Just Friday

And a pretty busy one at that.

I've been catching up on laundry, Otter and I did several loads yesterday and I've got one going now.  I still have a couple of loads to do Sunday.  I'm amazed by the amount of dirty laundry we had, considering that we were gone for nearly a week!  There weren't a lot of other household chores to be done, I like to leave a clean house so that I'll come back to a clean house.

We went to Michael's & Hobby Lobby today, Otter needed something from both stores.  We also went to Wallyworld for a couple of misc grocery items we forgot yesterday and to a thrift where we found nothing.  We went to a craft mall and Otter found something there.  There were a few other errands but they were just normal stuff like going to the Post Office and so forth.

Yesterday's grocery trip was the one I started out to do on Wednesday but realized I'd forgotten the list.  Which is probably just as well, considering how tired I was Wednesday and just how much we actually needed because we'd more or less run out of everything prior to our vacation.

I took my car in for an oil change yesterday and it was about $12.00 less that the "other" place that we don't go to anymore.  The power steering fluid still checks out as ok, so I'm thinking that we are ok as far as it's concerned.  But we'll still watch it for a while.

Also, Bill got another pachinko machine yesterday.  There was a machine advertised in a small town not too far from us and we met the seller yesterday.  That makes 3 he's gotten in the last week.

I realized today that I think I've probably got all the Fenton I want.  Except for the occasional piece, I'm thinking that I'm probably not going to buy much of it anymore.  I really like what I have, but I don't have a lot of room for it.  Also, the ones I'm interested in are the older pieces and they are getting very hard to find.  Especially for what I want to pay for them!

I also took the several weeks' worth of recycling that had been piling up in the garage to the recycle place this morning.  I was out right before the sun rose and got to see it.  The sky was so pretty, lots of reds and pinks.  It's a pretty day, just a little breezy and slightly cool but nice.  We have a cold front heading our way, it should get here about the same time as 2012 does.  Well, we'll be home and probably asleep then anyway!

Since we were not home on Christmas Eve, we're having our traditional Christmas Eve Living Room Picnic tonight.  I guess that makes it a Not Quite New Year's Eve Living Room Picnic instead.  Also, it's in the kitchen on the table because the dogsters are NOT invited.  We'll be having Christmas on Monday with Grandpa and Sweetie, since were were in SA over Christmas.  So the Annual Bill Breakfast which we normally have on Christmas is a New Year's Breakfast instead.  (And we might not eat for days after that, it's a huge breakfast and lots of fun).

Those are my thoughts today, just normal stuff I guess.

It's Been a Loooooooooooooooooooooooong Day!

It started at 4:00 this morning.  Actually, I think it started earlier than that, but that is when I looked at the clock.  I think Bill's day started a couple of hours before that.

We've been out of town.  We went to TEXAS for Christmas.  We left at 4:50 last Friday morning and drove to San Antonio.  We spent the next several days with assorted family and had a wonderful Christmas.  And I turned 50.  My birthday was spent having puffy tacos and shopping.  It was worth the 500 mile drive for the puffy tacos alone!  But we had a lot of visiting time in there as well, it wasn't all about food.

The dogsters had a vacation, they went to stay with "Beckymom" at her boarding kennel.  We took them last Thursday and we picked them up this afternoon.  They were crazy excited to see us!  When we left them there last week, Frasier was quite happy to get there but Maggie was practicing her sad puppy expression - until we got out of her sight, then she was bouncy & ready to play with the other doggies.  We could see her as Becky took them to the play yard, and it was pretty obvious that Maggie was happy the second we were out of her sight.  Frasier is always easier to leave anywhere, and they were well looked after so we weren't worried about them.

We left a little early this morning, about 4:45.  We hit Austin and Dallas well before the traffic normally starts and we made it home in record time.  8 hours, 45 minutes.  We've never made it that fast before.  We didn't actually stop to eat, we had beef jerky & snack food as well as cokes and bottled water.  Since we were making such good time, we decided that we'd just head straight and eat when we got home.  We had Digorno's pizzas waiting in the freezer at home for us, and they were delicious.

Among other things on our trip, Otter and I met Froggy at the yarn store I like so much and I stocked up on the good yarn that is hard to find.  We also went to a couple of thrift stores and I saw the exact match of my wedding gown.  I didn't think about it until later, but my dress was made for me and it's very possible that it actually was my gown.

Bill acquired two pachinko machines on the trip, one of them in Dallas and one in San Antonio.  The Dallas machine was picked up for him a few weeks back by JediMom and she held it for ransom for a visit from us - she even sent him a ransom note with letters cut out from a magazine.  Bill's brother picked up the other machine for him.  There was another one in the Waco area, he'd made arrangements to look at it on the way back today but the seller forgot to put it in her car and was at work.  She wouldn't have been able to get off work until 5:00 and it was around 9:00 when we were in the area, so we had to skip that stop.  Still, he got two new machines so he's happy.

We are off the rest of the week and don't have to go back to work until Tuesday.  Tomorrow, I'm taking the car in for an oil change and then going to the grocery store.  I was going to the grocery store today, but realized as I was walking in the door that I'd left the (long) list at home.  So, I just grabbed milk & orange juice and I'll hit it tomorrow.  I'm pretty tired anyway.

The couch is calling me, so I'm going to post this and then take it easy until bedtime.  Which will probably be very early tonight!  But we had a great trip and I'm so glad we went.  However, it will be good to sleep in my own bed tonight.

Run, Bill! I'm about to catch up with you!

Tomorrow marks the start of the 6-month period where Bill and I will be the same age.

Also known as Motorcycle Day.  At least as far as Toadles is concerned.  :)

One King Holds the Hope of the World

One King

(Written by Jeff Borders, Gayla Borders, Lowell Alexander )


Kings of earth on a course unknown
Bearing gifts from afar
Hoping praying
Following yonder star


Silhouette of a caravan
Painted against the sky
Wise men searching
For the holy child


(chorus)


One king held the frankincense
One king held the myrrh
One king held the purest gold
One King held the hope of the world


A star hangs over bethlehem
A journey ends in the night
Three kings trembling
Behold the glorious sight

Heaven's treasure emmanuel

Drawing men to bow down

Tiny baby born to wear a crown

One king held the frankincense

One king held the myrrh
One king held the purest gold
One King held the hope of the world

And that one King still holds the Hope of the world.  He is the Hope of the world!  Our eternal Hope and we would be so lost without Him.

Merry Christmas!

Just Stuff on a Cold & Wet Tuesday (and I'm On My Soapbox Tonight)

Actually, it's more cool than cold.  But it has been wet off & on today.  Mostly this morning, when it was also very foggy.  Yesterday was very wet, which was expected but was still an inconvenience.  Otter and HP were running around between a mall and several stores in the general area of the mall, they had to deal with it more than I did but it was still messy and not a fun drive.  Bill was lucky, or smart, he stayed home all day yesterday.  Except for a brief run (or 2) to the hardware store, because he was fixing a couple of things.

Soapbox alert:  I did want to address something that has me concerned.  And it probably means that we won't shop at Macy's anymore - we don't shop there often, but we do shop there on occasion but won't anymore.  Macy's has changed their policy regarding dressing rooms.  Basically, if a man who cross dresses (as in pretends to be a woman) wants to try on clothing, he is allowed to go into the women's changing room.  Apparently, there have been a couple of complaints by women in the dressing room at the time and Macy's has basically told them to shut up about it and that they have to put up with it.  That is so wrong, on so many levels.  As Bill commented, all it's going to take is one pedophile or predator taking advantage of Macy's ERROR and we can all figure out from there what is going to happen.  This issue was raised on a web board I'm a member of (maybe not for much longer), and the gay members were pretty upset because anyone would complain - I don't care what someone chooses to do with their personal life (and it IS a choice) as that is between them and God.  I don't think that some choices are right, but that's not the issue here.  The issue is privacy and security, and Macy's will pay for this one, one way or another.  Starting with loss of sales, and if there is an incident then they'll probably wind up in court.  Although if we were ever in that position and someone did cross the line, they might have to scrape him off the floor when we (any one of us) were done with him.

OK, I'm stepping off of the soapbox for the moment.  At least, that particular one.

Otter has her foot check up tomorrow, but we're thinking that she's cured.  The wart is gone and the skin looks new where it's been peeled due to the freezing process.  She says that it's not painful anymore and we expect that the doctor will say she's through.

My birthday is one week from today!  I expect Fifty to be good, I really enjoyed turning 40 and now it's time to turn the page on decades.  Otter and Bill have both asked me what I want, but I haven't come up with anything yet.  In church on Sunday, Pastor Dave was talking about husbands buying Christmas gifts for their wives and how they should stay away from appliances.  But my last two Christmas & birthday gifts have been appliances at my own request.  I just don't need any at the moment.  Well, the dishwasher is going to have to be replaced sooner or late but not yet.  I just can not come up with anything.

Anybody got any suggestions?

Sunday Ducks

My chickens are no longer free-ranging, and my ducks are all back in a row now.  I like my ducks to be in a row, waddling in step and quacking in unison.  Unlike Bill, who prefers his geese to be all over the place!

Interesting article:  Redheads & Dentists

We now have our Christmas trees up!  Two of the three ceramic trees, they are on top of the entertainment center on one side.  I still haven't found the stockings, so we're probably just going to have to make do with plastic grocery bags this year.  I'm not inclined to get back up in the attic at the moment.

I don't know why the picture is so dark, the flash was on and it's a bright enough corner.  But anyway, there are two of the three ceramic trees we have.  The big one is one that Mom gave us the first Christmas we were in Oklahoma, so it's about 19 years old.  There were 3, one was Froggy's and one was Toadle's.  Mine is the only one still intact and it's always a "hold your breath" moment when we unpack it each year.  The smaller one is one I picked up at a thrift store or yard sale a couple of years ago.

This is one of the reasons that we don't have the big tree up this year:

She was looking up at me in hopes of being let out in the back yard, but as soon as I pushed the button on the camera she looked down and that's the picture that I took.  The other furry clown was nowhere to be seen, he leaves as soon as he sees the camera.  No idea why.

This is the reason we don't have one of the (many) tabletop trees that we have up:

That is the sofa table, which is in front of the back window in the living room.  Part of Billyboy's arm is visible in the top, left corner.  The trash can is sitting on top of the bookshelf he made for us, because the aforementioned furry clowns tend to take things out of it if we leave it on the floor.  The pink socks that are beside the trash can are old ones that Otter outgrew, and now they are Frasier's.  He wore them for a while last night, when he started chewing on his leg again.

We're through Christmas shopping!  We don't have a lot to buy, since we are out of the gift exchange whirl for the most part.  There were just a couple of things we wanted to get, and we also needed to do some "us" shopping so we hit the mall as soon as we got home from church.  We got there just before the crowd and were able to get what we wanted, then get out without too much trouble.  When we left, it was getting really crowded.  We also went to Wally and a couple of other places and they were very crowded.

Since the weather was cooperative, and it needed to be done, Otter and I got the vacuum out while ago and de-furred the inside of my car.  She also cleaned the inside of the front windshield for me, and the two back windows while she was at it because they had lots and lots of doggy nose prints.  When we got through, I loaded the trunk full with stuff to donate.  I'll take it to Goodwill tomorrow, then I'll load the trunk up again but this time it will be recycling stuff.

Now, if I could just get Bill to get the garage organized...

The Chickens Have Not Quite All Come Home to Roost Yet!

I just re-read yesterday's post.  Most of my chickens have come back to where they belong, but there are still a few stray ones out there.  I did notice that I referred to HP as BF, BF was the previous boyfriend and frankly, we're all glad he's out of the picture.  But I guess I forgot what abbreviation I use for HP.  From here on out, I'll try to remember to say HP and not BF!  But, if I do slip and say BF please realize that I mean HP.

Some of the chickens are still running around as far as work goes.  I got a lot done today, but it was another day of dealing with the 95-year old teenager and progress has a tendency to stop at those times.

Otter is offically done with her first semester.  She had her last Final today, she said it was easy.  She wanted to stay at school today after the test, she got to spend several hours involved in serious Girl Talk with one of her friends.  So I picked her up when I got off work, and we went to run a couple of errands.

We went to the library, which means arm loads of books.  Then we went to Target and realized that we probably should have just skipped it.  Total waste of time!  I think that we've probably had that experience almost every time we've gone lately.  I did find a pair of boots that I really liked, and I need some desperately - some that have actual tread on the soles so I don't break something on the ice this winter.  But they didn't work with my stupidtoes.  I have to wear a size to a size and a half bigger, because of my stupidtoes which are not to be confused with my stupidleftknee.  I didn't buy the boots, because the bigger size was too big and my feet slid around but the actual size I really should wear hit wrong on my foot.

The stupidtoes came about because I once tried to put the couch into orbit with my foot.  It was the couch's fault!  The stupidtoes keep me from wearing all sorts of shoes, because of where the shoe "bends" as I walk - when I kicked the couch, the toes weren't the only things to break.  (This is the same couch that also tried to kill Bill, starting with the toes.)  (We don't have that couch anymore, by the way).

Anyway, I refer to them as my weather toes at times and they have been living up to that name a lot lately, but today they are just stupidtoes.  I guess I'm going to have to hit the Army Surplus store and get some combat boots.  Otter has a pair that her Grandpa gave her and she wears them very often.  Especially in the winter when it's icy.  I have seen them at the Army Surplus store but they didn't have my size the last time we were there.

We might be back there soon, Otter's bag that she's used for over 3 years to carry school books in split down the side Friday.  We got it, as well as her camo backpack, there and I think that we'll probably look there for a replacement.  She's got a few weeks off, so we're in no hurry but will get there before she starts school again.

And, with any luck, I'll find a pair of boots there and they'll work with my stupidtoes!  And also with my stupidleftknee.  The stupidtoes are on my right side, the stupidleftknee is (obviously) on my left side.  Which makes life really fun at times!

Free Range Chickens

I've kind of been all over the place today, figuratively (sp?), so my thoughts are like Free Range Chickens this afternoon.  It was a crazy day at work, so was yesterday.  I have a couple of things that have to be done on a specific schedule, and the 95-year old 2 year old decided that he had to help me today - which means that it took me all day to do what should have just taken a couple of hours.  He's still fun, it's just that there are times when I really need to do what he pays me for!  Today was one of those days.

I've also been fighting a headache all day, and Otter has had a migraine all day.  She's currently taking a looooooooooooooooooooong shower, which always helps.  Bill's probably going to regret coming home from work today, both his wimmins are grumpy!

It was warmer today, but not by much.  It was misty, not rainy but just yucky.  But, since we have a possibility of "winterish" weather in the next few days, I'm not complaining.  Much.

I am just about through with my commissioned crochet project.  I don't like to sell much of it, I prefer that it stay fun and not become "work" but the occasional piece is fine.  I made a few swiffer covers for someone a couple of months ago, that was one I enjoyed.  I have made the odd piece here and there, when someone wants it.  I don't mind making a few items to sell.  The current project is two scarf/hat sets for someone Bill works with, and since he's got more time to take off before it vanishes at the end of the year, he's off next week so I've been attempting to get them done in a hurry.  I've taking it to work with me the last two days and I should be able to finish it tonight.  I had some issues with the hats, I think it was "pilot error" because I'm using the same pattern I always do, but I figured out what I needed to change so it's been fixed - however, I have had to frog more than one hat lately and it's not fun!  These are blue & white striped and look good, but I will still be glad to be done with them.  The scarves are going easier than the hats did, at least.

I also made quite a few hats and scarf/hat sets for gifts, several of Otter's friends are now wearing them.  Apparently, BF was overjoyed with his set.  But that might have had something to do with who actually gave it to him!  :)

Bill went to the dentist yesterday.  He's not a fan of medical practicioners, as we all know.  He tends to put things off until he has no choice and the dentist visit was no exception.  He got a major, honking filling.  It's big.  It was very nearly a root canal, and there is still a possibility that it will eventually need one.  But for now, it's filled.  The dentist we use is very no-nonsense and is very thorough.  So, if she thinks Bill needs something, we will listen.  She did convince him that he needs a cleaning and an exam with x-ray, so he's got an appointment in early January.  I wasn't able to go with him yesterday, so I guess I should just be glad he actually went!  :)  But, I will go when he has the next appointment.

The reason I wasn't able to go with him yesterday is because Otter's last class got out early - which we knew was going to happen.  Actually, she just had to turn in an essay which was the Final for that class and then she was free to go.  She had two other Finals yesterday, one was an in-class essay and one was an essay due yesterday like the last class of the day.  So, she actually only had one class yesterday and it didn't involve a test.  The rest of the day was spent hanging out with friends.  When I got there, we went to the college bookstore and sold one of her books back.  She had two that we were hoping they would buy, but they only bought one.  We'll possibly put the remaining one on Craigslist.  She has one more class, tomorrow, which is the one "real" class she had on Monday.  Then, she's officially through with her first semester of college and is free for close to a month.

Bill said the tamale guy called him today, I guess he still has my old number on file but that's Bill's number now.  I'm thinking I'll order a few dozen.  I like to keep them in the freezer, and we usually eat them on New Year's Eve.  With homemade chili.

I'm making myself hungry!

Sunday Eh?

(First things first, I'd like to thank Alexandra for the picture on my sidebar.  The picture of the lovely, precious little girl who is just as entitled to life as the rest of us.)

Eh? is one of those all-purpose words, it can mean whatever it needs to in a non-commital way.  It also means that I can't think of an appropriate title today!

It's been a busy week, and also a little slow at the same time.  Bill was back at work, he used up all his comp time before it went away for ever the week before.  Otter has just about finished her first semester at College, she still has one or two days this coming week and then she's done for close to a month.  The last day is uncertain, each of her four teachers has changed their finals dates at least once.  She thinks that tomorrow is the last day for at least one of her classes, but she won't know for sure until tomorrow.  The book buy-back is this coming week, she's probably got two that are eligible and will take them in tomorrow.  She's not expecting much, but one of them turned out to not be used at all - although it was required that she have it - and it's still in the shrink wrap it was in when she bought it.  She's going to ask about that, since it was also a new book when she bought it.

One of her class assignments was to come up with a skit to show what the class was about, they were divided into two groups.  That class also had a homework project that had to be done on posterboard.  The poster was due Friday and that was also when the skits were presented.  Otter didn't want to carry her posterboard and clothes for the skit, so I took them to her when I got off work.  The instructor told me to stay, so I got to observe.  Otter's group involved being bums or protestors, none of them actually looked the part (too clean!) but they did try and they had a lot of fun.  Froggy, that's what I texted you pictures of.  They had a good time with it and they did a good job.

It was cold this week, mostly at night and we've had a few excuses to use some of that firewood we bought.  Friday night, we roasted marshmallows.  It was fun and they were good.  Also, the dogsters did not forget where their spots were and they spent a lot of time napping in front of the fireplace.  Especially Maggie Moo.  Frasier likes the warmth, but he prefers to snooze on their blankets.  It could be rainy mid-week.

I've been crocheting a lot.  I have a pay job, and it never fails:  I make headway destashing and then I get a pay job - and I never have the particular color in my stash so I have to go buy it!  I'm in the middle of the latest one and should be able to finish it tomorrow.  Possibly tonight, but I'm not really sure I want to try.  Then there may be another job, which Bill will find out for sure about tomorrow since it's for someone he works with.  I've also made two scarf/hat sets for Otter to give as Christmas gifts to her friends.  I had a few other hats already made and she's been in that as well, so several of her friends will be wearing my crochet.  I actually like "selling" them to her, because she works off anything she owes me! :)

Otter had a fun day, we went to Wallyworld and got there just as her favorite cashier was getting his lunch break.  So, they walked to a pizza place next door to Wallyworld and I ran a couple of other errands I had.  Then by the time I got done, they were just heading back to the store so he could clock back in.  Otter and I got our small shopping done and then we had to go through a specific check stand.  HP's going to be getting one of the scarf/hat sets, incidentally.  His set is forest green and I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

We rented the movie Cowboys & Aliens yesterday.  It was surprisingly good.  Not exactly your standard sci-fi, but that's part of what made it so enjoyable.  We'll probably buy it.

It doesn't seem possible that Christmas is just a couple of weeks away and also that the end of this year is right behind that.  It should still be only about June or July.

This & That Thursday

YOU CAN KEEP THE CHANGE!  I'll keep my God and my guns and my Constitution.

70

May we never forget.

May we never stop remembering.

May we always honor the memory of the Lost.

The Foot Book

That's the title of one of the wonderful Dr. Suess books, specifically it's the one that Otter wanted read over and over and over and over and over and...  We still have most of it memorized!

But the title today reflects the fact that I could just about write a book myself, and it would all deal with Otter's foot.  Her left one.

She saw the dermatologist today, and the majority of the crop is gone.  The big plantar's wart is dead & bye-bye now, the last of it was cut off and most of the other spots have also died.  But there were still two, they were tiny and were more or less hidden by the big one.  So, she got another freeze treatment.  But it was not nearly as bad as the previous ones, although it wasn't pleasant.  She goes back in two weeks, and since it's the week before Christmas her list probably includes "no more frozen feet!"  I took pity on the girl, I bought her ice cream.

Finals start tomorrow, then her last class days are staggered through next week.  I think that Wednesday will be her last class, then she's done with the first semester.  She will have about 3 1/2 weeks off, before the 2nd semester starts.  She's looking forward to sleeping in the first day.

Can't say I really blame her!

(It's been in the 30's the last two days, last night was really cold but tonight is going to be even colder.  We're looking at mid-teens.  Now, I'm going to post this and go back to the living room where I will re-join Bill and Otter, in front of the roaring fireplace.  I might have to shove a dog or two aside.)

Sunday Waiting

What are we wating for?

For the weather to decide what it's going to do, that's what.  The forecast has changed daily since about Thursday, but there is a good possibility of white stuff sometime over the next couple of days.  But, as we all know, the forecasters really are just guessing so anything can happen at this point.  What we do know is that it's cold and going to be for a few days.  We did get the expected rain yesterday, so they at least got that right, although I don't think that the nearly hurricane force winds were in the forecast!  I'm so glad that we got the tulip bed planted last weekend.

So, we're prepared for anything at this point.  But Bill has to work a b(oring)oard meeting tomorrow evening, so we hope that it holds off.  The normal plan for meeting days is that I get off work, go get whatever he decides he wants for dinner and bring it to him.  Then, I go back to Otter's college and get her and we go to/through whatever fast food place she & I decide upon for dinner.  Then, Bill gets home whenever the school board members stop talking - which might not be early, one time he didn't get home until nearly 2:00 a.m.  And he had to go to work the next morning at 7:00!  But the night of the 4th earthquake was an early one, he said that as soon as they felt the floor shimmer it was amazing how quickly they finished up!

Otter and I did some Christmas shopping today.  We always pick an Angel from the Angel tree our church sponsors, and we got an 8-year old girl this time.  It's been a while since I had one of those (an 8 year old girl) and we really aren't sure what toys are popular with that age range anymore.  We finally decided on a mix of toys instead of one specific toy.  Always included are things like coloring books & crayons, stickers and that sort of thing.  This year's package includes My Little Pony, as well as a couple of craft-oriented things, a jump rope, sock monkey and a pair of cute socks.  There are a couple of other things, I just can't remember what they are.  The church sponsors a women's/children's shelter and the Angel tags don't really have a lot of information beyond the child's gender, age and "toy" for the wish.  I asked about that and apparently, that is all the information that the shelter will give them.  I can understand not giving out anything in the way of identification, but "toy" doesn't help much!  We went to Toys R Us and wandered around until we found several things.  When Otter was little, we always tried to pick a child that was close to her age since that way we knew what the popular things were.  But we are having to wing it now.

(OK, I'm back.  I just had to go stop the washing machine from dancing!).

We had chili tonight.  So we're happy campers.  It was good and it was hot.  Rotel is now making a "hot" variety of their tomatos, so that's what I use know.  Along with a boatload of chili seasoning and chili beans, and then Bill usually adds at least one jalepeno and lots of picante sauce to his.

We also got up into the attic today.  I brought down the wreath and the small, ceramic Christmas tree.  I was going to get the stockings and a few other things, but I didn't want to have to go through all the boxes since they are all sealed.  Also, it was cold and dusty up there.  So, our stockings will probably be Wallyworld bags this year!  We weren't going to use the big tree this year anyway, the ceramic tree is small (tabletop size) but it's got a lot of sentimental value.  Also, since it's going to be on top of the entertainment center, there is no chance of a certain pair of dogs playing with the ornaments this year!  They've done that before and they are not trustworthy at the moment.

Speaking of dogs, they are very happy this evening.  I was putting pasta on to boil and I dropped about a handful of it before it got to the pan of water.  I'm pretty sure that the dogs teleported into the kitchen, and they cleaned up every single piece of pasta from the floor in a matter of milliseconds.  I guess you could say that we have Pasta Dogs for real?!

Just a Thursday

Not a T & T Thursday.  There will be another one, I'm just kind of tired tonight and don't want to come up with any serious thoughts.  Although I do have some ideas for one.  And it is political, FYI.

I figured that I probably should at least post something,  since the last installment was Monday.

Today's excitement has been that Otter and I went to the grocery store.  Such a thrilling life we lead! :)  Also, she and Billyboy met me for lunch at a Chinese place and we enjoyed the buffet.  Then she and Bill went to meet someone and buy a pachinko machine from him.  They met him just up the street from where I work, so they came by to show me the machine and then Otter wound up staying with me for the afternoon.  Which made a certain 95-year old oilman very happy!

We went to the post office before the grocery store.  We had to mail something for Bill and I was out of stamps.  Otter found us some really cute ones:  Pixar!  They have a Toy Story character (Buzz Lightyear), but not our favorite cowgirl!  (I still say that Disney owes us major royalties for that one!).

Bill said that the dogsters were waiting for us to get home, about an hour before we did actually arrive, which is the time I/we normally roll in the door on non-college days.  I guess that they've figured out that the bus doesn't bring Otter home anymore, but they do seem to know when we/I usually get home on the other days.

OK, all I can think of for now!