Psssst. . .

Just want to see how long it takes B to notice I've posted on her blog. Heh heh heh.

Yeah, Yeah, I Know

It's been over two months since I've posted. Wow. I finally have stuff to write about, and don't take the time to do it. I'm just not good at this whole blogging thing.

So - a lot of my time lately has been spent on wedding stuff and the LAPD Classic (dance festival). The festival was the 9th-11th, and was a lot of fun. Of course, there was a lot of work, too, but I had a good time. We were there mainly as assistants in the hospitality suite, although I helped out at the store for a bit, too. We had quite a bit of free time in between meal times, and only really had to work hard on Sunday, for the tear down.

Last weekend, I went with Duh, Happy and K to the Ren Faire, to make the last minute preparations for the wedding. We spent the entire day there, scouting out the Wedding Garden, talking with the lady in charge, and buying accessories for our outfits. I was going to buy a leather pouch and a tankard holder; Duh was holding my debit card for me, so Happy said he'd go ahead and pay for them and I could pay him back (since Duh had disappeared while I was deciding on what I wanted to buy). Well, when Duh joined back up with us, I was informed that the pouch and holder were my gift from them, for being in the wedding. I argued, but she won.

We also spent some time in the Mariners' camp with Happy's friends. It was a fun day, but quite exhausting. And after all that walking around, I was happier to get out of my shoes than I was to get rid of the bodice! On Sunday, we went to a small party at B&R's - it was a send-off for the couple we worked for in the hospitality suite at LAPD. We only stayed a few hours, but it was nice. Good food, good conversation, good people.

Friday was spent getting ready for the wedding - getting Duh packed, and stuff brought to the Faire. It was nice to have the day off so I could help her out ... and then we had the 'Groom's Dinner' at The Sire restaurant. Again, it was just a small group of 'family', but it was a lot of fun.

And then - the wedding. It was so awesome! The weather was perfect, everyone had a good time, and the ceremony itself was so much fun! Instead of seating people 'bride's side' and 'groom's side', they did Bar People and Faire People. At the start of the ceremony, the best man walked Barbs to her seat, followed by Danelle and I being escorted by her son. The flower girl came next, with the ring bearer (I think, not sure about when she came in) and then Karen escorting Harry. The officiant looked towards the bar side of the crowd and asked "Are ya'll ready for a hitchin'?" And they all cheered. Then he looked at the Faire side and said the part from Princess Bride ... "marriage is what brings us here today' - he did the accent and all. He joked through the whole ceremony - and when he asked for the rings, the ring bearer had them in her very impressive cleavage - she leaned forward and Harry had to dig them out ... it was just the most awesomely fun wedding I've ever been to. I'm hoping the video turned out well - can't wait to see it!

During the reception, they were honored by the presence of the Lord Mayor ... and then, after he left - the Queen and her Court stopped by. She came in and spoke with the newlyweds for several minutes - it was awesome.

I'm still exhausted - my feet are sore - and I'm definitely ready for the cruise next weekend!

Remember Me?

Ya know, I really should just delete this blog, considering I rarely update it any more. But, I'll keep it, and will hopefully get better about posting. And it isn't even that I'm not doing anything ... I just don't think to post about it! So ... we'll start with the Olympics. I'm very disappointed in the fact that we are getting all the coverage on time delay. We're in the same time zone as the Games, so why do we have to wait to see the events? Especially since the news reports tell us who won medals before we can watch ... and all my on-line friends chat during the events; I feel left out, because I have NO IDEA what they are talking about! ::sigh::

However, on Friday, I got to meet one of my online friends, and make a new one!! Kiya (from Australia) is out visiting Catty, and I met them at The Grove for lunch!! They are so much fun ... we sat at Cheesecake Factory for three hours, just talking and laughing (and eating, of course). It was such a blast - I wish we could have stayed longer, but they had plans for the evening. (That's Catty on the left, Kiya on the right.)

Saturday, I went to Duh's to help with wedding plans. What's that, you say? What wedding? Didn't I mention -- Duh and Happy are engaged! They're hoping to get married in April, at the Ren Faire. I am so happy for them both!! We didn't do a lot of planning, because they need to make sure of the date/time before they can really do a lot - but they have some basics in mind. We're going to go try on outfits this Saturday ... I'll probably wear the bodice/skirt that Duh gave me for Christmas (the one I wore last year), but ... we'll see.

Sunday was the Daytona race party. It was a long day, but I had a great time. The driver I had didn't win, but BK's driver came in second, so she was excited. And since Duh had the day off yesterday, I ended up staying later than I'd planned -- got home about 6:30 last night. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem. However ---

Had my carpets cleaned on Saturday. This was not a problem. The guy asked me to lock Little Thing in the bathroom, so she didn't get out the front door while he was working. Even though I told him I wouldn't be home and asked him to make sure to let her out when he finished ... HE DIDN'T LET HER OUT! The poor cat spent 2-1/2 days locked in a little bathroom, with no food or water. Needless to say, she was totally pissed off - and I wasn't so happy, either. I'm going to mention it to the apartment manager - I know it won't change what happened, but maybe she can talk to him and make sure it doesn't happen to someone else's pet. And yes, the cat is fine ... but THAT isn't the point.

Oh - and last week, I received a loaf of home-made bread from one of the knitting ladies, and she included some artwork from her sons ... the art is, of course, on my fridge. The bread? Long gone. It was DELICIOUS.

2800 Envelopes

So, Duh and Happy spent Friday & Saturday stuffing envelopes for the L.A.P.D. Classic. When I went to play Wii with them yesterday, it had been discovered that there was an error on the flyers - a rather drastic one. So, instead of playing Wii, we spent last evening and this evening opening the envelopes, crossing out the error on the flyers, restuffing and resealing the envelopes. As you can tell from the post title, there were a total of 2800 of them. We didn't do all the corrections ourselves, of course. KW, BD and BK all helped, too ... but man. My thumb is sore from carefully unsealing the envelopes, and my arm/neck are sore. Sure glad it's done! KW will be mailing them out tomorrow.

That's my exciting week so far.

Gift Exchange

Well -- the Ravelry gift exchange has come to an end, and I'm so thrilled with my presents! It just so happened that my "gifter" was the same person as my "giftee"! And I know it was a coincidence, because not everyone had that situation - the website we used randomly selected partners. MB seems to be very happy with the stuff I sent her ... and I love my presents! There are 3 skeins of yarn (two Dream in Color Classy, in the Midnight Derby colorway, and a skein of Malabrigo in the Stone Blue colorway). I've never seen/felt the Malabrigo before, although I've heard marvelous things about it. And it definitely lives up to the reputation! It is so soft and lovely, I just keep petting it ... the Dream in Color is also quite squooshy and wonderful. I'm planning on making a shawl with it, if I can ever find the darned link to the pattern again! I also received 2 washcloths and a hand towel based on Supernatural, a "James" bookmark (from Twilight), a tin of blueberry tea and a story that was written just for me. Cool, huh?

I need to come up with projects for the Ravelympics, since it's getting closer to the start date. For those of you who don't know what this is (yeah, right, I'm sure my only reader knows about it) -- the Ravelry forums hold "competitions" during the Olympics -- there are several categories, so first I need to pick a category and then a project. Or maybe I should pick a project and then fit it into a category. Anyway, we're supposed to start during the opening ceremonies, and complete any/all projects by the end of closing ceremonies.

R.I.P

Good-bye, sweet Hoover. You will be missed.

Boxing Day

Not really sure what "Boxing Day" is all about, which is really bad for the daughter of two Canadians ...

I had a really great Christmas. Spent the day at The Kids' place, surrounded by family. Conversation was fun, food was plentiful (and extremely yummy!) and my little great-nephew was adorable. It was so good to have a little one around on Christmas! Sis gave him a hand-knit (of course) "Shrek" hat, which he was kind enough to leave on so that we could get a picture of him. I got home relatively early (around 7:30, I think) and watched a few episodes of Criminal Minds.

The Kids gave me a ball winder, a book of knitting patterns for "warm" climates, the newest Piers Anthony Incarnations of Immortality book, some gorgeous stitch markers and tapestry needle holder ... F gave me a Borders gift card (and one from Honeybaked Hams, that he got at work). And earlier in the week, I got a present from MB -- she sent me an awesome calendar full of pics of BBurke, and a gorgeous skein of blue/black yarn (cop uniform colors, of course!). If you click on the picture, you can see the awesome blue & black colors in the yarn - and the chocolate unicorn sucker shows up better, too!

It was odd to have not seen Duh yesterday, there have been very few Christmases that we haven't spent at least a few minutes together. I did get to see her on Thursday, for a little while. She gave me the green skirt and gorgeous bodice that I had borrowed for Ren Faire, and a small "pocket" flask. She seemed to like the necklace I gave her; unfortunately, she already had the charm I gave her, so she'll be exchanging it. Which is perfectly fine, of course. Just a little bit of a hassle for her. Maybe we can do that on Thursday, either before or after we go to City Hall to get her passport paperwork started ... as a Christmas gift to Duh and Happy, KC paid for the Mexico cruise that Social Club is planning! Awesome, right?

Merry Christmas

Just a quick note to wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas! Hope your day is wonderful, and that Santa was good to you.

Persistence Pays Off

The Survivor show was fantastic. We had a great time (even The Kids, I think, who didn't watch the show). Got to CBS early enough that F was able to take us on a tour. I've seen it, of course, but LM, MM and A seemed interested. They especially liked the Price Is Right stuff. We then went over to the Farmer's Market for an early dinner -- we went to the same restaurant that we had gone to last year, but the service wasn't nearly as good as what we'd had before. Yeah, last year on of the meals arrived really late, but the waiter was really nice and tried his best to resolve the problem. Yesterday, my cheeseburger didn't arrive until everyone else was just about done eating ... and we only saw the waiter 2 times during that wait ... I wasn't pleased.

Then -- the show. It's always so much fun watching the 2-hour finale episode in a room full of fans! Afterward, we were standing out in the parking lot, talking to F (and kinda keeping an eye on the car that The Boy said was Jeff Probst's). F said, "There's Jeff," and suggested that I walk over and ask for a picture or something. Well, you know me -- I couldn't do that -- so F called over to him, and asked if we could get a picture. Jeff said yes .... (insert fangirl squee here) ... and I'll be posting the picture in the next couple of days, because I don't like how I look in the one taken with my camera, so I'm going to wait until LM can email me the one from hers ...

But --- I got my picture taken with Jeff, after years of going to the Finale show!

Survivor Finale

Tonight is the Survivor finale and reunion show! I'm really excited about going, even though Sis and Rafe won't be joining us this time. She gave up on the season a few weeks ago, so she didn't think she'd enjoy the finale. So - it'll be The Kids and I, and then LM and her daughter, MM, and granddaughter, A. To be honest, this wasn't my favorite season, but I'm jazzed to see A's reaction to being there for the live show.

So, a couple weeks ago, I asked F if he could possibly get some little souvenir from the Y&R set that I could send to MB. Well ... he did one better. One better? How about a million times better. He was able to get a personalized, autographed picture of her favorite actor from the show. Yeah, totally awesome, right? So I got a frame for it and mailed it off on Thursday -- it arrived yesterday and She. Was. Thrilled. She emailed me to say thanks, tweeted about it, and then posted it in the Today Made Me Happy Because thread on Rav. F can be a pretty awesome guy!

Hello, Captain Obvious

Well, it's extremely obvious that I have not been very good at updating this thing. I don't know why. I used to complain that I never had anything to post about, now that I'm getting out once in a while and doing things, I don't post anyway. I'm not even sure what all I've done since the last update ...

Yesterday evening, The Boy showed up at my place with a Christmas Tree. Isn't that sweet of him? He got it all set up for me, and even put the lights on it. He wasn't happy with the skimpy amount of lights I own, but I like it. I've never been a fan of over-decorating the tree ... I've added some ornaments (I have more, but can't find my ornament hangers) and the Angel is in place. I went ahead and put up a few other decorations around the place -- it looks nice. Even if the Angel is still a bit crooked (I've tried straightening her, but she insists on leaning just a bit).

Sunday was the Social Club Christmas Party, which was fun. We got there early, since Duh is on the board and had to help set up. I helped out with signing people in -- I enjoyed that, because - even though I've forgotten most of them -- I was able to put faces to a few of the names I've heard mentioned throughout the past few years. It was also nice to spend some time with the members that I do know ... I even won a nice Lazy Susan in the door prize drawing!

I've also spent quite a bit of time watching my Supernatural DVDs. I'm almost finished with season two, and the show is making a lot more sense now that I have some of the back story! I've been told that season four is really good, so I'm looking forward to seeing those episodes. And tomorrow is the last Survivor episode before the Finale/Reunion on Sunday. I haven't enjoyed this season as much as previous ones, because too much emphasis has been placed on one player - and since Sis stopped watching, it just isn't the same. I'm really excited to go to the Finale/Reunion, though -- yes, F was able to get tickets again this year! LM, her daughter, and granddaughter will be going, too, and it'll be fun to share in her granddaughter's excitement.

Well, that's about it for now -- I'm not going to promise to update again soon, or even to update at all. I had thought about just ending the blog, and pretending it didn't exist. But, I just can't quite bring myself to do that yet. So -- hopefully, I'll get my act together and do a better job in 2010. We'll have to see how it goes ...

(heehee - I noticed that, if you click on the picture it embiggens - and you can see what I was watching while decorating the tree. Yes, that's Dean Winchester from Supernatural.)

Just So I Don't Get Blogjacked

I'm going to post that I haven't done much the last couple of days. Some job hunting, tacos with the kids (and 5 others) and some knitting.

Now, That's Just Rude

I was going to post last night and decided to wait until today. I click over to my blog and, lo and behold -- I've been blogjacked! I should take her up on the offer and just let her continue to post for me, but I'm afraid of what she'll say ....

Had a blast this past weekend. Went with Duh & Happy to work a charity "Wild West" event to benefit the Center for Individual Development in San Bernardino. Happy runs the Wheel of Fortune, while Duh and I helped out in the saloon. I had worked one weekend last year, but due to a broken tooth - it wasn't as much fun as it could have been. This past weekend, though, was great. Saturday was kind of slow -- not many people were there, and we didn't have a lot of customers for either the saloon or the Wheel. Yesterday, though, there were a lot more people, the weather was a bit warmer, and they had the Chili Cook-off, so people were thirstier. We sold over $1200 in beer (at $4/per), and then we also had wine, sodas and water.

Everyone seemed to be in really good moods, too ... both the volunteers and the customers. I even had an "admirer" ... even after he found out that I have a full-grown son. It was flattering, if nothing else. And it was fun to flirt with all the cowboys ... But my favorite "scene" of the weekend was on Saturday, right near the end of the day. The stagecoach was approaching the saloon, and the driver was cradling his sleeping baby in his arms. Absolutely adorable. And of course, I didn't have the camera handy. So ... today's pictures are from Saturday ... the stagecoach, and 3 of the bartenders.

Blogjack!

You know, if SOMEone doesn't start keeping up with her blog, someone else just might have to take over & make posts for her. Just sayin'.

Worst. Blogger. Ever.

I have gotten so bad at updating this thing, I might as well just close it out and ignore it forever. Once again, I'll be skipping most of the time since my last post, and just start fresh from here. Well, I'll back-track a little bit ...

Saturday, as you know, was Halloween, and - as you may not know - Wednesday was Duh's birthday. She and Happy decided to have a small gathering of friends to celebrate these two events. I went over early to help clean up and prepare, which didn't take long. Duh was kind enough to let me wear the outfit I wore to the Ren Faire a while back, while she and Happy donned their "Captain and Chenille" outfits from Sis' Pirate Party. There were about 15 people there, and several were in costume. I think Sis and Rafe would have won a prize, had there been any ... they came as Gladys & Tyrone from Laugh-In. The pic isn't from Duh's party, because I really failed at taking pictures ...

Spent Sunday going through Duh's costume stuff to sort out what she and I will be wearing for Harvest Fair the next two weekends. We managed to come up with 4 outfits each, and only have to wash one shirt for re-use. I'm borrowing and/or buying the purse that Sis used for Halloween, so the only thing I don't have is shoes ... don't know what I'm going to do about shoes. I'd just go barefoot, but since I'll be working in the Saloon, I don't think that'll be appropriate.

Last night I was back at Duh's (yeah, I might as well just move in - it's been joked about) and BK came over to color my hair again. I couldn't find the color I wanted, but got one that turned out very similar to how the first coloring turned out. I had wanted a touch more red -- but I think this is ok.

Long Time, No Write

It's been ages. Wow - I'm really failing at this whole blog thing! At first I don't update, because I have nothing to write about. Now that I'm starting to do things to write about, I don't write because I'm too lazy. So ... here I am, and I don't remember what all I've done since the last time I wrote. I guess I can start with last weekend.

Saturday, we had a small family picnic. K and her son, A, were out visiting friends, so we all got together at a park out by Dad's. Let's see -- there was Dad and J, The Kids, Sis and Rafe, K and A, and myself. We had some really yummy ham, homemade potato salad, Hawaiian rolls, and brownies. Oh, and homemade lemonade, too. I think everyone had fun.

Sunday was club day at the bar, and they were having a "craft fair, rummage sale". Duh had to stay inside the bar for and do club registration stuff, so BK and I sat out at her Tupperware table. There wasn't a big crowd of customers, but we did get her a booking for a T-ware party. I guess, all-in-all, it was a success since she got the booking ...

This past weekend was the Paradise Dance Festival. I had so much fun! Had to make 6 trays of baked pasta last Thursday (2 w/meat sauce, 2 w/o meat, and 2 chicken/broccoli Alfredo). I met Happy at the hotel at about 11:00 on Friday, since I was scheduled to help set up & serve lunch at noon. Well, the other volunteer already had the stuff set up, so I really didn't have much to do. "Serving" the meals basically consists of staying in the hospitality suite and making sure that things are replenished as needed. It's really nice, because people just come in as they get a break, so there's usually someone in the suite at all times, and everyone is very friendly. (We don't provide meals for EVERYone in attendance, just the Pros, Judges, and volunteers). After lunch clean up I was free until time to set up dinner, and again, the other lady had it all done early. Duh, Happy, BK and I ate dinner at the hotel bar ($10 for a cheeseburger and fries - but it was really, really good).

Saturday was a bit busier, and we didn't quite stick to our work schedule. Got up at 6:00 to get breakfast set up, served, cleaned up. As we were cleaning up from breakfast, we were also setting up lunch (the pasta). I was supposed to have free time during lunch, but Duh and BK got called away to help set up the carnival area, so I stayed to take care of the food. After lunch, I went and helped with the rest of the carnival set-up, we hung out at the carnival (off the clock) for a couple hours and then started the tear-down. Since we didn't have adequate lighting, we were allowed to just put the stuff into the trailer and leave the EZ-ups until Sunday.

And then there was yesterday. Breakfast, lunch ... and clean up. Complete clean up -- everything out of the hospitality suite, festival registration, ball room and judges room. We couldn't start on most of it until after 5:00, because the rooms were still in use. But, I was home before 8:00, which was good ...

So - I came home exhausted but feeling really good about the weekend. Everyone was so nice, and so appreciative of the work we were doing ... makes you feel good when people rave over the job you've done.

and there may or may not have been a bit of flirting ...

The Last Week

Let's see ... the last week or so. Spending time on the job search (yuck!) and housework. I really need to start going through some of the storage tubs of stuff and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. I should also sort books ... but I'm not sure I'll be getting to that any time soon.

Went to a small "1st Annual" Renaissance Faire with Duh and Happy on Saturday. Other than it being rather hot out, it was a really nice day. I borrowed an outfit from Duh ... wasn't completely "period" but I think I looked ok. There weren't a lot of vendors, but they stuff they were selling was really nice. There were a couple booths that we spent a lot of time at ... the vendors were so much fun to talk to! I was going to buy a tankard (because it felt silly to walk around carrying the plastic Budweiser cup) but the ones we were looking at were pewter - and expensive. Happy bought Duh a really pretty pewter necklace. And a tankard for me. Yeah, I couldn't believe it, either.

Met a couple of Happy's friends from when he used to work the Faire; spent most of the day hanging out at the Mariners Guild. Had an absolute blast - great conversation, lots of laughs, and even tried a couple of micro-brew beers that were really good. It was a lot of fun watching Happy, too, because he was "in character", which meant he was a little bawdier than he normally would be.

Post 601

Just realized, this is post #601. Yes, I know ... it would have made more sense to "commemorate" post #600. And I would have, had I known at the time that it was, indeed, a "memorable" post. Not that the post itself was all that great, of course ... but you know what I mean.

It's been another long time since I posted anything. Not a whole lot to write about, as usual. Let's see what I can remember ...

Yesterday was National Talk Like a Pirate Day, and Sis and Rafe had a pirate-themed party. She had a pretty good turn-out, I think, although I know she was disappointed that there weren't more people there. Not many of us dressed up, either ... well, maybe about half of us. I borrowed some stuff from Duh. I'd post a picture, but -- nobody took any. Well, The Boy took one of me, while I was sitting on the couch. It doesn't show off the costume, of course. LM from work was able to make it, and Duh and Happy were there. Food was good, conversation was fun ... had a really good time.

Last Thursday was the first night for Survivor: Samoa. I'm not so sure about the person I picked ... he's a rocket scientist (really, he is) but ... when the first part of the first challenge was swimming, he Left His Jeans On. Yeah, swimming in wet, heavy denim. Not the smartest move he could have made; the other guy swam faster, and my guy (John) was exhausted at the end of the lap. Then, in the immunity challenge, when he had to run ... he took the jeans off. Of course, they were probably stiff and uncomfortable from being in the ocean.

One of the guys on the show this season is really evil. I mean, not "I hate Coach" evil, or Jonny Fairplay evil ... he is just ... mean and nasty and needs to leave. So, of course, he's going to be on the show for a long time. Some of his more "endearing" acts? First night in camp, he drank/dumped out all the water in the canteens, and burned some of the socks that were hanging by the fire to dry. Yeah -- his own tribe members' socks and water.

Anyway, Sis' team won the reward challenge (fire) and my team won immunity, so the score is:
Sis $.50
Me $.50

Last Sunday, I went to Social Club with Duh and Happy. The theme for the day was "The Fifties", so I borrowed a poodle skirt from Duh. I know, I know -- I have no "themed" clothes, and she has a bunch, so I borrow hers. Anyway, this skirt was floor-length and made of felt. Let's just say I was miserably hot the entire day. Had a good time; and Happy paid for my membership as a belated birthday present. I objected, because they had already given me stuff for my birthday, but he said that the other gifts were from Duh, this was from him. Nice, huh?

Anyway, I think that's about it for now ... we now return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress.

The Week

Let's see ... gonna have to dredge up stuff from the memory banks, so there probably won't be much to read, but let's see if I can go through some of the past week ....

We'll start with Tuesday. The Girl and I met with Sis and one of her co-workers (DW) for lunch at El Torito. I've been hearing about DW for quite some time; Sis thinks we have a lot in common and that we'd get along well, so I'm glad I finally had the chance to meet her. And yes, I think we did get along well! Puttered around the apartment for a while after that and then went to meet The Girl and LM (from where I used to work) for tacos. The Boy didn't join us, because he was out getting footage of the fires. Unfortunately, I was a little late getting to Buffalo Inn ... as I was backing out of my parking place, one of the neighbors tried to drive around my vehicle, and I hit the back quarter panel of her car. Not much visual damage to Henry, which is good; nobody was hurt, which is even better. Her car has more damage but the insurance will cover it. What pisses me off is that the insurance company says I'm 100% at fault, since I was backing out. However, I know for a fact that I looked very carefully (I always do) and backed out really slowly. I don't know how fast she was driving, but she said that she saw my vehicle moving and "tried to swerve". I'm pretty sure she was going too fast for the parking lot, but I also know it won't do any good to protest.

Don't remember what I did on Wednesday, so there must not be anything worth mentioning ...

Thursday started out with laundry, packing, and going to the grocery store. From there, I headed out to Bonelli Park for the BIDSC camping trip. I think I got there around 1:30 or so. Happy was watching a movie in the trailer, so I read and relaxed for a while. We went over to socialize with a few other people that had also arrived early. Had dinner after BK and Duh got there and did some more socializing. What was really nice is that I'd already met all the first arrivers on other occasions (the NASCAR parties), so I felt comfortable with them.

Friday was spent setting up "camp" (Duh likes to put out lots of decorations and homey touches when she's going to be camping for a few days) and socializing. As the day went on, more of our group arrived. We had 10 campsites for the motorhomes, and there were a couple of tents set up alongside them. Friday night was also "party night" as people got set up and started rewinding from their workday.

I was a bit anti-social on Saturday, because even though I'd stayed under the shade ALL DAY on Friday, I got a little bit of sunburn on my arms/upper chest and didn't want to overdo it. I went visiting for a little while, but spent a lot of the day in Duh's motorhome. We had a group bbq for dinner, which was a lot of fun (BYOM and a side dish).

The Social Club picnic was Sunday, and we had a lot of additional people show up for the picnic. I think there was a total of about 50 people for the afternoon, and again - everyone was really nice and friendly and I think "a good time was had by all". There was a food competition, and they gave Duh an "honorable mention" for best appetizer (I don't remember which one it was - she brought stuffed mushrooms, which were delicious; and a Monte-Cristo sandwich kind of thing which was even better than the mushrooms. We ended up staying up pretty late on Sunday night, just talking and joking and having fun. Maybe a little bit of drinking was going on, too ...

What was really nice, though, is that everyone treated me like I'd been part of the group forever. In fact, one of the guys started picking on me right from the beginning (which you know is always fun, when people like you enough to pick on you). And at one point, I told him he really needed to have more respect for his elders. He argued with me on that, saying that I'm not older than he is so it doesn't apply. I asked him his age (I knew he was younger, because Duh said that he and his wife were the "kids" of the group); when he said 48, I asked him how old he thought I am. I felt really good when he said 47 .... and he looked surprised when I told him my real age. (In fact, earlier in the day, one of the ladies was surprised that I'm older than Duh, even though it's only 2-1/2 months).

Anyway, yesterday was spent packing up and coming back home. And apologizing to the cat ....

Unemployment Wk 1 Day 4

I'm not really going to discuss unemployment or job searching or anything like that, but I didn't have any other ideas for a title for this post. My cat has eaten most of the plant that had been on my desk (and doing very well, thank you) at work; she was kind enough to ... purge ... a bit of it onto my beige carpet today.

Had a couple emails from former co-workers, expressing the wish that I was still working there ...

Last night, I joined Duh, Happy, and 17 of their friends for dinner at a tappanyaki restaurant. Had a great time; food was yummy and I had enough to bring home for today's lunch.

Received my yarn from France today ... it is SO gorgeous. The Boy seems to think I'll be knitting him a boat cover out of it ... he should know that you can't make boat covers out of sock yarn. And no, I won't be knitting him any socks, either.

Huh, that's about it, I guess ... except that it is 3 WEEKS UNTIL SURVIVOR!