It feels like an eternity since I posted, and I have a list of things I want to comment on and bring ya'll up to speed, so prepare yourselves for a very long post.

First, for those that asked... here is the new phone. Only two small complaints after getting to know it for a few days, one being that this sony didn't come w/ a memory stick as my previous one did (different format)and the other being that the light color when the phone is determined by a theme. Yes, I can change the colors that light up when the phone rings easily but I needed to download other themes to tinker w/ the regular active lighting effects. Now to get the transfer stuff set up so I can get them moved over. May as well wait until I get more memory though. I can tell from one picture taken w/ this camera that the cell phone camera technology has again made leaps and bounds since my previous purchase.

So I get home today and one of the first things my mother tends to give me is the run down on family. I guess my one uncle was sent home and they're not bothering to treat the cancer that was found in his bladder. So, I fear that chain reaction I've been dreading for so very long isn't too far off.

On another upsetting note, mom was using her oxygen the entire time I was there Thursday and this morning. Apparently she's been feeling it coming on all week but waited until things were bad to user her oxygen, go figure - stubborn! You can tell how bad my mother felt as it was necessary for her to allow me to finish up preparing Thanksgiving dinner (pulling out and carving the bird, getting the corn ready, mashing the potatos, setting the table). Yeah, she normally doesn't want anyone in her way. Of course her doctor was not in this morning. This definitely ups my desire to get her a more reasonable device for her oxygen needs. Watching someone fight to get things hooked up properly when they're breathing deep is NOT comforting. We'll just leave it at that.

I also proved that I am still a little nutty as I headed out this morning to Kohl's. I swore I wasn't going shopping on Black Friday but alas, when we spotted something in the flyer and mom commented that she would pick them up if she saw them somewhere it just made sense to brave the crowds and the cold. So I was there around 7 and danced around the crowded aisles. Gladly I spotted that the customer service desk was also checking people out so I avoided the very long wait in line to escape.

So the girls and I headed back up the mountain this afternoon and stopped to get some gas. I had to laugh at the woman with the dented to snot back left bumper attempting to get backed into a gas pump. Of course, there was no gas cap on the side of her car that she was trying to get saddled up next to the pump. Now that I'm home I just wanted to crank out a little bit of cleaning so I can entertain and get my tree up and whatnot this weekend... and then off to the first of three games this weekend. I'll be a busy gal!

Oh! Almost forgot to share strikes two and three against the new Dunkin Donuts. I swung in there, snagged two donuts and some coffee. Figured I'd call the one donut my shopping sugar motivation and save the other for tomorrow morning. Ok, first, once again no PB filled. So I got a chocolate filled and asked for a pb frosted one. Yea, MAPLE is not PB, that's three. Bastages. How I hate MAPLE.

Since Value City has a mere three days left in existence (insert moment of silence here) I took one final pass and ended up leaving with a pile of greeting cards and quite a few skirts for $26 before heading off on my typical Sunday shopping. I tried to call and get my new phone activated today, but alas they're only open M-S.

I'm going to make an attempt to start wrapping a few gifts tonight, perhaps I'll just haul all that junk downstairs for the effort, after all I'll be pulling out the tree next weekend. Can you believe this week is Thanksgiving?
This calls for some nice warm cider, twist my arm, give me an excuse!

The weekend, at long last. Gladly, we didn't get as much snow as they were calling for all week. I headed off quickly after work last night to attend the grand opening of Prime Design Solutions and got to see the final remodeling efforts of my friends. I have to say, they never cease to amaze me with their dilligence and talent.

From there I was off to the game, where the Chiefs pulled out another win. I got my share of sleep this morning allowing me to feel significantly better so now it's time to start getting a few other planned activities out of the way before another game this evening. Whoever it is out there working on that extra couple hours a day, can you maybe plan to have most of them on the weekend? I sure could use it.

Did I mention that 4 Corners is closing and heading down the street to where Lombardo's was... and taking on a new name? Well it is. Tonight I tried one of the would-be new meals, Beef Stroganoff and OMG. O. M. G. It was good. Pepper crusted filet... just delightful. It made up for te crap ass donut experience this morning.

On other highlights and cheese to go with the whine from earlier today:
Denis Leary has a new book out!
After sending hate mail to the SKL I got Just After Sunset in the mail today. Thought you'd all like to know I am two more books "behind".

2 glasses of whine:
First, I gave in and stopped at Dunkin Donuts this morning. Nice tall cup of coffee with lots of cream and sugar, perfect. I also ordered my peanut butter filled powdered donut. Keep in mind that this is the one key element missing from the DD in NC that baffled me. So I ordered apprehensively asking "do you have", and the drive-thru jockey responded with an affirmative. So I pull up and pay, snag my coffee and penny change. A few seconds later she turns the corner w/ a bag that looked a bit off to me and she says "we were out of the peanut butter filled, so we gave you two of our gob donuts with peanut butter filling, is that okay?" Sure, I'm not going to complain, "OUT" is better than "we don't make" and it still has pb filling, right? ... and they gave me two!

Yeah. Now I'm unsatisfied, unsatiated, unsated, and all other words with the same disappointing meaning. So their "gob" is a chocolate cake donut w/ the white glaze sliced in half w/ the smallest amount of peanut butter filling sealing it back together. BOO! At least the coffee is good.

Now for my glass of merlot for any remaining tears (after the dd fiasco) to fall into... I am starting to get the feeling that even things that seem to be so very different from other things are never quite distinct. Underneath it all the same distractions become a factor. But yet it seems that those with such distractions are the only option.

Worse still most options often suffer from something I call the Leonard effect. If I'm nice they're not, if I'm not they are... it's an annoying counterbalance.

Food food food! By the time I got home last night I was famished and could barely wait for the water to boil for my spagetti which hit the spot and I'm looking forward to the left overs of tonight. Then today, I had the yummiest batch of sushi in quite a while today at 4 Corners. All of the elements, my hunger probably included, just seemed to come together. I don't know how I haven't selected a Paradise roll before, but it was superb! What gives? Maybe it's the cold weather making my mind (and ass) want to stock up for the winter. Hey, at least I've managed to not swarm the brand new Dunkin Donuts that opened up yesterday.

The Chiefs are on a kicking ass and taking names spree which had me leaving the game once again last night w/ more free razors (6 goals or more). I found myself back at SSS last night after the game w/ 2S for a few tasty beers and good conversation... yes I had a good time, and yes, I think it counted as an official first date.

So I was up by 10 today, despite being out until close to 2 last night *oops* I had plenty to get ready as my new bed (queen sized matress, box springs, and bitchin new frame) and two end tables were delivered just before noon. I managed to get everything except my old matress completely moved upstairs all by myself. The matress was just too bulky and heavy to handle on my own and being the exceeding retard that I am, I couldn't force myself to ask for a hand from the delivery guys. So... now in addition to the old entertainment center and old tv that litter the downstairs I now have the matress in the way that needs moved upstairs too. Either way - I can't WAIT to go to bed tonight. Let's see if I can keep some motivation flowing to crank out some school work that was put off most of the week.

Design FEATURE: having the vent for the dryer feeding outside directly under a bedroom window. On a slightly cool day like today the sweet scented steam is just billowing through the open window - good stuff. I am also quite happy with the way the full/queen comforter is fitting the bed.

I forgot to mention the delightful cup of cider to be had at the Bouley on Monday night - you know, the one that we quickly decided to duplicate and made a strike on the liquor store (had to go to a second one - we seemed to have been cursed w/ places closing early this week) and the grocery store.

Pull out your froo froo coffee cups and add a couple shots of buttershots then top the cup w/ apple cider that has been heated up in your teapot. Mmm carmelly delight. As they say, and appropriately timed - it's 5 o'clock somewhere, namely, here!

Wow, it's Wednesday evening already... time to catch back up I guess. Wires got crossed and I missed out on lunch w/ Kirkus on Monday. Tuesday was a "day off" but I actually hauled out of bed around nine-ish to get things in gear. I pulled out ye ol' leaf blower that was bought as a gift for X many moons ago and has sit around gathering dust. After I filled the one area I planned on putting leaves and still had a good bit "left" I just made a few piles. Ugh. Leaves. Many many leaves. That initially left me w/ shakey hands (gotta love running a weed eater or anything like that for a long period of time when you're not use to it) and today has my right shoulder, both arms, and my back a bit tender. Yea, I'm that out of shape.

Tuesday evening involved a bit of coolness followed by disappointment. The coolness was a visit from who we'll now refer to as 2S meaning too sweet. The disappointment was making a run to expose the house guest to Clem's bbq. *eyes roll back in head* Mmm, Clem's. Yea, so we make the drive to Blairsville and the friggin place is dark. Ok, it was a holiday you'll say - but alas, I had looked at their website which CLEARLY says on the menu "OPEN ALL YEAR! Open tuesday - sunday" and the only mention of holidays is that they ARE open on labor day and memorial day monday. Well suffice it to say after getting my palette all worked up for Clem's nothing sounded good.

Either way, we ended up going to the Haven for dinner. Upon our arrival the Pens started getting smacked around like red headed step children to the red wings. So, we grubbed as quickly as possible and headed to the SouthSide Saloon instead to continue our watching and to indulge in a couple brews. Of course it was kick ass to see Detroit lose, but it was a heck of an ending, for sure.

Today was the Chiefs' day game here at home which allowed me to sleep in a wee bit before heading to the arena. Gladly, it was worth getting into work late as the Chiefs took out Cincy and tallied 7. Heaven knows I was about in need of a new razor, so woo hoo.

So today we decided to head BACK out to 22 and hit Clem's since it's not a holiday... right? EPIC FRIGGIN FAIL. The damn place closes at 7. SEVEN. So yea, we showed up at exactly 7:04 in time to watch the chick flip off the lights. WAH! Given the general region we just headed off to Off the Rak for grubbin. Consider yourself up to speed. Feel free to bring me gifts of delightful bbq chicken to ease my pain (and cravings).

The Chiefs DID smack the Royals around again on Saturday night, but they almost came back to tie things up. While Beff didn't make the game, Rex did, so I had company. We then both got our craving fix up at the Orchard grubbing down on wings and fries, and (at least in my case) roughly a pint of honey garlic sauce for dipping my fries. So evil, but so delightful.

Didn't get all of my cleaning done on Sunday, but things looked respectable enough before our houseguest arrived. It's quite a shock considering how late I lounged about on Sunday, I guess I was making up for the early start I got on Saturday. I even got motivated enough to bake some cinnamon raisin bread, brew some peppermint iced tea, and start addressing my Christmas cards!

Well time to get back to splitting apart test procedures... call this my little break to avoid my eyes crossing. At least lunch is swiftly approaching, and if he doesn't end up swamped I've got Kirkus time reserved again.

We are still in the midst of surprisingly nice weather, despite the rain last night, which held off until long after the Chiefs finished kicking some purple girdles about the ice quite effectively. A gift for "the dinosaur" came yesterday, go figure when I decided to let in and buy a christmas gift we had an ELE. But I'm not dwelling - I was ready to look to the future anyhow, yes? I think I was anyhow.

Today I did some running from my to do list, started some laundry so the spare bed will have clean sheets, and started a pot of chicken noodle soup which is cooking as I type. I love my chicken noodle, but alas, I realized a bit too late that I was too low on potatos so I had to modify the recipe - we'll see how that comes out. That brings you up to speed with the weekend so far, and it's only 3pm on Saturday! I think I'll save the cleaning tasks on my list for tomorrow. It will be good to have some company. In the mean time I'm heading to shower and will grub some of my soup before heading to the game. Can we go 2 for 2?

For those that are concerned, don't be. I'm fine... I don't know if I cried so hard because (once again) I saw it coming, because I should have had enough balls to be the one to need to talk first, or because of the symbolism. If one man can chose not love me after spending eight years with me then I can't be shocked by someone never developing real feelings after a year.

I know there are other prospects on the horizon, probably ones that are moreso what I should be looking for, but still in my mind I start to pick apart the plot before the story is even written. It's funny how the book I read while out to lunch ON MY OWN today was about fear and how everything comes back to fear. I won't even begin to list my fears here, not now, I think they are something I need to face alone in my mind before allowing them to surface to the world.

For now, watching Danika frolic in the back yard w/ a new friend will be comforting.

I don't know if it's the fluorescent lights or the red in the white of my eye (perhaps a combo of the two) that makes my eyes look so green when I've been crying them out all day. I really am getting good at "seeing it coming" now if I could just master not caring.

Two lessons learned for today:
1). Walmart is surprisingly empty at 7:45 in the morning.
2). If you need only two items in the store they are guaranteed to be on opposite ends of the store.

Now, one should also know why I learned these lessons at such an odd hour. I managed to run out of toilet paper... me! Ok, some of you don't get the oddness here, allow me to explain... typically, if we were to suffer an apocolypse and be trapped in our homes for months on end I would be able to function quite as normal because I maintain pretty high levels of all basic supplies. Either way, thank goodness for having a box of tissues on hand to get through the wee hours (pun intended) last night.

Not much happening around here as of late - the ring still isn't done, the porch and siding still isn't started, the headache is still lingering, and I haven't lept in one direction or the other, but my patience is wearing thin and I think I could get use to the kindness and respect that's been missing.

I did get to have dinner w/ Mithy and Addy, who just turned two, tonight. Applebee's of course, even if they have no boboli.

I guess the big thing to talk about is, of course, voting. I did my duty on the way to work this morning and then swung into Starbucks to get my free cup of coffee, an added little bonus for voting. I truly believe we are about to witness a very historical event, the first black president (I say black and not African American because what's wrong with black? You can call me white instead of European-American).

I admit, I am looking forward to the end of all of this - the mudslinging commercials, the bullcrap on the news stations, but most of all - the telephone calls. ARGH! Seriously, if I were on the fence on any election that would be enough to teeter me. Calling my house from 9am on the weekend to several times in one night. Hell, I even have gotten multiple calls for Elizabeth Dole. Uh, I haven't lived in NC for 5 years. Perhaps the 814 area code didn't clue them into the face that I am not one of their constituents.

I found a dress! ...and the grand fortune of it all leaves me in shock. I had looked everywhere and as my last ditch effort I went to David's Bridal. Now, I would assume walking in there that IF I found something I was going to be spending well over $100 for a dress and it might be kind of what I wanted. Well get THIS friggin good fortune. First, I found a pretty unique dress on the sale rack, then then when they rang it up it came up even less! For those that know me well they'll know how low the price was, I'll put it this way, it was just a few dollars more than I paid for my senior prom dress.

I wore myself out quite well today. I went to mom's last night and got started early heading to Value City, the Logan Valley Mall, Ross, Kohl's, Barnes and Noble, and then David's Bridal. I was going to stay there tonight too, but I was just twitchy, needed to keep moving, so I headed back and did my grocery shopping tonight too hitting Big Lots, Ollie's, and the Iggle. My feet are definitely feeling it... I think I am going to go soak in a nice warm tub.