Confessions of a One-Track Mind

A Very Happy Birthday to thru_the_blinds!
(Here's wishing you a wonderful year)




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Argh, drama. Way too much drama, and no internet to dump it on*. It's been hell. but My god, I've missed youse guys. I'm back, and that's a funny story in itself. Let me see if I can catch you all up with everything.

Spent time at Mb's the week before last, got home and cable/net was disconected. I, being obsessive and resourceful, managed to get my converter box hooked up to my portable TV in time for Person of Interest. I get two channels: CBS and Retro. Route 66 reruns, anyone?

BrightHouse was even nice enough to send someone out to pick up the box, remote and modem...I know it'll be a long time til I can afford it again, but it saves me a drive out to the nearest cable office---which, with the cost of gas, is a Good Thing.

Right now, what gas I *do* have is being hoarded for jury duty, a week from Monday. I'm looking forward to it, and hoping that I'm needed for multiple days, just for the stipend. I haven't had a full tank of gas in months; at the moment, I have a couple gallons, and I'm wondering nervously if I have enough cans to make a recycling run worthwhile.

In the midst of my turmoil and strife, I got a belated birthday gift from Estonia: kukkurkurat sent me a fabulous handbag. It's a soft blue-grey silk brocade, woven with shimmery pastel dragonflies. Definitely not an everyday bag! Am trying to decide what to wear with it to church...possibly the dark grey silk top GK sent me, although it's probably still to warm for that.

Speaking of GK, she's been a busy bee: she's moved across town from where they were, gotten a new part-time job, *and* she's putting together another CARE package; she found a couple tops while she was out and about. (I'd told her that I've discovered that a lot of mine are too big, so I need replacements. She's sending two.)

God bless Mb for helping me stay caffeinated; I know, I've tried to decaffeinate, but after a couple days, I'm so wretched I want to die. No joke, I spent the first half of the week with a thundering headache, moving in slow-mo, wondering how long it would take for my body to be found if I took a Cutco steak knife to my wrists.

Mb rescued me Tuesday evening and took me up to her place. Gave me two 2-liters of diet Coke and the remote so I could watch Sons of Anarchy. What an amazing episode. ( Holy shit! )

I actually did some serious cooking last week, because that was what circumstances called for. Last Sunday, I did a turkey sausage and rice mingle that fed me for three days; the third day I raided my pantry for a can of chili beans and called it red beans and rice. For Wednesday and Thursday, I took the ground beef I got from the food bank and made stroganoff. Nothing fancy, but filling.

Yesterday, my food stamp benefits were loaded for the month. I was out the door bright and early, because I was out of bread and some vital condiments. Came home, and as I was getting out of my car, was approached by the gal from next door asking when I was going to cut my yard. (Last done 4/25. The back yard is literally up to the window sills.) Told her it's not that I like it like that; I just flat-out don't have money to hire anyone. Was open about how incredibly tight things are, basically I'm hocking heirlooms to keep the lights on...a little while later, her friend came over and whacked my front yard down to size. Huge difference! The back would still feed a brontosaurus for a week, but at least now it doesn't look like the abandoned houses on the block.

I went over to thank them profusely, and mentioned that BrightHouse has cut off everything, and she then proceded to give me the passwoord to her wireless. So I'm online, in my office, and after everything I've said and thought about the neighbors from Hell, I'm willing to admit I might be wrong. Yes, their six kids and IDEK how many dogs are freakin' loud, but she's a nice, helpful person. If there *is* anything hinky going on, I don't care (as long as it stays over there!).

I've got laundry going---I'm going to put it in the dryer when I'm finished with this---and I'm contemplating a lebanon bologna sandwich when I've done that.

Tomorrow after church, I plan to shop at Save-a-Lot, where I don't usually go. But I got a flyer advertizing some great 10 for $10 deals, and who knows, maybe they've overhauled the place and it's less squicky. (It's in the oldest shopping center around here, and last few times I was in there, it smelled...off.)

J is away on vacation for a couple weeks...I just hope everything goes okay. Her car is a little younger than mine, but not by much.


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* Actually, it's only my drama secondhand, so I'm not at liberty to dump it, but geez. I've never before been in the position of loathing the person one of my friends was seeing---in the case of GK's other half, it took exposure to him as a husband---but I really want to punch this individual in the face. Repeatedly.

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Lunch was sublime. I tried Ruby Tuesday's Watermelon Fizz as my beverage, and it was delish. Kind of like liquid bubblegum. With a squeeze of lime, it was downright amazing. Alas, I had to sqitch over to diet Coke after a couple refills, because they were out of watermelon.

BigRed ordered the southwestern egg rolls for us as an appetizer---they were fresh out of the fryer and very tasty.

After much deliberation, I had the asiago-peppercorn sirloin, which was oh-so-tender. I ate every morsel, probably making little unconscious whimpers of bliss, as I'm wont to do, although BigRed kindly didn't say anything.

We chatted about the usual---books, movies, tv...I mentioned Sons of Anarchy, and she said, "I saw Bill Lucking when I was flipping channels the other day and thought of you."

"That's why I love you," I replied. "Not only do you know who Bill Lucking is, you have correctly identified him as one of my lust interests." Which goes clear back to our high school days, and a short-lived show called Big Hawaii that we both enjoyed for our own reasons...although Bill was the reason I started watching it, actually....

The Italian cream cake was as good as I remembered, although after several glasses of watermelon fizz, steak, salad and green beans, I couldn't finish it. BigRed also left about half of her cheesecake. She had errands to run on her way home, and declined to take it, so I put them both in a to-go box, having had the foresight to provide myself with an insulated carrier bag in the car. Prescient much?

In addition to the luscious lunch, BigRed also presented me with a cute card and a WalMart GC. Yay! I considered the Person of Interest DVDs, but that's a little out of my price range. I think I may invest in an iTunes card and/or a TracFone card. Or Barnes and Noble. Decisions, decisions!

Departed Ruby Tuesday and visited the Entermann's store, where I snagged a loaf of bread and some pumpkin spice cake that was too yummy-looking to pass up. From there I hit Publix---they have Progresso soups on sale for $1.50 this week, which is a fantastic price. Thanks to Mb, I had a couple coupons as well. Ended up nabbing a dozen cans, which will serve as quick-and-easy meals for a while.

Speaking of quick and easy, I need to spend time this evening clearing off my kitchen counter; PJ is coming by after church with my "new" microwave. Woohoo!

TTFN.

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I renewed my driver's license online last night. This is huge, because I had people telling me that I'd NEVER be able to do it online, that DMV is demanding a birth certificate, SS card, proof of residence, DNA, the whole meggelah, to prove that I'm a citizen.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that because I've been at the same address since I got my learner's permit in 1976, own said property, am a registered voter and have responded for jury duty that they've figured out that I *am* a citizen, how shocking.

Now I just have to get cash deposited to cover it. J, who uses the same bank I do, swears that weekend transactions don't post til midnite Monday, so as long as I get it in before two PM, I'm golden. (Still working on tag renewal, but that's marginally less urgent.

Yesterday was quiet, and that's okay. Mb will be here shortly to take me to lunch, Kay's Place barbecue, where I'm happily anticipating their Monday special of beef tips and gravy over noodles. Kat and I used to meet there for lunch four Mondays out of five, and I always had that and I miss it. Not as much as I miss Kat, but still....

I don't know how much longer before cable/internet provider will pull the plug, so if you don't hear back from me in a timely fashion,, you'll know why.

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Yesterday was a blast. The weather looked threatening, so I boogied over to the Island early, despite J's injunctions not to show up before 7PM.

Publix has wifi. I sat in the foyer and fiddle-futzed around on my phone for a while. Went in and snagged a few things while phone was loading My Horse updates. Have been craving Lebanon Bologna for weeks, and was finally able to indulge in that and a loaf on onion rye. (Which was what I had for breakfast, yum!)

Back out in the lobby, because it was still only 6:30, when I checked out, and who should stroll in but Mb. I told her I didn't recognize her without the Akita! And as she was going in, who should come through the out door but J! I was highly amused by the convergence.

Mb made her all-day spaghetti sauce, and J procured cake and ice cream. It was nommy.

Although it's early (cos technically, my b-day is tomorrow), I got pressies! Mb got me some lime-scented soap that smells good enough to eat, on a great little soapdish. J granted me a free month of phone service. And GK's box, which I'd had her send to J's for security reasons, had arrived and brought much squee.

Best ensemble: A black pencil skirt, size 26, that fits divinely, paired with a fantastic print jacket. Mb and J both gasped and said how professional the combo looked. Myself, I think the jacket is a trifle boxy, but I have scads of things I can wear under it; it has colors that my wardrobe already features. The skirt is a smidge long, but I'm still staggered that I can fit into ANY pencil skirt, much less one that's a size 26. It's not THAT long. I'd shorten it a couple inches, but *I* think it comes off as conservative rather than frumpy.

Likewike the black skirt with a splashy dot print in red-pink-orange is versatile and fun---I have all of the above in tops. There's a pair of microfiber black pants of a style I've had before and worn to death. Can't go wrong with that. A cute little necklace made from buttons is a fun accessory that I'll probably layer with a similar necklace I have in black.

The less than amazing items are a sundress with an elasticized bodice---it's totally a mailbox dress, as in, good to schlep around the house in, but I wouldn't wear it past the mailbox. There's an awesome NWT croc belt, too tight, but in 15-20 pounds, it won't be. And finally, a khaki skirt, which I DO like, but Mb and J both gave it thumbs-down. It's pleated, you see, which might not be so bad, but it's slightly loose at the waist so it rides low, which does my hips no favors. (Still, it's khaki, which I've wanted for ages. I wound up wearing it for the rest of the evening with the top I started the evening in, and it's quite comfortable.)

Got skunked by J both games. Just wasn't quite getting the cards I needed, and she went out both times. *sigh* Still, it was fun. Those two always are.

Happy shout-out to pwcorgigirl and thru_the_blinds for their sweet birthday greetings, also kukkurkurat---great to hear from you, hon. Hope your job interview goes great! Early birthday kudos to birthday twin ruric---have a wonderful b-day and a terrific year. Best wishes on the new job, and let's hope it's contagious!

Have a lovely weekend, y'all!




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Excellent news, my food stamp benefits were approved. Not only that, they loaded the benefits onto my old card, so that I could access them immediately---"immediately" being "I just got back from Aldis, and it sure felt good not to agonize about what else I should be spending it on". My biggest splurge was a box of PopTarts. (I talked myself out of baklava and chocolate eclairs and chocolate-dipped wafer cookies.) Got rice cakes as munchies. Bliss! I have missed snacky things.

A timely birthday gift is going to assuage my concerns about renewing my driver's license. I feel like I'm channeling Nic Cage in National Treasure: "I'd really love not to go to prison."... I still have to renew my tag, but that's marginally less urgent. Driving with an expired tag isn't nearly as serious as getting caught driving with an expired license.

An email this morning from Big Red informs me that she has to be out of town this weekend, but where would I like her to lunch me next weekend? Oooh, the possibilities! I've told her I'll get back to her with an answer next week, so I can see what all transpires this weekend---I know Mb has promised me lunch at a place I used to go to with Kat, but on the off-chance that J hauls me kicking and screaming to Olive Garden*, I want to keep my options open.

A box from GK is enroute via Priority mail...it might even make it by the weekend, which would be lovely.

Had an odd dream last night. I was going to marry I guy I didn't care about in the least, but I was incredably excited about the wedding and the ring, which had three emerald-cut diamonds on the band. Part of the time, my maid-of-honor was some girl I don't know IRL, in other scenes it was Mb, which is who I would choose IRL. And there was something about putting ice cubes in a big plastic bag so they wouldn't dilute the punch. Wtf? IDEK.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

* That was me being facetious, because I can happily eat myself stupid at OG. If I haven't had breakfast especially, I can slurp down three bowls of soup, NO problem.

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This has been a weird week, and yeah, I know it's not over yet.

Spent a day at J's dog-sitting---she was over in Orlando and the neighbor who usual acts as doggie-butler has her own drama going on and was unavailable. I got to sleep in a/c, which was sweet. Came out to a dead battery and had to wait for J's return and a jump-start---my own fault: The door didn't latch properly, the light stayed on, which wasn't noticable when I got there in broad daylight.

My lights got turned off for non-payment. I have the money, but because I've been nervous about how fast it's shrinking, I delayed paying, which led to me sitting in the heat for several hours after I made the payment, which cost me an additional service charge. *facepalm* Yes, I know it was stupid of me, please let's not rub my nose in it.

I heard about Ray Bradbury's death and was startled, as I *thought* he'd already passed. I may have confused him with Kurt Vonnegut, both of whom I considered somewhat subversive in high school. IDK. Anyway, good-bye, Mr. Bradbury. You were a great American writer.

Speaking of writing, I'm really pissed with ff.net, which is on my last frackin nerve. It doesn't want to load---it takes multiple attempts every time. I hate their new log-in. I hate that they no longer give you the option to block ads. And I'm livid about their "reiteration" of their ratings policy. I'm about ready to jump ship for AO3, which annoys me mightily; I've been over their for about eight years now. I have a shitload of stuff posted there, including some major multi-chapter works, which it'll be a four-star pain-in-the-ass to crosspost, because AO3 does NOT make it easy. Grrrr.

My sleep schedule is back to being buggered up; I'm never quite sure of what day it is unless I check my phone. I hate it, but sleeping during the day is more bearable than being awake for it. Lots of cold showers either way.

Watched Rosalind Russell in "Sister Kenny" the other day. I figured Roz as a nun dealing with an epidemic would be a triple-play as far as my kinks go...alas, no nuns, but it was still okay. Saw "Walking Tall" (the Rock remake), which I'd seen when it was in the theater...prime case of "I didn't know he/she was in that!"...in this case, the love interest was Aisha in Dark Angel and Emily in Jericho. One of the minor villains was also in Dark Angel (Joshua), and the factor that sucked me in as I was flipping channels, Neal McDonough as the uber-villain. Justified just won't be the same without him next season!

Apologies to jdsgirlbev and gwyilliondream, both of whom had birthdays earlier this week. Hope they were awesome like you!

Hope it gets better from here on out. I cracked my neck a little while ago...sounded like my head was about to fall off, which wouldn't surprise me.

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Have a fabulous birthday!



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Friday was My Day Out With the Girls, namely Mb and 'Bunny. Started with breakfast at Denny's. I had the Grand Slam of double bacon, an English muffin and hash browns. They didn't even ask for my ID, which was great, but they were the exception: Ruby Tuesday, Tropical Smoothie nad Steak 'n' Shake ALL demanded some mythical coupon that I'd've had to sign up for online---which the birthday site I'd toured didn't mention THAT.

We toured a pawnshop, where Ifound season 2 of Jericho, Barnes and Noble (good for a blank sketchbook marked way, way down), Bath and Body Works---which is NOT the same as Bed, Bath and Beyond, and does not honor their coupons. Tried some lotion but didn't buy anything.

Checked my mailbox at home, nothing interesting. From there, we went to Viera, where 'Bunny picked up the tab for lunch at S'n'S...their Cherry Limeade is quite tasty, and I've never gone wrong with a butter pecan shake. Mb had the caramel-apple shake and raved about it. I tried a spoonful and yeah, it's good. So was the portobello-swiss burger I had with cheese fries.

World Market was next on the trek; I snagged the last roll of violet mints, a dark chocolate bar with crystalized ginger (not enough ginger, IMO) and some iced tea-flavored hard candies.

While all this was going on, my car was in the shop. It was 4pm when we left World Market---I called the garage and found that my car was ready and the shop wasn't open on Saturday. We back-tracked to "Bunny's and dropped off Mb while 'Bunny took me to the garage so I could get my car and take it back to the C's and park it. It workedd out, because Mb knew where J lives but 'Bunny didn't.

One thing I noticed after driving AI's car for a couple of days: I could really use a brake job!

We played the first hand of canasta as a throw-away, "doesn't really count" hand, because Bunny and J's BFF don't know how to play our version of canasta. My team won handily, and I got surprised by a lovely little pink and white cake. The good kind, from Publix---WalMart tends to have a heavy hand with the nasty, vividly colored dyes.

Mb and Bunny bth bailed after the first hand; J promised to take me home, and we had a three-way game of cut-throat (No partners, every player for herself.). Woohoo, I won.

Saturday, I was slothful. Went over to J's in the evening for one-on-one cut-throat, wherein I got skunked, 2 hands to one.

Sunday, church. We had a moving service wherein we lit candles in memory of 9/11. (I will always wonder what happened to the people my brother worked with before his retirement.) I haven't watched any of the TV coverage, just quietly said prayers for all the victims, dead and alive.

I went to the library on the way back to the C's...paid my fines---*did* find the two missing books in my car, under some mail on my front seat. (I've been tearing the house apart for a week, looking for them!)

Mb has signed me up for a 30-day weight-loss challenge---when I agreed to it, I was NOT expecting anything so formal!---which starts tomorrow. Since I was planning to start making changes tomorrow anyway, I'm trying to convince myself that it's all good.

Food bank in the morning, early....

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Happy Birthday, ruric!
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Here's what's going on: My car has been sitting where I wrestled it to since Friday evening. I don't have AAA or roadside coverage through my insurance. None of my peeps with AAA has been available for one reason or another. And while there was a time when I would have just changed the frackin' thing myself, that was before my knees, back and shoulders began giving me grief. Kneeling is out; these days, if I end up on the floor/ground/short furniture, I have a hell of a time getting back up, and I feel it for days.

Anyway, this morning, I was contemplating whether if I got a particular person's number from certain other person, whether particular person might help me out. The phone rang. It was PJ, asking if I'd gotten the car sorted out. When I replied that I hadn't, he said he'd make a call, and rang off. Okay, since I *know* he has AAA, I thought it might be that, though I had my doubts---AAA has gotten very snarky about seeing ID to prove that you're the person who officially has the membership.

PJ called back and gave me the number of his mechanic, who I am to drive over to my car so he can take a look at it. That'll be this afternoon after the shop gets back from lunch. PJ said they---the shop---would attend to it. (Not sure if that means putting the donut on, or if PJ's going to pick up the tab for a new tire, I hope! I hope! which would be a fab birthday present. Haven't I gotten pragmatic in my old age?)

Now "all" I have to do is get my tag renewed, and the status will be quo.

Tomorrow calls for a food crawl to take advantage of the restaurants that offer free goodies for birthday celebrants. I'd really rather do that in my familiar vehicle, POS though it may be. I'm going to be joined by Mb sometime after breakfast, and in the evening, we're headed over to J's for canasta.

Saturday, I need to get my tail in gear early enough to take my cans in for recycling for a bit of extra cash so I can see Contagion, which I'm *really* looking forward to.

The Sons of Anarchy season premiere was excellent; it's set up all kinds of things to come. Thankfully, Mb has agreed to record things for me so I won't miss out after I go back home to my cable-deprived premises.

I dreamed I was exploring the French house. I couldn't find any of the rooms that were posted, and there was a man outside watching me and making a call---I knew it was to les gendarmes!---and I was trying to get out of sight, but there wasn't anywhere that wasn't visible from the windows.


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July 25th was Kat's birthday; she would have been 68.

July 26th was my dad's birthday; he would have been 111.

I would have commemorated them on the appropriate days, but alas, The Site was FUBAR.

Happy B-day, you guys. Much love from me....


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Here's hoping you have an excellent day and an awesome year!



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(Click to enlarge.)
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I got home yesterday afternoon to an unexpected parcel on my front doorstep. The return address informed me it was from a company called Woot, in Texas, and the contents were an adorable crib quilt, mostly in navy blue, appliqued with sheep. No packing slip to let me know who it was from.

Quite a mystery, as there are only a handful of people who were in on the sheep joke originally. Back when I was working 2nd shift at the answering service---about 20 years ago---I was staying over at SBJB's because my water had been turned off, and at one point, I left a note saying, "Gone to sheep." I meant sleep, but suddenly, sheep jokes abounded.

Discovered the culprit was none other than sbjb, who said she saw it on the Woot site and thought of me. (According to her, it was $8 and shipping was free---quite a deal, IMO, since it's the best made of any store-bought quilt I've seen.)

Movie night at church was great---I really enjoyed "Taking Woodstock", even though there was minimal Jeff in it. The protagonist was a sweet kid, and his parents were really well played. One scene (the tripping-in the-van scene) threw the pace off a little, but on the whole, it was excellent.

I made it home with time to spare for Supernatural. ( Thoughts and spoilers under the cut. )

Afterward, I made an impulse buy on Amazon. I had credit left over after getting my Trauma DVDs, and went to check Catch and Release, which I'd watched over at Schnauzerland. Cute little movie that reminded me A LOT of PS--I Love You, with Timothy Olyphant in the JDM role as the guy who helps the heroine find love after her fiance dies. Got it for $3 and change including shipping, and I *still* have a few bucks left. *grin*

I feel no desire to write anything for Season 6. None.

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Finally got through to Unemployment, where a nice lady named Melanie got things straightened out so I SHOULD see money next week.

Met up with Big Red, collected chocolate and a WalMart gift card. Yay.

Went by 'Bunny's and collected leftovers and schmoozed. Yay.

Came home and found out my goddamned refrigerator has died. Fuckity-doo-dah. The fact that I have a whole turkey, two packkages of pork ribs, some ground beef, ground turkey and assorted other things in the freezer alone---fucked. Can you say fucked?

Nothing is ever simple, and "It's all good" never seems to last for more than five minutes or so.

I swear, I'd sell a kidney if I could find any takers. A-positive, anyone?

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11:30 PM< ETA:

I flipped the kitchen breakers on and off and, cross your fingers, everything has frozen back up and the temp is down to 20. Maybe a door was ajar...? I didn't think so, but...given the fact that this fridge was at least secondhand when I got it, I suppose I ought to start thinking about a replacement.

If that wasn't stressful enough, I headed over to church for a small soiree, and got pulled over by a sheriff's deputy who claimed that I hadn't completely stopped before a right on red. Oh, and the fact that my tag *technically* expired on my birthday...all he did was give me a warning, but I honestly didn't need that shit.

Made a helluva good deal at church: Someone brought in three rotisserie chickens for the event, and there was a whole one left over, for which I swappeed the remainder of my birthday sheet cake. (9/10ths left, and there was no way *I* could eat it single-handedly.)


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Last night's party was lovely. It was, as I surmised, at 'Bunny's place. She and Mb went all out, decorating and cooking and providing munchies. 'Bunny mixed up mango margaritas, like a slushy with a kick, nom-nom-nom. Mb made spaghetti sauce from scratch, and it was out of this world!

Sadly, some of the folks who'd RSVP'ed 'yes' didn't show; it was me, Mb, her mother-in-law, 'Bunny, and SA and CapeAngel. SA and Cape Angel chipped in and got me a new mailbox, so now I won't have to worry about the old one, which keeps falling off the post. MIL, on Mb's advice, got me a new crockpot. CF, who didn't show, *did* drop off a gift bag consisting to two Ghiradelli Dark chocolate and Raspberry bars and a gift card for Barnes and Noble. Got some Body Shop products and craft goodies from 'Bunny, and Mb gave me a bag of assorted munchies she knows I like.

After some of the experiences I've had, I'm always pleasantly surprised when I get a bunch of my friends in the same room and they all get along. I was astonished and delighted when SA and Mb's MIL hit it off---they're both from Vermont and chattered happily about who grew up where, and where they worked, and mutual acquaintances---talk about serendipity!

It ended up going on til about 10:30, when SA and CapeGypsy departed, and I was fairly tuckered out by the time I got home...I was in bed before 2, which is early for me, slept til 10 and have been yawning all day.

This morning, I wasn't up long before my day's plans crumbled. BC had a scheduling conflict and is rescheduling the movie for next week, day TBD, as he may be going out of town for a cousin's funeral.

This gives me time to keep calling Unemployment, who haven't mailed out a check this week, although I *have* claimed my benefits. AND they seem to have reduced the amount---I don't know WTF is going on, and their #$%&ing phone system is no help---when you get through, it *always* says there's a high call volume and hangs up on you. Arrrgh!

However, all is not gloom: I have a meetup scheduled with Big Red for tomorrow afternoon, and sbjb sent me an Amazon gift card. (I combined that with the card I already had from foreverhermit and have snagged the DVDs for Trauma, which I've been lusting after. It's cheaper than WalMart---marginally---and new, not used. And I have a modest balance left over, which will come in handy sooner or later.)

Thanks again to everyone who posted and commented their well wishes---I really appreciate it!


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There must be something triggering it, because it happens about 7:45 every time it happens: I wake up hallucinating that I just heard my doorbell. But at least today, I managed to get back to sleep and got another couple hours of rest.

Opened packages: A book about pirates from kukkurkurat (along with two cards, one sentimental, one humorous). From pwcorgigirl, a fun card with dogs and cats, a CD of Dio's "Sacred Heart", and a pound of Australian licorice...I sampled it as an appetizer to breakkfast.

Inbox has been well-populated with good wishes, and my f'list has blossomed with shout-outs. I know daily_goggins doesn't know it's my b-day, but they posted a lovely pic of Walt in western regalia. Yay! I feel all warm and fuzzy...if well wishes have any influence at all, my fifties are going to rock.

I stepped out to check the mail and found GK's box on my doorstep. Another card, got me all misty-eyed, it did. The box contained multiple things---she's big on finding things while she's running around and doing a grab-bag, or box, in this case. The stars of the show are a little Tiffany-style lamp and a talking photo frame. Acoording to its packaging, it's "The Perfect Guy" --- press the button, and a husky male voice says phrases like, "Don't worry about it, honey---that's why we have credit cards." and "You shouldn't be cleaning that---let's hire a maid." or "That diamond is just not big enough for you." (But darling, if we get something scaled to ME, I'll be weating the Koh-i-Noor for a cocktail ring.) This would be amusing enough, but she installed a picture of Adam Baldwin in it, which is too funny. She knows me SO well.

I'm dressed, except for my shirt and shoes, because it's too hot. Ready to throw those on and bolt out the door for whatever Mb hsa planned. Which I devoutly hope involves air-conditioning.

So far, fifty is fun.

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