Lavender Etc.

The brown-bag workshop we attended (and I helped organize) yesterday was on Folk Medicine in the Latino and Asian cultures. Ya know... I think they're on to something. I learned about disease diagnosis via tongue appearance. (My tongue is red and slightly swollen, meaning--no shock here--I've got too much heat/anger.) I was reminded that Aromatherapy was pioneered by the Aztecs. I know S and I have just about had our fill of Western Medicine. I was at a community clinic a couple of weeks ago and I made that statement to the white male doctor who was there and he agreed with me. He said he's had more success curing Asthma by surgically releasing the 3rd rib down than any other treatment. He pressed on my 3rd rib and demonstrated how tight it felt. My colleague that was with me watched, amused and grinning--but I saw the doctor's point!

So today, my face still twitching, I took a long lunch and went to the Target to invest in some lavender-scented aromatherapy items. Lavender is supposed to be the very thing for stress! I got incense, room spray, hand lotion, and oils. I've recently developed a new stress-induced symptom, a painful neck, and I intend to make S rub my neck tonight with the oil while we light the incense. I've never had neck pain before so this is particularly making me unhappy.

I also got in some good girlfriend-therapy last night, as R. the angel took me out to eat at one of my favorite places! Before we knew it, we'd spent 2 hours at the joint, commiserating. I even got in some music therapy as there was a Dixieland Jazz Band comprised of geezers playing all night long, too! They played some of my favorites, including "I Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans."

I'm off Roy D. Mercer for my humor therapy and am on a Cheech and Chong CD now. All this aromatherapy investigation I've been doing made me think of J. and me in Australia, at a spa in the sort-of-outback, and we had to order from a menu of strange flavors of oils and herbs. We had a good time in our ignorance laughing at the "Ylang ylang" and pronouncing it in our best hillbilly accents, "Why lang, why lang!"

Eventually I might have to get into this acupuncture stuff. I believe S should try it for his back and stomach pains. What I DON'T want to have to do is go to my American Dr. and have him prescribe me a bunch of mood elevators and shit like that! Nope nope nope. Aromatherapy, humor therapy, music therapy, bibliotherapy, and cinematherapy first!

S did get a good deal on Seinfeld Season 8 last week, and so we have been watching that at night before we go to sleep. He also got me a long-stemmed red rose the other night which helps--I'm such a skirt sometimes!

Adela Throws a Fit

These past few days have not been filled with shining moments for me. Or by me. I pretty much cried for 2 days straight: on Sunday at church when S went down the aisle to the preacher so they could pray together; on Monday morning before I threw an absolute fit at the collision shop; and Monday afternoon after I got home from the collision shop.

I was just so pissed. I was pissed at S for changing the insurance claim so he could get his car involved and therefore, fixed. I was pissed that he was altering the story and therefore, potentially making me change my story, should I ever have to revisit it. Those poor people at the collision shop! They were trying to be so nice b/c they knew I was on the verge of blowing (although they had no idea why b/c S did not tell them what had really happened) and gave me a Dodge Neon to drive, "Blue, just like your car!" Then I went outside and threw my purse down on the ground and keys and everything, slammed car doors, yelling, crying, the whole works. I drove off in a furious puff of smoke, leaving S there to apologize for my behavior and figure out what he was going to do about his car. In the end he drove his car back home b/c I refused to allow him to leave his car at the same collision shop. I just knew we were going to be under suspicion of possible insurance fraud and I would lose my badge over this and so I was not about to have both cars left at the same location!!!

The other glitch of the day is that we had to get S in somewhere to see a doctor and his work was refusing to honor his injury as workman's comp related, even though it is. So since I'd already forced S to call his POS mom so she could pay for his part of the insurance deductible and other related costs, he asked her to also pay the $75 doctor's fee and she agreed. At least I got to call in sick for the day since spouses' illnesses/injuries can come out of your own sick leave at Job #1, which is a nice perk for us married types. I was very mentally disturbed myself as it was, so somehow, some way I needed to take a sick day!

Then, to top off the day, I had to go to my monthly sheriff's meeting. My Sgt. wanted me to go to the Hard Rock with him afterwards, and even offered to spot me since I told him I was broke. But I couldn't. I was too wiped out from the weekend and my eyes were too tired from crying. I know he wanted to talk b/c he's apparently going through some tough times too, but I hugged him (he's a sucker for me) and asked for a rain check. I had to get home and collapse.

At least this weekend the baby was well-behaved, though I really only got to see her on Sunday since she passed out early Saturday evening, not long after I got home from Job #2. We had an unpleasant experience picking her up on Friday though and also dropping her off b/c we had to deal with dickhead both times. Every time I see him I feel truly homicidal, so much so that I shake with hatred and anger. He had the nerve to try to talk to us, but S seems to think that dickhead knows I have a temper, so he talks to us to try to piss me off. So I just need to not show any response at all. The whore also texted us some absolute bullshit, to which we did not respond either.

No word back yet from the other job I applied for, so it's been 2 full business days that they've had to think over my offer. I don't even care anymore. If I have to stay here at Job #2 there are worse things that could happen. I would miss my friends here and the public library setting, although we have been incredibly busy tonight and I have had to speak Spanish at least a dozen times so far!!! But it's been good to be busy and get my mind off things. I am going out of my way above and beyond to help people b/c I figure if I feel so shitty right now, at least maybe I can help someone else and make them feel better. Normally when all these Spanish-speakers come in I internally roll my eyes at them for not having the gumption to learn English. But tonight this man came in with his son and they were making a flyer for their yardwork business. It was a sad little flyer and I insisted on fixing the spelling on their English words, and then I really got into it, doing fonts and spacings and even convinced him to add some little graphics. I spiced that thing up! I admire entrepreneurs, even if they do need to get with the program and learn some freakin' English.

I tried to cheer myself up last night by listening to Roy D. Mercer. It did work for a little while! But I won't be better until this facial twitch and the heavy sighing go away. I'm also tired of getting pulled over, which happened AGAIN tonight! The blue Dodge Neon has an expired sticker on it. I badged out, but I am going to complain to the collision shop anyway. Anyone else probably would've gotten a ticket and that is not cool!!!

Literary note: Am currently reading Lance Armstrong's It's Not About the Bike. This is b/c we watched You, Me and Dupree a couple of weekends ago. (If you don't know what I mean, watch the movie; it's not bad.) Armstrong is also a hothead, like me. It won him bike races galore. But his cancer fight also reminds me that things are truly not that bad, even if it doesn't seem like it.

Crash. SIGH.

So last night I and my formerly beautiful car, Blue Lou, got hit on the freeway. By whom? Oh, by my esteemed S. The guy in front of him was not paying attention to the traffic in front of him that had slowed to a stop. S, behind him and in the lane next to me, in order to avoid rear-ending the guy, swerved into my lane of traffic, crashed into me, and sent me momentarily into the next lane. THANK GOD I did not hit anyone. But I couldn't believe what had just happened, and yes, I was PISSED and yes, poor S felt my wrath and today is still feeling it. He claims it was not his fault but my retort is that S was driving so fast that of course he could not stop in time in order to avoid rear-ending the other guy. Of course I'm glad that no one was hurt, and the baby was also in my car with me at the time (!!!) though she was asleep, and of course it could've been a lot worse, and ultimately I acknowledge that it is very fortunate that we hit only each other and didn't involve any other vehicles. But I told S that I hope he enjoys the way his car looks now b/c he is going to be driving it like that from now on b/c I do NOT have any $ to get it fixed. MY car, however, is definitely getting fixed, oh yessiree, Bob!!! And as it is now I'm going to have to come out of pocket for a nice big deductible with my insurance co. as well as covering my portion of a rental car for however many days it's going to take to fix my car. Money which I did NOT plan on spending on stupid driving mistakes. And in fact, I told S that part of the deductible was going to have to come out of his car fund account, so he gets to go down to the credit union next week and make a nice, fat withdrawal.

The cars were able to be driven home, and I drove my car to Job #2 today. The tire seems to be fine, and the door opens and shuts, the car just looks like total crunched-in SHIT where S swiped me. S, whose car also looks like crunched-in crap, says his car's damage is rubbing against the tire a little, so he can't drive it too much. I told him to get on the horn with his POS mom and get the $ from her if he wants it fixed, so he did and she has apparently agreed to pay for it. Good for S and his car.

So last night we were depressed (both of us) and TOTALLY pissed (me). On the plus side, the crash did wake the baby up but then she almost immediately went back to sleep so all this drama seems to have totally escaped her. Also, I told S I never, ever want to hear his cracks about women drivers ever again for the rest of our lives. Finally, I told him he can just forget about the massage I told him he could get and also about getting a bicycle for the baby. No more movies, no more DVD's, no more eating at La Mad., no more luxury items at all until we get all this mess straightened out and paid for. And he has agreed to everything I've said.

So if I get this p/t job that I interviewed for on Thursday then things might get and feel a little better. They offered me the job on the spot and said I was the most "personable" librarian they'd ever met. It sounds like an exciting opportunity for me too, in that I will be totally in charge of a small but growing library. So they asked me to let them know what it would "take" to bring me on board. I went home and discussed it with S, and on Friday I sent them an email with my schedule proposal and hourly salary requirements. I went up more than $3 from what they offered as an hourly wage so we'll see what they come back with. As usual, there's some pros and cons to the whole situation. For me, what it will boil down to is if they can offer me more $ than I'm earning here at Job #2. So we'll see! I'm worth it!

Today S is at home with the baby. They are not doing much b/c S's car is not very drivable, and also they don't have any $ to do anything. I told S to take her swimming but he said he was too depressed. I said to join the club, that I already had my crying fit last night while they were downstairs playing--and today I'm at work all day long!!! The TV guy came to look at the big tv today and was unable to fix it, so he said they'll have to cart it off to the shop next week. More inconvenience. Great.

Health/Stress Note: My facial twitch is still ongoing and my heavy sighing has increased in frequency and is occurring hourly now, it seems. Last week was a doozy at Job #1 as I was busier than I've been in a long time, hence, minimal blog posts were done.

I'm just pissed and upset and depressed. About the only thing that is getting me through the day is the group hug I got from my 2 friends here at Job #2.

Pulled Over!

I got pulled over on the way to Job #2. Afterwards I had to immediately call Mudflap to brag. He is jealous. He deliberately tries to get pulled over so he can "badge out" but has only been pulled over one time to my four! (Five if you count when S was driving once.) And it was a motorcycle cop to boot! He said I "ran a red light" when I was making a right turn; I said I had no idea I'd done that. That's not really running a red light in my book, though! It was more like a California roll/stop into a right turn. He kinda looked disappointed when I badged out, but told me it happens to everyone and to have a nice day. I apologized and said I'd be more careful. I do hate to waste my fellow peace officers' time.

Speaking of Mudflap, that fool almost got killed yesterday. I have nagged him time and time again to carry an off-duty weapon on his person but he has never investigated doing so. Well, yesterday he was looking out of the 3rd-floor window of his office building and observed a turd down in the parking lot trying to break a window of a car. Mudflap yelled to his coworkers to call 911, and he ran down into the parking lot. He STUPIDLY showed his badge to the turd and ordered him to stop and to not move. Well, being UNARMED at the time there was little he could do except get out of the damn way when the turd jumped in his car and tried to run Mudflap over!!! Mudflap's coworker, who was behind him, almost got hit too. The fuzz was there in about 5 min. and got the license plate # from Mudflap. They said they'd go pick up the turd and would file Aggravated Assault on a Peace Officer, since Mudflap did show his badge to him.

I carry Gus, my trusted .38, on me at all times, no exceptions, even when we go jogging!!! (Although Gus remains in the car.) Our fellow deputies also always carry guns on them, usually in the waistband. (I never wear belts so I usually don't carry that way.) Mudflap agreed it was time for him to start carrying his little friend on him as well. This is the 2nd time he's had an extremely close call, the last time being when he walked into a store that had seconds before been robbed at gunpoint. I know I've had enough of hearing of Mudflap's close calls. He is my partner, after all!

This past weekend was very nice. It was the 1st Saturday in 3 months that I had a Saturday off with just S, and no baby. We slept in--bliss. Later we went to see 3:10 to Yuma with R. and her man. Splendid western! (Why do trains run at the 2:10, 3:10, 4:10 time? What's up with that? I want to know.) Sunday we tried to go to church. Lord knows, we tried! But we couldn't make it on time. I really wanted to hear the marriage sermon, too. But I hadn't finished cleaning my gun, Esteban, and I slept really late, too. I needed to! Mudflap and I headed out for an early shift at the Mexican Flea Market b/c we needed to leave early in order to meet S and Mano at the sports bar for the wrestling PPV. The Flea Market scene was pretty sedate, for once. Is our crime prevention special assigment working? I did give 1 guy 3 tickets, though. He was driving a big stupid Chevy Suburban with big stupid expensive rims so he can afford lots of tickets, in my opinion!

Poor S took today off b/c he hurt himself at work yesterday. Unfortunately our big tv also is on the fritz. We believe the transformer may be out. I refused to be too upset about it, although I was pretty down about it when it happened, having just spent almost $200 on the thing. Sometimes you just have to say, it's just money. I refused to be pissed, refused to be depressed, and just told S it was his project so he gets to do the research on fixing it and to just let me know how much it would cost. I have too many other things, more important things, to care about.

For example, getting S to apply to the peace officer program at the local university! It will cost us $1800. I can swing at least half of that if I start now and be creative with the budget. We'll earn it all back and then some after he graduates!!! The program is full time from January-May, so 5 months of roughing it financially, which will be more than worth it in the end. It's like the bumper sticker I saw today: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." But he will have to quit his job in order to do this, with my blessings. I didn't have to work too much when I was in school, and so I would like to allow him the same luxury. He will, however, need to get some kind of part-time job, b/c I will need some help with the household expenses. And by that time we should, God willing, be getting child support from the whore, which will help too.

Time for cake. There's apparently a whole unopened one in a box in the back. (Job #2 had their groundbreaking ceremony today.) Maybe that should be the title of my autobio: Time for cake.

Big Screen TV

I never thought I'd be the kind of person who actually owned one of these things, but it appears I'll become one tonight! So after we pigged out for free at Incredible Pizza last night--which, by the way, looks like we'll be having the baby's next b-day party there b/c it is a pretty cool place! It's like a step up from the Chuck, and is a lot bigger, and it was also nice being there last night when it was pretty dead and not overrun by chirren's--we went to see a 46" tv that was being sold for $150, not far from the house. S liked it, got the guy down to $125, and so I'll be picking up a U-haul right after work tonight so we can pick up this thing and deliver it to our living room. With Mudflap's help, of course!

Then the creative shifting begins. The current tv in the living room will go up to the master bedroom. The tv there, in turn, will be sent to the baby's room. Everyone gets to upgrade to a bigger tv! That leaves her little 13" tv left over and I don't know what to do with that yet. Dare I bring it to work and put it in my office? Heh heh.

Yum.

Today we had our annual Employee Awards Luncheon at Job #1. I received my 5-year award and a lovely wooden pen/pencil/letter opener set, all beautifully engraved with my name, even. The desserts were divine and I ate several. Later I was joking (but not really) that if this stupid kiosk project I'm currently working on tanks--and that looks likely--that this could also serve as my going-away gift. Seriously, I'm fully expecting to have to go work at the jail here in a couple of weeks while I'm looking for full-time law enforcement work. But do you hear the desperation in my writing tone? Do you hear my sobs of disappointment? Me neither. Basically, I'm fed up at this point and I don't care what they do. I even spent a good time yesterday cleaning out my office, which is like the 2nd time I've done that this year. At least the office is looking good.

Enough of that. Tonight, if the storm doesn't intimidate us to heck, Mudflap and I are taking S and li'l bro to enjoy free pizza buffets at a local chain that is celebrating Law Enforcement Appreciation Week. All we have to do is flash our credentials and we can each bring 3 family members to enjoy the pizza buffet for free. So at least S is getting 1 free meal this week!

Speaking of S, he is definitely at war with this asshole manager where he works. Not his manager, but just a random asshole power-hungry manager that likes to fuck with people for no reason. I told S if it were me in that situation, I would've unleashed hell 2 months ago over this. So S is going to file formal complaints and it's about fucking time! Regardless, my goal is definitely to have S quit there and start school in January. For reals.

Cool Lecture Today

I attended the lecture on this book today over at the medical school. Not only was it fun and thought-provoking, but I got fed lunch as well! With cookie!

I finally got off my tired duff to get the latest pic's off the digital camera. Here's one of me and J. Fi (oops, Fu) showing off our lovely dresses at the rehearsal dinner.

I won't have the other pic's from the actual wedding until later though b/c my digcam died and I had to resort to using the ol' snap and click. So I've got to schlep the film to get developed and then scan them in. Eventually.

Last night Mudflap and I got all dolled up in our "Class A" uniforms (long sleeves and tie; S thinks I look hot in this uniform!) so we could go up to the academy and welcome the new class. There's only 20 cadets including only 1 chick! That means--unfortunately--they might graduate 6. Seriously, when I attended my orientation night there was about 25 people in there and some people got up and left during, never to return! Then after our classmate died in front of us on the 2nd night of class more folks left forever. Shortly after that, more dropped out for various reasons, and1 got kicked out for cheating and 1 flunked out. We eventually graduated 9 out of the original 25. The few! The proud!

I was teasing S b/c I'm going to score a total of 4 free lunches this week and next. He says it's not fair and I say that's what happens when you have a Master's Degree, you get free meals from time to time. But to make up for it, I have agreed to let him buy a bigger tv for our living room. He says his eyes strain watching the one we have now, which was actually his tv that he brought into this marriage! But whatever. He tried an experiment this past weekend, buying a projector that you can use to watch tv on the wall, but the resolution wasn't good enough. So we're going to take it back and I've retooled the budget to allow for a bigger tv purchase. On craigslist people are always selling their big 55" tvs for cheap, so we are looking there. If we get one of these though, I am going to have to put a stop to his and Mano's frequent movie outings for a little while in order to help pay for it.

Speaking of which, we saw Balls of Fury on Sunday, or as I have been calling it, Balls of Furry. Although it was brought to us by the extremely funny folks who bring us Reno 911, I only give it 2 1/2 stars for the effort. It just had its funny moments, and was not consistently funny. We had the baby with us and it was an appropriate movie to take her to. She was in trouble for most of the movie anyway, and had to sit there in her chair by herself for giving me an attitude. For most of the weekend she kept pulling that shit where she's all over S and acts like I don't exist. Like at restaurants, "I want to sit next to Daddy" and asking every 5 seconds when S goes to the bathroom or something, "Where's Daddy?" I had to put her in her place and I enjoyed doing it!!! "No, you're going to sit here." "Quit asking where he is, you know where he is." Sometimes she needs to be taken down a peg or 2 and I am always ready and willing to do it. And S backs me up. For the most part it seems to be some kind of sick little test, for whenever I do lay down the law with her she just says, "Ok," like she can see I ain't gonna be her fool! She better not act like a little butt next time we see her though, or she's going to be in for a very miserable time.

I've also told S to stop asking the baby what she wants to eat. As mad as Fran Leibovitz made me when I was a kid when she wrote, "Only ask children what they want to eat if they're buying", man, is that the truth!!! Amen, sister! Like I keep telling S, the baby has no choice in certain matters, so there's no point in asking her. One time we were on our way home from being out and I had planned to make us sandwiches at home for lunch. The baby said she wanted tacos. So I pulled over to Taco Bell and made the baby buy her own tacos with her own allowance! And she did. That allowance thing is sure working out well! $10 a month is well worth it to teach her some lessons and also save us some aggravation.

Saturday Quotes

I was reading Money magazine, as I frequently do at Job #2, and this quote got to me:
"It takes just as much energy to wish as it does to plan." --Eleanor Roosevelt.

Then I told my friend here one of my basic life philosophies which is, "Never take advice from anyone with whom you would not trade places." That blew her mind and she thanked me for the saying and said she was going to start going by it too.

Anyway, back to Eleanor. I couldn't agree more! Everyone that knows me knows my style is to plan. And I do it systematically, piece by piece, bit by bit, action item by action item. I know people who are like that Matt Groening comic, the types of boyfriends, and the ne'er do well boyfriend who is relaxing on the couch saying, "Someday I'm going to be rich and famous. I don't know how, but..." Well, that kind of talk ain't gonna get you nowhere, and I don't know why people don't know that. (Well, yes I do--laziness, sense of entitlement, and lack of vision for starters.)

This was was a Long. Busy. Week. On Thursday night S and I met Mudflap for dinner, and then I had to get home to get changed for my gig. But I was so tired I couldn't get off the couch and figured since we were going to be the 3rd act of the night, I didn't really have to get to the gig until 10-ish. The 1st act was supposed to play from 9:30-1o, the 2nd act from 10-11, and we were going on at 11. So after lying down with S on the couch for awhile, I finally left and got to the gig at about 10:20-ish. AND THE FIRST ACT HADN'T EVEN GONE ON YET. Oh, man. This is what I hate about show business. Any guilt I felt about charging Jimmy my $50 fee went flying right out the door thanks to this inconvenience, so I guess that's good.

Still, M. and her friend and my li'l bro were in attendance and we had fun visiting. The gig went well for the most part and we sounded more like a real band than ever, having 2 guitars, drums, keyboard, and of course me on bass. A local musician whom I have always admired and have gigged with in the past was there and he complimented me on my "yeoman" performance. And as a nice bonus, on Sept. 1 Houston's No Indoor Smoking Ban had gone into effect so it was a smoke-free gig! I LOVED coming home and not reeking!!!

And S and I definitely did not need the aggravation of last night. To make an extremely long, ridiculous story short, S was sent to work at a northern location so we decided he would go pick up the baby w/out me so I wouldn't have to make the drive north to meet him and also, have time to go grocery shopping since I haven't been able to do that in way too long. However, S told me that the whore and baby were not at the court-ordered designated pickup spot so I texted her that we were letting our attorney know we were not getting our court-ordered visitation weekend. Then I emailed our atty. and copied the amicus to let them know. After much bullshit texting and aggravation, the whore offered to meet us somewhere to drop off the baby and I texted her that she could bring her old, saggy fat ass all the way down to Houston to our house!!! In the end we just met her at the Taco Bell near our house--at 9 fucking pm!

The other reason I was so tired this week is that after rehearsal on Wed. night when I got home S and I ended up having a long talk into the night, about our lives and the court case and philosophy and attitudes and other things. He and I are both trying to make some attitude adjustments about a lot of things, b/c life is honestly what you make it out to be. And lately I've been going through life so fast I've forgotten about that. But I've been doing some more planning lately, or different kind of planning, and that has calmed me down a little. For example, I have a plan to send S to school next year. I have a plan to up our savings amounts, which definitely helps me sleep at night. I'm trying to think beyond my immediate concerns, such as winning this court battle and trying to make as much $ as possible, to life past all of this and what it should be like once we make it through to the other side. I'm beginning to wonder if letting all this emotion and angst and impatience and anger and disgust and hate is going to destroy me, or at least part of me, irreparably so that I can't enjoy my life later on when I am done with all of this madness.

I was reading an article recently where, I think it was Bill Clinton, was talking about how he was talking to Nelson Mandela and he asked him if he still felt hatred towards the South African government. Mandela said he didn't, b/c if he still allowed himself to feel hatred towards them, then they would still have him imprisoned. And to let go of that hate meant freedom for himself. I've discussed this before, back when I was reading Dominick Dunne's book, and how he had to let go of the hatred he felt for the man who killed his daughter. And I wish I could be like Nelson Mandela, and just let all this hate I feel go. S pretty much convinced me to finally get rid of the hate I feel towards his mother and his sisters the other night. And I do think it's time to just forget about them, and just live my life as though they simply don't exist. So I'm almost there with that project. And I'm almost there with the hate I feel towards L.'s ex-husband, who is a wife-beating pothead lying retard loser. [Ironically and incredibly, it was he who once gave me some really good advice when I was discussing the whore with him; he told me I shouldn't let certain people rent space in my head for free! How freakin' wise is that??? Out of the mouths of idiots, man! Out of the mouths of fucking idiots!!!]

I can't help but wonder if I've come to a major turning point in my life in terms of taking a giant step forward when it comes to maturing a little bit, and finding some inner peace and grace. But I'm gonna try to take this step b/c I really have nothing to lose at this point. I used to think that hatred was a good motivator for me b/c it helped me not let my guard down. I thought the hate I felt was a tool I could use as a weapon. But maybe I can turn this hatred into something else instead. Nope, not love, I am still not capable of being that Christ-like. Not forgiveness either, demons like the whore deserve no mercy or forgiveness. Pity might be one I could live with. God's going to have to help me with this though. Big project. Church tomorrow should do me some good. It always does.

While the Cats Are Away

It would be nice to play! I'm the only one here today but am too busy doing actual work to play. I even brought a DVD, thinking I'd have time to watch a movie on my lunch break, but seriously have been too busy. I haven't even started on the latest search request from my esteemed Dr. P. The only reason I'm blogging now is it's after 5pm and I'm stuck here 'til 6.

Speaking of cats, I KILLED one yesterday! So the score is now Cats 1, Adela 1. However, this murder was in actuality an accident. All I did was pull out of my drive to head to pick up Ma for her doctor's appt., and while waiting for the gate to open saw some movement out of the corner of my eye under the carport. It was a brown cat, thrashing around like a dying fish! I couldn't believe the height it got, like a spring toy! But when I saw the blood near its head I knew what had happened. Why it didn't run away from under my car when the car started I don't know, although I did pull out kind of fast b/c I was running late. I debated backing up and running over it again to put it out of its misery but couldn't stomach the thought. Jumping out of my car to shoot it in the head also seemed distasteful, not to mention illegal in the city limits. I just drove off and hoped death would come soon! Later I found it lying in the grass several yards away. S said my new nickname is "Cat Killer." I told Mudflap to warn his evil cat!

I had to call Job #2 today and let them know that I wanted that $2.00 they shortchanged me on my last paycheck. I told them, "I know it's only $2.00, but I'm not doing volunteer work for the library." I hope I didn't sound like a jerk, but what are they doing shortchanging me?!? Like I always say, if you saw $2.00 on the ground, you'd pick it up! Speaking of which, last Friday I found .26 cents on the ground in a parking lot and was delighted.

Tired, tired, tired. Tonight is rehearsal with Jimmy and tomorrow night is the gig. Had a good time on Monday, though. Took the baby to see Ma and Popo, then we went to L.'s house so we could swim and play with her bratty son. Even though it sprinkled on and off we had a good time and grilled burgers. L. was thrilled when I hugged her and was able to pick her up, which I've never been able to do before but now that she's under 200 lbs. is no prob!

Weddings, Hives, and Lots of Fun

So J. Fi is now J. Fu. What a weekend!!! The bridesmaids' luncheon on Friday was divine. It was held at the tres elegante Junior League. J.'s gift to me was a Waterford crystal candle votive and some candles. Wonderful food and dessert! Fast segue to Friday evening and the rehearsal at the church and the rehearsal dinner afterwards at the historic Rice Hotel. Free booze and I finally let myself have a couple of glasses of wine! And I just adore his parents--readers of this blog might remember that I spent most of my time talking with them at several pre-wedding events. Meanwhile S was with Mano at (snicker) the Def Leppard/Styx/Foreigner concert! So I picked up the baby at J.'s parents' house after I was done with rehearsal dinner activities.

Saturday was nuts. I don't know why I do these things to myself. We took the baby to storytime at the library; grabbed a quick lunch at Chik-Fil-A; went back to the library to watch a movie, Zoom (I give it 2 stars); went to Jimmy Wok so S and the baby could eat a late lunch; and then I had to get my ass home so I could change into my wedding outfit (new dress gotten for a steal and white cowboy boots worn at my wedding) and get the digital camera ready. Crazy!

Man, this is why I never in a million years would've done the huge, obnoxious, extravagant, overdone wedding. I haven't the stomach for it. J. Fi said she'd already had a meltdown on Thursday and was taking Ambien to sleep. And while everyone was getting ready for the ceremony at the church J.'s mom made one of the flower girls cry! I just sat back, relaxed, snacked on pretzels, and was glad it wasn't me going through all the rigamarole! I was only in the "House Party" (S loved that we were called that) so just had to hand programs to folks and smile sweetly.

Still, after a beautiful ceremony in which I only teared up once (the male soloist sang a beautiful song called "In This Very Room" that got to me) and we hooked up with Tito J. to go to the Rice for the reception together, and a fantastic yummy meal, and more wine consumed (S sampled the mixed drinks), and much fast dancing with Tito J. and slow dancing with S to the badass band Grady Gaines and the Texas Upsetters, for some strange, unknown reason I broke out into a vicious case of the hives! One second I had dragged S out on the dance floor and we were dancing to "Let's Get It On" and the next second I was scratching my neck... my arms... my back... and had to cut the dance short to run off to the ladies room to scratch more in private. S went to get the car, Tito J. was patting me with cold wet towels, and the hotel staff went to find Benadryl. The only thing I can think of is the strawberry wedding cake had tasted kind of funny, particularly the frosting. I think there was something in that frosting!

So we split a little early b/c the hives were completely covering me except for my face and feet. I didn't get to do my last house party duty which was to hand out bubbles and rose petals but that's ok b/c I hear that part went off without a hitch. There were 4 other house party chicks to cover for me anyway.

Pic's and more later if I can find the energy!