Busy next couple of days

So, that brewhahaha is over for another year. Next year is a milestone-ish one, though. 55. What was once the national speed limit. The year that a lot of "senior" discounts kick in. Watch that change next year to 60, since, 50 is the new 30 or some sort of blather like that. But I did have a pleasant birthday. A couple of birthday cards (maybe 4, actually), a present or two (Thank you Juliet and Rosanne and Ernst and Betty), a bit of self-pampering and indulging - I still have two thirds of a pizza in my fridge - does pizza freeze well? (I am leaning towards no.) Yay.

But I didn't escape from my two jobs at all. I spent two hours on Smith Stuff yesterday - tempted to charge them quadruple over time - except that they (we) are not fiscally well endowed currently (all donations accepted). And I did not figure out how to get respite from caring for my mom. Who, by the way, still seems at a plateau. I like plateaus. I don't like the slippage from one plateau down to another too much - c'est fromage.

Starting today, the Studio for the Performing Arts is bringing their rendition of Sleeping Beauty (the ballet) to the Smith. Huzzuh. I am not too worried about it. I have help today and over the weekend (not enough help but lots better than none). Friday, I don't think I have anyone helping. Oh well. We will all survive. Theatre (and life) are that way.

Oh, a quick clarification - one of my readers thought that Rosanne was the name of the masseuse. Her name was Barbara. Rosanne is a great friend of mine (and lots of other people I am sure).

Lots of time for the Smith today. Mom seems to have survived, so it is ok. And the weather has turned frightful. Big rain and lots of wind. I guess the jet stream is wiggling around still. Sigh.

Yay excitement

Yesterday was a day, much like any other. After my lack of sleep night, I did have to actually do quite a bit of Smith work - including two times when I needed to be actually not at home.

The first went swimmingly - I went down primarily to make sure that the kiosk and the computer were talking - the nano bridge lost connectivity again. While I was trying to figure out which end had gotten confused, I noticed that a poster had been put up in the window - effectively blocking the Line of Sight necessary between the two nano bridge device thingies. Sigh. Got that handled, rebooted or reset the nano bridges and voila! Presto! Abracadabra! It worked.

The second, fine as well - Kelly and I had our weekly meeting to talk about the week's events, the month's events, next month's events, etc. After that I headed to the grocery store. In total, gone for a about an hour and a half. As I came down the hill to my house I saw what I always dread to see - an ambulance sitting outside our house. When I got inside, two policemen and two EMTs were there talking with my mom. They had been there about 10 minutes - about how long my drive from the grocery store to my house is (especially with Pulteney street being closed to through traffic by the colleges - grrrrr). I had two calls on my phone - neither of which had registered on my consciousness - I don't listen for my phone when I am driving - one from the Geneva Police - one from Bosey - both letting me know that mom had called 911 because she didn't know where she was. Joy and rapture.

So, she is ok - I think she was thrilled with all the attention from big strapping guys. She was more than a little disappointed when they all left. (One reason why I think she might be better in assisted living - maybe more social interaction.) (Yes, I have looked into day care for her - $150 for 4 hours - yup, that'll happen). Sadly, Karl (my brother) had called at some point and left a message - for some reason (could be any number of them) she hadn't picked up. That would have mitigated things I think. Anyway, it happened and life goes on. I just hope I don't get another $300 bill from the ambulance company just because they showed up at the door. But I will, I am sure.

Months and months ago, I bought a phone for mom's bedroom, that is designed to let her make calls by clicking on a picture - but if she doesn't recognize people in pictures, not sure that will help. It does, though have the feature of programmable buttons - which it turns out I can't do on my phone because it is VOIP and not regular phone service. Sigh. I need to find a regular phone line and program the phone on that - according to the nice man with the British accent I woke up this morning - why he answered his tech support line when he was still asleep is anyone's guess...apparently the phone has some flash memory in it and I can program it anywhere and then plug it into mom's phone line in her bedroom. Until that gets sorted - no phone for mom when I am not here.

It was nice talking with Bosey! Mom spoke with her for a few minutes - which was a smidge heartbreaking.

Thank you all who read this blog - thank you for those who comment here and on Facebook, send me private messages etc. I am about to start down the road of more professional care for mom - what form that will take is anyone's guess at this point - more in home care, maybe placement in a "memory care" unit of an assisted living place. I just don't know. This afternoon I am calling our lawyer to find out what I can from him. Monday I have an appointment with mom's GP. And after I speak with him, I am going to look into the assisted living place here in Geneva. I am also going to talk with the people who provide my aide and see if they have other staff and offer more professional in home care. Yippee!

Meanwhile, I have to be at the Smith three times today - not for a long time each time - but at least an hour at least once. First time to meet a potential new worker and to do some set up for an event tonight. Then tonight, meet with my staff member and the event host to get them off on the right foot. And then back again to help with a  discussion/talk back after the movie. The later two times I hope to only be gone for an hour or so each time. How much trouble can mom get into in an hour? Usually none at all - but sometimes...

New Obsession

Who hasn't had at least one or two obsessions in their lives? Not addictions, at least, not in my case. I don't think I have ever been addicted to anything. Obsessed? Sure. Lots of times. The good thing about obsessions in my life thus far, is that they often end and that they haven't been particularly life threatening. My new current obsession is a teeny game on my iPhone called Word Jigsaw. I may even splurge on it and buy the pro package. We shall see. Right now, I am thoroughly enjoying playing the medium size - over and over and over again. Each game seems a little different and they last between 25 seconds or so to 5 minutes or so depending on how difficult I find them.

Nice day yesterday, besides a Smith SNAFU. The sound system didn't want to work, though it eventually did. After I had to let everyone go home. Sigh. Other than that, though, I had a pleasant day.

It started off with hot chocolate with a friend. Yes, an actual hot beverage. One of the few that I will occasionally enjoy. At Opus. I don't go there a lot, but have never had a bad experience there. I do sometimes still miss the Asian restaurant that was there, though...

I did a little grocery shopping (actually asked the scarf receiver to send me a selfie of her wearing the thing - though I doubt that will ever happen), bought a new pair of kitchen scissors (though these too have plastic handles - sigh) and partook of all sorts of free samples of food stuffs at Wegman's.

The time at home was pretty pleasant, too. Mom ate her lunch easily. I played her music on a CD player - our new thing. Napped a little (didn't sleep particularly well for whatever reasons). I did some work on the puzzle (no picture today), cleaned the kitchen, later heated up leftovers - I really need to pull the trigger and get a new to the house stove. I can't decide whether to go for Lowes and a new, new one - or go to Universal Appliance and get a refurbished one. I am leaning towards UA because they are local and weird. We shall see on Monday or Tuesday. Later, I let mom watch Doc Martin while I went to my room and watched the second Percy Jackson movie. I tried to find out if the third was scheduled, but apparently it was canned. Oh well. The PJ movie was decent - as long as one had no expectations of great art.

I keep forgetting that tomorrow (Monday) is a holiday. I hope an aide comes, since we didn't have one on Friday...

Glutton for punishment

What a great phrase! I think it was something that my mom used to say. I don't know where she got it. Anyway, I think I do enjoy torturing myself, just a little. Not in a hair shirt, cat-o-nine tails sort of way. But in a - must-watch-every-episode-of-Doctor-Who sort of way. I was hoping that there would be a complete collected Doctor Who set out there somewhere. If there is, I can't find it. Anyone? The next best thing would have been to find them all on Netflix. Nope. But what they did have was 18 episodes (average of 4 shows per episode) with a bunch of the first set of doctors. No rhyme or reason that I could tell on how they chose what to put up, but I will admit to having watched them all. Finally. It took me a while. And I also must admit, that I enjoyed them! Yay!

A year ago, mom and I were on a major trip across the country. We had just landed in Boise, Idaho. I am, again, trying to catch up with my brewpub blog, but it is hard work: finding the pictures and dredging from my brain any recollections I might have about the different places. Sigh. Beer and memory, not always a great combination!

My friends Ellen and David are nearby for a wedding. Hopefully we will get together later today. I offered to drive them to the airport.

Finally finished Water for Elephants! Took me a long while as I was listening to it only in the car. Then I broke down, found yet another cd player in the house and put it in the kitchen so I could listen while I cooked and cleaned. Yay! So glad that the book was recommended to me. I did mostly enjoy the movie - but the book was, not surprisingly, even better. Makes me sad once again that I didn't try to join Ringling Brothers for a year or two long ago. Sigh.

Mom is bloodthirsty! Last night while watching Monkey Business, we were visited by a moth. Mom wanted to kill it. Rather she wanted me to kill it. I refused. Eventually, it came to rest on mom's ice cream container (she had brought it out to finish it) so I took it out and let the moth go free. Monkey Business was entertaining, but not great. A B&W from the 1952 starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers with a supporting role played by Marilyn Monroe. Who knew that Cary Grant could do a cartwheel?!

Blog blog blog blog blog

Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. Apparently that is a valid sentence. Yay! Blog blog blog blog blog isn't. Though Blog blog might be a correct sentence fragment.

Some of you may be surprised to hear that I actually do have friends. One of them, a good one even, is interested in astrology and offered to do my chart. Little did I know that I would get 600 pages of information! Eeeek! I have started to read through it. I find it interesting and stimulating. Interesting when I find good things, stimulating when I find not so good things. I am curious, though, what happens when two different parts contradict each other. One part will say that I am not a good critical, logical thinker and then a few paragraphs later it will say that I am too logical and critical a thinker. Maybe they cancel each other out. Maybe I just don't think at all...

My brother and his family are arrived last night at about two in the morning. There were up at 8 this morning. I don't know how my brother survives with 6 hours of sleep or less, a night. Goodness.

Nothing too exciting transpired yesterday. I did eventually make up beds for the visiting hordes. And cooked breakfast for dinner, as I often do on Sundays. This time it was bacon, waffles (frozen blueberry gluten free - surprisingly ok as long as you take them for what they are and not really waffles...) hash browns and eggs - over hard for mom, over easy for me. I like my yokes running around the plate peeping. (Ok, maybe not such a good image.)

All About Mom - not really...

This is starting off as a post about Mom  - but I am sure other stuff will drift in - it usually does.

The other night, a few of my mother's personalities were flitting around. Sadly, not the happy, pleasant ones for the most part. There are a few of those. She can be charming, funny, interesting, interested. The other night, not so much.

One of the things that Mom does sometimes is make mean little comments. One is about dying my hair - subtle mom. Another is when she sees someone who is slightly overweight, she calls them fat people. Probably loudly enough to be heard. Sigh. And she likes to try (operative word) to make me feel guilty about doing anything outside of the house. She alternates saying that I need to get out so I can make some friends with telling me that I am abandoning her and leaving her to sit all alone at home. Sigh. She wants me to find a relationship, as long as it doesn't take anything away from the time I devote to her. Double sigh. I don't think she can compute that those are contradictory thoughts. And she thinks my brother looked sickly in the picture in the last note he sent to her. He does look sallow and gaunt, but who wouldn't with the schedule he keeps and three kids under 5 at home. Eeek!

Sometimes, I do think I am evil. I am sympathetic towards my mom most of the time in most ways. She has owies, I bandage them and try to say assuaging things. I try to be sympathetic towards her Alzheimer's. But when we go places, I just have a really, really hard time being sympathetic about her inability to be active. I rationalize this by thinking of the choices that she has made and continues to make about her physical health. She does no exercise and takes no responsibility for her breathing issues after smoking for 40 years. One of my pet peeves is people (I include myself, because sometimes I do it too) who do not take any sort of responsibility for their life and where they find themselves at any given now. I am a huge proponent of the notion that "Life is Choice." And we choose what we can - and live with the consequences. And when something happens about which we seem to have no choice, we still have the choice of how to react to that something.

Moving on. Busy-ish day yesterday. Worked at The Smith doing the lights, sound and slide flipping for the Seneca Seven Run meeting. Fun stuff.

And I actually went out on a Saturday night. Luckily, Microclimate was not crowded - not a big one for crowds, am I. Had a few of my favorite of their beers - Moose Thunder - or Moose Poo - or Moo Poo while chatting with a nice group of people - most of whom work at Hobart and William Smith. Yay! Who knows, I might actually find some adult conversation more occasionally. That would be great! Baby steps.

Watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower last night. Overall I enjoyed it. Might even recommend it, though there were some oddities as well. And some might find it too painful in places. The woman, Emma Watson from the Harry Potter movies, was good - and I thought the guy who played Patrick was the same guy who was in the first 14 episodes of Misfits - but it wasn't. Still good, though.

Not So Desperately Seeking...

It would be nice to have friends. At least one or two more decent friends. I don't need a bevy of them. Right now, it feels like I have only one friend in Geneva. And he is leaving the area in August. I have lots of acquaintances. No problem making those. And lots of people with whom I am friendly. I am, after all, fairly gregarious. But no one to hang out with once or twice a month. I am thinking of asking a bartender I know if she wants to be friends. Sounds and feels a little desperate to me, though. Problem is, I don't really have a life. And without a life it is hard to create bonds that lead to friendship. Sigh. Most people make friends at their work. Well, my mom is my work for the most part. And others I work with are transient - they come into the Smith and then go on their merry ways. Like a woman I had a crush on (sadly married so I had to stop even having a crush on her). More sighs. Moving on...

Peter and The Wolf is history! Good turnout for their second performance. The show went smoothly - no major goofs that I noticed. And strike went very quickly and smoothly. I mostly coiled microphone cable - and measured it - few of the cables were labeled as to their length. The company and their minions did most of the work of chopping down their big set piece - the tree! And they did a great job of cleaning up after themselves. All in all an easy and good experience with them at The Smith Opera House.

At home, I wimped out, again, on major cooking. I want to make a deviled egg recipe that I found - and haven't managed to accomplish yet. It has been at least a week since I first found it and thought of making it. I did toss some brownies in the oven, though. Go me. And created a dinner of left overs. Yay! I love making a dinner from leftovers. Easy and tasty. Tonight might be another such - though I do have to get some sort of leafy green. Oh, and I want to make macaroni and cheese - a good yummy one - not the kind one gets in a box. And top it with Cheetos. Not because I love Cheetos - I don't actually eat them - but it is a bit of a running joke on My Health.com's Daily Challenge. I sometimes work Cheetos into the answer for a challenge - especially when they have absolutely no reason to be there. The latest was when they asked us to use an herb or spice in a new dish and I suggested using Cheetos as a topping for macaroni and cheese. So I want to do it and post a picture and see if anyone from DC (Daily Challenge, not the Capital of the US) reads that blog post...

Eeek! We get a new home health aide today. I am all a' twitter (not the social media site) about her visit. Will she be someone that mom will get along with? I highly doubt it - so I can hopefully be pleasantly surprised!

Throbbingly Thursday

This title seems repetitive. Hmm - Thoroughly Thursday - well, if I change it, it won't seem repetitive? Not feeling creative just yet - we will see what the morning brings. (Changed the title)

Summerhill asked in a comment if Diary of a Plate Addict is available on Amazon. Yes, yes it is. But it is full cost on Amazon, though it is a good place to look at the book more in depth - it has inner pages and other things. The best place to get the book is from Renotto Press - because if you order it from there I can actually sign the book and personalize it for you. As with most things, though, the choice is yours! Yay choice!

Thursday dawned blue and cool here in Raleigh, NC. I had a chat with the owner/manager (not sure how Econolodges work - but I think it is sort of a franchise deal) about my interaction with one of his staff members. I am still thinking of filing a formal complaint about the guy. Wow - really pushed my buttons. Maybe we are that much alike? Nope. Or at least I hope not. Especially when I am in a service sort of position. Great way to start the day!

My plan was simple - have as relaxing a day as possible. We have been going pretty much non-stop since we got here and I think it is taking a toll on mom. She is, as I am, for different reasons I am sure, eager to get back to Geneva. For her it will be the comfort of being in her house and not living out of a suitcase, for me it is seeing, er, people. It will be a long, uphill drive tomorrow (for some reason, driving North "feels" like going uphill) but it will also feel a bit like going down hill. Weird. All this is to say, I didn't really want to do a lot yesterday. So, we didn't.

Got mom some coffee at Awful (Waffle) House - at least the coffee isn't too bad apparently. Mom was tired and wanted to sleep in the car, so I left her to sip her coffee while I checked out GPS devices at Best Buy at Glenwood. I am learning more! Tom Tom is still ranking high - though one of the Garmin's that I saw I liked a good bit too. One of the features I am looking for is the ability to see what the next few actions are going to be - so I can see if the route is one that I like or so that I can be better prepared. There was a very nice young woman there who took time to show me how to work the Garmin - she was as helpful as the in store guy James. Thank you Jennifer! Have fun with your toaster! :)

I went and got mom out of the car and we went to Barnes and Noble. Mom wanted to leave with five or six books, but I managed to talk her down. It was tough, cause if I had had the money, I would have bought five or six of their special edition collections that are now on sale - Collected Twain, Collected Verne, Poe, Austen all sorts of great things. Sigh. She also wanted the latest Scarpetta Novel - but I think we are going to get it on Amazon. We shall see.

Next stop, lunch - at McCormick and Schmick's - for those of you who don't know, this is a higher end Seafood chain that started in Seattle, I believe. Nope - I just looked at the Website - Portland Oregon was where they began. Well, the first place I saw one was in Seattle, for what that is worth...I figured mom deserved a treat - we had mussels as an appetizer - not awesome but good. She had a cup of soup and I had a huge cobb salad! I could only eat about half without it starting to come out of my ears! Really yummy and cool looking.

To keep us having a relaxing day, we headed back to the hotel for a couple hours of rest and relaxation before another brutal stint at the Saucer. I hope mom got some napping accomplished - I played a bit.

Then, off to the Saucer. We were trying something different last night - putting me at a table up near the front of the bar. I was hoping for lots and lots of people to come up and talk to me. Sadly, that wasn't the case. But despite the lack of foot traffic, it was a good day of sales! The most important one was a sale to Stephanie - a home office/trainer manager sort. I have met Stephanie a few times over the years. She remembers me while it takes me a minute to figure out who she is. First thing she did was buy a copy of the book. Then, throughout the night, she promoted it - that didn't lead to any sales that I am aware of - but she did listen to my tale of lack of corporate support/woe and said she would see what that was all about when she got back to Texas. She liked the book and thought, as I do, that it would do well in their merchandise cases. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a shift in corporate policy...anything is possible. A few random people bought copies - one woman, Wendi, bought a copy for her husband - who is plate number 36 at the Raleigh Saucer and was overjoyed to do so! How great is that? Another guy bought one just because he chatted a bit with me. And the Saucer is going to buy some for the managers. Yippee!

Poor mom had to sit at my table all by herself. Unlike me (well, at least now) she felt uncomfortable sitting there with all the crowds eying her empty seats. I think a few people went and talked with her, but still, it wasn't optimal for her.

I saw a couple of friends - Grace came again with her "friend" Richard. Emily also came by with a friend from some state called Pennsylvania (never heard of it). And I saw lots of acquaintances - none of whom bought books. Whatever. Their loss.

We finally got out of there after I took a last minute credit card sale - yay paypal! - and headed to Eric and Nancy's for dinner. It was so kind of them to offer. It made a tremendous change from eating out all the time. Nancy's lasagna was yummy! And we got to talk without shouting! Their house is all decorated for Christmas and looks great! I hope that our tree looks 1/8th as nice!

Then, back home and sleep! Yippee!

Last day in Raleigh. I am planning a major, major culling of Facebook "friends" after this visit to Raleigh and I can hardly wait.

Photos from December 8, 2011: (Look anonymous, more pictures of me - aren't you thrilled?!)

At McCormick and Schmick's

Yummy lobster Cobb Salad!

All ready to tell people about the book!

Me and Grace!

Nancy's delicious lasagna!

Me, mom, Christmas Tree, Nancy and Eric - this could be a Christmas Card picture! :)

Wild Wednesday

We are just rocking Raleigh! Wild times abound here with my mom. Sadly, I haven't been able to convince her to go to a museum - too much walking - so, we just went to see another movie. Mom says that she should only go to see animated movies now, cause she doesn't understand other movies. We went to see Crazy, Stupid Love. I am a sucker for romantic comedies. This one was well scripted an mostly well acted. Sadly, Steven Carrell did some of his usual schtick that didn't always work for me in this movie. Overall, I liked it a good deal. Not one I would own, but happy to have seen it. And for only $2!

Next we went searching for food. I was hoping to have a sushi lunch, but did not stumble upon an open sushi place. They all seemed to close between lunch and dinner, well at least the two that I sought out and the one I passed (Tsune, Sushi Blues and Sushi Bistro(?)) We ended up at Bada Bing's pizza - yay! I love pizza. And there's was a pretty good recreation of NY Style thin crust street pizza! Yay! I even had a second piece. Woo hoo!

We headed to the Saucer for the 4th day in a row - only 2 more to go - yippee!! - and parked in one of my favorite locations - a little farther than the last couple of times, but that is ok. Got mom in and settled, and Jeff actually stapled a garland up so that mom would not have it at the back of her head! Yay Jeff! He thought that Wednesday was not a good day for a table up front. But he will let me be up there Thursday! Yippee! I got mom settled and got my books and prepared for another lackluster sales day. I did have the visits of some friends to look forward to...

I am torn about having to drag mom out to the Saucer everyday. She professes to be ok about it, but I think it must be tough on her. The place does get loud by the time we leave. And she isn't always the center of attention. She enjoys being the center of attention. And the way the tables are situated, it is hard to incorporate her when someone wants to talk with me. So I feel bad. I would feel worse, though, leaving her in the motel room by herself. Sigh. I don't know what is going to happen on future trips. Or if there will even be future trips. I will need to sit with Jeff and see what advice and thoughts he has for the future selling of Diary of a Plate Addict. He knows his fellow managers better than I do and how best to approach them and what efforts they might be capable of supporting. Anyway...

Two friends did show up - Grace and April - both of whom I have know for a bunch of years. The both seemed to be doing well, no major traumas or dramas going on in their lives. It was great to get a chance to hang out with them. Cate showed up and had her party for her second plate (she is working towards her fourth plate). And brought me the most amazing surprise. A cake with Diary of a Plate Addict on it - pictures below. I hope she had fun at her party - we didn't really get to hang out much. She had a good turnout. Mom and I bailed from the Saucer at about 8 and went in search of Sushi - finding Sushi blues was indeed open! We got my favorite - a spider roll - and a new favorite - the Jimmy V - which was a spider roll with crab on the outside too! Thank you Russell and Kim for suggesting it! We also had some miso soup. Yum city!

All in all, quite a day. And 7 copies of Diary of a Plate Addict were sold - most to people who I didn't actually know! How cool is that?!

Photos from December 7, 2011:

Mom and me - mom looking thrilled beyond compare

The awesome cake Cate got for me!

Me with my books and the cake!

Cate looking up at her about to be revealed plate - and the blonde woman who actually bought a copy of the book (Sue)

Our rolls from Sushi Blues - Yum!

Errands Galore!

Yay errands! I love running errands. Running being the operative word here - well, the gerund... anyway, I like having a list of things I need to do/buy/accomplish and heading out and doing, buying accomplishing those things. In the order (mostly) that I envisioned, in the time frame I set for myself. A plan that works out! Very satisfying. At least part of my day was satisfying...

So we got up and got out a reasonable time. First stop, coffee for mom - and other things - at Target. She let me park her with her coffee in the teeny cafeteria area while I ran around and got the things we needed. Well, we didn't really need a hippo pillow pet - but we got one anyway. She was thrilled! I wonder if she has forgotten it already and will be thrilled anew when I give it to her for the ride home. We shall see.

Next stop, the First Citizen's bank in NC. I didn't really have to stop there. I could have stopped in any branch and also could have just kept the money until I got to Geneva. But I wanted to see my old branch and some of the people that I have known for years. Luckily, my favorite teller, Diane, was there and we got a chance to chat a bit! Yay!

Then it was oil change/tire rotation time. I dropped mom at Bojangles and then took the car across the street to Just Tires. Mark was on duty and recognized me right away. He took the car and I went back to get some food with mom. Boy howdy do I miss the occasional Bojangles meal. It was as tasty as it usually is. I think mom enjoyed hers as well. In the line, I heard a familiar voice. Turns out I was correct - it was Leon, the person who used to do my yard work. I felt a smidge guilty since I stopped using him when Cate moved in - Cate had promised to mow the yard in partial payment for staying in the house. I am not good with things like that - telling people that I am moving on, changing services etc... Oh well. He was very nice - charmed my mom - he is 75 and solid. Does 15 lawns still. Goodness. And has prostate cancer! Eeek! He didn't seem too concerned - apparently there is a very effective new cryo-surgery that he will be having. Freaked me out, that's for sure.

Well, by that time the car was done, so mom and I headed to the house in Clayton. On the way we took a quick stop at Goodwill to buy mom a new sweater. The one she had brought was hole filled and quite stained. We left it with them to be ragged. Then, on to the house, for real.

I still love my house, even if it is teeny, crappily built and weirdly designed. Gee, sounds like me in some ways. Pekoe the Chihuahua and Greta the German Shepherd greeted me with open paws. They were a little leery of mom - ok, Pekoe was leery - Greta loves everyone indiscriminately. Pasha made an appearance looking for food. My main reason to be there was to fill up my water bottles, though I also wanted to see if there was anything that I could take with me to Geneva. I found a few movies, a tripod, an easel and a passel of mail. And I filled up 48 bottles of water with well water! Yippee!

Last scheduled stop was the Clayton Library. Miss Betty asked after my mom's health every time I stopped in, so I thought it only polite to re-unite them one more time. Miss Betty is retiring, so I am glad that I saw her. I also got to see Pam and Mardia (and Christian, Mardia's son). Great stuff! Gave the library a copy of the book! I doubt anyone but Pam will read it, but that is ok. I am very glad that we stopped there. Felt like old home week.

Then it was time to head to the Saucer - with a brief layover at the Best Buy to look for a new GPS. Sadly, no sales person could be found to talk with me about them, so I looked at a few and then left. I will try again, but it is not urgent.

The Saucer was fun - didn't sell many copies of Diary of a Plate Addict - see my writing blog - (or my kvetching blog post). Big news there - Kim drank her 1000th beer - making her the first female MOU at the Raleigh Saucer! Go Kim - she was given MOU card number 0100! Yay her!!

After the Saucer, mom and I headed to Five Star for food. I love that place and never went there enough when I was living in the area. If I had lived in Raleigh, I might have been a regular there. Oh well. I think mom enjoyed it.

All in all, a day full of fun and accomplishment.

Pictures from December 6, 2011:

My house

One bag filled, one to be filled

Kim's MOU #0100 card!

Five Star Food!

Flakes

Hate 'em. And I am not a hater. What, you may ask, or who, is a flake? Aha! A flake would probably not even ask that question. According to the urban dictionary - well, better to let the dictionary speak for itself - http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=flaky - So a person is a flake who acts in a flaky manner. In my world, this just seems to be a terrible thing to be. Most politicians are flakes. Sadly, it seems that most people on the planet are flakes at one time or another. And yes, I have been a flake, not proud of it and endeavor to not be one frequently. Just say no to being a flake. If you say you are going to do something, do it. If you are nice to me in private, be nice to me in public. If you are my friend, act like one - whether you are my friend in real life or even just a friend on Facebook. Urban dictionary again on friend - http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=friend. Yeah. Let's do that, rather than do the flake thing.