Horoscope for Hermits

Now this is my kind of horoscope. Stay home, do what I want, and think about stuff:

Yahoo's Horoscope for 5/31
You won't be too interested in what the outside world has to offer right now -- you'd much rather explore the ideas in your own mind. Creativity is an important part of who you are, and it is controlling your thought process right now. Your creative urge wants to take another look at all of those old concepts and wacky ideas you stuck back in the attic of your mind. There are some good thoughts in there -- isn't it time you fleshed them out a little bit more? Contemplation can be very productive.

Us Virgos get to kick back today. That's exactly what I did. Contemplated, but not so hard that I got a headache or thirsty or anything.

I had to make amends with the Mister for yesterday's blog. Him and his skritchy sandals.
He says I snore. I say women don't snore (whether you can hear us or not.) They just don't. Too dainty for that kind of activity. I agreed, as part of making amends, that if he can catch me snoring he can video tape it and I'll put it up on the blog. That won't stop me from telling it like it is on the home front. It's what ladies do. Like the woman who told her husband she needed to call her girlfriend. He said - what could you possibly have to say to her? You've already talked to her 4 times today. She says - Well, first off, I have to tell her what you just said.

I've been getting really great hair cuts from Erica my beautician for the last several months. Or maybe it's my shampoo. Or conditioner. More likely it's a miracle. Whatever, I'm good with it because when I wake up in the morning (or early afternoon) (whenever) my hair looks almost exactly the way it did when I went to bed. Have you ever heard of such a thing? No kidding. I'm not changing a thing. Those of you who have spent the night in our guestroom know that usually isn't so. I wake up looking like I wore a helmet with a fan in it all night. I'll tell you what though. You same folks know what the Mr. looks like in the AM. Like he slept hanging upside down. If he videos me snoring, I'm also going to post the morning shot of him that I keep in the safe.

The Red Wings are playing game 4 as we speak, and I've been told by the Mr. and my son to get myself in front of the TV. Seems I influence the scoring. They're tied with the Penguins 1/1 so I have to go cheer them on. Go Red Wings! Catch you later.

The 12 Inch Italian, Please

I stopped at Firehouse Subs for a sandwich to share with a friend today. I ordered the 12 inch Italian. I realized right in the middle of my order that it sounded rather rude. The cashier, apparently jaded by these orders, just asked if I wanted chips with that. Sure do.

Sometime in the early dawn hours the resident squirrels succeeded in toppling the squirrel proof bird feeder from our tree out back. Pesky things. They pour over blue prints at night and make new attempts by day. Took them 2 1/2 years, but they got it. They ate most of the seed that spilled out. I hope they're good and thirsty now. I also caught them in the act of snagging one of my roses yesterday. A new white miniature that I planted the day before. (I'm a glutton for punishment) I've been blaming it on the deer because I saw a deer track in the garden. I think the squirrels figured out how to make deer tracks. Any way, the squirrels are having an awards dinner tonight for the one who cracked the code to the feeder. They'll probably hit the sack early though. They're in training right now. I have a fig tree - the one with bottles and wind chimes on it - to deter them. They love it! In there all the time. They are measuring the figs daily, and doing their meal planning around the ripening crop. It's a game every year - who gets to enjoy the figs. The usual score is squirrels 287, Muse and the Mister 6.

'Scuse me - I was just interrupted in my chain of thought by the Mister. Letting me know that the current load of laundry is just about dry and since it's mostly my clothes I should get it while it's hot. Skipping over the obvious (WHY SHOULD I GET THE *$%^@#@ LAUNDRY JUST BECAUSE IT"S MINE, %^@#@(* !!!!!!) what may not be so obvious to the reader is this:

I am sitting here in the one room of the house that I can call mine. I've mentioned.... oh, I don't know... maybe just a thousand times that when I'm writing it would be ever so nice not to be interrupted. Yet, even if we have not exchanged ONE WORD all day, he thinks up things to tell me or ask me while I'm writing. Just like the squirrels figuring out the bird feeder. Did you see "As Good As It Gets"? The scene where Jack Nicholson's fiction writing character Melvin Udall is interrupted in the middle of writing? This is part of the dialogue:

" Never, never, interrupt me, okay? Not if there's a fire, not even if you hear the sound of a thud from my home and one week later there's a smell coming from there that can only be a decaying human body and you have to hold a hanky to your face because the stench is so thick that you think you're going to faint. Even then, don't come knocking."

There's more, but it gets way too rude. Anyway, all I'm trying to say is I've explained this to the Mister 167 different ways, and no sooner than I come in here and I'm wailing away on the keyboard I hear the skritching of his sandals coming closer and closer and closer.... to the door and then next thing ya know, there he is with a burning question like "Should I put the chicken on the counter to thaw?" Holy Mama! I'm just sure I could have finished my novel by now, sans interruptions. I could be out on book tours. talking movie rights. But no-o-o-o-o-o. Every time I think about it I imagine the skritch of those sandals coming at me and well, that's why I'm only 78 pages into the thing. Four years later.

The fact that I haven't quite worked out the plot plays into this, but I'd rather blame it on skritchy sandals. When he isn't able to think up a good question he'll just skritch up behind me and say "What are you writing? or " Why dontcha put the 2 of diamonds on the black three." Okay, Okay, so I play some solitaire. It's because I'm passing the time before the skritching starts and then, after answering the burning question of the hour, I can move on.

'Scuse me, the mister just stopped by with another question (bzzzzzzzzz) and I heard the dryer go off. The dryer with MY clothes in it, so before I go off again I'm signing off. More to follow.

Horoscope Shmoroscope

Today's Yahoo horoscope for us Virgo's is as follows.

Today you will find yourself with the interesting problem of having plenty of energy, but nothing to do! So what are you going to do -- channel all of this energy toward cooking up some new adventure, or jump into a co worker's stressful situation and help them sort it all out? It's basically a question of whether you feel selfish, today, or selfless, today. And just for the record, the universe says that either option is acceptable. Choose according to your mood.

Now this is exactly why I don't believe in horoscopes - unless of course they say something like you will find a vast amount of money today or you will inherit a fortune from a long lost relative. In both cases I immediately grab a large empty purse and I sit on my front porch waiting for a limo to deliver the goods.

As for today's words of wisdom, I was awake until 3am and then slept until NOON. If I have any energy at all today I am completely unaware of it. Can't help a co-worker with a stressful situation, because I'm unemployed and on the dole. As for selfish or selfless, Whatever. Either option is apparently okay with the universe so I'm going with both. Maybe I'll read tomorrow's horoscope now and prepare in advance to attain the required attitudes and moods. I'll set my alarm too. Make sure I get it done early.

I wouldn't say this is selfless, but I did take all of my beading equipment over to my dear friend C1's house today (I was almost late because of getting up at noon) and helped her design and make a bracelet. Picture jasper and onyx. I'm not saying here that you should try and picture the bracelet - the stone is called picture jasper. Turned out pretty. Other than that I'm of no use to anyone today.

I forgot to mention that this week's question about gas prices was contributed by my buddy Paul of aluminum foil and Thai food fame. Last time I looked there were 0 votes. I can understand that. It's painful to think about the price of gas. If you have any pressing questions that you would like other folks opinions on - well at least from 0 people - let me know in comments. We'll give it a whirl.

Oh, the Red Wings lost last night. Played well, but lost nonetheless. No one got killed. Game 4 is Saturday. I instructed the mister to text scores to me while I was at my Bible study last night. Got no texts so I figured either 1) he didn't want to distract me, or 2) the Wings were not scoring or 3) he forgot. It was #1. The Wings were kind enough to wait until I got home to score their 2 goals.

I think I will attempt to do something in the way of household tasks since until now I have been using the selfish side of my psyche today - or is it psycho? At least I'm not sitting around in my bathrobe. By the way - my bathrobe is made of bamboo. It's incredibly soft. So if I am sitting around in it it's because I selfishly deserve to do that.

Dogs and Judgement

I slept well last night for a change! Partly because of a minuscule amount of sleep on the previous night. Part two of the reason is the dog barfed on the mister's side of the bed, not mine. Layla did this sometime during the day and neglected to mention it. I was pleasantly surprised at 11:30 last night as I was getting ready for bed. It was really more to the middle-mister side, so rather than make a huge issue of washing the blanket, sheets AND mattress cover at midnight we opted to ignore the situation. The mister slept with about 1/3 of everything hanging off his side of the bed. I on the other hand was not in the least inconvenienced and slept like a dog. Layla did too. All is in the laundry at the moment, so we won't have to flip a coin tonight to see who gets to sleep on the barfy side.

Having spent time in my church over the past several years, and with my bible study posse, I have had the pleasure of becoming more familiar with the Bible. One of the more important lessons learned is I shouldn't be judging people. It is God's place to judge. Wow. That kind of stifles conversation. But it's true. And I'm going with it. I grew up with a mother who excelled in judgment, so I thought it was okay and danced in her footsteps. I didn't realize just how far down the wrong path I had travelled until I started to make a concerted effort to let God worry about who does what and why. After stopping myself in mid-thought and word about 99 times a day, I realized that a significant portion of my day was spent judging others. I would have been a great addition to the Salem Witch Trials. Yipes. I'm better now. Some backsliding, but better. If you think I'm not, then here's a lesson for you - God gets to decide. (check out Romans chapter 2). I do feel, however, that God is far too busy to worry about fashion mistakes, bad makeup and hairstyles. I still get to have that small yet significantly important judgement area on my daily go for it list. This is why I was entitled to comment on the apparel of the scissor-step Starbucks lady several blogs ago. Anyway, she was asking for it. So I'm pretty sure that it is okay to make internal comments such as "what was she thinking" and especially things like "If you put Brian Engblom (hockey commentator) and Donald Trump (Donald Trump) in the same room together something really bad is going to happen". I've added Brian's picture to my blog for all you non-hockey fans. You decide.

Speaking of judgement, I have a confession to make: Due to my unemployed state, I have been honing my business skills by helping out at the church a few hours a week. I get to file things and fold programs and stuff. I was also entrusted with updating the program for next Sunday which includes a list of songs for the service. The June 1 songs weren't available, and faced with a blank spot on the program I ....well a blank spot is an open invitation. So I filled in some song titles (just until Friday when I do the final update). They are: I heard it Through the Grapevine, Mandy, Chattanooga Choo Choo and Row Row Row your boat ( to be sung in 4 rounds). I'm sending an e-mail to Diane momentarily so in case I should fall off the face of the earth before Friday she can make the changes. Otherwise, those of you who attend my church http://palmharborchurch.com/ will be singing my list. If that happens, please remember that the band will sing the melody for Heard it Through the Grapevine, and the church body will sing the back up chorus part. So practice, practice, practice.

The Red Wings are playing game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals tonight. Tune in. The Penguins, having been shut out the first 2 games are getting a little antsy. During the first game, one of the Penguins whacked our great goalie Osgood. He survived. Game 2 the Penguins decked some of our best players. My guess is tonight's instructions for the Penguins are to try and kill them. The Red Wings can hold their own. Go Red Wings. (I'll see you tonight, ladies - but expect a few text messages to come in with score updates over the course of the evening)

Got to go - got some things to do - send that important e-mail to Diane.

Innnnsommmmmnia!!!!!!

At the tone the time will be 2:56 AM! I'm not sleeping. I haven't been sleeping well for months - years actually! Saturday night was the absolute worst. I did not get to sleep until 5:30 AM ish - don't know the exact time because I can't fall asleep and check the clock at the same time now can I? Plus I had to be up at 6:30 Sunday morning. You do the arithmetic. An hour-ish of sleep does not do the trick!

Last night, out of sheer exhaustion I slept well. Tonight I'm back on the usual staring at my eyelids for hours routine. Layla the dog is not pleased. It is her duty to follow me wherever I go, and if that includes getting up 6 times in the middle of the night because I'm not sleeping then she has to get up too. She's the one who thinks she has to hang out with her Ma - not me. I'm not making her do this. You know how dogs are. They help you go find a pencil, get a Kleenex, throw something in the trash.

Sometimes she just thinks I'm about to get up because I move a toe or breathe differently or set my glass down and she jumps up all excited and ready to go. She often follows in front of me - looking back to see where I'm really going and trying to change her course in such a way that she looks as though she got the memo and she knows the agenda. Dogs have pride too, you know.

She's here in the office with me now. I moved my foot a second ago and she sprung into action, thinking I am about to go somewhere. She's hoping the somewhere is back to bed. The Mister is oblivious.

Anyway, the sleep thing. I've always had some difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or both. I don't care what they say about the full moon NOT having any affect on humans, I can't stay asleep when there is a full moon. My daughter can't either. We used to bump into each other in the middle of the night when she lived at home. But then I can't sleep during quarter or half moons or no moons or blue moons either. The mister has no trouble whatsoever with falling sleeping or staying asleep. Ever. Not that I have a problem with that. I'm just saying...

Anyway I've tried several over the counter medications. Some work - but only for a night or two. I've tried having a drink of something that contains a goodly amount of alcohol. That may work for a night or two. I try to keep a bedtime and waking schedule. Doesn't work. I cut off all caffeine at 6:00. I don't watch TV in bed. I do have one habit that I neither want to nor will I change - and that is reading in bed. It gets my mind settled - as long as the book is reasonably boring or if I've already read it. I highly recommend books like Disease and It's Affect on World History, Cultural Anthropology or Civil Litigation for bedtime reading. You cannot stay awake.

If I'd stick to those everything would be okay. However, I'm often in the middle of something really good and I feel compelled to drag that to bed with me. If the book is a real page turner I find myself pushing the put-the-book-down envelope. I don't know about you, but I usually have 2 or three books going at a time along with a book on tape to listen to on my way to work. That's if I'm working. Which I am not.

There's a 24 hour Starbucks a few miles down the road. Maybe... but on second thought I'll probably have to change out of my PJ's. I'll also have to order caffeinated coffee so I'll be awake for the ride home. Layla will want to go. I could call one of my insomniac friends - but what if they are asleep???? They'll kill me!

So, here I am blogging at 4:07 with my dog at my feet. She keeps glaring at me over her shoulder.

Maybe I'll just sit on the lanai and see what time the sun comes up. Again. The Mister will remain oblivious.

Lemme think on these two options. I'll get back to you.

Tiny Traumas

The first half my Saturday did not go well at all and caused several negative muse swings for yours truly! I was minding my own business - as I always do (right I am so sure). I took Layla the Dog out back to do her business this morning. By the time we came back in (she has to sniff every blade of grass every rock, stone, leaf... my hands were itching like CRAZY! Like I was wearing itchy gloves.

I was sure I had some major disease or an allergic reaction to some meds and I would be dead by sunset. The itching didn't stop for hours, but I did finally see where I had been bitten by something multiple times. A deer fly perhaps. They are the stealth jets of the insect world. I finally took an antihistamine for the intense itching which made me sleepy and I laid down for "just a minute" and woke up 3 hours later. Talk about a wasted day. At least I was well rested enough to do some household tasks and enjoy a yellowfin tuna sandwich at Molly Goodheads (why aren't the radical Christians bugging Molly's? Besides the nudie -not even mermaid -logo the name itself is an implication of disrepute.)

The other tiny traumas of today include the deer eating my ready-to-open rosebuds. Again. This has been a constant issue. And, the sprinkler timer (thanks to Lawn Man) won't work properly so we are watering the grass daily. 80 kabillion minutes per zone. The mister won't just turn it off - he tinkers with it every day thinking what he's doing this time will work. It doesn't. We're due for a huge water bill and a visit from the water police pretty soon.

The rest of the day went well and as for my hands, they're swelled up but at least I'm not dead!

Going to watch the Red Wings now - back later!

Daughters, Dogs, Bottle Trees and Florida Food

A little information about the current pictures on my site:

The Pretty Women are my daughter,Jennifer, on the left - pink shirt, and my "adopted" daughter and dear friend, Heather. Jennifer lives and works and especially shops in San Francisco. Thanks to today's technology she is just seconds away by e-mail, phone or text. I do miss her hugs and smiles though!

Layla, the dog, is the next picture. She's 8 years old, 20 lbs, poodle/schnauzer mix. I named her after the Eric Clampton song. The unplugged version. She's quiet, sweet and friendly and makes us laugh a lot. Layla likes to bark at squirrels, deer, ducks, egrets, mourning doves, ibis, raccoons, lizards...you get the picture. She also has several commands for me that she uses successfully throughout the day. The most unique is the one where she follows me into the bathroom and puts her paws up on the counter. The command is: "I'm thirsty, and even though I have 3 water dishes in the house I would like you to get me a Dixie cup full of water." Which I do. Another command is: "Oh, I see you have just settled down to watch a good movie on TV. Therefore I would like to go out RIGHT NOW please. I just want sniff stuff. When I come in I would like you to share your popcorn with me."

In case you are about to comment on why I wrote more about Layla than my daughter, I'll explain. It's because Jennifer neither gives nor takes commands. I raised her well. And, I'm just guessing here, she may not be pleased if I share her age and weight although her age is well earned and her weight is just fine. (and she's a Polish/Rumanian mix) Additionally, if I were to settle down to watch a movie, Jennifer would not ask to go outside and she just might make the popcorn. As long as it is healthy organic popcorn. With pink Himalayan sea salt. Fine grain.
I also have 1 son, Jason who lives nearby and visits his mother, and 1 husband, aka "the Mister" to whom I've shared wedded bliss for 38 1/2 years. You'll be hearing a lot about the Mister. He does, says and wears things that are worth discussing at great length in a blog. He knows I'll be writing about him. And yet he persists.

My bottle tree is in the next picture. What, you might ask, is a bottle tree? Why, it's a tree with bottles on it. There are many versions of bottle trees. They originated in North Africa as a funerary practice. Bad spirits would be enticed into the bottles by the bright glass and the sounds of wind crossing over the mouth of the bottle. Once in the bottle they could not harm the dead or the living. check out http://www.bottle-tree.com/ for more info and the new bottle tree industry. Bottle Trees are just for show and just for fun now. However, if you travel through the deep south you may still spot one of the old originals.

The last picture is of The Wharf - a favorite restaurant on St. Pete Beach.
www.wharfrestaurant.org Besides delicious sea food and excellent prices, the State Game and Wildlife officers who patrol the intercoastal water on their cute air boats may stop by for lunch. They wear really great looking uniforms. M-m-m-m. Oh, I was just referring to the food there.

I'm hungry after all the food talk - I'm off to check the refrigerator. Be back later!

She Ain't Naked, She's a Mermaid!

My Bible Study posse and I dissed Panera Bread last night. We graced Starbuck's with our presence instead. We were afforded the opportunity to critique the Starbuck's logo for the sake of the "Christian" radicals who take issue with her naked mermaid body. We made a serious effort and reviewed all available logos. The logo on the cup looks like an old style woodcut and gives just a hint of nudity. Children under 13 may look at it with parental consent. The logo on the paper sleeve is more graphic. Although she definitely has a womanly form and a shapely bosom, she don't got no buttons. So, I'm thinking that maybe she's wearing a t-shirt or a summer weight sweater and you just can't see the sleeves on accounta her hair. This is settled as far as I'm concerned. Star Lady is okay by Christian standards even though she is probably not one. Here's an evangelical opportunity that I will leave to the professionals. Check this information about sirens, aka mermaids from a Christian viewpoint. Thanks for the input from simply-lovely-me@blogspot.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siren#In_Christian_thought



The ladies and I had a very pleasant evening of supportive conversation and belly laughs. We sat outside, one table over from the Bosnian soccer team. The evening was pleasantly cool by Florida standards (about 82 degrees in the shade). We enjoyed a steady evening breeze from cars speeding through the parking lot and the sound of squealing tires drowned out all the noise from the motor cycles and rap music on US 19.

The guy who comes by and sprays my lawn to keep it green and save us from getting terse letters from our home owners association took the opportunity to meet with us personally yesterday. The way he banged on the door I thought it was a drug raid. Wrong house. It seems our grass is dry. Crunchy, actually. He thought it would be a good idea, based on the 3 month drought we are experiencing, that we might just turn the sprinkler system on now and again and give the grass a break. We do - on our personal private one day a week that we are allowed, and assigned by law, to run the sprinkler. This holy day of observation is based on the alignment of the planets, the last 4 digits of our combined social security numbers and an odd/even address system. All I know is Thursday's the day.

Lawn Man dragged the Mister by the arm over to the timer where, lo and behold, they discovered that, although we are watering the grass every week, each zone is running for only 5 minutes. Lawn Man pointed a surly finger in the Mister's face and explained that under these inhumane conditions our lawn is expected to stay green and healthy on a thimble full of water once a week. (Also, my dog waters the lawn a few times a day but that's beside the point. She is a small dog so thimbleful applies to her as well) (No wonder my water bill doesn't suck.) (It will now). Lawn Man would not get into his truck until he was assured that the timer was set to something a bit more realistic. As Lawn Man drove off into the sunset the grass blades were talking quietly among themselves - very much like the Thai ladies at my nail salon. I'm convinced that in both cases they are talking about me.

We are expecting a very important delivery today! The Mister has his ear to the front door as I speak. What is this treasure? This mystery package of pure pleasure? It's gourmet food of the third kind: Detroit's own National Coney Island Chili and hot dogs! This is not health food by any standards whatsoever. There are no soy products, no leafy green vegetables and certainly no long or short chain Omega fatty acids. Forget about reading the ingredients - they are not for the faint of heart. Just heat and eat with plenty of chopped onions. Oooooh mama! See http://www.nationalconeyisland.com/

Plans for the day? Lets see... A little daytime TV, perhaps a few rounds of Bookworm (I scored 2.3 million on my last game level 37 - I'm Bookworm Supreme) and I'll make a list of important household tasks to do some other day. Oh, and a book to read: Maggie, by Charles Martin. (Thanks C1!) There's something good to be said for being unemployed!

Gimme A Break!

This is my Yahoo horoscope for today:

" Virgo 5/21: Your social energy is dwindling a little bit right now, and being among a group of people you don't know very well could seem terribly daunting. Even so, you should try to stay in the loop of what's going on with people. Get in the swing of social things. Isolating yourself is not the right thing to do now -- as much as you might want to. You may need to actually force yourself to attend an event, but after about ten minutes of being there, you will start to enjoy yourself."

Tell me, how does this fit into my overall plan of being as hermity as possible? My horoscope is always telling me to go somewhere, do something, be all you can be, yatta yatta. I'm a mature adult, and the plan right now is to do what I want, eat my vegetables - only if I feel like it, wear the sleeveless top (if I can get out of the house w/o looking in the mirror), and maintain an arm's length contact with the world.

I didn't even try, and I've already been in contact with 16 people today. Seventeen if you count the woman who ran across the parking lot to get into Starbucks first. I didn't actually have a discussion with her although I did play a few possible conversations in my mind while I browsed at the baked goods. I critiqued her outfit and rightly so. She was not properly accessorized. The giant red patent leather Coach shoes did not go well with her fake looking Louis Vuitton handbag. Brown. Bad Stitching. I guess the labels are what entitled her to take scissor steps across the parking lot and slither in front of me just 3 feet from the door. And then of course, her order was very specific and included the snobbish 34 to 47 instructions. Gimme a break. If you cant order a drink with 4 instructions or less you are so full of yourself. Okay - I'll give you five - plus you can order that giant scone if you want, But that's it. Get a new coffee mug or 2 lbs of coffee on your own time.

Speaking of Starbucks, did you hear about the radical "Christian" group that is suddenly offended by Starbuck's logo? Talk about getting over yourselves. Starbucks has been using the logo for years and just now one of the radical group apparently decided to get their head out of their... (never mind), and take a good look at the logo. They noticed the lady isn't wearing a tank top and those aren't buttons on her blouse. I'm envisioning this nay-sayer sitting in church, sipping away on a latte while working on their shopping list and wondering where Missy Tyler, three rows ahead gets her hair done. Finished with those tasks they go to pick a drop of chocolate from their double fudge brownie off the Starbuck's cup and low and behold Star Lady is as naked as Eve before the fall. Alleluia! Amen!

So, to get back to my horoscope, I expect to make contact with 3-5 additional people by the end of the day. 3 of the 5 are well known to me and are good and comfortable company. I'm meeting them for coffee at Panera Bread. I'll stop at the Starbuck's next door on my way in. I'm working on an inventive coffee order right now. Something with about 87 instructions: two shot whip whip extra hot half soy 1/4 no fat 1/4 low fat no foam with caramel on the bottom, in the middle and on the top...you get the picture. I'll sprint into the store ahead of someone while I'm at it. I'll let you know how that goes.

Go Red Wings!

The Detroit Red Wings won last night and are on their way to the next set of playoffs. Excellent!

I've been out and about - even went to a party Saturday night! It is difficult to be a hermit - but I keep working on it. I live in a quiet suburb - Palm Harbor, Florida - with a pond that is filled with turtles, fish, an occasional gator and plenty of other wildlife. My bird list is a long one. If you don't have a bird list - start one!

The folks in my neighborhood tend to live out of the backs of our homes - kitchen, family room and pool. The days of knowing my neighbors other than to say hi are non-existent. Guess what - I'm fine with it. Neighborhood watch? As long as there's something going on in the back yard, I'm right on it. I have plenty of contact with the outside world and enjoy not having folks pop in to borrow a cup of sugar. You can't choose your neighbors, but you can choose your friends. I don't have a fence, and I don't keep the shutters closed. I just don't feel the need to hang with the neighbors and they all seem to feel the same.

It rained yesterday for about 67 seconds and again today - for about 5 minutes - after a long drought. I should say sprinkled. You can actually hear rain. There wasn't enough rain to change the attitude of my grapefruit tree - just enough to remind us that water does fall from the sky now and then. Speaking of drought, I smell smoke every few days from the fires across the state and south of us. When I first came to Florida I was surprised by the frequent dry spells and the frequent fires. Now it's a fact of life, but that doesn't stop me from watching the clouds and checking the weather radar to see if we have a chance of rain. Yesterday I told the mister that it would start raining in 10 minutes. He scoffed at the thought. It rained 10 minutes later. Like I said, I keep an eye on things.

I watched the 1953 movie, Titanic, yesterday - with Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb. The costumes were too 1950's - I hate when that happens. Put away the shoulder pads, Barbie - there weren't any in 1912. The Stanwyck character was taking her children to live in Mackinac, Michigan. Someone forgot to do the research - the characters kept calling it Mackinac - it's pronounced Mackinaw if you are really from the U.P.

As I mentioned in my first post, I saw Baby Mama a few days ago. It was a hoot. A little predictable, but a very enjoyable movie. Go see it. Enjoy. Go Red Wings!

Whoa - Look who's blogging!

I've been putting off going to Walmart today. For no other reason than I don't think buying hair conditioner is any kind of real emergency. At least not one that should get me out of the house. I don't have any fear of leaving the house. I just don't see the need to do it. I AM going to the movies later to day to see Baby Mama. Last movie I left the house to see was Atonement and before that The Painted Veil. I'm not alone here - I've got a dog - and a husband who likes to watch cable news all day long. At least until I start twitching involuntarily, then he switches to TRU TV for a while. I'm In one of those life moments where I am deciding between looking for a job or retiring. I'm thinking of retiring, but I've heard it's important to not outlive your money. That's quite limiting. I met Jack Kavorkian once. At a funeral. He had nothing to do with the death of the dearly departed, he just played poker with one of the children of the deceased. Maybe I'll give him a ring. There's an opportunity here - add this to retirement plans: estimated date your money will run out (EDYMRO) barring additional economic incentives from the President. A Kavorkian associate will visit on your EDYMRO date. You will have the opportunity to update your EDMRO date based on lottery winnings, bingo cash payouts and any other prolonging sources of income. You will also have to report all large purchases though and readjust your date accordingly.