What a bizarre thing it is to be near the eve of my 39th birthday and find myself on a Saturday night at the mall in the middle of white-bread psuedo suburbia...

So...I have gotten my computer back to where it was, excepting, of course, my email address book. I am at the point where I do not even realize who I am missing. I suppose I will just have to wait until I hear from people and then just re-add them back in.

I feel as if a lot of things are converging right now. My unemployment is about to come to an end, and I am finding myself partial to the easy route of going back to JC Penney. I know that if I am miserable there, I can find something else that is mindless, and that is the current plan. I listed out the pros and cons, and the up side is pretty good. The manager I would work for directly adores me and will hire me back on any terms so I will be able to make my schedule what I want it to be (regardless of the fact that I do not want to have a schedule!!). Also, I am definitely in the top 5% of my field, so I am good at what I do, and I do enjoy it. My boss knows I am good, too, and she is appreciative of the energy I bring to the situation so she lets me sort of do my own thing because she knows I am aware of the boundaries necessitatd working for such a large company.

It is pretty much a win/win situation. Of course this does not mean there is not an element of resignation.

woohoo...I set up my email my *OWN* self!!

I am back in business as far as my laptop goes. I was able to salvage everything except for my email and my favorites. I had my favorites full of writer's sites, both blogs, and publications with open calls for submissions that had intrigued me. In addition I had a lot of contest and grant info saved off there. Nothing like starting fresh.

I was able to save my files to cd, and likely i could have saved my faves and email, too but I just could not find them. Once I had the cd written, I realized why I was so concerned about my old emails. Our trip confirmation was sitting in my inbox. I realized this yesterday afternoon, and immediately emailed cheap tickets from my yahoo address and begged them for help. They finally resent the confirmation email to me, and once I received it, I forwarded it to my yahoo email as well as to E at work. Once that was taen care of, I wiped the hard drive and did the quick restore which set the laptop back to like new status. I now have a clean slate.

I also need to figure out a system for backing up that will work for me. Daily will seem tedious. Maybe Wednesday and Saturday? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Sigh...

Windows crashed on my laptop yesterday. Fuckers! I could not boot up my machine at all. Seeing as ow my tech ability is rather limited, I called up HP as my laptop is still under warranty. The guy I spoke to, Mike, told me the best thing to try if I did not want to restore my system to new, meaning wipe the hard drive and lose everything on it, would be to reinstall the windows OS and go from there. Fucker.

I did this and it overwrote stuff in a manner that I finally found the files, but the WP10 and other such programs cannot be found, so I can not open and view any of the files. I was able to save them to cd and view them in Quark Express on out other machine, but it is a very frustrating operation. At this point, I have decided to do the restore to new and then just reopen the files from that point.

I have not been able to find my mail folders yet, and I am reluctant to lose them, but what will be will be.

It is 8:44 and already I have had a productive morning. I have taken E to work, made her snacky pack, put away laundry, walked the dogs a mile, made a mock order for 100 tshirts, prepared the EP distribution list so I have a plan for the afternoon, and gotten a shower so I will be ready for yoga.

These type mornings scare me to death!

On my first trip to NYC, 1999, I think, I deliberately sought out a store called Kate's Paperie. A client I had met while working in my friend Trish's salon had brought in a photo album that her husband, a professional photographer, had made for her with pictures from her son's first year of life. He mounted one pic per page, and it was a beautiful wood and leather bound album with parchment separated pages. It was imported from Italy if I remember correctly, and I really just thought it was an exquisite album. I also knew it would be expensive, but I knew I was going to NYC, and the client had given me the name of the store. I had to go and see how much it was.

Kate's Paperie is a wonderland to me. We were in there at least an hour the first time, and I know I did not see everything. I did, however, find the photo album. I was prepared for it to be about $125 and was not at all shocked when I discovered it was actually $160. I had budgeted for it, and if I brought nothing else home from NYC, I was getting one of these albums. It is the biggest one and I got it in the birch (light) finish.

Of course, as fine things go, Ionce I get them, they sit a while until I decide they merit use. This is true of clothing, my Eileen Fisher things for example, as well as things in general. I have an All Clad pan that has yet to be used and I had to have that 2 years ago.

The photo album is an entity onto itself. I have been intimidated by it, consciously not wanting to mess it up. I really wanted photos to appear chronologically, and wanted to include pics my dad has taken, and just photos I have taken that I really love, eventually then becoming a display of our travels together, too. The trouble with the plan is that if I include pics of my dad's, the album will never be chronological. It's a Virgo thing, y'know.

Then I had a thought about it being a chronicle to the joy of M and E, a capsule of our lives together as one.

But I was more drawn to include pics of my dad's that I really like.

Yesterday I decided to throw chronological order out the window and just get the damn thing going. It has been 4 years sitting in the box on the shelf, so it is about time. I am even going to write margin notes as I see fit. Maybe.

The box is getting dusted off and opened up today. The ceremony will be this evening at 7ish if anyone wants to attend!

I have to say that donna hay magazinehas it going on!!

If you have never seen this mag, and if you are a chef of any means, you should run on over to Borders and check it out. I picked one up last week, issue 9 in particular, and the recipe for cinnamon grilled chicken is simply divine. It follows, and hopefuly I am not committing a felony by posting it here.

grilled cinnamon chicken
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 chicken breast fillets
sea salt and cracked black pepper
stir-fried spinach and lemon wedges, to serve

Place the honey, cinnamon, mustard, lemon juice, cumin, paprika and oil in a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour over the chicken, cover and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on a preheated medium-high char-grill and cook for 4-5 minutes each side or until cooked through.

To serve, slice the chicken into 3 or 4 pieces and place on plates with some stir-fried spinach and a lemon wedge. Serves 4.

Recipe from donna hay magazine, imported from Australia and available at Borders bookstore.


Also, I have to thank Tina for posting about Kate Chopin, and reminding me it is time to read The Awakening once again. I have not read it in about 10 years, and the following is my reply to her blog entry:

"What a fabulous story to be reminded of. I was 29 when I was first coming out to myself, and newly a college student. My eng lit instructor, Kathy Stanton, was a petite little firecracker of a babe, and I had a wicked crush on her and my first experience with gaydar.

We read "The Awakening" one week and analyzed it quite thoroughly. On that week's exam, she asked "What was the underlying story, the one not succinctly told?"

It was a question for extra credit, and as I thought about it, I began writing. I guessed the answer was that Mrs. Pontellier and Madame Ratignolle were lovers. At that point of the test, we were allowed our book so we could argue our case by direct citing of passages.

I was the only one in class to guess correctly, and she read my answer in class the following meeting. It became an ongoing debate that followed our class through the end, all the heteros not believing in it for a second.

I just pulled my Chopin book off the shelf and I can't wait to dive in again, 10 years later, and with the benefit of 10 more years of literature and gaydar!

Thanks, Tina!!"

All this linking is wearing me out. Time for some reading!!

Monday morning and I am somewhat present. On Saturday, we went to E's sister's house for family day lunch. I forgot my bathing suit and I was a little miffed at that, but otherwise it was our standard affair, sort of. Burgers and dogs on the grill, and I made a killer potato salad to bring along. Family day started as my idea because I wanted to cook for everyone and socialize with them once a month. Papu eventually suggested we come out to his house one month, and it was out there for a while, then last time, K said why don't we meet out at her place. I usually do not mind that wherever it is held, I am the cook, but I do not care to provide the food when it is being held somewhere else. Somehow that rubs me the wrong way.

Anyway, on Saturday, Papu asked us what we were doing on Sunday. He announced he wanted to take us to buy a stove. E told him we liked one at Lowes that was between $500 and $600, and that we just kept dropping the priority of it for other things. He said he would be over at 11 and we could use his truck and go pick it up. This was followed by the discussion of money being tight for all of us, and he said he had gotten an increase on his credit card and wanted to do something nice for us because we had been doing so much for him.

We went to the Lowes down the street and saw that the stove, a stainless and black, ceramic cooktop, stainless and black Frigidaire classic series was $547. He said "Well, let's do it!"

We discovered that it was out of stock, but the guy told us they had it at the next closest location just 10 minutes or so away. We drove there and picked it up. The stove guy at the second store was just not as pleasant as the stove guy at the first store. But we got the stove and were on our way. Of course, when we got it home we discovered that we had a four prong outlet and not a three, so I had to go back to Lowes, the closer one, and exchange the power cord we bought.

I got home pretty quickly and Papu began the hooking up. It seemed to be more of an ordeal than it should have been, but he did manage to get it done. After taking off the back covering... Once it is all in place, E opens the dishwasher door, and there is not quite enough clearance. She had measured this before, but we had not given it further thought. The stove has to sit about a half inch or less beyond the edge of the wall for the dishwasher door to fully open, and this just really rubs E the wrong way. Having seen the back off of the stove, and all the room that is back there, she decided that she will cut the back so that the plug can recess. then the stove can be flush to the wall, and in place squarely so that the dishwasher door has clearance. I am not sure I like the idea, but it will happen and I will get used to it I suppose. At least the ground did finally get hooked up.

I mentioned at the store that this means we can host Thanksgiving this year, and Papu said he seconds the idea. I am not sure that that goes as much to my cooking as it does to us being a closer drive than K, but I would say it is likely 50/50 for him. I am curious to see if K commits to coming, and then what the eventual happening will be.

I also decided that there will be fabulous holiday baking this year. Martha Stewart move over.

A new stove. It's a good thing.

I woke up this morning from a dream about E and I going to Englishtown with my father. This is not something that is going to happen, but it was weird, because we are our current ages and he was about 55. He is 75, so it was just a little bizarre. We were seeing Englishtown as I remember it, not as it is today, which is just not as good. If it is not the biggest flea market in the US, it was at one time. There are acres and acres of yardsale junk, as well as legitimate vendors with anything and everything you can imagine, and trucloads of (likely) stolen goods. I wish it was somewhere I could visit often, but it is in NJ. I am hoping that we can go when we visit in October. We can get up Sunday morning and drive down.

I know it will be different as I have not been myself in about 20 years. My memories of it are from thirty years ago, so there is no illusion about it having changed. My aunt no longer works for the pocketbook vendor, who likely IS still there. She is in her eighties now. I am sure you can no longer get Chuck Taylors for eight bucks a pair, but if I get there, and if they are available at all, I might have to get a pair anyway.

I am hoping there is still a fresh peanut vendor roasting on the premises and I am hoping that Walt still has a food stand selling Taylor pork roll sandwiches.

I doubt my aunt will be up to going as the dusty grounds are not amicable to her lung transplant, but perhaps my cousins might want to make the trip. Of course, it might be better if they do not. E and I can then enjoy it more for the experience.

It is hard to not have expectations about it as the memories are from so long ago. Not only is it something I have somehow romanticized, it is something that has changed a lot in thirty years. I still want to go.

I just remembered another aspect of the Paris leg of our European vacation. We walked up an extraordinary hill on our way up to Mont Marte. About halfway up there was a bakery on a street corner, and we ventured inside. We had already been a week in Zurich and I had found my French quite useful. Most everyone there speaks some, if not fluent, English, but in PAris, I slipped into a near fluency, thinking and transacting in French. It surprised me a little as it had been nearly ten years since I had used it. Seeing the movie last night reminded me of the ease of transition. Now I really want to go back!!

The same four of us who went to Europe will be traveling to NYC in October. Should be in for a treat. I cannot wait to get back to Dean & DeLuca, Kate's Papers, and the Eileen Fisher store. Also I read about another paper store called Papivore, I think. I am going to start my research tonight.

We went this evening to an advance screening of Le Divorce which had a really good ensemble cast. Kate Hudson, Glenn Close (who was absolutely stunning), Stockard Channing, Matthew Modine, Bebe Newirth, Sam Waterson (I think that is his name), as well as many others whose work I might not be familiar enough with for name recognition.

I remember a few years ago picking up the book at B&N as a possible read. Not sure why I did not get it.

I thought the movie was nicely done though at one point about two thirds through it was feeling rather long. Regardless of that, I really liked the feeling of life in Paris and all the cultural differences. It definitely made me want to return for an extended period of time if that is ever possible.

My first visit to Paris was in 1999 with my girlfriend and her sister and a friend of her sister. We took a two week girls trip to Switzerland and had a fabulous time. While we were there, we were fortunate enough to spend 28 hours in Paris.

My girlfriend's sister's (K) husband, effectively my brother-in-law had a good school chum living in Paris at the time of our visit. He was the general mgr for 3M Europe at the time. We flew into Paris early in the day on Saturday and he met us at the airport to take us to our hotel. He then waited for us to check in and took us to our first stop, dropping us off with directions to his house via metro. He dropped us at Pere le Chez(sp?) Cemetary. We walked around finding the tombs of the famous, including Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison. I cannot remember who else, but I have some less than remarkable photos of the place.

After the cemetary, we split up. E and I went to the Eiffel Tower, and K and her friend went to Notre Dame I think. E had been before and done the Eiffel I think, but she wanted me to see whatever I wanted to see. I told her we could visit the Louvre (she is an artist, remember), but she said since she had already been to Europe and seen most of the touristy stuff it was for me to pick. Knowing we were only to be there 28 hours, I chose the Tower. There was no way I would be my first time in Paris and not go up the Tower!

The line was long, but it was a cool sunny day. When we first arrived in the square we had crepes from a street vendorwith Nutella and bananas, but after we were in line a bit we realized we were still hungry. E went and grabbed us a ham baguette and it served to tide us over until dinner. The view from the top was spectacular and I could have stayed up there all day were it not so windy.

After the Tower, we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We were to meet up with our host at his house and he and his wife took us to dinner at a quaint local restaurant. We were seated and the drinking began. Between us we drank 4 bottles of wine and 2 of champagne, as well as various mixed drinks and brandy after dessert. the meal was 4 course, and fabulous, and really the entire experience was very bohemian and pleasant. We had been there for nearly four hours and were all feeling no pain. Despite our inebriated state, we were all surprised when the bill was only about $50 US per person.

After dinner, Don took us to Harry's bar, one of Hemingway's regular haunts, and then to some Irish pub where he went with K's husband. I had to teach the bartenders there how to mix a margarita.

It was a most memorable night, and we had the most gracious hosts. The following morning we hauled our asses out of bed to go to Mont Marte, where artists gather to create and hawk their wares. We bought two lovely small pieces and sat with a glass of wine at a cafe on the square. Also while up there we walked around outside Sacre Coeur and listen to two Chinese men with guitars performing the song by Four Non Blondes What's Up(What's Going On)in French. That struck me as particularly funny.

I made the conscious decision today that some thoughts will go to a paper journal. I am still not sure which thoughts, but I have several new blank journals begging to be used, and when I see them on sale I really cannot resist, so I figure it is something ingrained and best to not fight it with sensibilities and online convenience. I bought some hot colored pens I have been wanting, and I might make it part scrap book style, though nothing really crafty and pretty, but rather a grass roots whatever catches my eye at the moment type of personalization, and no more hearing my inner voice of reason saying I am too old for such a thing.

I think this might mean back to the book bag again, too, or maybe that cute blue plaid tote I like, if I still have it. Definitely feels like a grrly period emerging, which likely means the funk is lifting. Let's have a party!!

I grew my hair out on my last grrly period, I think I will not be making that mistake again any time soon, but maybe it is time to once again see Mimi fr some durable yet elegant French overlays, a lovely enhancement to my natural nails. I suppose that can wait until I am once again gainfully employed. As to that, I might have made an impulse decision today to apply at The Chocolate Bar. They are expanding and hiring someone, so I am going to take tomorrow morning to tweak up my resume. Hold good thoughts...

I have just added links to my library and to a work in progress page. Both need updating and I think I will be working on this over the next few weeks. Every once in a while, the text on those pages wraps and makes no sense, but I have found if I refresh, the pages are fine.

So as I said earlier, we went to meet E's brother and dad for lunch at Lupe's, which if I had linked in my earlier post, I would have known does not open until 5:30 PM on Saturday. Just a little late for lunch if you ask me.

Since we discovered they were closed, we drove down the freeway a couple of exits, a mile or so if you aren't at all familiar with Houston, and had lunch at Pappasitos, certainly my favorite anyway, though Lupe's is always a fine second. It was as always, fabulous, and E's son even enjoyed some beef enchiladas.

We then drove the hour to her sister's house up in Spring, just the other side of town really. I think J was supposed to meet us there to swim and relax, but he was about an hour or so later than we were, and K was getting ready to go tail gate it at the first pre-season Texans game. For her to be able to do this, I had agreed to babysit her two year old son, B. He is a hoot, and always fairly well behaved for us. We lest K's house about 4, and brought B home with us.

We feel it is our jobs as favored Aunties to corrupt him, within reason of course. The last time we had him for the day we went to the mall to kill some time. There is a carousel there and he rode it with E, thoug he would not get on a horse. He was mesmerized by all the colors, and as long as he could sit with her in Cinderella's coach (or somebody's coach), and not forced to ride a damn horse, he was fine, and even enjoyed it. Today he would "pet" one of the horses, but still is not ready to mount on up.

After the carousel, we find something he will eat. The food court is rather extensive so there are plenty of options, but he has a very limited palate still, though his mom is usually amazed at what he will eat for me. Tonight it was nuggets and fries from Chick-Fil-A. Last time we went, it was fries and soft serve ice cream at McD's.

My theory about him eating better for me than he does for his folks is that they passify him with animal cookies a lot, so he is less hungry. Maybe he does not get them as much at home, but when we are all visiting together, it seems he gets a steady stream of snackies to keep him from fussing, usually animal cookies, kix, grahams, with the occasional banana or grapes thrown in. And he is a junkie for boxed mac-n-cheese, but who isn't really.

After some dinner, we head on to the toystore. The one at this mall is a KB, and in my opinion, sucky. When we took B there the last time, he was in awe of the place. He had a dumbstruck look on his face, and I could just tell he had never been to a toy store. E said no way, surely he had been repeatedly by now. I asked his mom, and she said are you nuts? No way! We headed straight to the Hot Wheels, and he picked one right away. I went further down the aisle and found the multi packs and asked B what he thought of the yard of cars, a 5 pack that was a yard long. He saw it and immediately dropped what was in his hand and took the yard of cars. We repeated this a few times, and he returned three times to the yard of cars. Tonight it was more of the same and we got another yard-o-cars. I think three or four more trips and he will have all of them.

Of course, as soon as we leave the store, the cars are opened and he clutches the five of them to his chest as if they are his most prized possessions. Next to "Baby", his stuffed Cocker Spaniel he sleeps with, they are. Just try to relieve him of even one of his cars and you will regret it.

After the mall, it was off to make an appearance at a friend's birthday party. We were really too tired to stay longer, but also, at just the right moment, B's allergies began to show. We stayed about an hour or so and visited all around. It is always good to see them, but there are always a lot of people we really do not know well at their parties, so we do not usually stay too long.

After all of the above, I was able to revisit getting a two year old ready for bed. He is amicable to the process, certainly, but it is something I have not had to do for about 10 years or so. Time for bed myself now!!

Well...I had 5 of the best margaritas ever last night and a few draft beers as well. Now E thinks it took her brother coming to town to get me the most fucked up she has ever seen me. I certainly was not driving, and I was not so totally gone that I do not recall anything, but I am glad her dad and brother left before my last two margaritas. We had an enjoyable dinner and we are soon off to have lunch at Lupe's.

At 12:30...103 degrees...the a/c is pumping and yes, I am feeling just a little of the clamminess coming on...a little...less...

I was up until about midnight last night, which is not unusual, especially after getting plenty of sleep the night before in addition to a 2 hour nap and a restful day. I slept through until about seven this morning and was both alert and ready to be awake. I have been so groggy in the mornings since this crud I am currently dealing with has set in. I also had a night with no hot flash/night sweats. How refreshing is that? And as yet this morning, knocking wood, no clamminess. Of course it is terribly premature to think it has passed, and I am not so foolish as to hope it would disappear as mysteriously as it arrived, whatever "it" is.

I meet another of my girlfriend's siblings this afternoon. J is in town for the weekend and we pick him up at 3 from the airport. Then it is on to St. Pete's Dancing Marlin for the best margaritas ever while we drink and wait for the rest of the local family to arrive from after work. J is the final family installment for me to meet. I was somewhat nervous meeting her other brother, and for no reason, and I have known her sister from the beginning, so I consider this but a formality. The family dynamics are a hoot.

My morning is flashing past as I have stumbled into two ER reruns that I have never seen before.

It is 9 pm and it is still 94 degrees outside. The high today was 106. I suppose that is in part why I felt like crap most of the day. Insufferable.

I decided this evening that I will have the doc do some blood work to see that my thyroid is behaving and also for her to check my iron. Both things are on the good side of borderline, but I know the doc would like me to be taking an iron supplement. She said it is fine not too as long as I do not have any symptoms recurring associated with iron deficiency. I have recently just had a general feeling of malaise, but some minor dizziness has been present too, so blood work seems to be in order.

Other than that is anything new? Umm...no.

I learned this evening that it is a bad thing to roll your eyes at the Brother Where Art Though cd as it plays in the car because it somehow leads to Judy Collins as a compromise.

After the Brother cd, it was Dance Hall Crashers, then Jonathan Richman and James Taylor, then the famed Judy Collins. I admit to finding Jonathan Richman tolerable in a catchy beat sort of way, and I appreciate the song we were blessed with, I Went Dancing In A Lesbian Bar. It is hilarious and I do like it. Ooh, ooh, ooh...But that is where my appreciation ends. After a couple songs from him we were consoled with something easy to listen to, James Taylor. Him, I really do not mind except when I am treated to Carolina On My Mind again and again...and again.

So somewhere after a few JT songs, ye olde Judy Collins was put on. Dreadful. Worse than the Carpenters I was recently bitching about.

Anyway, we went tonight to see Lucia, Lucia. It was most excellent. Anyone fancying themselves some sort of writer should go see it. Suspense, humor, love...it's all in there. I cannot wait til I can buy the video. It better go to video! I have not enjoyed a movie this much in a while. See it!!

First stop on the Kyoto search, and they are sold out. I did not want to buy them anyway, but wanted to verify size, so the sales clerk told me that they are narrow and run small. I have 2 more places I want to check before I order them online.

While at the mall, I picked up 3 new sleeveless, collared button down shirts...WOO!

Yawn...I am so awake this morning and i slept lousy. That combination does not often happen. It is a week of full evenings and choices to be made that if two cars are running, would be a no brainer. Hopefully I will find out today that my car is not in need of anything major. I am going to take it to the Firestone we like for inspection and ask them to look and see if it is a fuel pump issue I am having or what. And hopefully, nothing else major comes up during inspection. That is, of course, *IF* I can get it started to get it there. What a pain in the ass this is becoming. The car is a 96 Jeep Cherokee, but has just under 70,000 miles, so I am hopoing it is nothing major all around.

After that, I am hoping to find the Nike Kyoto to try on. Oprah has hyped it on her O list, and it looks to be just the thing I am looking for. If you follow the link you need to click on shop, then yoga, and the Kyoto is there on that page. I am not sure how new or old this shoe is, so finding it in my size is the key. I have found it online for only $19.99, but only through size 9. I have worn Nike's most often, but my size with them is inconsistent and ranges from 9-10.5, so I will go on the hunt first to know I am ordering the proper size the first time.

There really isn't too much else going on today. The choices for this evening are Yoga or a free screening of Lucia, Lucia. I think yoga wins out for E, but the timing is such that we can do both if I drop her at yoga, then go pick up the passes for the movie, then pick her back up, then go back to the movies. Just a bit of cross town traffic to contend with, and rush hour at that. Yoga at 5:30-7, tickets need to claimed by 6:30, and the movie is not til 7:30. Certainly doable, just how much do we want to see this movie. I supose I could go look for more info on the movie to know if I really want to see it or not.

Time for me to be off to yoga...

I have filed away wKen's answer to my question of what to wear. I do not know why I did not think to "wear nothing!" That man is so profound. I wish he was still running for president, because I am convinced he is exactly what out country needs. A president not afraid to talk about fucking would be such a delight. Think of the ratings his state of the union addresses would grab. It would definitely be history in the making.

I did not accomplish much of anything today, but I did enjoy the laziness of the day. I went to see a local mystery author tonight at the library. She gave a little talk about how the internet has truly changed the process of getting published, and how it can be a good thing if you use it to your advantage. There were about 10 people there, mostly mom's with teenage kids, and it was good inspiration that if a woman who insists on doing "Goggle searches" can get published without an agent, that perhaps I can too.

I suppose that means I have some work to do!!

Plenty of options and nothing to wear. How does this happen? How does one resolve this?

Last night I slept the sleep of the dead. I was watching Stripperella, and it was all I could do to make it to the end of the show. As it went off at 10:30, I promptly got up and leashed Nola to go for her evening trip up the block. I told my girlfriend I was going so she could join me with her dog. I would normally just take both of them myself, but I knew inherrantly that i was nearly asleep already, and that we might not make it back in one piece if I had both dogs.

We walked up the block in out normal fashion, and as we headed home, Nola and I fell further and further behind. I was beginning to feel hot and clammy, my eyes exceedingly heavy. If I could have ripped off my t-shirt on the way home, I certainly would have. Thinking about it now, I really have to wonder what it was that stopped me. As I walked through the door, my shirt was off before I unleashed Nola, before my girlfriend was through the door behind me.

My bra had been removed earlier during my tv watching, and my shorts and panties followed as i walked down te hall toward the bedroom. I was just so hot. I nudged the thermostat cooler as I passed it, and somehow my ass found the toilet seat so I could pee before sleep. The coolness of the toilet was refreshing, as was the feeling of my bare feet on the tile floor. I know I sat there longer than necessary, and luckily I remembered to blot before I got up.

I floated over to the bed and uncerimoniously dropped, face down, onto my pillows. The a/c was blasting away and I was directly under the ceiling fan. I was asleep in seconds.

This morning, E mentioned she was able to go back to sleep after the 4 am outburst. I am in general a very light sleeper, and I totally have no recollection of the canine uprising. I do not recall the 6 am alarm, only the 8 am urge to haul my ass to pee. I am usually back from taking E to work by 8 am so there was something disconcerting to seeing her laying there still asleep at 8 am. As I flushed, she sat up and looked at me, clearly confused at the amount of daylight in the room. Yes, I told her, it is Friday. She was showered and out the door in less than thirty minutes.

I was quite rested, but went back to sleep anyway. Oh the grace of morning dreams. I was moving into a new place. It was a loft of sorts and Nola was joining me. My folks were hauling stuff for me, they live nowhere near enough nor are they of an age to be doing this. E was helping me set things up and there were things that are definitely hers, though she was not to be a resident. There was a lovely party of friends to celebrate me being settled into my new space. There were high ceilings, lots of windows, and red brick walls. There was a lot of red everywhere.

Not only were all my friends from various locations present, but my net friends, many of whom I have never met, were present. In addition, All the food channel celebs were mingling amidst my own personal royalty. It was vivid. It was real.

My thoughts of this dread have crossed over into my waking hours.