On The Road Again

Tomorrow will be the historic coming together of me and my mates--Jillus and Bean--whom I have not seen in years! The place: NOLA! The occasion: 2009! Our status: hopefully inebriated and full of po'boys! I am hoping to leave town immediately when S is done with his psych exam. I think I've made NOLA from Houston in 5 1/2 hours in the past, so hopefully will do so again. I'm on a mission from God.

Bean will be in a newly rented vehicle since his car was apparently almost totalled last night in a confrontation with those notorious Georgia deer. After all, the late great "Lady of 6,000 songs" Emma Kelly killed a good dozen of them deer while traveling back and forth to all her piano playing gigs between Savannah and you-name-it. See, this is yet ANOTHER reason why I hate to drive fast!

Happy 2009 to everyone reading! Good friends, good music, good health, and good shoes are my wishes for the new year!

And We're Back!

Back at work today from the holidays and then another long lazy weekend is ahead. Now that's what I call livin'. It is so joyous to sleep in, wake up just in time to shower and watch a whole hour of Will and Grace, then decide what to eat or where to go. We had a nice holiday yesterday (though S and I began the day with a big disagreement which was later resolved after he left and went to get him a Starbucks and cool off--I was just proud of myself that I was able to handle our conflict without any yelling or anger and with more patience than I've ever had before. Still, we do need to resolve this final big issue between us [his mother] and it says a lot about my new attitude that I am willing to do my part, meaning ACCEPT her apology when and if it comes! I'm sure therapy will continue to assist us in this though we still have not scheduled our next appointment.)

Anyway, I made 2 batches of sausage balls yesterday morning and in the early afternoon we headed to my aunt's house. My dad was already there with his girlfriend whom we all love and we settled in for a long day of eating and sitting around. But my dad continues to irk me in some ways, i.e., he kept talking about his possible "new" family out in California and how he might have grandchildren "now" (as if my daughter doesn't really count) and while I truly appreciated my Xmas gifts from him (2 burnt CD's of classic Laszlo music and since we have the same taste in music it is all right up my alley [Texas blues, Doug Sahm, Willie Nelson, certain Mexican corridos, etc. etc.], a classic blues artwork from the 1920's calendar, and a burnt DVD of his legendary Freddy Fender documentary, "El BeBop Kid") I couldn't help but notice he wrote my maiden name on the wrapping paper. What kind of bullshit is that? Ahhh, who cares. What would the holidays be without family angst and bad feelings anyway?

Patrol on Xmas eve ended eventfully as I had to rush a fellow deputy to the hospital after he got attached by a rottweiler and bit in the face (ouch). I drove 110 mph and I knew S and Mudflap would be proud of me. I guess it was on the news though we left before the cameras got there. Then on Xmas I got a couple of phone calls from up high to get the story. I wasn't even there at the time when it happened, I was literally just the one that got asked to take him to the hospital, poor kid. Most likely b/c I was the only one without my own patrol car! But I was glad to do it and I squeezed his hand while he got numerous extremely painful shots in the face (again I say, ouch)!

Tomorrow I will take the baby to the butterfly center and we will be meeting an old friend of mine from UNT who has recently relocated to Houston and who I found via Facebook! Good times. Then on Sunday, sadly we must take her back and drop her off at noon but I want to take S out to the movies after that. Next week: New Year's in New Orleans!!!

Bring Yo Daughter to Work Day

Today the baby is here at work with me, and will be again on Friday (though on Friday we ain't coming in until noon!). I am trying to be cool and laid back, although I got ticked off last night when she was still awake at like 11:30 pm. However I noticed this morning that when I was picking out some CD's to listen to from my collection, CD's that I have not listened to in a real long time, I felt a calm and peace and happiness wash over me. The power of music therapy strikes again! Anyway, I am resorting to asking S for suggestions on how to gain patience with her when she does things that are totally aggravating such as:

1. Constantly ask questions when we are trying to watch a tv show/movie. I am serious, this is getting out of hand.
   
2. Constantly ask where S is when she knows where he is.
   
3. Make comments like, "I don't want to [fill in the blank]."
   
4. Take FOREVER to get out of the damn house, car, etc.
   

Really, I have ways of handling the above, I just need help with being patient with her b/c she's only 6 but since I am working on my patience generally these days, this is an additional test on top of everything else. Here's how I handle these issues:

1. Just ignore her. She can ask all she wants and I just keep watching the show and looking straight ahead. I don't know if there's a better way to handle this and I wish some parents would give me some advice. I may have to post to a parenting board somewhere. Yes, I can tell her to be quiet but I don't want to hurt her feelings or squash her curiosity; I was hoping by ignoring her she'd get the hint. I don't know though.
   
2. I tell her, "Stop asking me that. You know where he is. Don't ask a question if you know the answer to it."
   
3. The other day she said she didn't want to go to the polka concert/dance. I told her, "Too bad. When you grow up and you have a job and money and a car you can do what you want. But who has the money and car right now? That's right, me!" Also sometimes when she says she doesn't want to do something we tell her to do I say, "That's ok, you don't have to do what we say. But then me and Daddy don't have to take you to the movies, or take you to Chik Fil A, or buy you toys, or let you have any fun!" (Then we had tons of fun at the concert anyway! It makes me think she just says this crap to test me sometimes!)
   
4. This especially grates on me in the mornings like today when I was trying to get to work. She dawdles so much and it's just so aggravating! This is when I try my hardest not to yell. Today I finally got her downstairs and teeth brushed and we were out the door and she asked could she bring a puzzle with us and I said yes, but to hurry. When she took too long I finally said we had to go NOW and to forget the puzzle b/c she was taking too long. So hopefully she understood the consequences of her (slow) actions.

I have an appt. with my counselor tonight and I will totally be discussing with her my need to learn greater patience. I know it'll just take practice though. I know about the counting to 10 thing but I feel like if I'm constantly counting to 10 people are gonna wonder what's wrong with me and why I'm not talking and they'll think there's something wrong with me mentally. I feel like I am doing better with S. I was discussing with my aunt yesterday that men are always gonna screw up and we just have to learn to constantly forgive them if we want to have good marriages. Before, I felt like S needed to just stop screwing up and that he wasn't worthy of my forgiveness b/c he kept screwing up so much; now my attitude is that I better forgive him or else my marriage is doomed. "For better or for worse", right?

Tomorrow: Sleeping IN! and relaxing until I go on patrol. I'll be dropping off the baby at S's work and probably head out to district around 5 or so. Xmas day at my aunt's house and sausage balls and even my dad will be there with his women. Ah, family!

It's Happy Cookie Time

There are so many sweets and treats here at work I just don't even know where to start when I come in every day. And it's only Monday! Besides a variety of holiday cookies we've got chocolate from France, candy canes, hot chocolate packets, and other miscellanea. Good thing I got me them new running shoes. Too bad I have not had a chance to break them in yet, ha! All in good time.

Really good weekend with the fam. Since I got my Xmas present (it's so sparkly!!! I love it!!! I can't stop playing with it, making it sparkle under different kinds of lighting!!!) S got his: a flat-screen tv. Now we just have to get a tv stand or something for it to sit on. Currently it's sitting on top of our dead projection tv but obviously we want to get rid of that thing somehow. Plus I want something more stable for the new tv to be sitting on.

Yesterday the baby and I met Ma and Fred at the Continental Club for Mark Halata's polka concert. Me and the baby danced a little! The sound guy bought her a Shirley Temple and I am keeping good to my word to not be so uptight about stuff like that! (Her eating/drinking too much sugar.) I even bought her another one after she finished that one b/c after all, the holidays are definitely for eating junk! Then we all had a great family dinner afterwards with li'l bro and S also met us after he got off work.

Now I'm just enjoying the last few minutes at Job #1 where I am totally alone with all these yummy treats (speaking of eating junk). Next stop: Job #2 followed by watching wrestling at the Mezz with S and the baby, who went to work with him today. She'll come to work with me tomorrow and Friday but we're coming in late both days. After all, we need our beauty sleep!

Today I'm Feeling Pretty Good!

Or as Larry David would say, "Pretty, pretty, pretty good!"

S and I had a nice dinner last night at our favorite "the Wok." We talked about strategies for getting along better--actually, I should point out that I told him the strategies I was willing to undertake for him and for our marriage and I asked nothing from him in return. We talked about the future, we talked about our commitment to make our marriage a success, and we ended the dinner with a kiss--the first kiss in a week and a half. I know he completely appreciates the efforts that I am making and I also know that he too will reciprocate b/c he is just that kind of person and that is one reason I married him. And we finally slept in the same bed again, which we had both really missed doing and it was all very good and happy times!

It helped that I saw a counselor on my own yesterday for the first time and she also gave me some helpful strategies for marriage success. Mudflap and I had talked a long time about this on Wed. night and the big lesson I came away with was yes, that I am totally willing to try all kinds of new things b/c obviously what I've been doing is not working. After all, one definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things and expecting different results.

I have decided to make big changes in my life and my attitudes. I am going to stop being such a control freak and trying to get my way in everything. I am going to stop being so impatient to keep getting to the next goal, to climb the next mountain as fast as I can, to fix this problem, fix that problem now! I am going to try relaxing and letting go and not caring about bullshit that won't matter 5 years from now anyway. My new motto is, "So what?" As in, so what if the baby eats too much sugar one day, so what if S gets home from work late, so what if the credit card debt gets paid off in 2 years instead of a year and a half--SO WHAT? These are huge changes in my thinking but I'm totally ready to embrace them b/c fortunately, I have always been one to embrace change anyway. I already feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me and that everything is still going to be just fine. I feel a lot freer today. I'm not even scared at all.

What's fun is today I'm being bad and wearing my Xmas present b/c I just couldn't wait until next week! And S and I have decided to get a new tv to replace our big secondhand projection tv that died a few weeks ago, so that'll be fun. Finally, today S said he needed to take a mental health day off from work since he's worked almost 2 weeks every day in a row and I am totally fine with him doing that. I am not going to obsess over making as much money as is humanly possible anymore. We make enough money to cover food, shelter, clothing, our vehicles, and to have a little fun and that is all anyone needs anyway! I'm even going to miss an evening at Job #2 next week so I can see my counselor again and so what? It's totally fine!

One of my favorite songs of my entire life since I was 14 years old has been Curtis Mayfield's "It's All Right" and I feel so ashamed that I have completely forgotten to live by its words.

Say it's all right (it's all right)
Say it's all right (it's all right)
It's all right, have a good time
'Cause it's all right, whoa, it's all right

Now listen to the beat
Kinda pat your feet
You got soul, and everybody knows
That it's all right, whoa, it's all right

When you wake up early in the morning
Feelin' sad like so many of us do
Hum a little soul
Make life your goal
And surely something's got to come to you
And say it's all right (it's all right)
Say it's all right (it's all right)

It's all right, have a good time
'Cause it's all right, whoa, it's all right
Now everybody clap your hands
Give yourself a chance
You got soul, and everybody knows
That it's all right, whoa, it's all right

How Many Blues Songs...

...have been written about having the blues because you can never be satisfied?

S Is Driving Me Crazy

And no, not in that good way. Now he says he wants a different marriage counselor b/c he doesn't think the one we have is helping us as much as he'd like. I said fine, you talk to him and get a reference for someone else who takes my insurance. However, S has conceded that he'd be willing to talk to a woman marriage counselor, so that's good! I don't care!

Trying to Entertain Myself While Waiting for Things to Get Hopping Here at the Convention Center

I'm about ready to go get a smoothie and then lunch across the street at Discovery Green Park. In the meantime, here's yet another fun quiz to take: And BTW I'm a Self-Knowing Lifelong Learning Reinventer. No big surprise there.

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a Self-Knowing Lifelong Learning Reinventer

Speaking of surprises, I had a really nice time at Job #2's holiday party on Friday night--you know, the one that I was desperately trying to find someone to go with me to. I ended up going "stag" and it was totally ok. The food was awesome, I talked someone else into having a Hurricane with me, the White Elephant gift exchange was amusing, and all in all it was a good time!

Last night I got myself new running shoes and then S and I went to eat at Outback Steakhouse since we needed a date night. He had the salmon, I had the seafood pasta. So much for steak! And we gorged on the Bloomin' Onion.

People Suck

No, just people I know suck! No, just my friends suck! No, maybe just the holidays suck.

I have Job #2's holiday party tonight at an awesome restaurant, The Ragin' Cajun. I love that place. I didn't go to the holiday party last year since it conflicted with the High-spanic health coalition one so this year I was happy to rsvp for it for me and S. Well, our friend Hurricane Ike continues to screw us over. The annual biker rally that takes place in Galveston had to be posponed to this weekend. S and his coworkers are down there working it all weekend. S told me today around lunchtime that he will be trapped on the island until the rally ends at 8pm. So rather than go to the holiday party stag I began calling everyone I know and nobody can come with me!!! One friend has to babysit, one friend hurt her hand the other night when it snowed (!), one friend is newly pregnant and "tired", one friend has her own holiday party tonight, one friend has a date, and even li'l bro will be busy bowling!!! And the rest of my male friends are now married or hooked up (or moved away!!!) and I can't order them around like I used to. Like Tito J. complains, everyone has turned into the damn Huxtables.

This sucks. My only consolation is the the Ragin Cajun has incredible hurricanes. Cash bar, here I come. Did I mention the holidays do nothing for me???

Sore Throat Time

I was fearing something like this might happen when I began to feel a little "weird" yesterday afternoon and at 2am I awoke with a mean sore throat. I then proceeded to stay awake until around 6am. I had to call into work and am now drinking Orange Pineapple juice and I think my throat is finally starting to feel better. Fortunately that seems to be the only problem I have so I'm looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow as we are having our holiday lunch and I also need to get ready for a long weekend at the Latino Book and Family Festival. I am working it both days by myself!

Last night I took S to the High-spanic Health Coalition holiday party. I won a $25 gift card to Academy, yay! Also I took lots of pics for the new blog (I wanted to learn Wordpress since all my other blogs are in Blogger) and Facebook pages, which I started up for us. My dad was in the vicinity and popped in for a brief hello. We have spoken twice since his 5-page missive and he has not mentioned it, so neither will I.

S was not bothered by my nighttime sore throat awakedness b/c we have been sleeping in separate bedrooms since Sunday. Our marriage has hit yet another rough patch this week and so we will be seeing our counselor tonight and then he will see him alone tomorrow night.

If I were smart today I would try to avoid trashy tv and do productive things, such as wrap up my reading some of these library books and download the digital pic's from last night. Feels really good to do nothing, though.

Lord...What Next?

I have to remember that the good Lord throws things at me just like he throws things at EVERYONE ELSE in the world, too. Still--it does seem there are people on this earth whose biggest problems are what color shirt to wear in the morning, or whether to order the chocolate or the vanilla shake. I am choosing to be grateful when the Lord picks on me. It's obvious he is confident I can handle anything. But just when things are almost settling down (custody battle technically over, S working, the close of hurricane season, etc.), KAPLOW! here comes another li'l hand grenade. That's life!

I got an email today from Laszlo, my notorious paterfamilias. It consisted of a 5-page attachment and was also copied to my mother and brother. It was a pouring out of his heart, which leads me to wonder if he indeed has one after all. Not that I'm surprised by anything in it, because frankly, he can do absolutely nothing that surprises me anymore, but it's just more, as we say in Spanish, pedo. He has reconnected with some people in his life from years ago and it's possible that one of them might actually technically be my step-brother. Possible DNA tests and an appearance on the "Maury Povich" show loom on the horizon. I vaguely recall some of his other-women-and-children drama from my childhood but have wisely chosen to put no percentage into any of it. Well, now Laszlo is approaching his 60th year and has decided to apologize (again) to me, my mother and brother for his shortcomings as a father and a husband. He's decided to unburden himself onto us and is attempting to entwine us with his latest attempt at self-discovery or whatever this is.

It was a funny letter; my dad has a great way with words and a great--even brilliant--mind and a wonderfully rich sense of humor. But I was tempted to write my own 5-page letter back to him. While we are unburdening our souls maybe I deserve to have a turn of my own. I particularly would like to thank him for teaching me, at a very young age, how to recognize narcissists and sociopaths. I'd like to thank him for making me want to always "Just Say No!" to drugs more than Nancy Reagan, 100 After School Specials, and all of Charles Bukowski's works put together, just by watching him and the way he lives his life. I'd like to ask him to prove all this latest bullshit that is coming out of his mouth by taking the time to get to know me, I mean really getting to know me, S and the baby.

But there would be no point. I wrote him a heartfelt letter when I was around 10 years old, begging him to stop drinking and doing drugs and it didn't affect him at all. I have been burned too many times by this man. I mean, what does it say (about him) that in his letter he writes, "I love you all with all of my heart, soul and being…Your Father" and I, his daughter, feel absolutely no emotion, reading that. Because I don't believe it!

And sometimes I think about what I will feel when he is gone for good (though, people like him who have no real responsibilities tend to live long lives!). And mostly I just think, "What a waste", meaning, what a waste that I didn't get to know him better. But that wouldn't be my fault. He's got the disease of drug addiction and alcoholism and not much else matters to him. But my attitude about this is, "Oh well!" Because that's what my attitude has to be.

Friend-ly Weekend?

I got word Monday and yesterday about friends coming to visit me this weekend! Well, 1 friend is coming to play a jazz gig and the other 2 friends claim they decided yesterday they are coming to see me on Saturday. Fortunately we are all friends from college ("UNT", pronounced "-unt"!) so hopefully we can all get together at once. My 2 non-gigging friends say it's a 70% chance they are coming on Saturday. While I love and adore them dearly, would kill for them, and have known them since I was a tender 18 years old, I can say with all certainty this means it's really more like 50/50, even if they did text me last night to confirm!

Still! I would love for them to come. I have already offered up the baby's room for them (the baby will love sleeping in our room with us and she will also love seeing her Auntie B. and Uncle T.) and have already gotten a recommendation on an excellent Mexican restaurant with, in the words of my father, "killer margaritas", to take them to. Now I'm just trying to finalize plans with my sax-playing gigging pal, Brucey, whom I have not seen in 13 years!!! We recently found each other on Facebook and I am so glad. He looks the same and probably is the same, which is just how I like it! He was my big brother at college and looked out for me, along with Uncle T. and several other "big brothers" I had (I needed a lot of looking after back then to keep the ever-present weasels at bay).

So 2 more holiday invites have come my way. 1 is the all-girl Christmas ornament exchange, which I am confident I will find totally mind-numbingly tedious, so that's out. Next is an annual holiday party I almost always go to at this millionaire couple's house (seriously) but now that they have a toddler the party is way early, like from 5p-8p and S won't get home early enough from work for us to get over there and really enjoy much of it. Although I'll miss the fantastic food and drinks, I'm ok with missing the party b/c it's always lousy with rich, boring yuppies and we all know how I feel about them! I mean, what is the deal with them? They always seem to me to be perpetually putting on their game faces and trying to present a "persona." I have no patience or tolerance for it. Even my 1 wonderful yuppie friend who is the reason I know these yuppies anyway, as sweet and kind-hearted and genuine as she is, even she talks of when she can buy a BMW. Oh, please.

In other news, RIP Odetta (nice title, eh?). She was my present to myself the day I passed the TCLEOSE exam and became a bona-fide cop, Feb. 10, 2005. Seeing her--for free!--at U of H was my reward for a year's worth of hard work, sweat, and tears. I went to see her with li'l bro and R. It was amazing and I will never forget that wonderful, most perfect day that ended with a wonderful, most perfect concert. Thanks for the memories, Odetta.

Banana and Strawberry Parfait

Like I really need to be eating it. But I need to eat something if I'm going to last 2 hours tonight at Job #2 before meeting S at the Mezz for dinner/Heroes. I did get in 2 workouts this weekend, one at the gym on Saturday and a run yesterday at our local park with S and Tito J., who was visiting for the weekend! It was just like old times, running in the park with Tito J. There are times when I still hate that he moved away to San Antone!

I just got a subpoena to appear in court this Friday morning. A manslaughter case. I had absolutely no recollection of this (isn't that awful?) so the Reserves secretary just looked it up for me and apparently it was a call that Mudflap and I took in July. I'm supposed to be working from home this Friday so I wonder if I really have to go??? Maybe Mudflap can go for the both of us. He loves this shit. I do too but I hate missing work, paying to park downtown, waiting on hard benches, etc.

So here's another good thing about the holidays: it's generally ok to be worthless at work. Most of us have lessened enthusiasm and are totally weighed down by holiday obligations and comfort food! I actually decorated part of the house yesterday. I put up our little 3-foot tree (meaning I pulled it out of the box, ha!) and this year I put it on top of a folding table on top of a red drape. It looks better like that than just sitting on the floor. I put Xmas lights around our door. And I put the tiny Xmas tree in the baby's room. I will probably get to the $1 store to buy more lights to string up a couple more places--why the hell not? Maybe I'll even get some Xmas shit to put in the kitchen, i.e., dishtowels, etc. I am so the un-Martha Stewart. I just don't have the time or energy or want to spend the $ on this crap but this year I am at least making a little effort!

All Good Things Must End

When I was 16-17 years old Sunday was my most hated day. It meant I had to leave Pasadena and my mom and brother and our safe home to go back to Houston to a dark, sad little apartment shared with my crackhead father so I could attend my performing arts high school during the week. God, just recalling those depressing feelings and dread I felt back then is bringing me down. Today Sundays no longer depress me as bad as they did back then but today it feels a little rough since I've just enjoyed 4 pretty wonderful days of holiday, family, leisure, fun with friends, and lots and lots of relaxation!

Our marriage counselor suggested I see one of his associates so she could evaluate me. He said that he senses a lot of anger and urgency from me and that his associate specializes in loss and grief therapy, but that lots of times anger comes from a sense of loss. I was intrigued and agreed to the evaluation but said it would have to wait until January when my health FSA kicks in again. I am thinking that anger and urgency have always been a big part of me. There's lots of things from my childhood that makes me angry, but in that I am not unique! The urgency comes from probably just having to do a whole bunch of shit all the time: working 2 jobs and trying to strategize to get my patrol hours in every month on top of that, daily financial planning, etc. But these past few days have really let me slooooooowww down and it's been so great. I am serious, it was just what I needed. I did go on patrol on Friday but that was mostly laid back. And I spent the past few days doing 2 of my favorite things: Staying up late and sleeping in real late!

Other losses I'm feeling today: the end of 2 of our favorite tv shows this week: "The Shield" and "The Pick-Up Artist"! One of my good friends' blogs since she renamed it and now I can't find it! Good losses, however are: me CLEANING HOUSE and trying to unclutter. In fact, time to get back to it before S returns from the movies.

It's That Time of Year: My Future is Sausage Balls

Tomorrow will find us in Deer Park TX, which is as good a place as any to spend Thanksgiving Day, I suppose. My dear, sweet aunt says this year T-giving will be held at her granddaughter's house, so that's where we'll be. Tonight after Job #2 I will go buy the necessary ingredients for the sausage balls. Tomorrow morning I will make them. Tomorrow night I plan to be in a food coma. But Friday I plan on working off at least a few calories, as I plan to go on patrol!

Yesterday S took his polygraph for the Sheriff's Dept. He says they told him he passed. Mudflap and I both agree that is unfair, since we weren't told if we passed or not when we had ours, and we were sent home to worry about it. Then again, Mudflap and I both had a few youthful transgressions to be a little concerned about whereas S, except for the illegal street racing, has been mostly better behaved than us. For example, he's never done one single, solitary drug, not even one drag on a joint, which I think is quite rare. (Or maybe it's just rare amongst the people I know, but that includes my fellow deputies!!!)

Next for S is the psychological exam and then, I guess, a home visit from one of the background investigators. After that hopefully he will be good to go. He says he would like to work in the Marine Division, where I spent 2 mostly uneventful years. Well, I guess I did learn how to back a trailer and operate a Duracraft boat. Anyway, that is fine with me and I said I hoped we could work together sometime. However, it is probably not a good idea to ever work street patrol together. Most husband and wife deputies don't do this, just in case the shit goes down, which is always possible.

I have to admit, I'm not worth much today. There are only 3 of us here at Job #1 in my dept. However, I don't mind being here--as long as they don't mind that I'm not worth much today! What I'm looking forward to most the next few days is, as always: sleeping late. Oh, and reading!!! Sleeping and reading are THE best things about the holidays for me!!!

WTF You Mean a "B"?!?

Ok ok, perhaps it was my karma getting me, but I have to admit I wrote a paper last week for my student assistant at Job #2 b/c she hates English papers, it was due the next day, and I love writing papers and essays! I very quickly read/skimmed Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" and wrote a quick paper for her. The topic: explain how the quest for physical perfection leads to tragedy in the story. I was insightful and articulate. I wrote my usual beautiful, long-winded sentences. It was fun! Besides, my student definitely got the gist of the story, she just is not good at writing--her prowess is math--so I didn't feel too guilty about doing her assignment for her. Besides, I left some stuff up to her to fill in, such as the MLA references. She promised to pay me in chocolate. Well damn it all to hell if she didn't get a "B"!!! I was incensed, chagrined, all that good stuff. Then I read the paper. Turns out she had rewritten some of my sentences in her own words and subsequently the grammar and punctuation were off, etc. Whew! She still wants to give me my chocolate, though.

Today I ate a ridiculous amount of wonderful Chinese food for lunch. I was driving all over tarnation with my boss, doing site visits, and we stopped off at the Chinese Community Center. My contact there volunteered to show us an excellent Chinese restaurant in the area--who were we to say no? She ordered for us and the food was hot, good, and plenty of it! Cashew chicken, shrimp, beef, spicy soup, rice, rice, and more rice. Ouch, my waistband.

Relieved...

S is going to pick up the baby from school today. I am so relieved b/c I usually have to do it (since I can get off work easily and it's a hassle for him to) and I absolutely hate that long, annoying, traffic-filled drive even on early Friday afternoons. It just stresses me out every time I have to go up there and I always feel resentful that the baby is so far away from us. Still, after he picks her up he's going to drop her off here with me at Job #1 so I can watch her while he goes back to work since we need every last dollar he can make. She and I will be here for just a little while before we go to Job #2. Then we have a marriage counseling session and she has been very good at all of them, waiting nicely outside in the waiting room, watching Spiderman on the PSP.

I was thinking last night at Job #2 how truly fortunate I need to feel that I do have workplaces where the baby can come spend time with me. She can sit on the floor of my office at Job #1 and color, draw, make me laugh, etc. And at Job #2 she can sit on one of the 32 computers in there and watch SpongeBob, do computer coloring, make me laugh, etc.

Tomorrow I have to go work at Greek Fest and I always love working there b/c it's usually pretty fun and the food is out of this freakin' world. Opa! I'm working the 4p-midnight shift so Auntie J. is coming with us so she can watch the baby until S gets off work and can come pick her up. Auntie J. is being nice enough to do this in exchange for food only, but man, what a load of food she is going to get!!!

Old Friend, New Blog Friend

I have found one of my long-lost, dearest friends via Facebook. I am tickled! "Sweet Lei"'s blog is now linked from mine. She presents herself like she's some kind of citizen, mother, contributor to society--and she is!!!--even though I know her from her crazy teenage days. I can't believe how much and how fast the 2 of us have grown up. Sniff!

And Today Begins the Holiday Eating

Although I missed Job #1's T-giving luncheon today b/c I was at the High-spanic HC lunch meeting, when I returned I found piles and stacks of leftovers in the staff lounge. Being already armed with leftovers from the HHC lunch (which I will feed to S tonight) I could only stomach the thought of helping myself to a piece of pineapple upside down cake and a big brownie with chocolate chips in it. I am still working on said brownie as I type.

The Holiday party season has begun for me, too. So far I've got 2 on the agenda: the HHC holiday party and Job #2's holiday dinner. A friend of mine mentioned to me her upcoming "Christmas Ornament Exchange" party but I cannot imagine anything more boring than having to go hunt down an ornament at some random store and then exchange it with someone I don't even know at a party. Is this supposed to be fun or something? I don't mean to sound like a Scrooge, but as Dave Ramsey said on his radio show today, the holidays have gotten completely out of hand and we've got to turn it around.

Good news FINALLY!!! The baby's certified birth certificate came in the mail yesterday. S is now listed as her father and the baby has a new last name: OURS!!! I fucking despise the State of Texas. I know 90% of its employees move their lips when they read. This birth certificate should have been here last month but the state govt. idiots sent back our application saying we needed to send in a certified court order. Uh--that's what we did send in! An angry phone call by S and an "Oh. Duh. Please send it back. Oops, time to breathe again!" reply later and now we FINALLY have the document in our hands. Cretins. Pinheads.

In final news for today, I had a really fun shopping trip 2 nights ago. I also, FINALLY, got my $20 Target shopping card for donating blood 3 times this year. They said the Hurricane delayed me getting my card, but anyway. I bought myself--since this was "found" money and I could therefore spend it all on me--thigh-high socks (3 pairs!), leopard-print tights (2 pairs/colors!), and a new bra. Shopping is so much more fun when it's someone else paying (even though I paid with blood first! S'all right, I made more!).

My "First" Concert

Tito J. has requested blog postings on our First Concert Ever. Well, that's going to be a tough one for me, seeing as how I don't technically remember my first concert since my parents dragged me and my brother along to their concerts ever since we were wee little Chicanos. Apparently Tito J.'s first concert was at AstroWorld and it was the Eurythmics. I would kill to see Tito J.'s outfit (and hairstyle!) that night! Oh yeah, but anyway, I have so many concerts from my childhood I would have to just list the most significant ones:

1. "Canto Al Pueblo": a musical road trip to Corpus Christi where my father rented a Winnebago and took us to this music festival. Steve Jordan played and I remember really enjoying myself and getting a kick out of everything. This was 1977 so I was 5 and my parents were still together.
   
2. Brave Combo at that hellhole Fitzgeralds: I remember getting burned with cigarettes b/c I was little and cig's were held right at kid-head-level. This was late 70's.
   
3. Eric Clapton and I will have to ask my mom who opened up for him: This was at The Summit, early 1980's and was my first big, arena concert. This was the first time I was in the same room with my idol, Donald "Duck" Dunn and I remember thinking, at the end of the concert when everyone held up their cigarette lighters, that it looked like stars and that it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen in my young life!
   
4. The Go-Go's, AstroWorld: I believe I was 10 or so, and this was possibly the 1st concert I asked my mom to let me go see. She not only let me, she got me backstage (she was a nurse at AstroWorld) so I could actually meet them!!!
   
5. Madonna, The Summit: I was about 15 and my BFF from high school made me go with him to this concert. He was obsessed with Madonna (and Prince) and as a footnote, later turned out to be gay. God, I wonder where he is???
   
6. The BoDeans, Rockefeller's: I was about 16 and this was probably the 1st venue concert I asked my mom to let me go see. My dad took me and I remember I had just gotten my hair sun-glitzed and french-braided and I felt so pretty!
   

Then my concert-going career just took off from high school on. My dad also started taking me to many, many shows at the Houston Rodeo and all over Houston and then once I hit college it was all over--I hit the ground running and have never looked back! I bet I've been to hundreds and hundreds of concerts of all types, shapes and sizes. The last one I went to? The Iguanas, last Friday! Who (big names) have I seen in concert the most times? I would say The Band, Los Lobos, Bruce Hornsby, Lyle Lovett. The best concert ever, hands down? The Band with the Subdudes at the House of Blues, Los Angeles!

The Kids, They Love Me

So this afternoon I went to a middle school located in the "hood", and spoke to about 80 6th graders on how I became a musician/librarian/sheriff. I created a cute Power Point for them with various pic's of me doing all 3 things. I brought my vest, Marine Division shirt, and of course, gun belt, though I left the gun at home. However, I did bring the Taser and gave them all a treat by spark-testing it for them, which means you FIRST REMOVE the Taser cartridge, flip the safety, and then you can pull the trigger and it sparks up and makes the scary Taser sound and you do not want to be on the end of it b/c it still works and I can "dry-stun" somebody with it if I wanted to. The kids loved it. I was followed by a plumber and even though he was funny and had lots of good info to share, I felt a little bad for him b/c I am a hard act to follow! Afterwards we took questions from the kids and they had about 15 questions for me (and about 4 for the plumber) and they even made me sing for them! I haven't sung in public in years but I gave them the first verse of "She's Into Something"!

"The snappin' of her finger makes the dog wags its tail
The whistle from her voice will make the train jump the rail
Take her to a race track
Show her face
Horse that ain't won in years
Comes in first place
You know that, she's into something!"

Thank God I was singing that in the shower this morning! I saw my Dad at the school since it's a school he occasionally works at. He borrowed $3 from me and split before my presentation. Before he left he introduced me and gave my credentials to this one school administrator, who said, "Wow, your daughter has accomplished all of that and in spite of..." and looked at my dad! Hardy har har!

BTW, that plumber gig sounds like a real racket. Apparently there's a huge plumber shortage and they make big ol' bank, even starting out as an apprentice!!! Can I fit yet another job into my schedule???

I See Crazy People

Well, fortunately I haven't had to see too much of them, just hear about and from them! It's been quite the nutty weekend. First my poor beloved 92-year old grandfather fell on Friday night and broke his neck at C2 and C3 and my pinhead pea-brain worthless aunts hauled him all over tarnation like village idiots trying to get him into a hospital. Me, S, and the baby went to see him yesterday since I work right near that hospital and he looked pretty good except for the "Miami J" neck brace! Amazingly enough, the doctor released him to come home last night. He is some kind of medical miracle savant, I tell you. So second, my now-ex-BFF goes absolutely apeshit and seems to have had some kind of psychotic meltdown and I realized that it's time to cut off all ties with her forever (!!!). Naturally I'm upset about that, but the big moral of the story is what I have preached all along: you can't help someone that doesn't want to help themselves.

And patrol on Sat. night was a total snoozer. We sat at an arson fire for 3 1/2 hours. Then we went to a major accident but we were an hour late (due to the arson fire) so didn't get to do anything or see anything except for blood puddles in the grass. Word to the wise: NEVER be stupid enough to race cars down a public roadway. OMG. By then it was time for me go home so I did.

There were some highlights of the weekend: taking the baby to see Madagascar 2 yesterday. Real moments of hilarity in that one. Sitting outside in the sun behind our favorite neigborhood library on Saturday reading, reading, and more reading while the baby played on the playground with other kids. Watching CastAway on tv at home and hearing the baby be smart enough to figure out that the mysterious island sound that perplexes Tom Hanks was stuff falling from the trees (I didn't even figure that out the 1st time I saw that movie!).

I was having fun shopping for X-mas presents at CafePress today. Man, they have got some hilarious stuff, including tons of police/cop stuff! I got S a t-shirt that reads "My Wife Rocks!" and I got a real funny t-shirt for Mudflap that reads: "Eat. Sleep. Arrest people" accompanied by the cartoony-highway signs usually associated with food, lodging, etc. and a 3rd cartoony one of a cop holding onto a criminal. S says I should buy for myself the t-shirt that says "I See Guilty People"!

Mortal Coil Music

Here's a fun article especially in light of my recently writing a blog post about this very subject. The article also includes comments from a formerly close friend of mine who is currently an actual funeral director. Heh. But I also love this article b/c my beloved Band is mentioned twice, or has 2 songs listed!!! Yes, I will also have a Band song played at my funeral, specifically the Band's "Sleeping"! In fact, this is THE most important song of all of the ones on my list.

I am so glad to be able to work from home tomorrow. I get to do this once a month.

Ha. Ha. HA!!!

Man, S thinks my letter to Judge Farr is a little harsh! Jeez, it's not like I cuss his ass out or call him a power-hungry megalomaniac lazy incompetent asshole. 'Cause I easily could have.

I can't believe I picked up the phone today and actually spoke to Judge Hinojosa. I called the 312th district family court and asked the clerk when did Judge Farr actually vacate the bench and she had no idea. So I called the only phone # I had for Judge Hinojosa and incredibly, he answered. I told him I campaigned for him and that I would be writing letters to both him and to Judge Farr. My letter to Judge Hinojosa will outline what I and my fellow constituents expect from a family court judge and I will ask him to please close our case once and for all, since Judge Farr couldn't be bothered to properly do so.

Now my concern is that since our incumbent Sheriff has been voted out of office, rampant rumor has it his successor is going to do away with the decades-old Reserves program. Personally I don't see how he could possibly do that, but then again I'm really not sure how much unchecked executive power the Sheriff has. If that happens I will be out of a law enforcement "job", such as it is, which will suck so bad. Plan B will be that I guess I will have to apply for the local constable Reserves and if it comes to that I hope I don't have to pass a PT test. I am way too old and tired for that shit now.

"I Think We're Gonna Have to Get Drunk"

Quick: what movie is that legendary line from???

My right eye is twitching today. If it's not one thing, it's another. I had to call the baby's school today to speak to the counselor about the baby hitting other students. Having to deal with this frustrates and pisses me off no end and it's hard to control my emotions when I think about it, especially since the baby told me that dickhead hits her on her bottom and also hits his and the whore's devil spawn bastard child, so that's where the baby is getting this influence. I have been consciously attempting to make strides in lowering my stress and keep asking myself, when I feel my temper or angst levels rise, "Does it really matter?" and I find myself doing pretty well, but then BAM! Something like the baby hitting other kids pops up and I'm back to square Fucking one--b/c hell yes, that fucking matters. I also had a stressful meeting today at work--the people were delightful, just the subject was stressful so I was still very much on edge and couldn't help it. So tonight when I meet S at the Mezz, I'm afraid a beer is going to have to be in order. I wanted to have a beer all weekend but the H-ween candy and its calories overruled the beer calories. But last night S and I went for a run and that was great, even though I hated every minute of it as always. Running is such a wonderful thing to do--I wish I didn't despise it so!

We had a nice family weekend! H-ween was spent at Auntie R.'s house with S and me taking the baby around the neighborhood for classic trick or treating. I went with my old angel costume and the baby did her cheerleader thing. Saturday was more family fun at the High-spanic Health coalition's family fitness event. Ma came and Auntie R. and the baby did hula hooping, jump roping, climbed the rock wall, and danced with me and Auntie R. We both got our flu shots--free!--and the baby did not put up much of a fuss, for which I was very proud. And I was able to catch a little of the Flatlanders that night, along with some of Jerry Jeff Walker. Great free fun!

Sunday I lounged around in my bed for as long as possible. Then we went to eat at Souper Salad which is becoming a family fave, especially on Sundays when kiddie meals are discounted. S and the baby wanted to see a movie, but there was nothing that I was yearning to see. So they ended up watching High School Musical 3 and the least objectionable thing I could decide on was the new Clint Eastwood joint Changeling, and that was pretty ok since it did satisfy my ever-present true-crime jones.

Sushi, Cupcakes, Valium, and a Chocolate Cigar

That was my therapy last night. I had ordered some sugar-tipped cigars in a new flavor that S wanted to try, chocolate. Usually I buy vanilla or amaretto. So last night after eating sushi and cupcakes, we shared one of the cigars. It wasn't bad, but S cut off too much of the sugar tip with a scissor. I like to bite a tiny hole in my cigars. I like to be one with my cigar, and have never owned a cigar cutter in my life! Also I popped a valium, which I have not done in months. I don't think it had any effect on me. The cupcakes made me happier and mellower than the Valium. Today I'm wearing a glow in the dark ghost ring that was on one of the cupcakes!

Tomorrow is a "day off" from work. Well, Job #1 at least. I'm still going into Job #2 for a few hours to make as much $ as possible before the holidays hit in Nov. and Dec. and I have forced days off. I will also pick up the baby for our weekend. Busy weekend planned! Saturday we're booked all morning and afternoon, and then I want to go to a concert on Sat. night: The Flatlanders!!! It's a free outdoor concert, too! Surely the restraining order Joe Ely put on me has expired by now.

Trying to decide what to wear tomorrow. I've got an old standby angel costume, and the standby H-ween dress. Decisions, decisions.

Today I Ate Chips!

It's a big deal, seeing as how I got the stitches taken out of my gums yesterday. That was no big deal--I didn't even feel them come out. And of course, afterwards I wanted to see them. Gross! Peridex maintenance is still ongoing and hopefully I can start flossing again in a few days.

Lately I've been addicted to Facebook. I have made contact with one of my dear friends from college that for years I have been searching for! I have also made contact with other friends and Facebook is a convenient way to keep in close touch with all of them. I also made contact with my Puerto Rican jerk ex from college. The less said about him the better!

Finally I got in to vote early yesterday. It went really quickly, which was great since the line was too long last Friday at lunchtime. I voted for a mix of candidates, except for when there was a libertarian running, then they got my vote immediately. As promised, I did not vote for either Obama or McCain. Obama wants to take my guns away. McCain wants to take my abortion rights away. I can't tolerate either candidate!!!

Today something really strange happened. I was on my way to a lunch meeting (the Friends of the Library). I had just washed my hands and dried them under the hand dryer. I was walking out to my car, talking on the phone to my ex-Sgt. when both hands started to tingle with pain, as if they had fallen asleep or something. The palms turned redder and my fingers swelled up. I stared, perplexed. It hurt to put my hands on the steering wheel. They also felt kind of cold. I tried sitting on one hand and driving with the other for the 10 min. drive to the meeting. I realized I was going to have to take my rings off in case I could not get them off later. My fingers were, not puffy, but definitely bigger and my palms were red-tinged. When I got to the meeting, I said, "Is there a Dr. in the house?" and I got some laughs b/c most of the Friends are esteemed and noteworthy local M.D.'s. I explained what had happened to one of the doctors, though he seemed unsure of what to say. A few min. later a noted and locally notorious dermatologist showed up and she looked at my hands. She suggested that maybe I was having a reaction to the antibiotic I was on (but I finished that on Mon. night so I'm dubious). By then the hands were numb. I placed my rings on the table and ate my lunch and tried to relax. By the end of the meeting the numbness was noticeably lessened and I put my rings back on, though they were still a tiny bit tight.

Naturally, being a medical librarian, I immediately looked up these symptoms when able. My 2 initial suspicions are that this was yet another manifestation of the ongoing stress in my life, perhaps exacerbated by the recent gum surgery. I took 2 much-needed days off from work last week, what else can I do? My other suspicion is that perhaps this is some kind of autoimmune reaction to something--since autoimmune disorders of varying types run in my immediate family. My grandfather has vitiligo, my mom has Stiff-Person Syndrome. And diabetes runs rampant in seemingly every other family member!

But definitely this is yet another sign for me to slow down and relax and have fun as much as is humanly possible.

And...It's Saturday

And I'm at Job #1 until 5, which I don't mind b/c Saturdays are such easy gigs here and then I get to take off next Friday, which means I can go pick up the baby uninterrupted. But I don't have any Halloween plans yet, and we are going to have another marriage counseling session next Friday night so I guess it's good that we got H-ween out of our system last Sunday at Zoo Boo. The baby wore her cheerleader costume that she got for her b-day and she got to decorate a tiny baby pumpkin and I sweet-talked the volunteer docent out of 2 more pumpkins, then found another one later! I didn't dress up b/c the costume I want is too expensive for our budget, but I'll see if it goes on sale after next week, & then I can have it for next year. I have a "stock" H-ween dress that is sexy and sleek and black and orange striped with black feathers around the neckline that I can always drag out anyway, but last week seemed a little too early to be wearing it. Normally H-ween is my favorite Holiday as well as one of my favorite days of the whole year but this year I am just a little out of it. The stitches in my mouth are bothering me (they are black and ugly and you can see them!) and I hate being on antibiotics. I'm just focused on doing little things to cheer myself up, like the other night when I watched that horrible tv show "The Island" and ate Cheetos with S (each Cheeto taking 2-3 bites to eat!). I also ate ice cream for dinner 2 nights this week. Today's lunch will be Popeye's mashed potatoes, red beans and rice, and biscuits!

Last night after our counseling session S wanted to go get a steak but I had to remind him that I am not quite ready for steak-eating yet. Our sessions are always really quite eye-opening. Our counselor has years and years of experience and he's worth every penny that my insurance pays him! His insight is really amazing and he's so gentle with both of us. He's even going to have a private session with S so that they can discuss his issues with his mother--MUCH needed and WAY overdue!!! Therapy really is a great thing.

I have not patrolled since the Hurricane, but it looks like I will not have any patrol time in this month. I want to try going on Saturday nights on weekends we have the baby, but the last weekend we had her I had to be up early on Saturday to go distribute flyers for the upcoming High-spanic Health coalition health event. So since I had to get up early I would not have been in good shape to stay up so late on that Sat. night. However, next Saturday I should be able to sleep in, or at least mostly in since the baby wakes up so early. But what I do is get her her cereal, put PBS on for her (no Cartoon Network or Nickelodean crap while PBS kid shows are on!!!), and go back to sleep for an hour or so.

Last night S and I fell asleep early for us, before 11. We needed it! Tomorrow we'll probably go catch a movie, perhaps the new western Appaloosa. I'd like to get some gym time in, and then chill time!

Mush--Yum!

Ok, I'm not quite eating nothing but mush, but a sandwich with chips would be great right now. Or some pizza. Or even sushi! Well, I called the periodontist yesterday b/c I had confusing post-op instructions: 1. Eat a soft diet and 2. Do not disturb the operative area for 1 week. So I wasn't sure if that meant I had to drink smoothies and eat soup and ice cream for an entire week or what. I called them and they said that as long as I had no pain and was careful I could, in fact, chew. Good, b/c it was tiring me out chewing the chicken in the chicken noodle soup with only my front teeth. They operated on the upper left and lower right of my mouth so both sides are out of commission. However--yesterday I ate a biscuit and a half with my soup, cookies 'n cream ice cream with chocolate topping, and last night ate ravioli, chewing carefully but happily! Right now I'm drinking another smoothie but at lunch time I will attempt to eat 2 bean burritos from Taco Hell. I remember that's what I ate after I had my tonsils out back in '98.

And today, back at work. Gotta work here this Saturday too, but Saturdays are nice and easy-going. Unfortunately I will miss a baby shower that is also going on this Sat. Still, there's yet another baby shower coming up next month and I have not decided if I'm going to that one or not. Sometimes you have to "just say no" to all these invitations so you have quality time for yourself!

"Only" 25 Years???

I had tons of periodontal fun this morning. The worst part is the shots. But soon afterwards everything is numb so they're worth it--they're just kinda creepy. I have to remind myself: "You've got 5 tattoos! Needles are not your worst nightmare!!!" They told me I'd want to take the whole day off from work, so I did. However, now I'm at Job #2 since that's pretty laid back and close to the house, so hey. I am on 500 mg of Ibuprofin and an antibiotic and smoothies and soup and lots of liquids to promote healing. He ended up, once he got inside the gum and got a good look around, having to do bone grafts. He did 2 and they cost $400 each--WOW. I mean--WOW. But now he says that hopefully, when he rechecks the area in 4 months, the bone grafts will have taken and if so then I will be good for about 25 years or so. Jesus help me. Still--don't want dentures, that's for sure.

I still do not understand where this gum disease came from, and seemingly out of the blue. But the idea that all the incredible stress of the past 3 years affecting my immune system is a valid one. And I also reflect from time to time, how amazingly and KNOCK WOOD on my desk here, I really have not been sick in the past couple of years. I noticed that once I got married I stopped having sinus infections 3X/year like I was accustomed to getting. And I stopped getting the winter and summer colds I always got. Sure, I was diagnosed with allergies, but that's totally manageable compared to those fucking sinus infections that always laid me out for a week at a time--again, 3 times/year typically!!! I attributed some of this non-sickness and lessened amount of illness to marriage making me healthier, as the medical and social science literature suggests that it does. However, now I wonder if it just started manifesting itself in my gums instead. Why not? Science is some amazing shit.

Robert Hinojosa for Judge! 312th Family District Court

Robert Hinojosa has got my vote, along with as many of my friends and family's votes as possible. His worthless opponent Judge Farr is a DISGRACE to families and children and he has made it very clear that he is happy to perpetuate the "pass the buck" farce that is family court in Harris County as well as across the U.S.

The Finest Hour

I have seen
Is the one that comes between
The edge of night
And the break of day
That's when the darkness
Rolls away.
--"Across the Great Divide"by Kate Wolf

I was singing this song this morning as I attempted to wake up at 7am. I found it difficult to fathom that my library at Job #2 opens at 7:15 am. It was still dark outside. Madness! I am the ultimate night owl, non-morning person, whatever you want to call it. My DNA molecules scream out and protest vigorously when I attempt to rouse my body before 9am. If I have to wake up real early at, say 5am for a plane flight or something, my stomach literally gets nauseated. My ideal working day: 10am-5pm. That would be heaven. I cursed this morning further when I was attempting to drive into work at 8:15 and was bombarded on all sides by the rest of the entire world trying to get to work at that time too. Bullshit!!! See, that's why I generally stumble into work at around 9:15, 9:30. The roads have cleared by then and the livin' is much easier.

But alas, I have to get to work at a somewhat decent time now b/c the cakewalk is over and everyone (i.e., my boss) is back from conference. But today we had our annual employee award luncheon and it was decent chow. Lord knows I always appreciate a free lunch! I have a large lemon tart sitting on my desk waiting for its certain death later.

Yesterday another Board member and I interviewed 3 slaves I mean Administrative Assistant candidates for the High-spanic Health coalition job. Of the 3 candidates they're all decent though they each have their pros and cons. 2 more candidates will be interviewed by me and another Board member, and then I will be ready to hire!

Weekends Rock!

What a great weekend. I did all my favorite things: lounge around, read, went to the movies with S (Eagle Eye--2 1/2 stars), ate an ice cream sundae, slept late... no patrol for me! I have decided that instead of patrolling on the weekends we don't have the baby, I am going to see how I like patrolling on the Saturday nights when we do have the baby. That way I truly have some honest-to-goodness totally free weekends all to myself, and S can watch the baby while I'm gone and I can get in some good nighttime training, of which I have very little. The challenge will be trying to stay up so late since the night shift is from 10p-6am. I don't think I'll last, but I can let myself off at around 4am, perks of being a Reserve!

Everyone swears the Saturday night shift has the most action. My guess is I'll be pulling my gun a lot more. Maybe I can even bring out the scattergun shotgun, poor thing has never seen any action. S took the sheriff's tests on Saturday and did excellent, as always. I called one of the Majors and talked to him about S getting hired on with us. He said to let him know if he could do anything to help. I have a great feeling about this and just hope it all goes smoothly.

Tonight after Job #2 I meet S at the Mezz, where I will have one of their delightful Mezzy burgers while we watch Heroes! Wednesday I am going to start interviewing candidates for the AA position for the High-spanic Health coalition. There's 2 pretty good ones, 2 adequate ones, and 1 who didn't submit a cover letter like we said to. She's at the bottom of my stack, but I still want a good candidate pool. Good help is so hard to find! Pfft!

Thursday Night Date With S

S and I met last night for the Fireproof movie. I skipped going to Job #2 in order to do so and I paid--horrors!--full price for the movie since it was not a matinee. But I didn't care. On my personal finance blog I post my feelings about money and finances and I have decided that due to our recent marital problems I am going to stop freaking out about money so much. One of my friends said, "You guys never do anything fun with each other!" While that's an exaggeration, we certainly deserve to do more fun things with each other: go out to dinner at a place with waitstaff, see movies when we want to instead of waiting for our next free Sunday and going to the matinee, shopping for new clothes together--we never do these things now. Maybe 1-2 times a year. Now, I don't think we need to be buying another motorcycle or flying to Europe, but we are missing out on so many other perks in our young married life together that honestly, we don't need to be missing out on. 2 3/4 years married should still be the honeymoon period. After the movie we went to Cafe Adobe and had margaritas and shrimp nachos. It was a nice evening so we sat out on the patio and it was just a really great feeling to just sit and enjoy myself with my S. When we got home we had Rice Krispie treats and tried to watch Iron Man but that was not successful. Too bad b/c I hear it's really good, so hopefully we can try again tonight!

Besides, I have no problem with eventually getting another motorcycle if S truly wants one. There are 3 conditions that must be in place first and I think they are totally fair: 1. We must be out of debt. 2. S must have health insurance. and 3. I get a million dollar life insurance policy on S. Ok, maybe $500,000. At the least.

Job #1 is groovy at present time. Everyone went to conference in Dallas, leaving behind me, the Librarian 1 and the Library Assistant. Today I took them to go get Greek food for lunch, yum! And I got to work at 10 am. Perks of being in charge. And the conferencers are not coming back 'til next Thursday so the easy life is here for a few days!

What to do this weekend. I should go patrol a shift. It will have to be tomorrow so S and I can have Sunday together. I just wish I could sleep late on my weekends, but I have to get to the station by 8 or 9 to get 7-8 hours in and be home when S gets home from work. I've also decided we need some traditions. For example, I proposed taking a little vacation every year on our anniversary, even if it's just a weekend away somewhere. Also, I'm going to suggest spending Monday nights at the Mezz. We can watch wrestling and relax in the private room and it's a nice start to the work week. And I think we should go out to dinner on Thursday nights, which means I will also have 1 forced night free of Job #2, which would be nice for me. I only work 1 hour on Thursdays anyway, so it wouldn't be breaking the bank or anything for us.

I'm trying to really get into this concept I was reading about, called "Creating your own reality." It's a psychological training where you control your environment through your mindset. I've always done it throughout life for my major life goals, but I am going to try and adapt it to day-to-day living. Sometimes I use it to get good parking spaces (I swear!) but that's trivial. The mantras are: "But it doesn't matter" and you act "As if." Instead of wasting mental energy on reaction and what if's you focus on your actions instead. It's brain training and about making up your mind to be as happy as you want to be.

I Smell Election

Early voting begins Oct. 20 and I am all over it. I like to go to the local Fiesta grocery store near work on my lunch hour and get it over with. Who needs the insanity of Election day? Find your neighborhood early voting spot here.

I also smell Board removal action. The High-spanic Health Coalition Board--or, at least 6 of us--had a teleconf yesterday and we removed 1 board member per our Bylaws that state we can even do so by committee, ha ha ha! I offered up 2 more names while we were at it. Those are on hold but if I have anything to say about it, their heads are on the chopping block.

I had a private conversation with one of the other board members yesterday, and she is someone that I adore and admire. We both agreed that we are in a firing mood as far as these board member slackers go, and we both agreed that we are "Do"ers, not "Talk"ers. We believe in by God getting things done and we can't stand lollygagging! For example, that job description I wrote up b/c I was tired of waiting around for anyone else to do it. Our Prez had called for a teleconf to "discuss" it before we wrote it, but I didn't see the point in YET ANOTHER DAMN MEETING, so I wrote it up and sent it on its way for comments, additions, etc. And now it's done and I sent it out the the public at large on Tuesday! We even got 1 submission already, but I am disappointed b/c I put for them to send a "cover letter with resume" and this person's cover letter sucked. I was also critical of some minor typos on her resume. I am hard core.

S and I have been majorly PO'd at each other lately, for like the past week. Tonight we are going to go see this movie (my idea), which looks quite cheesy but it has firefighters and is Christian so it should be right up our alley. We had a double marriage counseling session yesterday--2 hours! Our counselor is awesome. He's been married for 38 years. People like that sure give me hope, that's for sure! Anyway, he's also very effective at getting me and S to really think about things. I still say I much prefer to give my money to marriage counselors and not divorce lawyers. I just found out about a couple I know that I was surprised to hear apparently just got divorced. I went to their wedding but have not kept in touch much. They met in a bar.

I spoke to L. earlier who is going to South Africa tomorrow! She is meeting up with J1 and J2 and I am so jealous, but so happy for them, thinking of the good times they will have! Then we will all party together at New Year's in New Orleans. I am trying desperately hard to get my good buddy Greg to go with me and incidentally, his friend Matt whose brother is in fact NOPD! I hung out with those guys and our other friends--Monkey John and Opie--last Friday night and it was the best, most fun time I have had in a long time. We drank beer and caught up, we went to the Continental and ran around there, we ended up at a new friend's house that we just met and we hung out there until about 5am. I was in the living room watching Dirty Harry, Johnny was asleep next to me, Greg was passed out drunk in my car, our new friend--a very tall, very funny Australian who was impressed I pronounced Melbourne as "Mailbin"--was in the back yard playing guitar, and Matt was outside smoking cigarettes with our other new friends Jack and Neesy. It was total play group time. It made me feel young again! And the next day I had to deliver to Greg the items he'd left in my car: his cell phone, his sunglasses, and 1 shoe.

Hardy Har Har!

Oh man, tonight's the night! I am going to thoroughly enjoy the Veep debate tonight. They say more folks will watch this one than watched the Prez debate last week. Letterman is being viciously funny. He started this new segment last night called "John McCain: Presidential Material" that shows video of John McCain doing stupid stuff ala Bush. It shows them both bumbling around in video footage. And last night's Top 10 list was choice! For real... why would anyone vote for John McPalin??? S says 'cause she's hot but come on, America...

The thing that does get my goat about liberals and Democrats attacking her though, is they always have to mention that she's one of those horrible gun lovers!!! See, this is where the Dem's lost me years ago. Do the Dem's and GOP even remember that we have a little thing called the Constitution? That there's something in existence called the Bill of Rights? When was the last time they read these documents??? Dem's hate guns but want privacy... GOP hates privacy but wants guns... How could I ever vote for either party? I won't! So what if the Libertarian vote pretty much just evaporates into thin air? It's my right to damn well make a point and that's what I'm doing.

In other news, I had to try these knockoff breathe-right nasal strips last night b/c S said my snoring was, on a scale of 1-10, a 20 the night before and consequently he got so little sleep he fucked up at work and got chewed out by the boss. So last night I applied the strip, snuffed some Nasonex, and sprayed my throat with this anti-snoring spray. This morning S said my snoring was, on a scale of 1-10, an 8. I am at a loss. I am going to have to take some drastic measures due to my chronic allergies. I don't want an operation but there's other things that can possibly be done. As soon as the New Year starts and my new FSA takes effect, I'm going to have to look into them. AGAIN.

Working from home tomorrow, which is good b/c I was just about on the verge of needing a mental health day, but tomorrow should do some good. I gotta go pick up the baby in the afternoon, too. Saturday I'm doing one of my famous health fairs and the baby will come with. Sunday, maybe I'll actually be able to sleep in and relax a little.

And now for your viewing pleasure:
Me and the baby at R.'s wedding.

Me easily bowling over 100 at the kiddie birthday party a few weeks ago.

Riding the roller coaster game.
Here's the shot from last weekend's wedding of the groom, S, and their other friend. They are laughing b/c I announced that S's wedding day was the best day of his life. I don't see what's so funny!

I Guess I'm No Politico

I am ready to FIRE some of the other board members of the High-spanic Health Coalition. We have our next meeting next week, it's an early breakfast meeting. There are a handful of board members, 4-5, who never contribute, never come to meetings, never bother to respond to emails. There's only 11 of us currently; we had 3 voluntary dropoffs in the last year. We met with a consultant recently who told us that all boards have worthless members, just like we do (my words, not his). We all had to SIGN a board member commitment at the start of the new year, so in my humble opinion these dead weights have not honored their signed agreement and based on this, they must be removed from the board and do not deserve to pad their resumes with us any longer.

I sent this suggestion to our current President to be put on the agenda for next week's meeting but after I sent the email I thought, "Am I being too rash? Am I risking alienating these people from the coalition? Should they just be allowed to keep padding their resume b/c apparently, this is a common occurrence on all boards the world over?" Dammit! I don't care! I hate slackers and do not want any resume-padders on my watch! I spend ~2-4 hours/week on coalition work, not counting the monthly and bimonthly meetings. I spent an evening at home earlier this week writing up a job description for us to hire an AA. I am committed and when others are not, it ticks me off that they have the nerve to call themselves a fellow board member of mine when they don't do SHIT.

I'm currently reading The Smartest Guys In The Room and I see where Ken Lay was a huge charmer and used relationships time and time again to his advantage over the course of his life. I just can't stomach doing that; I'm a real bridge-burner. I don't like playing games with people and manipulating them and using them and having the same done to me because--this sounds terrible, but this is how I really feel--I believe that people are truly replaceable! There is no evidence that shows otherwise. Fatherless children adopt father figures. People remarry. When you leave a job someone else takes your place. I guess I don't really mean that the people themselves are replaceable, but rather, what they do can be done by someone else, every time. This sounds really harsh... but I fear it is true. And there's almost nothing I need from anybody else in this world that if they prove themselves to be worthless enough, I can't get from someone else the next day.

Fortunately, I am blessed enough that all the closest people to me in my life have been hand-picked and wisely chosen and there's only about 3-4 acquaintances/coworkers who I am waiting for to get carried off by a twister or eaten by a bear. But those people I have no choice about being involved with; however once they are gone they will not be missed, nor replaced! Now if I can only get rid of these space-wasting board members...

I Cannot Wait

As disinterested as I am in the current presidential election b/c I KNOW who I'm voting for--Bob Barr!!!--I can't wait to watch the Veep debates this Thursday. Sarah Palin, that moron, is going to crash and burn. I do also plan to watch the Prez debates too, just for fun. The 1st one left me kinda clammy, though I thought Barack did ok.

Meanwhile, the Bush socialist party's $700 Billion Wall Street bailout failed, just like it should've. I don't think I've ever before had to contact all my state rep's the way I did about this! I thought this was a matter of life and death. I thought if we didn't do something yesterday we would all be fighting to grab the half-chewed food from the inside of our grandparents' mouths by tonight. YET--Congress rests on this until Thursday! HOW STUPID DO THEY THINK WE ARE!?! I mean, most people are stupid, yes, but come on, Bush's little panic ploy didn't work out the way he thought it would and that just goes to show how much of an idiot he is. I also can't wait for election day.

Good Soreness Today

S and I went to the gym yesterday and we did a "Rocky"-style workout. He put me in this horrible contraption that you have to climb up and get into, these elbow straps that hang from this high bar which you then rest your entire body weight into, and do leg lifts. Then he had me do crunches up from an incline bench, and those were just mean! Later I put these stinky-ass boxing gloves on (I need to find mine desperately) and we hit and kicked the bag. It was a great workout, and today I am sore all over.

We had a nice weekend and the wedding on Saturday wasn't too bad, although I congratulated the groom after the ceremony, saying brightly, "You're married now!" and his glum reply was, "Don't remind me." Well damn, it sucks to be him, eh? It was a total country wedding. We had to drive an hour north of Houston and there were horses across the road from the groom's house, where the ceremony and reception took place. We pulled up and parked and there were 2 portacans outside, and I called them "outhouses" and asked S if didn't they have indoor plumbing? The good thing was that nobody even noticed or cared that S was not only NOT wearing the $65 wedding vest, but that he also was adorned in an old pair of jeans. 90% of the folks there were in jeans, even the women! The reception meal? Little Caeser's pizzas!

Looks like most of Houston has gotten their power back. I remember driving in the early hurricane winds to R.'s house b/c she still had electricity on the first night of the hurricane and seeing all the pretty blue lights in the sky as transformer after transformer blew up. That was really wild. It was a nice feeling to go buy groceries again last week and stock our refrigerator. That hurricane was a good opportunity to completely clean the fridge out and start anew with all nice new foodstuff! And lately, I have been indulging in cold beer and ice cream, especially. (Not together.)

On top of everything else going on, I have barely had time to get excited about my New Year's trip this year! I am gwine to New Orleans! I have not been there in several years and I am anxious to see the "new"city, post-Katrina. I especially want to explore the Lower 9th Ward and see the "real" N.O. I'll be staying in the Vieux Carre as well, and it will be quite the party: me, Bean, L., J2 and their men! (Sadly, S will not make the trip.) I have been to N.O. with Bean before and I have a hilarious pic of us, he with his arm around me, smoking a cigar, and me, obviously drunk, with my hair in my face. I have been to N.O. with J2 and we only took a few pic's b/c we were too busy drinking the night away and driving up the wrong entrance ramp to the freeway. Maybe this will be the trip that Bean sleeps in Louis Armstrong park armed only with a John the Conqueroo!

Feeling Much Better Today

Last night I was at Job #2 and S called me and said, "Guess what we have at home?" I can't believe I wasn't overwhelmed by my pessimism and I actually took a halfhearted guess, "Power???" The answer was YES!!! Praise Jesus! So I blew off the gym, drove through the only food place that is currently open near our house (Taco Cabana), and got home just in time to watch mindless TV, mainly Project Runway. I can't believe the cable was even working, too! Later, I had to scrub down the fridge. Yuck.

I say I'm feeling much better today, and that's true, but I am still seeing RED thanks to our socialist government. I am joining the Libertarian party as soon as is humanly possible. I agree with all their philosophies and platforms anyway. Bob Barr for President!!! I am serious, where's my fucking bumper sticker?!?!? Fuck Congress, Fuck the Senate, Fuck Bush, Fuck McCain, and Obama, I used to have such high hopes for you but I fear you can no longer be trusted either... Well, my congressman, Culberson, actually does have a decent head on his shoulders and says he opposes the bailout. I will vote him back into office and I wrote him a congratulatory email yesterday. I wrote a pissed-off one to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison b/c I have not yet determined where she stands on the issue. She has not had the decency to post anything on her website yet.

Tonight I am going to Discovery Green to see The Gourds in concert! R. should meet me there. I am looking forward to an evening being decompressed by music. After that I am determined to find ice cream one way or the other; it's scarce in these parts thanks to Ike but I am on a mission from God.

Aggravated, Even Though Holes Are Good

12 days without power... and although I can read at night and the cold showers are finally starting to hit the spot now that the heat's back, S is sleeping at Mudflap's and I am a little lonely at night. And it certainly doesn't help that 2 nights ago I came home to sleep and one of my neighbors has a noisy-ass generator so now it's too fucking noisy to sleep in the baby's room, which is the coolest room in the house and is the only one that catches a breeze!!!

Although I still am grateful to have escaped major hurricane damage, it is starting to grate on my nerves that it seems that EVERYONE has power at home except me!!! Even my brother, R., and J. Fu got power yesterday. S and I raced home last night after he got off work and I finished at Job #2 to see if hopefully, now that everyone else we know has power, should we also be so lucky and.... NO.

S and I met at the Mezz on Monday night to watch Heroes and have dinner. I also drank a pint of Shiner Bock. Last night we went back to the Mezz to watch The Shield and have dinner. This time I drank 2 pints of Shiner. If we continue to be without power for much longer, I fear I will turn alcoholic.

Tonight we're going to the gym. The current predictions are that we might have power by Sunday, but the last predication was that we might have it by tomorrow, so now I am definitely no longer optimistic. Fortunately R. has said that we can move in with her if we don't have power by this weekend. I am still refusing to talk to Mudflap since he forgot all about me, S and the baby last Friday and forgot to leave us his key while he went to go stay with his girlfriend and left his perfectly good 3 bed/2 1/2 bath house that has power completely empty, which is why S is staying over there and I am not. Oh well, at least it's not MY karma that's in trouble.

I am arriving late to Job #1 and leaving early b/c at night when I finally fall asleep it's hard to wake up in the morning. We have a wedding to go to this Saturday, where apparently S will serve as Best Man even though he refused to go get fitted for that vest like he was supposed to. Fine with me, I surely don't want to spend the $ and now we can ill afford stupid wedding vests anyway! Also apparently this marriage is already in trouble and though the groom came thisclose to backing out he does not have the balls to call it off. I can't believe this shit and I certainly can't believe we are agreeing to go participate in this farce and even have to drive to another county to participate on top of that!

I am starting to get a little cranky, but I'm just tired... Tired of not sleeping well at night, tired of eating out for every meal (b/c I refuse to deal with the hassle AND expense of hunting for ice every day!), and tired of being alone at night in the dark! I wish S would stay with me but all he would do is bitch about the heat, etc. etc. so I'm glad he's gone while at the same time I miss him. To be honest though, I probably wouldn't be this pissed off if the news from Washington and the 700 billion dollar bailout which I can't even get into right now, weren't making me so aggravated. And I'm also aggravated b/c I remember living through Hurricane Alicia and I don't recall my mom getting any assistance from FEMA, or ice, or MRE's or a trailer or anything!!!!!!!!!!!! I just feel like this country is turning dangerously more socialist day by day and I have decided I'm not voting for McCain OR Obama! My votes are all going Libertarian and I don't even give a damn anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day... I am grateful for my holes at work. "Holes" are what I'm calling the electrical outlets after the Seinfeld "Frogger" episode.

GEORGE: All right, let's--let's focus. Can we get back to the plan?

SLIPPERY PETE: Well, I need a battery for this kind of a job. Can I at least steal a battery?

GEORGE: Fine. Steal the battery. Now, all right, here is the Frogger. This is the front door, and this is the outlet.

SLIPPERY PETE: What's that?

GEORGE: The outlet?

SLIPPERY PETE: Mm-hmm.

GEORGE: That's where the electricity comes out.

SLIPPERT PETE: Oh, you mean the holes.

One of My Little Problems is Gone!

I met S at the Borders yesterday after work so we could charge up some more stuff for the night. I had a coupon and I was determined to buy a book light and I found a great one!!! (I had a previous book light but found last Friday that the ancient batteries inside it had corroded the contact inside--anyway, this book light is far superior!) So last night I was able to read and all was well!

Around 10:30 pm S spoke to Mudflap who had the news that his house, approx. 2.7 miles away from us, had power. S had no qualms about abandoning me and he took off so fast it made my head spin! I would've gone too except I was tired, had my book light, and didn't want the aggravation of having to pack up all my clothes and toiletries and shit in the dark to take over there. I slept just fine, totally disagreeing with S that it was "hot as fuck." It was like, in the 60's last night!!!

However, this morning I did pack a bag for the baby and will certainly acquiesce to moving in temporarily with Mudflap this weekend. It is supposed to warm up here in a few days, though I am hoping that will make the cold showers at home--should we return home after the weekend but knowing S he will be against that plan, and anyway Mudflap has no problem at all with us moving in for as long as we need--a little more bearable. My thing with cold water is that I was totally traumatized as a child and to this day am extremely, unreasonably sensitive to the cold. Sometimes I can't even place a magazine on my bare lap if the paper is too cold! What happened was, it was one of the rare times I remember as a child spending time with my father at his house--the reason being that more often than not he simply didn't show up to pick up me and my brother for our visitation occasions. Well, on this particular occasion he had to bathe us, but for some reason or another he had no hot water and it was during wintertime. He put us in the bath regardless and tried to convince us that the water would get warmer or that we would get used to it after awhile. That is but one of the numerous lies he has told me throughout my lifetime!!! And to this day I am scarred by the whole experience. I probably didn't stop shaking for days after that, though I can't remember that part, thank goodness.

Going to Job #2 in a little bit to try to salvage some salary since I missed so much this week. Regardless it's going to be tight for awhile. I don't even know if the electric bill will make up for it! But tomorrow at L.'s house, if me and the baby end up going--and there's a good chance of that happening since, thank God, S was called into work this morning--will be fun and there will be drinks and music and camaraderie! And if S is not called into work tomorrow then we will have a fun family weekend regardless, as always!

Ike Came, He Saw...

He conquered some parts, certainly. I feel so lucky and keep saying that the worst of it for me is not being able to read at night and the freezing cold showers. But at least we have water so I have nothing to complain about. I saw the Katrina devastation up close and personal. I do not have 5 feet of fucking water in my house and everyone I know is fine and healthy. Today I am back at work (Job #1) and finally have access to my very own outlets so I can charge up flashlights and my cell phone. And at home I'm washing my hair at night only, then the next morning I'm getting in and washing only my pits and my [CENSORED] so that the cold water does not make me too depressed! But I even shaved my legs yesterday and that was great.

I went and patrolled on Monday and Tuesday. A lot of thefts were occurring. I ate 2 wonderful hot meals on Tuesday: lunch at a Mexican restaurant (my partner and I had the cheese enchiladas b/c we were skeptical of the meat situation) and then dinner at Hooter's with S and Mudflap. Hooters even let me charge my cell phone while I ate.

See, I lived through Hurricane Alicia and even though that was 25 years ago I still remember vividly how hot and miserable that was. We are doing MUCH better now than then. The cold front came through Houston on Sunday night and even though Saturday night was absolutely miserable, on Sunday night we needed our blankets! So we have all been so blessed. On Sunday S and I went to the store and stocked up on more water, bread, and snacks. Then we went to Borders where it was air conditioned and you could charge up your stuff and they even had laid out all their pastries free on a table for anyone to take!

I cannot stand to hear people complain and bitch and moan just b/c they don't have power. You know, humans lived without power for thousands of years just fine! But young people like S seemingly cannot survive without their tv to watch or video games to play. At Borders I let him buy some comedy CD's so we could have that as entertainment at night. Then he went back to work on Tuesday. Since I patrolled on Monday and Tuesday I let myself take Wednesday off as a day of rest before coming back to work today and I had plenty to occupy my time. First I tidied upstairs. Then I swept the downstairs. Then I experimented with solar cooking on the car dash. Then I read. Then I dragged out my guitar (my skin is real dry due to the weather and so my nails are all broken) and played a few songs. I read my diaries from when I was in my debaucherous twenties (holy SHIT are those hilarious! I can't believe I lived that crazy ass life of drinking and going out every night and hobnobbing and playing grabass and running to and fro. I laughed out loud at my various escapades many times. For example: I was mad at a guy and went to eat at the House of Pies and he called me on my cell and I said I couldn't talk because my carrot cake was on its way! Hilarious!!! I also can't believe how many friends I had back then. I'm reading all these names in my diaries and can't even remember who half these fuckers are...) Then I read some more and listened to the radio, etc. etc. Next thing I knew S was home from work and we went to the movies with Mudflap to see Burn After Reading which was fun. We even drove through Whataburger, so you see, I AM NOT SUFFERING AND HAVE NO REASON TO COMPLAIN. And neither do most people around here! (Now, I confess I am jealous of the 6 other people here in my department b/c they all have power and I'm the only one that doesn't!!! [So frankly, they can cut me some slack today, ha ha.] But as long as I stay away from them I'm fine.)

Now, we are scheduled to pick up the baby tomorrow and I don't know what we're going to do with her at night. I told S she is just going to have to rough it like I did 25 years ago, and I don't want her getting on my nerves. On Saturday I'm going to take her to visit L. so we'll be entertained doing that all day long. This is assuming S is at work b/c they sent him home early today, unfortunately (damn, we need the $) b/c there is not enough work there right now. But he came here to see me at work and we went out and had a lovely lunch. I can even go have a hot shower at Mudflap's if I want to since he does have hot water. We will definitely have to take him up on that offer this weekend when we have the baby.

I suppose I better do some real work today while I'm here! I was supposed to work this coming Sunday but we are going to be closed for the weekend, yay.