my willpower would bear.  So I had two of those for dessert.  While I was eating them, I thought about Jason.  The last time he was here I bought some because I felt bad, and he said "These are absolutely delicious - and I could kick you in the head for getting me to taste them."  That pretty much sums it up.

By the time I finished eating and washed the dishes, it was after nine, and I was pretty much done for the night.  I don't know how I'm going to get everything done, but I feel that I should have at least a half hour to relax before I go to bed. 

A post in which I have dinner with Dad

Things remain quiet, but Alan comes back from Canada tomorrow so things should pick up then.  I've on track for my month (if not for that stupid manual they want - grrrr), and I got my only big write-off approval back today.

I ordered a Gamecocks shirt today.  I couldn't find the one I wanted, so I just went to Zazzle.com and made one.  I don't know if it will get through the trademark filter or not, but no rejections so far...(crossing fingers).  I was really surprised how high any team merchandise is online - crazy.  We're talking $30 t-shirts folks, and over twice that for a jersey.  Since I couldn't find what I wanted anyway, this is one of the few cases where it actually made sense for me to order a custom shirt.  I love making up my own, but they are hella expensive.  Also, the fit is never quite right.  One size if voluminously huge, and the size smaller is too tight, which is really aggravating.  But I ordered it anyway.

Lisa called me today to tell me that an antique store near her is being auctioned off due to the owner's death.  I may drive down and spend the weekend with her so we can go to the sale.  Cole won't be around, but it will be nice to spend some time with Lisa.  I don't really need anything, but then that has never stopped me before.

After work I headed for Dad and Eve's.  She made enchiladas. We had a very nice meal and a good visit.  Dad wasn't any crankier than usual, so that was a win.  It was a nice evening, and she sent home the extra bean enchiladas for my dinner tomorrow night.  Goodness knows they wouldn't have eaten them.

A post in which I see Nicole

Alan is out at the beginning of this week, so things were quiet today. 

I had made plans for dinner out with Nicole tonight.  I was able to get home pretty quickly (I'm using a new shortcut around traffic that is doing pretty well) and was able to get the house fluffed and get dressed before she got there.  Usually I'm running around the house in my underwear with a duster when she arrives. 

We had a cocktail and started catching up.  I filled her in on the birthday parties and Lisa's divorce, and she caught me up on her plans to go to Scotland.  She's going to a lot of weddings!  Better her than me.

Dinner was at Romano's Macaroni Grill tonight.  They have what used to be one of my favorite meals, but the last couple of times I've had it, it hasn't been as good.  The shrimp portofino they make is delicious, but the last time I had it in Columbia, the sauce had broken (it's a butter sauce, and if headed too rapidly it will separate).  Tonight's tasted pretty good, but there wasn't enough sauce, and the portion size has gotten much smaller.  Now that's fine for my waistline, but when I eat out and pay that much for a meal, I don't want to crave a snack later.  At $15 a plate, I think they could give me a decent serving of pasta, I'm just sayin'.  Because of the shrunken entree size, I finished mine, and then finished Nicole's too.  She had a Butternut Asiago Tortellaci that was quite good.  I also had plenty of room for the (also shrunken, but still excellent) tiramisu.  That is one of my very favorite desserts, and theirs has always been good. 

Over dinner, I got the skinny on her newly-again single status, and just what a rat bastard the guy had been.  We also talked about unhealthy relationship patterns. 

Our server was wonderful, very sweet, and very, very pregnant.  We talked to her about it, and she told us that unfortunately she was having to work later into the pregnancy than she expected.  Bless her heart.  She had to be miserable after being on her feet for the whole shift, but you would never have known it from her interactions with us. 

Nicole insisted on picking up the check, which was super nice of her.  I had behaved like a bought boy and hadn't even looked at the prices - I just ordered. 

It was a deliciously cool night, and we talked all the way home about relationships, and the difficulty of forming meaningful ones. 

By the time we got home, I was a pumpkin, so  I thanked Nicole for a lovely evening and she went on. 

A post in which it is a glorious Fall Sunday

I slept like a doorstop, and was up feeling refreshed about nine.  I was lying there in the bed, blissfully thinking that I didn't have to go anywhere this morning, when I remembered that I was out of garlic.  I had fudged my way through the potatoes yesterday with the last of it by just adding some extra onion, but my beans wouldn't be as good with none.  So I got up and went to the flea market.  Again, I was too early and I didn't find any treasures today, but that was fine.  I have a bunch of crap in the house that needs to be put up now. 

I got back to the house and breakfasted like a king: scrambled eggs with fresh tomatoes and sage goat cheese, toasted multi-grain bread rounds, and a small bowl of the potatoes I made yesterday, accompanied by iced coffee.  Scrumptious!

After breakfast I started snapping beans.  I put them on to cook and then changed the sheets and started getting ready.  In the meantime, I had a text from Logan.  The ladies had gone back to Atlanta, and they were going shopping for Halloween costume accessories today.  I met them out at Spirit Halloween and we looked around.  They are going as characters from Adventure Time, which is cool (Russ likes costumes that go together), but my criteria for costumes is different.  I want something comfortable and that doesn't require a lot of makeup.  I'm going as Hugh Hefner this year.  The bonus is that the robe will have pockets.  Yay me. 

When we got out of there, we were all hungry for lunch, and went over to Red Robin for me to claim my free birthday burger.  It's free all during the month of your birthday, but I've been too busy to get it before today.  Our server was great, and the food was also.  We ended up with a bonus salad and extra fries, both of which I ate.  So much for being good and ordering a salad with my burger. 

After lunch we went downtown for a walk.  The day was just goldenly gorgeous and the weather was fine.  Despite all the time I had spent on my feet this morning, I was game.  Now I was picturing a leisurely stroll down Main Street, perhaps stopping at Mass General for some candy or a vintage flavor soda.  Oh no.  They are all aerobicizing now because of the diet.  It ended up more like a forced march than a leisurely stroll.  But it was beautiful, and we did get in behind the Peace Center, where they have completed tearing out and re-doing.  It really is nice back there again, although the stage they have put in looks oddly large and elaborate for such a small space.  I was rescued from a foot tour of Greenville County when Logan got a text from his parents reminding him that he was meeting them for dinner in Anderson.  We scrambled back to Russ's new (and beautiful) new truck to get him home.   

We relaxed for a bit.  I was glad to get off my feet.  Russ and I spent a little time on the porch.  When we went back in we were just flipping around to see what to watch when the movie Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives came up.  It's a B-cinema (or possibly C or D cinema) movie that really only came to notice because one of the stars, Willam Belli, was on RuPaul's Drag Race last year.  They had it on Netflix, so we watched it.  It was entertaining, Kill Bill-esque in places and Spit On Your Grave-esque in others.  Some parts were kind of artsy, and some parts it was a real drag (pardon the awful pun, but parts really were excruciatingly and superfluously detailed), but it was entertaining.  I enjoyed it more than Cabin.  I'm just sayin'. 

We were so caught up in it, and had enjoyed such a large lunch, that we forgot all about having dinner.  But when the movie was over it was after nine.  I went home, had a snack, and turned in.  I was really glad I had gotten all my chores done before I left the house today.

A post in which it is a gorgeous Saturday*

I was up early, dammit, but it was OK because I had a lot to do today.  I started off with a run out to Greer to see a buddy there for a very nice little visit.  Then I headed back into town, stopping off on the way to get some money, then ate some breakfast and headed for the flea market.  It was still really too early for it (they're all catering to the brunch crowd now, it seems) but I picked up the rest of Justin's Christmas present (the ONLY present I have bought), and found some really nice (though pretty pricey, for the flea market) produce. 

I had decided to make spinach casserole this week to use up the remaining Ritz crackers I had bought for the covered dish last Monday, and had already bought the (frozen) spinach to do so, but when I got there they had such beautiful green beans that I couldn't resist, and I bought a big (10 freakin dollar) bag of them to fix.  The crackers will keep a week.  They must be bringing the beans up from South America this time of year, although I guess they could have come from Florida.  I also bought a beautiful yellow honeydew melon just because I couldn't resist it.  I didn't remember at the time, but I've had one before and wasn't terrifically impressed with it, and this one has been in cold storage, so I'm afraid it won't be as delicious as it's bright yellow skin would seem to indicate (I read now that they are lower in sugar than a regular honeydew - because apparently less sweetness is what you want from a melon - yeah).  I bought some of the thin-skinned white potatoes with the idea of making papas and beer, but then remembered that I had fresh rosemary Wilenda brought me for my birthday, so I decided to make potatoes in rosemary cream sauce instead.  I also picked up some slicing tomatoes (probably the last of the season), and some nice big onions.

I got home and ate some breakfast, after which I decided to take a little nap because I had been up so early.  Jinx, however, was having none of that.  I did doze for a bit before she woke me up walking all over me repeatedly. 

Just as well though, I had things to do today, and Sabrina and Wendy were coming to town to see RBL.  Billy had invited me to come see them, and I was looking forward to it.  I had a lot of cooking to do, so I put the potatoes on while I did a bit of laundry and got ready. 

After I got the potatoes done, got the kitchen put back together, and got cleaned up myself, I had gotten in touch with Billy, who invited me over to catch an early dinner.  I headed for the house and was visiting with the ladies when Russ came in from work.  We all headed to Lieu's for a nice meal.  I have to say that was the cheapest meal I think I've ever had there.  It was also tasty.  I had tofu and broccoli with brown rice, in atonement for the shrimp orgy last night. 

After supper, we headed back to the house for a visit.  We had cocktails, and Billy was making smoothies.  Russ and I spent a little time on the porch.  Eventually, though, everyone came together for the focus of the evening - they had gone and gotten a copy of Cabin in the Woods, specifically to watch tonight. 

Now I have no love of scary movies.  They are not fun for me because I think about them when I wake up and make my way through a dark house alone at 3am.  But they assured me this one wasn't a traditional scary movie, etc, and I wasn't about to ask the whole group to change their plans for my sake.  Despite having all seen it before, they all seemed to be really pumped about watching it again. 

It was an interesting movie, and although it had a lot of 'traditional' elements in it, the story was different, and there weren't 800 of those 'gotcha' moments where something jumps out and they give you a big orchestral goose to get you to jump - I really hate those.  So I got through it OK, although it diverged from a normal horror movie in the way that, instead of killing off all the characters and leaving the one virtuous character alive for the sequel, in this movie they killed off everyone in the entire world.  Uplifting.  But as a premise, I'll grant it was engagingly presented. 

A post in which it is dinner with Miss Kat and Dana

They invited me out tonight for dinner to celebrate my birthday, since they didn't come to the surprise party.  I was there early, and wearing my new Gamecocks shirt they bought for me.  While I was waiting, I got a call from Nance's in Myrtle Beach.  Mom is down there with here sisters this week, and had left her phone at the restaurant.  Using a nationwide hookup, I got through to Cole, and then to Lisa, who had the practical suggestion to get my aunt's number out of Mom's phone.  She eventually did get it back.  At the same time, Dad and Eve were sending me a text from Brown Street Club, where they were using the Christmas gift certificate I got them to have dinner.  Also, I ran into Dana's friend Charlie in front of the restaurant and was talking to him.  Then Miss Kat and Dana arrived, and we were paged to take our table.  There was a lot going on.

We got inside and sat down and started talking after looking over the menu.  I felt fingers poking the back of my head, and turned around to find Rhonda and Sabrina (aka Boo) at the table behind us!  So it was old home week at the Red Lobster.  It's always good to see Miss Kat and Dana, and they had brought me a gift card to The Fresh Market, which is always, always a good choice and lots of fun for me.  I love going in there to shop and pretending I'm rich too.  So after I eat up the goat cheese (the birthday luxury I'm currently enjoying) I'll be able to get some more fancy groceries.  I see some of their incomparable pimento cheese in my future - theirs is the best store-bought I have ever eaten, and part of my favorite lunch ever.  Yummm.

So dinner was lovely.  I ordered the endless shrimp special and at 8,652 shrimps.  After supper we headed over to their house to relax and visit.  Even Helen came upstairs and talked for a minute.  It was a very nice evening, and a great way to wind up my jubilee birthday celebrations. 

A post in which it is the bake sale

I was up early this morning, which actually came in handy.  I got the brownies cut, bagged, and packed in the car.  It seemed to take forever, but I made it to work on time.  They went over well, as they always do.  I was a good boy today and didn't eat too much stuff either.  It was almost exclusively sweets, and I wasn't in a sweets mood.  I had one piece of homemade candy, and one cupcake made by a woman I knew had made it from scratch.  It was worth the calories.  We raised a little over $600 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, so that was a good thing. 

A new wrinkle in stupidity of people I work with came to light today.  Apparently the decision has been made to extend net terms to some companies in the Cayman Islands.  OK, hello - that is where people launder money!  It is also basically the UK.  They are not subject to US laws, or the Uniform Commercial Code.  So they place this account on my desk today, and I call the guy, and he basically tells me that we'll get paid when we get paid, to leave him alone, and hangs up on me.  We really don't have much to choose from in the way of recourse.  So I feel kind of like having a cinder block tied around my neck and told to swim faster.  But that's their life.  I'm glad it isn't a lot of money.

Assholes in the Cayman Islands aside, it was a good day.  I was in a good mood, and got the Twit Report done without too much trouble.  I was getting compliments on my brownies, which always helps.  I am a total compliment whore.

I was also chatting with Todd today.  Since I had talked to Miss Kat last night and we had agreed to have dinner on Friday, I was free tonight.  It was going to be my night to go home, but Todd and I ended up making plans for dinner.  Because of last night's hour delay, I ran by the library on the way home, then straighted up a bit, got ready, and waited.  And waited.  Todd had called to say he would be at the house "7ish".  He rolled in around 7:30pm.  Perpetual lateness irks me, although I am better at dealing with it than I used to be after being with Michael all those years.  So I played on the internet until he got there.

When he arrived, I cast aside my irritation and resolved to enjoy the evening.  We went to Corona for supper.  I love that place, but when we walked in tonight, it was into near pandemonium.  There was a little league team there, their parents, and they were celebrating one of the boy's birthdays.  So we enjoyed a perpetual din of shrill boy voices and an arm-fart-noise contest, in addition to the birthday song, during our meal.  No worries about romantic atmosphere creeping in there.  I had the beans.  I mean, I had already been told I wasn't getting laid anyway, right?

Cacophony reins at Corona's

I made a clean breast of it about Jason first thing.  Todd had told me he would like to have a relationship (fair enough), but since sex was off the table, we were really just having dinner together, and there is no crime in that.  It's up to him if he wants to spend more time getting to know each other or not.  As for Jason, I really don't know that there is anything to tell him.  I mean, we're just going to dinner, basically as friends. 

I did enjoy talking to Todd.  He's a nice guy, and he laughs in the right places, which I LOVE in a man.  We went back to the house and continued the conversation for a good while.  It turns out he wasn't exaggerating about being virtuous - wow.  He is damn near celibate, goes to church every Sunday, and doesn't drink - at all, ever.  So yeah, good for him.  Maybe some of that virtue will rub off on me.  But probably not.  Still it was a nice evening, and I had a good time. 

A post in which I have baking to do

Well the fragile peace I have been enjoying at work was shattered today.  The powers that be decided last year that we needed a comprehensive manual that broke down every single task we do into recognizable steps, and assigned us the job of writing same.  Yeah.  We had a year to do it.  Of course, knowing corporations as I do I figured that a) the entire task would change at some point into something that bore no resemblance to the original assignment; or b) we might well never hear anything else about it (that happens).  So I set about to do some world-class ignoring.

Well I was wrong on the latter.  The former was dropped into our in-boxes like a huge collective caprolite today.  We had been instructed 'not to be too detailed', but at the same time to write something that a new employee could pick up and do the task without having to be trained.  Of course that made no sense at all, but in the through-the-looking-glass world of corporate America, you get used to dildonic instructions like that.  The fundamental ludicrousness was resolved today, by telling us to do both:  we are to simultaneously write a bare-bones set of bullet points describing our every responsibility, while at the same time writing a comprehensive step-by-step training guide to every single thing we do.  Ten months in to our twelve month time frame.  Needless to say, chaos ensued.  By the end of the day we had yet another email scaling back the whole thing on the bullet points task, while at the same time telling us that we would receive a standardized format for the training manual, and to suspend work in the meantime.  Well I was all over the suspending work part.

Other than that, it was a pretty good day.  My month is going smoothly.  I've added almost forty thousand dollars to the bottom line from collecting old write-offs this month, and my biggest issue with that has been not spraining my arm patting myself on the back.  All the small write-offs are done, I have only one big one, and I have fixed the bone-headed cash-posting snafu's of the month with remarkably little kick-back from credit services for additional gratuitous and useless backup.

I sent a good many text messages back and forth today with Todd.  Despite my conflict about it.  It ended up that he was coming to the house tonight to visit while I baked brownies.  Lest you think, gentle reader, that I am up to my usual horn-dog ways, I beg to protest.  It also came to light today that Todd is of a virtuous temperament and does not believe in casual sex.  He's a nice guy, and someone I'd like to know better, but that really didn't help much with my conflict.  In a way with the set-up Jason and I have, his not being interested in sex might actually be viewed as more of a betrayal, in a way.  With the sex stripped away, we were basically setting up a date.

After work I ran through the Dollar Tree for cheap zip-lock bags, through the grocery store for butter, and headed home to hit the stove.  I had left tonight free to bake brownies for the charity bake sale at work tomorrow.  We're raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which is of course a cause near and dear to my heart.  But since I had a gentleman caller coming, there were a few things I had to do first.

I put in a load of laundry and ate supper (he wasn't going to be there until 8pm, and told me to go ahead and eat).  Then after supper I folded up the load of laundry in the drier, straightened up the house a little, and lighted the scented candles to make the house smell nice.  I also had to decide on something to wear.  Usually I cook in an old t-shirt and boxers, but of course that wouldn't do tonight.  So I had to wear something that looked nice, but not too nice, and wouldn't show either flour or cocoa smudges too badly; tall order, but I worked it out.   

That myriad of tasks accomplished, I actually started making brownies.  I LOVE this brownie recipe.  Before I found it, I never made homemade brownies, because they always came out dry - the mix ones were actually better.  Well no longer.  After I made this recipe for the first time, I took my brownie mix and gave it to Billy. 

Well 8pm came and went.  About quarter after, I had a text from Todd, asking if he could come about 9pm instead.  Well no.  I turn in early on weeknights, and we wouldn't have had time to visit really at all.  About the time he got there, it would have been time for him to leave.  So I told him maybe another time.  I finished up my brownies and cleaned up the kitchen.  Because I had moved everything around, they came out too late to cut and bag up tonight, so I'll have that to do in the morning.  But that's OK.  Still, I was disappointed. And I was conflicted about that.

A post in which it is a quiet day

My month seems to be going smoothly - I'm trying not to jinx myself.

I heard from Dana today.  We're planning on dinner either Thursday or Friday for my birthday, and I'm looking forward to seeing them.

I have left-over Ritz crackers from dip yesterday.  I decided to use them up in a spinach casserole recipe I dreamed up a couple of years ago for Thanksgiving.  It's gratuitously fatty, but good, and since I have the crackers already, I have an excuse to make it...  To go with it, I'll melt the rest of that cheese ball into some smother fried garlic potatoes - that turns out really well.  Lunches for next week.

I heard from the lovely Todd, whom I met through Logan a couple of weeks ago.  Hmm not sure how I feel about that.  On the one hand, he's really cute, nice, and funny.  On the other hand, he's a guy I could really date.  Jason and I are open, but not sure how Todd fits in there.  But I was glad to hear from him, and I enjoyed talking to him.  So I'll be honest with him about the Jason situation (although I haven't heard tons from him for the last month or so - although in fairness I would have seen him last weekend if it wasn't for Ava's birthday) and go from there.  I mean, it's not like we're getting engaged, right?  Still, I feel a little conflicted. 

Tonight was dinner with Dad and Eve, as usual on Tuesday nights.  I love my dad, but I was feeling just a tad 'dadded-out'.  This was the fourth visit in the last two weeks, and I (without any real justification) feel that I've given generously of my time to this cause, even though he's fed me every time I've seen them with the exception of Sunday.  During an election year, I always kind of have to be hyper-vigilant around him.  He got started on a potentially slippery political slope tonight (with no intention of starting anything, I could tell), and I was vastly relieved when Eve stepped in and changed the subject. 

So the evening went well.  We had a lovely meal of fried tilapia with remoulade sauce, baked potatoes with all the fixin's, homemade Caesar salad (seriously, homemade dressing, homemade croutons, and all), pan seared brussels sprouts (OK, not as good as mine, but then few are), and Waldorf salad.  Telish.  We re-hashed the birthday party.  Cindy's name didn't come up at all as I recall.  We visited for a while, but I was able to get away by about 8:30 or so to get on home.  Nice.

A post in which I enjoy birthday gifts

Alan finally cleaned out his in-box today, which allowed me to get some stuff done.  I got the little write-offs back, and (finally) got the reports back from one of the agencies.  That let me get my reconciliations done, although the reports were somewhat screwed up, so I had to keep sending inquiries to find out what in the world they are doing.

It was food day at work, so I skipped breakfast because I figured we would be eating all day, and although it took a while for them to start putting the food out we pretty much did.  It was also not department-wide today, so the selection wasn't quite as varied and the spread not as impressive as usual.  I made Pat's cheese ball at Larney's request, and it went over well, as usual.  It seems kind of sad that Pat is gone, and is remembered by a cheese ball, but I try to give credit still, although a lot of folks think that's my recipe now.  I didn't dwell because I didn't want to get broody about it. 

After work I had errands to run, as per usual.  I didn't have any milk and was low on cream.  I also didn't know what I would have for supper.  Since I had a Whole Foods gift card the boys gave me for my birthday, I decided to stop in there instead of going to Publix, and maybe get myself a treat from the hot bar. 

I got in and it was a little sad.  I love going there, but knowing that I wouldn't see Vince in there anymore bothered me more than I thought it would.  He is such a sweet man.  But I ran into Jeff in the bakery and that helped.  I do like him, and he's always nice to me.  I picked up some soda.  I try to drink cane sugar soda instead of the commercial kind, which is sweetened with HFCS - yuck - it really grosses me out to think about that being in my food, although I know it is.  I like the store brand, but it has gone up in price, and they cut one of my favorite flavors - the orange cream.  I wandered over to the cheese section, because they have a great one, but then remembered that I had four pounds of varying goat cheese in the fridge that Rob and Jo Ann had given me last week.  I went through the hot bar, but nothing was really knocking me down, even though I was hungry. 

In the end, I picked up some Quorn Chik'n Tenders, which are delicious and can be used in so many different ways.  I don't buy a lot of them, because they're expensive, and they have a terrible petro-load (they are imported, frozen, from the UK), but it will be ficken pie weather soon, and I wanted to have some in the freezer.  I got some brussels sprouts and some sugar snap peas (which are a fast favorite now), and picked up one of their incomparable almond croissants, which I always get if they have any left.  That done, I loaded the car and tried to beat the rain home.  I did, although it was damp and a bit drippy outside.

I opened some of the goat cheese (this one a harder one flavored with sage) and made some cheese toast on the sourdough bread Mom sent home with me yesterday.  I got out my new wok, and stir fried up some sugar snap peas.  The wok worked great, and I was just as pleased with it as I was with the first pan I bought from that set, but the peas were too big, not that sweet, and kind of mealy.  I think they had been allowed to get too big before they were picked.  I won't get the 365 brand of those again.  I did try an experiment though, where I steamed them in the microwave first, without buying them in the special 'steam in' bag.  As I thought, it worked just as well - I just cut a little slit in the bag.  So I won't be paying the premium for special bags for my frozen veggies in future.

So I put a load of laundry in, and settled in with peas and cheese toast to eat supper, and finished off with one of that lovely almond croissant.  So I used birthday gifts from three different people for supper tonight.

A post in which it is a very long and busy Sunday*

I slept surprisingly well, and woke up to face the day. I really should have headed on home this morning, but Mom likes for me to stay and visit some on Sunday - she feels kind of abandoned if I run off first thing. But it was going to be a very busy day today, so we got moving. First it was breakfast at Lizard's Thicket, where the staff (always nice) were above-and-beyond cheerful and helpful. We went on to US1 Flea Market, where I thought it was basically a junk show today. Then I ran across a pretty bowl in great shape at a really good price:

Sharon oval 9 1/2" vegetable bowl in pink, by Federal Glass Company, circa 1935-1939

Sadly, the produce was lacking today, so I'll just end up eating bananas this week, which is fine.  We usually do both flea markets, but I begged off the second one.  We headed back to the house, where I threw things in the car (Mom, as usual, sending back a ton of food she bought for the visit that we didn't eat LOL) and headed home.

When I got home I unloaded and got to work.  There were many things to do.  I unpacked, stripped the bed, and started washing sheets.  Then I made tea and coffee (it's still hot enough that I'm drinking iced coffee in the morning).  I rounded up a buddy for a quick visit, then did the cat chores, showered up, and headed for the store for cheese ball fixin's.  Getting home from the store, I changed out a load of laundry, put together a cheese ball for tomorrow's covered dish at work, and cleaned up the kitchen from all of that.

I had time to sit down for about thirty minutes or so before it was time to head for the bear dinner.

The dinner tonight was at Saffron.  I LOVE that place.  When we went the last time, Logan had ordered some Tandoori Salmon that I was sure would be over-done, but when it arrived it not only looked and smelled gorgeous, it was perfect.  I had a bite of his.  This morning, I had purposefully passed up salmon patties at Lizard's Thicket so I could have Tandoori Salmon Tikka tonight (plus I had eaten a tiny lunch because I was saving up for a big meal).  Sadly, it was over-done tonight.  There were several orders for it, and I guess they had a hard time coordinating all of that on top of our being such a large party.  I was disappointed though, because they have several of my favorite things on the menu (which are stews, and much easier to get right consistently) that I passed up to have it.  Still, the main reason for the dinner was to see people, and I got to see all the guys. 

Afterwards, I went by RBL's house to get my goat cheese, a present from Jo Ann and Rob that I had forgotten after the party and still hadn't picked up.  I would have loved to stay and visit - I'm kind of in boy withdrawal - but it was already after 9:00pm, tomorrow was work, and after the weekend I was just wiped.  There was nothing to be done but go home and turn in.  Which I did. 

A post in which it is Ava's birthday party

Mom and I got up and took our time this morning.  We didn't have to rush, which was nice.  We had coffee and made breakfast.  I cleaned up the kitchen while Mom relaxed, and then we got cleaned up.  We were ready early, but it was such a nice day I wanted to go out and do some stuff.

We started off at Big Lots.  Mom had a mouse that I really liked on her computer, so we went to get me one.   Then it was off to Target.  Mom got me the Greenpan wok I wanted (yay!) for my birthday.  And we had a rummage 'round.  We had just sat down to relax with a drink when Mom got the call from Lisa.  The party was underway, and Cole was supposed to be there to video, but hadn't yet shown up.  So I was on deck. We went on over to the party about the time for the runway to begin, and I was assigned the camera.  Lisa, of course, had 8,000 things going.

Ava at her pink princess birthday party - she's 5

The party was at Snip-its. I had never been in one before. It's a child's hair salon. As a salon, I'm sure it's nice. They had chairs in each area for Mommy to sit while the child had a haircut, etc, but as a party venue, it was pretty small and cramped. There were eight girls at the party. I don't think they could have wedged another child in there with a shoehorn. Parents weren't allowed in the party area because it was so small, so all the parents and other guests were up front in the waiting area of the store. They did get to see the girls go down the runway. I think they may have been a tad too young for the party, because most of them didn't seem to be too excited about actually walking the runway - even Ava, who has a healthy dose of showmanship. One little girl refused to walk down at all.

The cake

Then all the children went back to the party room to eat lunch while the parents continued to hang out in the waiting area at the front of the store.  Ava opened her gifts back there too.  I got to see because I was back there taking the gift list, but again, most of the parents were left in the waiting area at the front of the store.  Dad and Eve had brought a beautiful cake which had been left in a storage room through most of the party - there was no place else to put it.  They did bring it out and cut it for the girls, but most of the parents didn't even get to see it.  Ava and her friends seemed to have fun - I think the real focus of the party was getting made up and stuff - but for the families the party left a lot to be desired.  For this, I might add, Lisa paid a hefty party price.  If Ava had fun though, that was the important part. 

After the party, it was off to Ruby Tuesday for the adults to eat.  This was a smaller group, and mostly family.  Cole and Zack rolled up in time for that.  But lunch took a while (we were a large party), and we had cake again afterwards (not everyone had cake at the party).  By the time it was all over, I was ready to go home and be comfortable for a while. 

We went back to Mom's house to relax for a bit.  I got to visit with Lisa.  Ava got out all the birthday presents and made a huge mess while making herself up like a small whore.  Interestingly, she was coming to me to ask for makeup advice.  Not that she was listening - hey, she's 5.  It was all about putting more and more on, not about how it looked. 

Ava playing with her birthday presents

It was a nice, laid back evening, and I ended up having contoured cheekbones, to boot.

Additionally, Carolina was playing, and ended up pretty much humiliating the UAB Blazers 49-6.  Too bad it wasn't a conference game....

A post in which I finish up the week

Of course since I was excited about the trip, I slept poorly.  I SO did not want to go to work today, but there was nothing for it but to go. 

Possibly because I was so loathe to be there, I buckled down and was a very good boy at work today.  I got account reconciliations done and got my little writ-offs done.  Well for one agency, anyway.  The other one is trying to get us some Canadian funds remitted, which is apparently a full-time job (they've been trying to get this done since April - but we're close).  Despite my bribing Alan with an offer of doughnuts, he refuses to clean out his in-box, so there will be a huge catch-up for me when he finally does; but in the meantime there is little I can do about it.

After work I was out like a shot.  During all the purposing last night I had forgotten to get cat food, and I was almost out.  There was no way I could leave town without doing that - Jinx might well have eaten Krooner while I was gone.  Fortunately it didn't take too long.  $37.00 for CAT FOOD - $2.46 a pound.  I could feed them chicken cheaper.  And that's without tax.  Craziness.  It just keeps going up.  Every time I buy cat food I think I'm going to change it, but when you do that Jinx vomits everywhere.  For weeks.  Still.

I ran home, fed the cats, threw stuff in the car, and headed down the road.  I didn't want to stop to eat.  Usually I stop at the one exit between Simpsonville and Columbia and eat at Subway.  But I wasn't too keen on Subway tonight, and didn't want to take the time, so I just threw a bag of Combos in the car and munched on down the road.  I love those things, and I almost never allow myself to have them unless it's on the road.  Cheddar Cheese Cracker are the BEST ones (and Miss Kat agrees, so you can't argue with that). 

I made good time and got there a little after 8:00. 

Mom and I caught up on what was going on and talked for a while, but I was wiped.  And tomorrow is another long day.

A post in which I get some stuff done

I finally got the last of the August write-offs back from Alan today.  I'm thinking about bribing him with doughnuts to get him to clean out his in-box.  He has a sweet tooth almost as bad as mine.

I started working on thank you notes today, only to realize that I hadn't gotten a big one for the boys.  They actually hosted the party, which meant cleaning the house, having a house full of guests, baking the cake, etc; so they really should get a big thank you card too.  I did get the rest of the thank you notes done from the party though, and that was a weight off.  I also realized that I forgot to get Ava's birthday card, and realized the despite Rhonda reminding me TWICE I still forgot to send Lady Beth a card.  So I sent her an email.  Which doesn't do much good because she doesn't read emails. 

After work tonight, it was back to the Dollar Tree.  I think I am getting addicted, but they have such nice stuff!  Like tonight, I bought a beautiful bow for Ava's present, which would have been $3-$5 at the card store, for $1.  You just can't beat that.  I would have gone to the real card store for her birthday card, but I found a really cute one that I actually liked.  Besides, she's five.  She couldn't care less about the card.  I still wrote a cute note in it for her.  I bought a belated birthday card for Lady Beth, shamefully (I figured it would be better than not sending one at all), and picked up a thank you card for the boys. 

Hurrying on home, I got stuck in.  I finally got my movies organized and put away.  That was long overdue - I've had movies stuck all over the house for the longest time - but it took about an hour.  My Joan Hickson movies had arrived today (Yay! - Already!!) so I put one in while I did movies and made and ate supper.  Then I cleaned up the kitchen and wrapped Ava's present.  It turned out looking pretty good.  It's really unusual for me to be that far ahead of the game, so I started wondering how I could screw it up (I am notorious for present mishaps) and I thought the only way I could really mess up now was to forget the gift - so I took it on out and put it in the car.  That way I can't forget it tomorrow night.

I put away my shoes, cleaned out the fridge, and tried to get organized a bit, but there are still birthday gifts sitting out.  But by this time it was nine, and my feets were hurting.  I packed my pills and my clothes for the trip to Columbia and went on to bed (with another Joan Hickson in the DVD player - one of my favorites Pocket Full of Rye).  David will just have to work around stuff tomorrow.  I was too tired to do any more.  I tossed and turned for a while.  Despite how tired I was I had a hard time getting to sleep.  I 'm ready to leave for Columbia. 

A post in which I have a busy evening

I was antsy at work today.  I had stuff to do, but the weight of stuff needing to be done in my real life was making me anxious.

After work I headed out to run errands. 

The first stop was CVS.  They sent me a $3 coupon for my birthday, and I used it to get Q-tips.  It is surprisingly hard to find the real ones now - it's like they only want to sell the store brand (they had at least 5x more of the store brand than they did of the real kind).  I have tried the bargain brands, and even the other 'quality' brands, and none of them are as good as the real ones.  So I shell out twice as much for Q-tips because I really can tell the difference.

From there it was on to the dollar store - the new big nice one near work.  I needed a couple of things:

   - a mailer to send back the Gamecocks shirt I ordered (it was too dark and Miss Kat and Dana got me one I like better anyway).  I was quite surprised to see mailers at Dollar Tree the last time I was there, but it made a lot of sense; they are ridiculously priced for what is basically a big envelope.  Apparently everyone else thought so too because they were nearly sold out.  I had to buy a smaller one than last time, but I think it will be big enough.

  - since I opened a can of refried beans Monday night, I wanted fixin's to make them into suppers for this week.  They had real sour cream (I checked) in the fridge section, and little things of cheese.  I found tortillas, but when I looked at them they had trans fat in them.  As did the tortilla chips on offer.  The tostada shells didn't, but they had nine grams of fat per serving.  I spent most of my time in there tonight comparing and contrasting tortilla options to complete a meal started with a can of beans I paid $1 for, but it wasn't like I was in a hurry.

 - a thank you card for Rhonda.  I have a pack of them at the house that I got during treatment that I haven't even opened, but she went to so much trouble herding cats, making arrangements, and even coordinating gift ideas for people that I felt I should at least get her a big card instead of just a regular thank you size.  That's one more thing on my to-do list this week - I have to get thank you cards in the mail!  Everyone was so wonderful to me last weekend that I really want to get the cards out quickly to let them know how much I appreciated everything. 

 - I also perused the freezer section.  They had peas and carrots to finish up the fried rice I was going to make tonight to use up the left-over rice Eve sent home with me last night.  She persists on sending food home with me.  I don't know why, but I'm not too proud to take it, and it's kind of fun to make stuff out of it.  While I was in the freezer anyway, I picked up a couple of they snack-y things to try.  They're cheap enough, and I eat stuff like that every now and again.  Tonight I got cheese sticks, mushroom bites, and a fettuccine alfredo. 

In the end, I had to go to the grocery store anyway.  I bought tortillas that didn't have trans fat in them (or at least didn't have enough that they had to put it on the label), and scallions, tofu, and mushrooms to go in the fried rice.  I went home and made burritos for supper, and then started cooking.  It ended up that I bought $6.28 of ingredients to use up about 0.50 worth of rice (because I think it was instant rice of some kind), but I got three lunches out of it for next week so it was worth it.  I won't have to worry about cooking lunches when I get home Sunday - I can just take them out of the freezer.

While I was futzing around the dollar store Dana called.  She and Miss Kat want to take me out for my birthday (they didn't come to the party - long story), but since my schedule is packed full for the weekend, I leave Friday, and because Miss Kat is out of town this week anyway, I asked if we could wait until next week.  Dana seemed kind of disappointed, but amenable.  Things are just crammed up this week.

My fried rice came out OK, but not as good as it used to be.  I need to get that video from the library again (that is how I learned to make it in the first place) because I think I'm forgetting to put something in.  What I made tonight was about restaurant quality (if a bit salty), but usually what I make at home is much better than the Chinese restaurants make.  It could be the instant rice - usually I make mine with brown rice, which gives it a lovely chewy texture and a nutty flavor that really makes it better.  Some things are better if they sit overnight though, so maybe it will be tastier next week.  I was happy with the way my tofu came out.  I really want a new wok though.  I have my eye on the one I want - maybe I'll ask for that for Christmas.  I opened the cheap dark soy sauce I bought the other week tonight.  I used up the last of my tamari.   I could really tell a difference in the smell.  The new stuff smells harsh - almost like a chemical smell.  I'm spoiled to expensive organic tamari.  If this doesn't measure up any better in taste than it did in smell, I won't be buying any more of it.

So after all the shopping, the cooking, and the cleaning up, I didn't feel like doing the other things around the house that needed doing tonight.  David comes Friday, and I have a host of birthday presents to find places for so that I can have them out of his way.  He really hates clutter, and it's good for me to have the incentive to keep things cleared away.  I need to clean out a couple of things in the fridge.  I also need to wrap birthday presents, and get clothes together if I'm leaving for Columbia on Friday night.  None of that stuff got done tonight, which leaves me with a big chore list tomorrow.  But for tonight, I settled in front of the telly for a while watching Family Guy re-runs and eating birthday cookies while I chatted online. 

A post in which I eat crab cakes

It's been very, very quiet this week with Alan out.  He's out next week too (at least for most of the week, he has a meeting scheduled with me for next Friday). 

OK, confession time.  I tried to weasel out of dinner with the 'rents tonight.  I had just seen them Sunday, will see them again this Saturday at Ava's birthday party, and then again next Tuesday on supper night.  Four times in two weeks just seems a bit much.  I didn't hear from Eve all day today, which generally means they are busy, or don't feel well or something.  But when I sent her a text, she said she was cooking supper for me, so I had to go.  It was OK, I was just tired, and feeling a bit over-parented right now.

The visit was pleasant though.  I tried to show them my birthday video, but for some reason it wouldn't play on either of their laptops. 

Supper was crab cakes - yummy!  With vegetable skewers and rice.  But there was macaroni salad in the fridge, and Dad of course wanted it on the table.  I'm enough like him that if there's macaroni salad on the table I don't want any rice. 

We visited for a while, and talked about the upcoming party for Ava.  Since I had just seen them on Sunday there were all caught up on my stuff.  I left a bit early and went on home to get ready for bed.  I was very sleepy. 

A post in which I change my mind (not about anything important)

One of my birthday gifts was a fancy-schmancy back brush from Wilenda.  Now ordinarily I don't use such.  I tried one once and thought it was going to tear my back to shreds, so it wasn't something I would ever have bought for myself.  Since I had one, though, I decided to give it a try this morning.  NICE!  This one had natural bristles instead of hard plastic ones, and it just made all the difference.  So I scrubbed my back thoroughly and purred like a walrus.

I was almost, but not quite, completely worthless at work today.  No idea why.  I just couldn't seem to get my mind focused to do anything worthwhile. 

I did order the finishing set of Joan Hickson Miss Marple movies with the Amazon gift card JP and Lori gave me.  I had been waiting for a larger set - I bought the initial set of nine movies years ago, but the second set had only three movies in it.  After doing the research today, I found that the series was only twelve, so there just weren't any more.  I loves me some Joan Hickson. 

After work my only dilemma was what to eat for supper.  I had Chinese take-away left over (sadly overdone scallops in garlic sauce), I could stop and get a salad, or I could roust Rhonda and take her with me to claim my free birthday burger from Red Robin (yet another perk of being Red Robin Royalty).  I decided to just stop and get a salad.  I didn't really feel like going out tonight, and I have supper out tomorrow night with Dad and Eve anyway (a double-shot this week, but after the Cindy thing I don't have the heart to beg off). 

When I headed up to the check-out with my bag o' lettuce though, it was grocery-geddon.  I don't know what was going on, but the self-check was down, and there were about 750 people in line at the other open registers.  I immediately thought I have never wanted a salad this bad.  I put it back and went on home to scavenge. 

I vegged in front of the telly and threw a bag of corn in the microwave - it had been in the freezer forever and it needed to be eaten anyway.  I eventually cobbled together some nachos from some odds and ends I had laying around.  It was fine. 

A post in which it is my actual birthday*

I woke up to a gorgeous day, in a really good mood, still coasting on the party.  I spent some time online answering many kind birthday messages I had received. 

I went for a buddy visit that didn't really go very well, but that was fine.  I was too mellowed out and happy to really get upset about it.  On the way home, I stopped and bought peaches.  I walked around the flea market, but it was really too early, and I needed to get home.  I had stuff to do.

I went home and put my squash casserole together.  While it baked I got ready to go to brunch.  It seemed to come out pretty well, but it was too wet.  I would have more control over the juice if I did the squash in a saucepan, and I'll do it that way next time, but it seems very flavorful from the taste I had.  I packaged it up into lunches and put it away, then girded my loins and headed for brunch.

I was downtown early.  That was no problem.  It was beautiful, and I just sat and people-watched while I waited.  Then Dad and Eve got there and started circling around.  One of the reasons I don't eat downtown that often is because of the parking problem.  You have to hike in to downtown to do anything.  It's not a huge problem compared to some cities, but there are plenty of places to eat around here that have ample parking right in front of the door, and most of the places downtown don't really justify the hike and paying for parking, IMHO.  They couldn't find a parking place.  They both have mobility issues, and usually when they eat downtown Dad just has a valet park the car.  Of course there was no valet on duty today.  Eventually, I just found a place on Main Street and stood in it until they could get back around to park.  Fortuitously, it was very close to the restaurant. 

A view of the downtown early September gorgeousness

Brunch today was at Soby's.  I've only been there twice, and both times was with Dad and Eve.  The first time was last year during treatment, and I think Dad was trying to tempt me to eat a bit more by getting me some fancy food (Soby's is prodigiously expensive).  This year my appetite was no problem.  Our waiter was very nice and hooked us up with some crab cakes.  They were scrumptious - probably the best I have ever eaten.  Indeed all the food was excellent.  (I stayed away from the potato salad today because the last time I had eaten there I discovered that they put wasabi in it - yergh!)  The pastry selection today was excellent - they had these wonderful little chocolate/pistachio tarts that were just telish.  As we ate and talked, of course Cindy and Paul were the central topic.  Even though Cindy called the cops and Paul wasn't even home, they have decided that Cindy is miserable and so brain-washed by Paul that she knows no other way to react.  If that's what they need to believe, well I hope it makes them feel better.  Despite dreading all this, it went surprisingly easily.  I've done this with them so many times now that it's not like I have to think that much about it or anything, and Eve didn't cry through the whole meal, which was my main concern.  Eventually, even she called a halt to the subject out of consideration for my birthday, which I appreciated.

I had sent Dad a copy of one of the recipes that I'm working on for the family version of the cookbook.  I sent him the one for Grandma Shumate's green beans.  It was more of a story than a recipe, and I thought he might enjoy reading it.  He told me today that he told my grandmother about it on his last visit up to her, and that she is really excited and happy about it.  She also told him where her box of favorite recipes is - she's going to have him give me her recipe box!!  I was pretty stoked about that, and touched also.  I'm really excited to see the recipes.  I hope her Watergate Salad recipe is in there - I want to make some for Rhonda.

After brunch, they gave me my presents - a custom-embroidered toque with my name on it (I've never owned one), and a really nice devilled-egg tray (because I had admired the one from the wedding a couple of weeks ago).   I thanked them for everything and skipped off home to take a nap.  When I got home, I took my shirt off to wash because I had spilled coffee on it.  When I pulled my shirt from yesterday out of the washer, it was clean!  I couldn't believe that Shout Advanced Gel had taken out dried hair dye, but I'll be singing the praises of that stuff!

When I woke up I had a text from Russ wanting to know what in the hell I was doing LOL  Our friend James was over visiting them.  I got dressed and headed over there.  It was good to see James.  We were all laid back and relaxed today.  We had a couple of drinks, talked, watched some tube.  It was nice just to spend some time with them.

Eventually James took off, and then RBL had to leave for supper out with a friend of Logan's.  I headed for home, but had the munchies.  I had eaten a huge brunch this morning, but nothing since.  I went to the grocery store, but there was a strange dearth of Rice Krispy Treats, which I was craving.  Lisa called me, and she and Ava sang happy birthday - it was about the cutest thing ever.  Mom was there, and I talked to her about coming down next Friday and just staying with her for the weekend since I was going to be down for Ava's party anyway.  Cole called me to tell me happy birthday also - he is such a sweet guy.  I went to pick up some Chinese take-away for supper, and went to another store while I was waiting - still no treats!  So I'm wondering what the deal is.  Then, as I was checking out, there was this random box of treats, just sitting there out of place.  So I snapped them up, went and got my Chinese food, and went home to relax. 

I watched some Cupcake Wars, ate supper, and messed around on the computer for a while.  It had been a wonderful weekend, and I had to be ready to hit the ground for a new one tomorrow...