Almost Done

I am NOT a well person. It's so bad I took the advice of a friend and bought some Theraflu. For those of you that have a choice between drinking battery acid or Theraflu, go with the acid.

I can't do a testimony on the effectiveness of it. I did my first swallow this morning and again at noon and actually felt almost well most of the day. Maybe it was just time for this cold to get better and maybe I would have improved whether I took the Theraflu or not. I just took my last dose for this day a few minutes ago and still haven't quit shivering from the taste.

Today a lot was accomplished. Ted and Lesie managed to get to my house at about the same time and the work began. Ted and I finished up on his mirror installation on his truck and then he and Lesie jacked the truck up and Lesie gave Ted a lesson in doing an oil change. I quietly stood by listening to make sure she didn't forget anything. We went through the safety precautions of lifting a vehicle in the air and putting it on jack stands. Nothing worse then have 3500 lbs drop on you while beneath a vehicle.

When they finished with the truck, we checked it for leaks and then they moved on to do the Toyota. Ted busied himself with putting on a new door handle on the Toyota while I started the bacon and eggs.

Ted and Elise had breakfast while I washed the Toyota.

All in all, it was a good day with a lot accomplished. While the tools were being stored in the shed by the grandchildren, I borrowed Ted's truck and took the oil cannister containing the used oil down to the auto parts store to be disposed of.

Tomorrow the truck goes to the shop to have a little more front end work done on it and then to Midas to have a muffler and tail pipe. I have to order another mirror for the passenger side and that will complete the work on the truck for a while.

The Toyota needs a new belt for the a/c unit. One more visit to the parts store and I should be caught up for a while. When I walked out of it today, the fellow behind the counter smiled, waved and said "See ya in a little while."  I laughed and waved and headed back to the house.

I'm ready to shut down for the day. At least I'm done with the Theraflu until tomorrow morning.

Hand me that Wrench Will Ya?

"You're sick again?" she asked. I had to stop and think about that question and the pause stretched out as I realized that I have been "sick" most of this month. More thinking lead to me to the  answer. It's that germ carrier named Carrie that is the culprit.

I had forgotten how having a little one in school exchanging cold germs with each other keeps everyone on that merry go round of passing germs around and around. Carrie came home with a runny nose and coughing again and two days later I'm doing the same.

Today was a day of nursing my cold. I took care of a few things by telephone and made a trip to the parts house to pick up a door mirror for Ted's truck and then back home. Not a very productive day and I wanted to pick up some oil filters and some oil for this weekend. It's now on my list for the first thing to do tomorrow morning. Ted doesn't have to go to work until 1700 hrs so we will change his oil on Saturday and do Lesie's on Sunday.

The owner of the parts store started questioning me while I was there about what I was doing. He wanted to know how long I had been doing my own maintenance. After telling him it was since I started driving, he offered me a job.

He is going to start a class for females on maintaining their automobiles and asked if I would be interested in teaching it. He will contact me. I wanted to ask if this will be a "hands on" type of class and will I be required to get dirty. I smiled and nodded at him and slipped out of the door and to my car. I recalled telling the daughter just two days ago that I was done handling a wrench. He neglected to get my phone number and I might have to start using the parts house across the road. Avoidance is my tactic.

Excuse me while I go blow my nose and crawl into bed to sleep this off. I don't feel well..not at all.

..s at ou?

"..ello..an ou ear me?"

I jam the phone into my ear as if that will help. The static and erratic sound is the husband calling or trying to call from the rig location. He is in the  wilds of the Texas desert somewhere and phone reception is more then sketchy.  Screaming into the phone doesn't help. I tell him that when he questions why I am not responding to his voice. I had to explain that I do not hear his voice and his loud tone isn't going to make it possible to hear him.

Today his call was a bit better. He had hooked his antenna up to his cell phone and had 3 bars on it. This is much better then having to walk to the company man's trailor and stand outside by the rear door to use his reception.

Email and internet he has so tonight we will try to use Face Time on our Mac's to communicate. I have to go now. I'm due in "hair and makeup" for my "on camera" appearance....

Ciao... 

Is There a Place that Doesn't Hurt

The first thing I want to address is yesterday's post. I reread it tonight and was mortified at all the typos. I really can spell and if mystified on a word, I know how to look up the spelling. Before opening this post I went back to yesterday's and cleaned it up a bit. I'm embarrassed about all the errors. Now onward...

Yesterday after driving the GMC belonging to my grandson (see yesterday's post) I had tentative arrangements with the daughter to bring the truck over this morning so we could change the brakes and then take it to have the front end aligned. The daughter is not a morning person and though we had discussed her coming over I wasn't sure she would show up and if she did it wouldn't be early. I'm an early morning person. Usually by the time she gets here I have been up and about and  busy and getting tired. Too tired to start working on the truck. I was pleasantly surprised when at 1000 hrs the phone rang and she announced she was on her way.

She wasn't in a big hurry to get started. "What's for breakfast?" was her inquiry. I showed her the bacon/eggs/and hash browns and left her to cook her own breakfast.

Dragging the floor jack and the stationary one along with anything else I might need, I dumped everything on the carport beside the truck and started breaking loose the lug nuts. Eventually the daughter showed up.

And wouldn't you know it. The bolts used to hold the calipers in place took a special tool to remove them. Off to the auto parts store we went. I had to pick up the brakes anyway and I usually like to pull a pad to match it when I buy the new ones. 

We purchased the new pads and the tool/socket needed and headed back to the house. 

Never take for granted a simple job like replacing brake pads will be easy and problem free. Breaking loose the bolts holding the caliper became a major issue. WD40 and a lot of strain, the daughter got the upper bolt loose and the job continued. She had already put in a phone call to Shane to stop by on his lunch break to borrow his muscle but before he arrived the bolt was conquered. Using a "C" clamp, I forced the piston back into the chamber and placed the new pads. Unable to get the bolts back lined up into the calipers, I removed the pads and used the clamp to force the piston back further. Success. The bolt holes lined up and we finished that side of the truck. The reason for our hurry was keeping Shane a little longer to break the bolts for us on the other side. Sometimes ya just gotta have a man and this was one of those times.

He jacked the other side of the truck up, secure it on a jack stand, while we removed the tire. He loosened the bolts and then he was on his way. This side went much easier and took less time except I had to make another trip to the auto parts store to get a new "C" clamp. The one I had been using was a cheap flimsy one and it finally gave up the ghost and died. 

 I was grateful we had got an early start. You never know what problems you will encounter and I like to get started early in anticipation of problems.

As I ran in and out of the parts store, I ignored the black brake dust that ingrained beneath my fingernails, obliterated the fingerprints on my hands and after swiping my face a few times left trails of black over my cheeks and forehead.

The men at the parts store were most pleasaant to deal with and didn't pull the "chick talk" on us.

I dread waking up tomorrow to all the aches and pains that are surely going to covet this body. I informed the daughter today that this was my last meet up  with sockets, ratchets and anything to do mechanically with a vehicle.

Stumbling into a hot shower with a nail brush in hand, I scrubbed. Soaping up the nail brush I scrubbed from elbow to finger tips and the exposed parts of my legs until all signs of brake dust washed down the drain. A soapy face cloth cleared up the cheeks and forehead. I finished dressing as the daughter showed up with Carrie and Lesie and we were off to have dinner. I wasn't hungry until we walked into the restaurant and the food aromas quickened my taste buds.

Eventually everyone left and I was alone less then five minutes when the storm that had been approaching arrived. I've listened to thunder and lightning and watched the rain pour down for the past 3 hours. The tornado warnings have been cancelled. That early date I planned on having with the bed is now but a old goal. It's almost midnight. The skies have quieted down and I'm ready to do the same. Maybe I should eat a handful of ibuprofen before I go to bed. Maybe I'll just put the bottle on the new night stand beside the bottle of water and if I can't move without yelping in pain tomorrow morning, I'll be ready to swallow some pain relief.

I'm really too old to be behaving this way. My earlier announcement of my retirement apparently wasn't heard. The phone rang about an hour ago and the daughter mentioned her brakes making a little noise and maybe we could check them tomorrow?

I'm going to bed. I might need to get rested up quickly. (I did spell check. I hope it worked.)

Someone to Watch Over Me

It was supposed to be easy. Grab the set of extra keys to Ted's truck, drive to the high school, leave my car and take his truck to pick up the night stand I bought yesterday.

The truck started up quickly as usual. The problem came when I pulled out on the highway and the steering wheel swung sharply to the right. It was an effort to keep the wheels headed in a straight line forward. The brake light was on but then I knew it needed the front brake pads replaced so this didn't surprise me.

Making my way across town and finally to my destination, with the help of the store clerk, we loaded the night stand onto the blanket in the bed of the truck and  I headed home.

I've suddenly lost all interest in the night stand. I want to know what is wrong with this truck. Quickly the neighbor and I unloaded the furniture. Making my way back to the carport and the truck, I grabbed a tire gauge and started checking the tire pressure. 20 psi low on each tire!

My handy little compressor was in the back of the roadster. I hooked it up and counted to 500 while the tire aired up and moved it around to all the tires to plump them up a bit.

While the air was being refreshed, I checked the fluids. Oil was low, no fluid in the windshield wiper container and as expected, the brake fluid was low.

Tomorrow my day is planned. I'll change the brakes on the truck, add some oil and have the front end aligned. I ordered a mirror for the driver's door. Don't ask. Suffice it to say, the mirror was a casualty of a close encounter with another moving object.  The left door mirror connected with a mail box. The truck needs a little TLC and the grandson needs a lesson in car care.

Initially I was aghast at the condition of this lovely truck I had purchased for him a year ago. I had to scroll back through the years to when I was a new young driver.

Did I really care if there was tread on my tires, water in the radiator or fluid in the reservoirs? Not on your life. If it started up and rolled forward I was happy. Safety issues never crossed my mind and it would have been a useless issue. I didn't have money to make sure that car had adequate tread on the tires. Tread? P..shaw! I was only interested in what the read out was on the gas gauge and that is much like the grandson.

One day and hopefully he lives that long, he will check the tires and demand that the windshield wipers function. Safety will become an issue to attend to but until he gets to that age, I'll watch over the truck a little longer and keep his guardian angel company.

About the time you thought you could relax because your child was grown, along come the grandchildren and the worrying starts all over again.

Is there no rest? Parenthood might be way overrated!

I'm off to bed. Carrie is spending the night and  will need to be  shepherded to school tomorrow.

Sunny Monday

I've been on a spree lately. With dust cloth and Old English furniture polish in hand, I've been tearing around this house putting a glow on everything. The scratches and dents on the wood have disappeared as though magically scooped up by the dust cloth.

Closets haven't been exempt. The shelves that flow from floor to ceiling behind the small door in the guest bathroom were emptied and after regrouping and organizing, and tossing some of the things in the garbage, the  things kept  were neatly arranged.

I've been shopping around for the past week for a night stand to put beside the king size bed that replaced the queen sized one in the master bedroom. That bed has now been in this house for over a year and the plan was to add pieces to it to eventually arrive at a suite of furniture. I've been lax, lazy and based upon the hard times endured by 14 million citizens, spending money hasn't been high on my list of things to do.

Growing up in a house with meager surroundings and barely enough money from one paycheck to another, I've been conditioned to be cautious with spending. We are fortunate in these times to have a job. The husband stays busy with his job and we try to live well "below" our means in these scary times.

A decorator table draped with two different table cloths and a decorative runner has served well as a night stand. A lamp and a few books and a bottle of Antacid meds group together on the surface. I have no ideas why suddenly I'm in the mood to upgrade to a real night stand.

After shopping around and seeing the price of solid wood furniture, I spread a few new table cloths on that decorator table and decided I could live with it as is. Today I visited an unfinished furniture store and found a night stand that was half the price of the ones that had induced sticker shock on me in the past week.

I paid for it on the spot and tomorrow the daughter and I will drop the back seat on her Cherokee and load it up to be delivered to this house. Hopefully I can get the grandson to help me move the chest of drawers out of that room and move an armoir from one of the other bedrooms into this bedroom. Think of the money I'll save by not having to buy a chest of drawers to go into this bedroom.

The husband just got home three days ago and is again on the road to another job. He is headed to Texas and if that isn't bad enough, he's headed to WEST Texas. Sagebrush and sand and mesquite. He will be staying on the rig so I was not  invited along. I didn't say anything to him but I am happily staying home on this one.  I've seen plenty of sagebrush and sand.

It's time for me to head for the bed and the remote control. I'll swallow an Ambien and snuggle down with the television. I'll be busy tomorrow and I'm tired tonight.

Puuurfect Weather!

I'm off to a very slow start this morning. 0400 hrs found me awake so I slipped from my bed quietly to avoid waking the husband and found my comfortable part of the sofa. I dragged a light blanket over me, flipped on the TV and settled down to hope for  a few more hours of sleep.

I woke to the sounds of the husband making a pot of coffee. A couple of cups of brew later, and some internet time, I'm ready to shower and dress and get outside for a while. It's going to be 76 degrees here today. Before the blistering heat of summer sneaks in, and I know it's only January but it happens fast around here, I'm  going to get outside while I can.

It's going to be a good bike day. Did you think I was talking about working outside?

I'm going to take the Trek for a spin. Have a good Saturday!

Chilled and Posting

Just a slight chill this morning in the house and not enough to turn on the heat. I could get my thick warm robe but then in a few minutes, it would be much too warm. I'll wait it out with my lap blanket while I finish this post.

Friend Pat and I hit the road yesterday afternoon and exposed ourselves to more sticker shock while shopping for furniture. Finding an appropriate nightstand hasn't been the problem. It's the quality that one has to make a decision on or maybe it's the lack of such.

This started when I decided to buy a king size bed. Once you change one thing in a room by style and color, your room instantly looks like a garage sale collection.

I had some friends stop by last night and when they saw the picture projected from the 13 yr. old big box projection TV in the living room, comments swirled on the lack of quality of the picture. Another stopped project. I wanted to get a huge flat screen and mount it above the fireplace mantel which would allow furniture to be rearranged around this room that has 4 doors opening into it. Try arranging furniture with all the door obstacles I have going on here. The first flat screen we purchased was a Samsung that cost 1500.00 and lasted 4 years. As soon as it crashed, I started searching the web for problems associated with this flat screens and discovered that no matter what brand you typed into the Google Search Engine, my screen was filled with horror stories on the problems with them. It didn't seem to matter the brand, they all had problems and they usually occurred just as the warranty was expiring.  I've searched lately for the life expectancy of a flat screen and came up with "approx. 2 yrs.". I'm waiting for this to improve before I plunk down another huge sum of money for overpriced, underdeveloped junk.

Today will be a day where I go back to a few more stores with a measuring tape and do more searching. Carrie will be out of bed in  a few more hours and escorted to her bus stop.

From the time she hops on that bus, I'll shower and dress and the shops should be open so I can get an early start.

The husband should be headed home today. The temperatures most of this week are to be in the mid 70's. Our summer is inching closer and I'm not ready for the heat. I might have to start whining about buying a fifth wheel trailer and taking it to Cortez, Colorado for the summer. It didn't work last year. Maybe I can wear him down gently persuade him to see the wisdom in getting out of Louisiana for the summer.

I need to refill my coffee cup and pack Carrie's lunch. It may be a few days until I get back to do another senseless post.  Wait on it...lol..

I Missed Getting That Shopping Gene..

A Facebook friend posted a picture today. He was standing in front of a huge pile of snow that had been moved from the driveway to beside that same driveway. While he was shoveling all that snow, I was lowering the rag top on my little roadster, hair wet from my recent shower and getting ready to go shopping. The wind blows through my wet hair and causes a cascade of curls saving me from time spent with a blow dryer, hot rollers or curling iron. The only way to get this hair style is cruising around in the convertible. Not a bad way to get it done unless it's less then 65 degrees.

The skies roiled with dark clouds during my drive and I anxiously peered at the windshield for the first sign of raindrops. The whole time I was driving, I was scouting out where I would be able to pull over quickly to raise the top on the car.

I shopped for end tables for the bedroom and ended up with nothing. Tomorrow I will visit a few more stores. I want solid wood and good craftsmanship. Those two requirements cause me to shiver at the price of a small nightstand. One of the downsides to being this old is remembering what prices were in the past for quality furniture. Plenty of furniture fill the stores, wall to wall and pretty to look at. Disposable pieces. Nothing built to last from one generation to another. Heirlooms pieces are astronomically priced and who buys furniture with the intentions of passing it on to their children? Another practice that has went the ways of the furniture that was the main income of the Carolinas.

To buy a piece of furniture manufactured in the USA,  will put a dent in the purse. The thought of spending 300.00 for a nightstand that will have drawers that don't align and that will sag as the finish that is sprayed on chips away causes me to escape back to my car and head home. Maybe tomorrow I will try it again. I've had enough for today.

Beauty and The Beast, One Time Too Many

Carrie and I went to the theatre today and when you go with Carrie you will usually be seeing an animated feature and such was the case today.

Carrie wanted to go in the roadster and since it needed to be started up that's exactly what we did. We parked at the end of the lot and hiked our way to the entrance. Carrie swayed along with her jacket draped over her arm. It was much too chilly to be carrying that jacket instead of wearing it but  Carrie is a hot natured little person and she insisted she wasn't cold. Quick stepping to the front door, this chilly weather makes me move on, we purchased tickets to see Beauty and The Beast.

After about 5 minutes of this movie, I began to question the reason for going. I have no complaints about the rating for this movie but this has to be the 100th time we've seen it. We own the DVD. We've been to see a live performance of it and yet here we sat in the theatre watching yet again. Carrie knew the movie so well she was reciting the character's lines as they spoke them. We could have stayed home and watched the DVD and had popcorn that didn't cost 5.50 for a small bag. I know I was relieved when it was time to leave. I had stepped outside the theatre to answer a phone call. Carrie watched the last few minutes alone and came out of the theatre carrying my purse, our drinks, her jacket and the bag of outrageously priced popcorn. I was impressed that this 6 yr old gathered up all our belongings and walked out to find me on the bench in the lobby.

The remainder of this weekend, she is spending with her dad; I'll look for a movie that contains anything but animation.

I have become a Skyping fool lately. Almost two years ago I bought a webcam, used it twice and stowed it away. The two times it was used was when I was out of town and called Carrie to talk to her. Lately I have been encouraged by friends to dig it out and hook it up and then I remembered why I had packed it away.

I don't want to brush my hair, slap on some lipstick and eyeliner to connect with friends. Phone conversation is a wonderful thing. I can  pace around the house, empty the dishwasher and do a load of laundry while chatting on the phone and all while having frizzed out hair, pale lips and eyes that are beady looking without eyeliner.

I'm going to have to  get coiffed, teeth bleached and a root touch up for my next big video appearance unless that web cam mysteriously gets misplaced or damaged which would then require me to be a "phone" only communicator.

It's time for my Ambien and my six hours of sleep. The temperatures are dipping to 27 degrees tonight. We are but a few degrees above what the temperatures in Wyoming are tonight. See something wrong with this?  Amazing..simply amazing, especially for us here on the Gulf Coast. 

BCS Weekend in New Orleans/LSU/Bama

Here we are, back in New Orleans. The first thing and the best thing about this trip is the temperatures and the lack of humidity. Perfect weather for a trip to the usually steamy port city of New Orleans. 

We got off I-10 at the newly renamed Mercedes Benz Super Dome and though some of the roads around it were cordoned off, we were able to circle around and get back to the French Quarters. Police officers are every where and judging by the age of some of them, this is a temporary gig.

This is a billion dollar revenue weekend for this city. The Saints are playing a home game today (Saturday) and the Superbowl of college games is on Monday. The city's big event is that college game on Monday. Hotels are booked, the crowds immense and hopefully it will be a peaceful event.

We are staying on the Causeway in Metairie but only about 6 miles from the heart of the French Quarter. Parking is free at the hotel which is a plus as we usually have to pay parking even at a hotel had we stayed right in the Quarters. From our tenth floor room, we have an unobstructed view of the city. To the right is the skyline of New Orleans with the Super Dome looking superimposed over the tall buildings that surround it. The huge bright blue blimp floats, it appears, within a few feet of those buildings. The side of the Direct TV blimp broadcast sports games as it quietly moves about.

Our usual place to park on Decatur is now converted to a stage for the All State Fan thing that will be going on this afternoon. Aaron Neville will be providing free music this afternoon and tomorrow another music event.

We had dinner at Crazy Johnnie's last night. One of the finest steakhouses in this town and the prices are modest, we always try to have a meal there when we are in town.

Towards the later part of our evening we walked down Decatur to Cafe Du Monde and had beignets and coffee and watched the tourists brush that powdered sugar that is liberally dusted on them, off their clothing. Hint: never wear a dark colored shirt if you plan on going for beignets.

A Renassiance fair was in full swing, men playing guitars, Joan of Arch wandering around with a fire engulfing her, men wearing long rough brown cloth priest's garb and Maid Marion's ever where. They had their horses tethered in on the walkway that separates the flood wall from the Mississippi and the backs of the buildings that front Decatur. A crowd was gathered to listen to the musicians and soon they mounted their steeds and rode down Decatur to the first street leading them deeper into the Quarters.

A street car passed filled with people dressed in full Mardi Gra costumes, huge headpieces, face masks and beads around their necks. Reveling and laughter swept by us as they passed on into the night.

We quietly walked by the man passed out on the park bench but I stood to the side for a bit to make sure he was breathing. As he flailed his arms in his sleep to ward off some unseen attacker, we moved on assured that he hadn't expired.

Mimes and panhandlers were sidestepped as we made our way back to the parking lot and found our ride back to the hotel. In a city with the highest murder rate in the nation, we count ourselves as having a good evening if we arrive safely back to where we started. We know to use care in this city. We've been here before and left intact.

I'm ready for some breakfast and more coffee. I should receive a phone call from the husband who was still asleep when I sneaked out of the room to avoid waking him with my noisy self moving about the room.

Have a great weekend everybody..and a safe one!

On The Mend If I Don't Die First

I'm feeling much better. It didn't inspire me to do much today but tomorrow? I'm  going to dress warmly as I've heard we are getting some cold weather, and I plan on cleaning my car.

A positive about bringing in the new year feeling crappy is that things can only improve as time moves along. I did get out of the house for a while. We strolled through Sam's Club and the whole time I was wishing I were back on my sofa. I spent a whopping 11 dollars on things I could have easily done without. I wasn't in the "want for anything" and I still tire easily and my head has it's own percussion instrument thumping softly in the background in time with my heart beat.

I have good company. Everyone I am around feels the same way. Should we decide to record our moans and groans, quite the orchestra we would make.

I'm going to drag myself through a hot shower. I'm told it will make me feel just "super"...I'm gonna give it a try.

I'm done for a while!

Day one, 2012

To say that I slept away the last days of 2011 would be a perfect description with no exaggeration. I've been up this morning for the past 4 hours and that has been a major improvement in my health status. Whatever is going around, this bug or virus or whatever it's being called has laid people low and it's not just for a day or three. Most of us have the cough left from it for months following. I thought I was doing alright. Struggling through it and coming out a winner until the stomach part of it hit two days ago. We all have something in common. Tired. Sleepy. We want to sleep the days away and that's what I have done for myself. I've watched Nostradamus from my bed. I've watched a lot of TV between the times I drift off and wake.

 Sometimes I go to sleep watching one thing and awake to the sight of a one ton man being lifted from his bed and transported to the hospital for care. I drift off a while and wake again to volcanoes in Italy and wonder what happened to the one ton man. I'm a collection of upended stories. Will I ever discover the endings to these stories or will I even care?

From this bedroom, I can hear the husband puttering around in the kitchen. It's Football Sunday and he is making snacks for the game. Hurry. Come on over. I'm sure there will be enough for everyone. He cooks as though he were cooking for a crowd of thirty. To all my football friends online, I wish you lived closer. The snacks are awesome and  plentiful and I'm looking forward to the buffalo wings, my favorite. I dont' like the original buffalo wings but the ones marinated in Caribbean Jerk sauce. My mouth waters just thinking about them. There will be egg rolls, stuffed celery, cheese slabs, whole sweet gherkins and crackers. You sure you can't make it? I have to go now. I can hear the sizzle and pop of hot grease. It must be getting close to time to enjoy those Caribbean Jerk wings.

2012, Day 1

I'm afraid our New Year's celebration found us both in bed watching TV at midnight. The husband offered to take me out to dinner but even that I wasn't up to.

That cold/flu bug that has been hanging around here has made any activity not worth the effort of crawling out of bed to get dressed. We ordered a pizza and maintained a low profile. This is not uncommon for us. We both shy away from the drunks that will be out on New Years' Eve here. At best on a normal weekend, the accidents here are scary so why test our luck by venturing out on this night?

I have to say, I'm feeling much better today. I'll even get dressed and since the ball game doesn't start till noon, we can go to The Cracker Barrel across town. Last night I would not go to Chili's which is only blocks from my house. I'm improving.

Did you make a New Year's resolution? I've given up finally. It's just an avenue to depression when in that first week following all the celebration, you have violated that resolution.

Since I haven't been out of this house for a week and haven't dressed in regular clothes for the past three days, I'm excited to be doing all these things today. By this time the party goers have surely found their way home. I should be safe. Just in case, we are takin the honkin big Dodge truck.

Happy New Year everybody!