1. Pick up Dry Cleaning (and pray it doesn’t cost so much I might have just bought a new couple dresses) Done!  The price surprised me but thankfully I used a 40% discount coupon so it didn’t kill me.
2. Clean kitchen and fridge… shouldn’t take much time at all.
3. Go to Library and get Library Card.  (I’ve decided I am going to start reading some of the books on my Wishlist and rather than buying them at Amazon I realized I could just borrow them from the local free library– now that’s good thinking!) Ended up renewing the card, whatever, it’s done.
4. Clean bedroom– put away clothes, do some laundry, put on clean bedsheets, etc
5. PREPARE FOR INTERVIEW TOMORROW. CANCELLED!  Turns out the hiring manager quit and now they have to back fill.  Oh well.  Something else will come down the pike I am sure.
6. Financial stuff– check budget, check up on investments, the normal stuff I’ve put off. Didn’t do the budget yet but I did check on my investments… I am down.. but that’s because I thought shorting the market would be a good idea.  How it continues to go up is beyond me.  I am convinced the market is nothing more than a roulette table.
7. Go to grocery store– need eggs and …. other stuff.  Figure that out. Got everything I need– AND I got a great deal: buy any 4 trays of meat for just 19.99!   I love bargains!  Especially on meat.

I had a lovely dream last night.  I dreamt I was having dinner with Mark “Mr. Jedi Master Luke Skywalker” Hamill.  Mark was absolutely lovely and charming and funny.  We decided to have a little Star Wars Trivia Quiz and he asked me, “What phrase was repeated in all three original Star Wars movies?”

I replied, “I have bad feeling about this.”

Mark was justifiably impressed.

An old high school friend joined us.  She was holding a gray kitten.  I immediately scooped up the little cat and started stroking her soft fur.  I had this overwhelming desire to tell my old friend that I would take this kitten home with me… but I couldn’t.  I knew it would claw my furniture to pieces, piss, shed and keep me from taking multi-day trips.  It’s crazy how the reins of responsibility pull me in even in my dreams.

I know why I dreamt of Mark Hamill.  I watched this video right before I went to sleep:

I visited my parents this evening.  My mom had the newspaper out to show me an article she found.

“Look Donna, there was a protest in Doylestown on Friday!”

“I know, Mom.  I was there…. in fact, look– that’s me in the picture accompanying the article.”

Unfortunately the picture didn’t make it into the online edition.  Still, it was pretty funny.

Last night I finally watched, “He’s Just Not That Into You.”  I rented it from Redbox.  It was touted as a comedy, wasn’t it? I only laughed twice.  The first time was when a woman said, “Girl, you better get yourself some ribs and some ice cream because, honey, you’ve been dumped!”   I can’t remember the other line that spurred me to laugh the second time.  Mostly I just felt sick.  In a way it very accurately captured the dating scene.  The constant rejection, wondering why no one seems to like you, the difficulty of putting yourself out there…  Yet outside that little piece of realism all the men were total jerks and all the women were simpering idiots.  I appreciated the whole, “He’s just not that into you” piece of advice back whenever it was original.  Sometimes it’s easy to lose perspective… to a degree.  But this movie made it seem like women had large chunks of their brain missing…. “He hasn’t called in 2 weeks!  I am sure we will soon get married in St Thomas on the beach!”   And thinking back to when I was dating, it wasn’t that I needed to be reminded that “he’s just not that into me” but rather it was the wait time to determine if he was or wasn’t.  I’d finish a good date and then think, “Okay, I got 3 days of waiting  to see if he had a good time too.”  Three days was the typical span of time it took to get a call back.  Those three days were rough.  I’d try to pretend I didn’t care but I did and it was difficult.  And when a call back didn’t occur… oh well, more proof no one wanted me.  Gosh it was hard.  I don’t miss it one bit.

The nice thing is that by renting it at Redbox, I am only out $2.00.  No big whoop.

I love Google’s Picasa.  The face recognition in the online version is amazing.  It’s almost uncanny how it can tag faces with names.  My love for Picasa takes a hit when the face/name recognition match is insulting.

Case in point:

PICASA THINKS I AM CREIGHTON FROM GHOUL A GO GO!!!! 

It’s like I am back in school again and the kids are taking turns teasing me… except instead of snot-nosed brats it’s GOOGLE. 

Wanna feel better about your life?  Go to the hospital.  I just went to visit my doctor to pick up some paperwork and gosh, I have never felt healthier or more lucky!  Just walking from the parking lot into the office building I saw two  women who were obviously going through chemo, a woman dragging an oxygen tank behind her, and a pregnant teenager.  Life suddenly seems pretty good to me right now.

This is a test to see how this thing works and posts

1. Call Doc and get revised prescription. I just picked it up. And she gave me free samples!
2. Clean out car.
3. Call Garage Door people and order new door– also decide if I can get away with 1/2 door or if I must replace the entire thing Opted for full door- let’s do it right!  Down payment is in the mail. Oh, and he gave me a 50.00 discount because I referred someone to him!
4. Alert Community of my pending construction.  Filled out the ACC form. DONE!
5. Take clothes to DRYCLEANER! (really what is wrong with you? This has been on this list for MONTHS!!! DO IT! DID IT!  I did it!  I took my 3 dresses and one pair of pants to the drycleaner!  I get to pick them up on Saturday.
6. Hello!?! LAUNDRY!?! – Got the towels going… Got some coloreds going…
7. Roll over RO1K
8. Sand trim around garage door and prime.  Wait a couple days and then paint.
9. Fix bicycle tire.  It stays flat regardless of air pumped in.
10. Protesting on Friday, must make Protest Sign– something to do about ObamaCare
11. Load new Anti-virus and other security progs as per dad.  Can it be?  Am I truly experiencing improvement???
12. Keep looking for new computer that is affordable
13. Clean out fridge
14. Clean bedroom
15. Clean clothes closet
16. Grocery store- need Silk Milk and makings for dinner
17. Clean out Garage- get rid of all those old VHS Monster movies, books, and crap.
18. Go through mail- pay bills, etc
19. VACUUM! Oh my gosh this is important Sucked up every critter!
20. DUST! Oh my gosh this is also very important

I dropped off my equipment today. Computer, monitor, phone, docking station, cords… good riddance! I am happy to be done with it. It’s funny how things work out. I thought I was back to stability and security but I was wrong– it was just a three month detour. Stability and security. A few months ago I went to an End the Fed rally in Philadelphia outside the Federal Reserve. One of the speakers was Larken Rose. In his speech Larken talked about animals who have been caged too long will refuse to leave their cage when the door is finally opened to them. I look back and wonder if by accepting that last job, was it my way of getting myself back into that warm, predictable, familiar cage? I don’t have any regrets. I did what I had to do at the time. Besides, had I not accepted it, I would probably always wonder if I had given up a perfect opportunity. There was no way for me to know how impossible it was unless I did it. Now it’s over and I move on.

It was Wednesday when I decided I needed to get of Dodge so I took off for Maryland and chartered a sailboat. Captain Mark plied me with Margaritas and I slowly began to feel better. On Friday I made Tacos for lunch and then I went fishing and caught nothing. On Saturday I went to Blobfest and danced to the music of The Neanderthals. Sunday I drove to the Pocono’s and went rafting down the Lehigh River. Today I went to St. Vincent’s Seminary and visited the Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and attended the Novena. I am not sure what I will do tomorrow. Perhaps I will continue to celebrate. Guys, I made it out alive. The distress I was feeling is nothing more than a memory. I learned an awful lot. Yeah, it’s over and I am happy. Now I gotta find something else…