Work has been gonzo the past few days. I am so glad it’s Friday. The rain arrived this morning. Supposedly the remnants of Cindy. This evening, Lisa and I are meeting Mr. Charles Hill of Dustbury fame! The rain is putting quite a damper on a lot of our ideas for the night’s events. We shall figure something out.

Last night I had a dream that I was being courted by none other than Johnny Knoxville. I am sure the reason for this is that before I went to bed, I read a magazine in which he was featured in an interview. At any rate, in my dream he was a popular singer for a Rock and Roll band who performed in my basement. Over a period of time, he started making eyes at me and flirting. He invited me down the basement to listen to his band. I was afraid to go because I was certain there would be tons of other girls down there that he had also invited. Somehow, I forced myself to put away my fears and go down the basement. Johnny saw me creeping around and he immediately came over and put his arms around me. I felt such hope and happiness. My alarm went off.

My mother made blueberry pie yesterday. She gave one to Lisa and me. It is so delicious; I am having a hard time keeping myself away from it. Without a doubt, left to my own devices, the whole pie would be in my belly in 2 seconds flat.

My father just forwarded me an email he received from our cousin in Slovakia (not Lanke). ENJOY!

From: Jozef
Date: 07/06/05 04:40:05
To: jim
Subject: Re: Fotky pre teba

All is OK, Everybody are healthy.
When do you come to Slovakia?
When does Donna marry?
When you will do wedding, could you send for me and Iveta invitation to USA? On this we could request for Visa.

Jozef

Oh Jozef! Perhaps one day….

Check this out

I actually got stuff accomplished yesterday!!!! No one will believe this but ALL MY LAUNDRY IS WASHED and FOLDED!!!! I scrubbed my shower! My bedroom is sparkling! Most of my bills are paid and my mail has been sorted. My refrigerator is STOCKED! As happy as I am, I know it’s just a matter of time before it all spins out of control again (10, 9, 8, 7…)

A very nice woman from It’s Just Lunch contacted me today. A few months ago, my mother gave me their URL. She read an article about how they are THE dating service for busy professionals and she thought I might benefit. So I visited their Web site and gave them my information. This afternoon I received the phone call. The woman quoted me a price of $895.00 for one year of service with the guarantee of 14 dates. I actually whelped when she said the amount. “Errrr, uhhhh, I uh, wasn’t expecting that high a figure… I will have to think about this a little bit more.” Eight hundred and ninety five dollars!!!! Makes the 300.00 a year I spend on eHarmony look like chump change. If I am going to plunk down a thousand dollars, it will be on a matchmaker or a mail order groom.

Who knows, it may just be a matter of time before I do write It’s Just Lunch a check. I wouldn’t put it past me.

Lisa and I went home and had leftovers with Mom and Dad. Driving back to the Donna villa, we pulled over a number of times to watch homemade fireworks. In our development, a neighbor was launching some very nice ones and we stood outside watching. It would have been nice to spend Independence Day in Philly or Baltimore or Atlantic City but the crowds and traffic discouraged us. Ultimately, I am glad we stayed away. It was nice sticking close to home.

Today I took off from work but I am feeling itchy and will most likely call in and do a little work. Otherwise I need to take my car to the garage, price match my eye doctor against 1-800-CONTACTS, hook up my old fax machine I brought back from my parent’s, and clean my bathroom.

Last night Lisa and I spent the afternoon and evening with our parents and our family friends, the Petrushes. My mom made tons of food, all of it very tasty. Barbara made a wonderful chocolate bundt cake that she cut twice and in between the layers she spread cool whip and raspberries! It was very yummy. Once all the dishes were done, Mom, Lisa, Bobo and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. At 9:00, right behind the house we were passing by, a huge fireworks display just went off— for about 30 minutes! It was a professional display! We stood there on the sidewalk gawking. It was beautiful. Standing there with my Mom, I remembered when I was a little girl and how I thought fireworks were a natural phenomenon that only occurred on July 4th. Once the fireworks ended, and as we walked away, my mother said, “When I see fireworks, I always think about that time I took you girls to the shore.” Back in 1983, we went to Seaside Heights to watch fireworks. The fireworks went off but towards the end we heard sirens and a huge commotion proceeded. Later, as we walked around, there was blood and bloody rags everywhere. My mother asked someone what had happened. A child had been hit in the head by one of the rockets. The next day, it was in the papers that the kid died. It is something that haunts me to this day.

Lisa and I watched a little of Live 8 on my little tv with the useless rabbit ears. We saw Green Day perform in Berlin! Jimmy Joe Armstrong sang, “We are the Champions” by Queen as the Germans in the audience swayed back and forth looking so very solemn. Watching this beautful scene I got THE message, the message Bobby Geldoff wants to send: “Don’t sing Freddie Mercury songs.” Lisa told me I am wrong; the point is actually to pressure the governments of the world by singing songs….badly. If that is the message, it came in loud and clear!

Is it weird that during the televised portions that took place in Berlin, I scanned the crowd for familiar faces of old gastbrueders and gastschwesters? I have no doubt that if in Germany, any of them were watching the Philadelphia stage, not one was thinking of me.

This afternoon, Lisa and I are going to my parent’s for an evening barbeque. My mom is making kabobs and corn and other dietary masterpieces. I can hardly wait!

Yesterday afternoon, I faced my fears and went swimming. Fears? What fears? Well, I get slightly panicked over new situations. I had never been to this pool and I didn’t know if I had to sign in or just enter– plus I would be wearing my little bathing suit and I didn’t know if people would stare at me (or at my thighs). At any rate, I decided to JUST DO IT! So I put on my sarong, grabbed my towel and walked to the pool. It was pretty obvious I needed to sign in, so I did. No one looked at me, or at least I don’t think anyone did because I immediately removed my glasses so I was wrapped in a big fuzzy blur. I swam for about 45 minutes. The water was refreshingly cool and I felt so free floating with the sun in my (liberally sun-screened) face. Now that it’s under my belt, it’s no big deal and I can go anytime I want. The one thing I seem to learn over and over again is that it is not worth getting upset over ANYTHING. Time passes. Quickly. People are only interested in themselves. Next thing you know, it’s the next day and you’re standing in the shower and the once “horrible” situation is down the drain.

I took the day off from work. My mom, Lisa, and I went upstate to visit relatives. It was great seeing everyone. We even got to see our crazy cousins Chris and Jerry. Jerry took Lisa and me back to his garage to show us how he is tricking out his trike. I mentioned how I’ve been looking at Vespas and he walked to the back of the garage and came back with a 1981 Susie Suzuki moped that he bought in Japan and brought back with him on the ship (He was a Merchant Marine). Oh, it’s beautiful! I looked it up on the Internet and can’t find any information on this scooter anywere! I just assumed I would immediately find it on eBay, but no such luck. Odd. At any rate, their little Yorkie and Bobo got on great and they spent the entire time playing. Their playing consisted mainly of trying to bite the other one’s ass. We finally got on the road at around 4 and home around 6. It was a great day.