[Yes they are a bit washed out...the hazards of not owning a real camera and being dependent on disposable ones]

Here is the cutest dog in the world that won his costume contest:





Here is me...and since I couldn't find the picture I was looking for..this next one will have to do. Notice the similarities?



and



And finally my lame halloween costume:


Lowen and I at the Inferno


Tiara, Me and Liama who was kind enough to pick up my lame ass to go the inferno.

I had a terrible time at woodmans. I first picked up the photos I dropped off yesterday...and you know how they give you like a bazzilon receipts. Well I put the change, and I thought the money into my wallet. I paid with a ten, so I have 5.10 in change. Then I decided to buy some smokes beecuase we were low. I went there, ordered the smokes and then found only two dollars in my wallet.

So then I was like fuck. Let me get money. I got the money, rechecked the receipt and was sure that I had the money to begin with. But try as I might I couldn't find the five. The machine no sooner spit the money out and the woman says "Maam that is 3.15." Yeah, like I forgot.

Then I am like "okay okay", and I give her a twenty. She gives me the change and the smokes and I step back by the rommance novels to get out of the way so I can recheck what the hell is going on. I stand there for less than twenty seconds, when I hear the same loud, obnoxious voice hollar: "Maam I know you just bought those ciggerettes but you can't go back into the store with them."

I say "I know, I think I might not have gotten the right change."
I know I gave you the right change," she replied indignantly.
"I know you did, but I don't think the photo place did," I respond.

Then she says okay with a dirty look I walk to the front of the store to fully look through my bag and the new 3 receipts she gave me.

Then I thought "They are not going to believe me that I didn't get the right change....damnit." And I struggle on whether or not if I retrace my steps, I am going to find it but then trash that idea because since there is no school today for many, the place is packed. To get the hell out of there I consign myself I figuring I must have dropped it and someone is having a good day at my expense.

And the pictures? They came out okay. Why is that dogs always have to be blurry? And when did I start to look like my mother? Let me get the scanner up and I will show you.

So after I felt sorry for myself a bit, I did something. I made little beaded animals..that look so COOL. I am now working on a tiny kitty. We had tacos last night too, played a little DD4, watched Angel, and then went to bed early. It was a good night.

Today is going well too. The weather an hour ago was terrific! But I jinxed it because I told Tim that, and as soon as I left to go to the post office and Woodmans to drop of halloween pics of the dog and the inferno...it got dark. It continues to be dark.

I carved the pumpkin today into a dapper vampire. I am looking forward to roasting those seeds to tonight to go with the banger's n mash dinner I have planned and movie watching (since we didn't do any last night). I think Jen is going to stop over later with some peppermint goodness too.

Today I feel very productive and more sure that I really, honest to god, *like* being a domestic engineer. I always said I would like it...and once you get past the guilt? It's awesome. I am sure there will be little mole hills made into mountains to deal with later. I think all I needed was to start that fragile network of friend making to fill in the edges. Plus more confidence in doing what makes me happy...matters really only to me and Tim. Perhaps I also need to get over the stigma that it has these days. That you shouldn't be staying home unless you have children, or are super rich. Bah, to that I say. We Red Eagles and Hanson's have a long standing history of creative engineering in the home.

Friendster is being shitty today. Mischa told me that Dave Attel might be in town this weekend to tape for the Insomniac show for State Street's Halloween and that he got that little bit of info on Friendster. I wanted to check it out but the site cannot be found. :( Not that it would make a big difference in my opinion that I am not going out to be doing anything. I guess it is a miracle that I did something last weekend.

I should have taken Pluto out for a walk this morning but Tim didn't set the alarm and I didn't get up until 10.30 to find that Pluto left the room to go sleep on the futon. At least I had Migo by me. The I watched a little Carol Duvall and drank some leftover warmed up coffee from yesterday while working on the shawl project. That lasted until the end of two Halloween episodes of Roseanne before I quit to go to the computer, get dressed and think about taking him out for a walk. However, I just went out side and it is nippy and there are people walking around and I just don't want to deal with Pluto being afraid of other little ankle bitters and crossing the street to avoid them. Not to mention he acts like a big baby when we pass houses where dogs are outside and barking. He just starts whining like a big baby! I did find one route to walk where there is only two dogs sometimes outside, but I don't want to do it. I suck.

Then I wanted to go to post office to send something to Kate and Eric that I wanted them to get before Halloween but I don't think that is going to happen. I need to package it up and write something. It is so typical that even this is going to be late. I know how they love late too. :P Oh well, I guess I can at least package it up today and then send it tomorrow. That way at least *I* know that I sent it before Halloween, even if it won't get there in time. Yeah, I will do that.

Other than that, my motivation is kind of sucking today. I did get dressed though. I am posting here. I did check the non existent email, and there was nothing in the postal mail except for a flyer for Tim to go to a chiropractor. I shredded it. It made me feel good. :) I like shredding junk mail.

Writing my 50,000 word novel commences on Saturday. I have absolutely NO idea what I am going to write about. But I like it that way, not knowing and just waiting to see what will come out of my noggin. It will probably look alot like the retarded sister that I did last year which was 30,000 words of crap. BUT, this year I WILL succeed. Damnit. I will.

We went grocery shopping last night and I got candy for the kids. I got nutrageous, those little peanut butter cups, rolo's and sweet tarts in conjunction with the bulk candy for filler. We also got some sweet, sweet Diet Coke which I am enjoying right now-- a special treat and tons of staple foods. I stayed up a little late writing letters and trying to catch up before this weekend so I can look forward to something in the mail. I think tonight we are going to watch movies and then I can work on my craft a little more. Maybe I should do some beading....that always cheers me up and gives me ideas.

skatured: m/f/27
bugboi: What's that?
bugboi: m/f/27?
skatured: nuthing
bugboi: married/female/27
bugboi: Trying to pick up men online?
skatured: yeah. :D Trying to pick up one in particular. What are your stats?
bugboi: Stats?
bugboi: STR 10, DEX 13, CON 12, WIS 13, INT 15, CHA 11

I had a really great time this weekend. Just briefly:

Thursday: Ben (brother in law) was in town buying a new used road runner? Four runner? Something like that, and afterward we all went to Blue's Plate ... Monty's Blue Plate Diner and had some grub. I got the meat loaf, which was supposed to be great and all...but really? My meat loaf is much better.

Friday night: Tim and I watched movies and stayed home (big surprise?). I made a homemade pizza, including the sauce! It was great. After the movies we ended up playing some Dynasty Warriors before heading to bed.

Saturday: Jen invited me to hang out and have a girl day/night. It was awesome! I got to go rummage sailing and get some great deals, I went to Savers and Hobby Lobby for the first time. At Savers I stocked up on cards, at Hobby I got some wire so I can make beaded animals and flowers, at the garage sales I got two sweaters, a really nice wrought iron candle set that included the candles, a set of wire fruit baskets, at Goodwill I got a pink tablecloth that I cut down tonight and made a shawl (and am going to add the fringe this week for Richard's kid), and a few other odds and ends that I can't recall right now. Afterward we went over to a an old metal class friend's house to do crafts and participate in a soap/aroma therapy product thing, get Halloween costumes together and then later go out. I worked on a making a new wig from an old one that has seen better days, and helped others with their costumes. The best part though, is that I learned how to make sushi!

I, Laura, now know how to make sushi! I am so excited. I made two rolls for Tim which he was very happy to receive when I got home after much hassle and fighting because of poor directions (maybe on my part). It worked out in the end though. Then Liama (metal friend), picked me up and we went to the Inferno where I danced much. Oh, and I ended up getting this peppermint glycerin soap that smells SO good. I am very excited to get it. I am convinced that it will be just the thing (in addition to water in the morning) to get Tim up and raring to go. Partially so that he can take Pluto for his morning walks. Although I don't mind it when I leave at 10 to do it. I have a route that I am happy with for now and I have met two of the folks in the neighborhood. Slowly but surely I am integrating myself here.

Sunday got up bright and early (much to my distress....well not distress...I was just on auto pilot for much of the morning) to get the stuff for our insulation money saving project. Our attic previously had only 4 inches of insulation in (2 inches in the last half where you could tell they were getting sick of installing it). In the interest of saving money, we added 14 more inches with our Home Depot gift card stack (or thanks to Lending Tree.com). First we got the Uhaul truck, then got the insulation, of which we needed 50 bales and loaded everything up. The one thing they don't tell you, is that the blower is free but they don't provide a power source. Suck. Luckily, Sarah and Dave to the rescue! I am so glad they were able to help. Really really really glad. Their help ensured that we got the machine running because Sarah and her driver's license took me to Dorns to buy two heavy duty extension cords. My goodness are they expensive. If anyone needs heavy duty extension cords, don't buy it. Come and borrow ours. I insist.

So, Dave and Tim loaded the blower and I was upstairs doing the blowing. It was eerie. It was quiet and dusty up there, with me blowing loads of crushed up treated paper insulation every where. Tim and Dave said later that they found a Kotex wrapper in it, and I spotted many bits of walmart plastic bags. Sarah helped out immensely by quieting the damn dog. I hate whining. Hate it. It took about two hours and when it was finished I was covered head to foot in white dust. If I had gotten wet at that instant I would have turned into a paper mache. Luckily I did not get wet, nor did it rain. Thank god. We thanked the Peterson team and returned the truck and got Taco Bell to celebrate.

The house was a mess with insulation everywhere, but I managed to clean it up today by vacuuming everything in sight.

Ben and his friend Cherie showed up for a brief moment today to check out the dog and show off his new car/truck. It's very nice and no doubt will come in super handy with his oversized dog - Wrigley who weighs to 75 pounds. They said they were going to try and make it to the housewarming/Tim's 30th birthday party on the 14th of November (it's a Friday). This is the first time I am announcing it...well publicly. Please mark your calendars. If you can't make it to that, and I don't expect all of you, PLEASE plan for the Christmas party which will be the second Saturday of December. It promises to be a good time...both parties. Of course if you need a place to stay, we can always make room. I need to fix the air mattress, but the futon still works as well.

This week I have a lot of craft projects to do and general business. No, I don't have Halloween plans except to carve a pumpkin, roast the seeds and hand candy out the kids on Friday (which I am VERY excited for). Saturday is the first night of the NaNoWriMo, so I am going to be busy writing my 50,000 word novel.

Well, I should go to bed. I will write more tomorrow. I suddenly feel like I have a lot to say, although that might be the miller light talking. :D

Check it out. Tim and I at Mike's wedding back in August.

I was at the grocery store, distracted. I forgot my list and was trying to remember the things I needed to get and not be persuaded to buy anything else. I had just remembered cereal and headed down aisle seven. It took me about three minutes to dig around and find the bagged frosted mini wheats rip off. Ahhh...Success...

"Hello Laura Red Eagle" Said a deep mysterious voice. Startled, I look up and examined the man who said my name. He was wearing thick black glasses, a worn baseball cap and red, long hair was sticking out underneath it.

Any guesses folks?

"Andy!" I said, "What the hell are you doing here at two o'clock on a weekday."
"I could ask you the same thing," he replied.

We hugged. I stood amazed and couldn't concentrate. We did the normal chitchat. He moved here sometime this past year to do a job affiliated with the Towers and got laid off last month due to budget cuts. Thankfully he saved money, got a roommate and has a part time job at the fruit stand down on state street and Radical Rye. He lives over by Willy street and had a girl friend! And no, she is not in high school. He mentioned that might be a little weird and probably illegal now. Wow. He was also very surprised to here that we moved back to Madison permanently. I said when you buy a house that is kind of the intention. Our conversation was short because he is an extremely busy man. I hope that we can hang out sometime.

Oh crap! I forgot to tell him that we were striking with his hometown of Jefferson. Do not buy Tyson meat products!!! Well, not striking but boycotting for the sake of the little folk.

Then when I got home I asked the neighbor if we could borrow their lawn mower on Saturday. He said "Sure, ,what are neighbor's for?" :D I will have to make them batch of co co chip cookies in return. Now that means we don't have to spend the extra money for one mowing session. We can do that next year.

Did I mention that raking leaves in long grass is hard? It's like combing the lawn. The eight trees worth of dropping doesn't' help either, along with keeping an eye for dog bombs. Today was day three and I think it is going to take the rest of the week to finish that job. Whew. At least it is really good exercise, and heaven knows I need it.

Oh I just realized that the photo there was of him in his Halloween costume. He only looked goth once, and that is the proof. I wonder if I have a regular picture of him around here.

Okay. I have a few things to report, and since I have been a bit.... of a ...er ...what is the word? Procrastinator? No, that doesn't describe me. More like....unenthused? No, not that either. How about....distracted? Yes, I like that one...distracted with a bit of ..ennui. If those two words have a kid, tell me what the name is. Thanks.

Oh, and I got ONE good picture from Sarah's wedding. It's a great picture of Tim and I and it will follow. The rest of the pictures, at least of me, I wasn't so happy with. It's so weird, I don't feel like I am hunchback, yet there is photographic evidence. Also, when did I grow to be six foot eight? Quick call Weekly World News, I am sure to get a small paragraph on page 16. Heh.

Friday we got our south american possum. Did I say australian before? I was mistaken. She a tiny little girl with a big nose, we have decided to call her Koopa. She lived in a big beautiful castle with multicolored glass, balconies and secret tunnels, until sometime Saturday night she escaped. We were warned that these possums were escape artists but we weren't expecting the little lady to take after Houdini. Of course we didn't discover this until Sunday night. You can imagine that we didn't think her chances were great with three ...okay one certified hunter and two amateurs in the house. We searched every inch of the office before giving up and drowning our sorrows in Dynasty Warriors. Then, as luck would have it, as we were getting ready for bed Tim noticed that Innsmouth and Migo were VERY interested in something. I came into the room and saw just how they were interested in the bottom of the dresser. I looked behind it and saw two, glassy black eyes staring back up at me. My goodness! Impossible. Now, how do you catch a little possum? Not easily, I can guarantee that. It took both Tim and I, a fish net and it running past us, a towel, under the door, through 12 pairs of animal legs and into the bathroom and a half an hour to capture her again. THIS time she didn't go into her palace. No, no, she was put into the small plastic carrying case that she was transported in because I became convinced she is still tiny enough to squeeze through the bars. She will stay in that case, or one similar until we can buy a new one (which will be tonight). When it was all said and done I put her on the top of the closet in the office and we went to bed. Drama real life.

Today, I am sitting on the couch working on a letter when I heard a loud explosion in the office. Feeling dread I ran into the room and saw Migo searching the ground through a pile of bedding, food, orange, and shattered crate (broken apart, not really broken) and no possum. Crap. I immediately sealed the door much to Migo's discomfort because she knew I was furious with her. As soon as I ascertained that Koopa was not by the door, I threw the cat out with a few choice swear words. I then turned around, sat on the ground and put some of the bedding back into the case. I looked around the room and felt a growing despair at all the hidey places and no help. Ack. I sat for five minutes, put the thing back together and wondered what to do next when I saw her. She was moving under Tim's desk. This time the capture took about five minutes. I shot my hands out on either side of her and took a chance. I was extremely lucky because I actually caught her. I couldn't believe it. Whew. Thank god.

Now she is in one of the high up to the ceiling cabinets where no cat can touch her.

The other great bit of news is that we went to the Greyhound Gala in Waukesha. We stayed up last on Friday night watching a Mighty Wind and finishing up Pluto's mosquito costume. On Saturday we packed up and headed out. There were TONS of greyhounds there. Tons. But as many people were there we were surprised that not that many people took part in the contests. We were going to enter only the costume contest but another woman approached us for the "twin dog" contest. She had a black hound (female) that had the same coloring as Pluto (black..yes...but it was consistent). We won that, AND we won the costume contest. There were about ten other contestants in that one, so it was something of a contest. A few of the other winners included a dapper dog, a clown...and some of the other costumes were a bumblebee, a lame tinkerbell and some kind of liberty concoction. We took pictures, and I hope that some of them come out. Of course I can always dress him up again and take him out into the sunlight. But then that would mean forever and a day until you see that adorable little blood sucker.

In total, Pluto walked away with two stuffed animals with squeakers that he won, one howling monkey that we bought and got great reviews, a fancy black leash and base collar decorated with silver and gold outlined in black design and more treats than was good for him. He had a great time as did we showing him off.

We got back and I started to clean up the house for a friend that up until Friday night at 6.00 said she was coming to visit. There wasn't a message on the answering machine or my cell phone so I assumed she was still coming. Stupid me. I should have turned on the computer right away. But no, I was stupid and started to actually get excited about seeing a really old friend. Of course, when I was all done I did check the computer and saw that she flaked out again. Second time. One more time and she's toast.

I was disappointed. I was actually looking forward to going out. I drank a glass or two of wine and played some DW with Tim and then I convinced him to go out. Thus, we went out. I visited with a few people, drank two more beers before calling it quits and danced....a lot. The next day I felt the effects of booze with no dinner and felt stupid that I even open my mouth at all. Eh. I knew I probably didn't say anything bad, but I feel like I probably talked about personal things. I mean, not really personal -- like yeah it gets lonely here. Is that a bad thing to admit? It feels like it. It's not like I need a social circle every day of the week, but once in a while a real conversation is nice. I don't know that feeling intensifies with alcohol so it isn't all the time. The rest of the time I am fine. Hm. Oh well, I'll get over it and forget it. Tim is going to be Djing this Wednesday for their all goth night. Matt dropped by last week's episode of Angel. I need to watch that before Wednesday so I can return the tape.

I might be started to watch little kids after school until their parents get home.
I think I have a nose infection again.
Raking leaves is ALOT harder than it looks. :(
I made soup last night, it was very tasty.

Now, your picture.

I know, I know, it has been a long time. What happened to good ole dependable WoWunk? Well, we are living in strange times? Eh, in order for me to get you to believe that I would have to describe the "strange" incidents which would completly be a exercise in futility because you wouldn't believe a word. So, s ince you wouldn't believe me if I told you, I will have to supply the following.

Let's see, Tuesday.....I was plagued with headaches. Bad, hurty headaches. I went to the grocery store too and made wings for Pluto's costume. Wednesday was a boon. Tim woke up and decided that he was too..oh wait, that was Turdsday. Um Wednesday, headache! Yah! Then I made some punkin pie and headed over to Ben and Jen's for dinner. Tristian is cute and can walk. It was nice to talk. When the night ended I felt like there was just so many things I could talk about. I think that is from me not having too much actual conversations with other human beings in some time. Lots of thoughts in my own head.

Anyway. Thursday, the boon. Tim stayed home for a Preventive Sick Day and we played Dynasty Warriors 4 all day. It was AWESOME. I had a lot of fun. Just like when we were kids complete with non cooked food (cold cereal, peanut butter and jelly sammiches, pie). Ahh. That was nice. But other than clearing the Wu campaign, we didn't do anything. That means tonight/today I have to finish Pluto's costume (he needs it tomorrow!), drop a book off at the library for Tim, read more of Abarat, take a shower and get dressed, um...cook dinner, dishes, clean up the guest room for a possible guest this weekend, and go to the store with Tim and the car, and stuff. Yeah. Mostly right now, I just want to read.

Okay...off to do some of that stuff. Have a good weekend ladies and gentlemen.

Ugh. I had a dream I was back in college. It was complete with the three people in a cramped, shitty apartment with one roommate I hated, missing classes and getting myself registered for one I knew I couldn't do, walking down state street and seeing little pods of goths sitting on round benches, and wondering why Tim was staying in my shitty apartment during the week sharing a small single bed when he had a big, wonderful house to stay in. It was then that the logic of the dream started to fall apart and I woke up. Then I remembered: Laura! You are going to meet Linda for lunch and support the students opposition to Columbus Day today!

Hey, that reminds me. No mail today. Damn.

I looked at the clock with fear ---sure that it was one o clock, but instead it was 8.54. My Migo was sleeping peacefully in her milk crate next to bed, the house was zonked out at the end of the bed and Innsmouth was on Tim's side holding a vigil. I hadn't missed anything.

SO I got up, took a shower, read the disappointing online entries (where did all the interesting posts go?), and glanced at the bus schedule. Apparently, Madison thinks that you don't have anywhere to be during the middle of the day except at work, so they don't find it necessary to run buses. Fine. I will ride bike. I need to get some exercise anyway. I do kind of miss Chicago's trip planner though.

I wonder how Eric is doing. Probably having fun and being super busy with all his cool, interesting stuff with the effortlessly hip Kate. :P

This weekend Tim and I got the materials needed for making Pluto's costume for the Greyhound Gala this weekend. He is going to be a mosquito. Get it? They call Greyhounds "needle noses."? Do I need to draw a picture? Man, JoAnn Fabrics is a mad house on the weekend! We were also going to add the 10 inches of insulation to the attic, but when we got to Home Depot the truck was out. So we asked the Special Services Staff when they expected it back, where it went, or if it could be reserved and the "special (as in retarded) staff answered back.....no or they didn't know. What dumbasses. Frustrated we left and made the plan to rent a truck that could fit 30 bales of insulation and the blower next weekend. Good thing too, because when we later went BACK to home depot to get wire, racks and an porch mat we saw how little the pick up truck was. Then we went to Target where we saw Sigrid and Matt and got some great deals on a ironing board, , a shredder and some hangers -- all because they aren't the right color anymore. Awesome! We don't care about color or it matches the drapes....all we care about is functionality.

No possum this weekend. The woman never called or came over. Tim got an email from her today that said she never went home this weekend. What? The. Fuck? She didn't go home this weekend? And she can't spare 30 minutes of her time to have us just go over and GET it? What is she doing with her time? Flakey. Plus, she was the one that put the announcement up that she had possums to give away. We are giving her one more week before we get a gerbil or something from the humane society.

OKay I should go. I will let you know how it turns out.

I feel like 9,999,999,999 bucks today! Wow. Snottiness and a persistent cough remains, but my energy level is back up. Yesterday I felt better too and stained a bookshelf (the second coat must be applied to day), I also cut a curtain in half for the smaller living room window to make two panels, did laundry, wrote some emails, tracked down my mother in the hospital, and put together a critter trail thing for our new austrialian possum.

We don't have the actual possum yet--that will happen Friday night when Tim get's it from his coworker. My Mom, thanks to a very short message from my Stepfather that tipped me off, was in he Eau Claire hospital. Although the message said heart attack, I found by talking with the nurse that it wasn't an "MI" but that the artery between the stents had started to close (previous MI). She said she was sleeping and could go home that day. I asked her to let my Mom knew I called and hung up. What a way to start the day, eh?

Today I got a mail bonaza...and oddly enough -- a letter from my Mom! Yeah! She wrote it on Oct. 8th. How strange is that? That was like...yesterday? What the hell? What is today? Thursday. Somebody want to do some explaining here? Plus the letter was very upbeat, although she said she couldn't visit me in November. Possibly spring. I am still going to focus on finding a bed or futon for that room though.

Last night we ordered pizza. I had a coupon for buy one get one free if you pick it up. But I did call and "order" the pizza before we picked it up. Dominos. It was good, and equally good today.

I also got mail from my ex-texan, penpal friend Virgina who finally go out of texas! A card from Barb (an old co-worker) who is interested in more craft bartering.... hmm... and our security deposit from Cagan. Awesome. I have some letters to catch up on for sure. It's tough when it is so nice outside. Oh did I mention that I also did a little gardening? I did it on Tuesday but that was a serious mistake. I was out for like 15 minutes and had a relapse. I felt SO crappy. So.... eh. Anyway, I have it half dug out and have to finish it sometime soon.

Maybe after I go to the grocery store to get some pumpkin for Pluto. He has been a bit drippy lately and pumpkin is supposed to dry that.... er pardon the pun...shit up. :) This whole thing is funny because Pluto's full name is Pumpkin Pluto. That stinky boy.

It is SO nice to feel so much better. I am happy.

Still under siege.

My record is broken. I have ruled this empire for so long. There have been a few battles and skirmishs -- all of which I defeated within the day. But now....the castle has fallen. The fort has been torched. Refugees are fleeing the capital in droves, seeking refuge in the soft whitness of toilet paper and kleenex. No amount of foreign aid has helped, even though they promised relief...it hasn't been delivered.

Eh. Crap. Pluto has to go out. He hasn't gone pee all day. He's being a pain in the ass.

This morning I woke up toasty warm. I found out later that it had been raining, and the mail man had just come! No more waiting around for the mail to show up for me. No sireee. Now I all I have to do is sleep past when the mail comes, so that I am instant gratification. I got a Ho Chunk something about a new amendment to the constitution or some such balarky. Seriously, I get so much mail from the Ho Chunk Nation about shifting politics it's insane. The only thing I can be assured of, is that the faces of the contenders will change. The blame each other for nothing happening and vote each other off, then spend a shit load of money and time telling us about the new campaigns with pleas to do the right thing and vote for them. Then they get voted....then it's contested that the election was rigged or miscounted somehow.....then it finally decided two or three times......and then the constitution changes.......and then we get a book about the constitution changes.....And then it's time for reelection. Blah.. Tim used to read it and keep me informed but I think even the great Benninghoff political gene has grown tired of it. The only reason I look at it any more is to see if I recognize anyone in the pictures or if there a notice of change for the per capita.

Anyway, the other piece of mail was a letter from Zoe in CA. Oy....umm this is without a doubt THE most incomprehensible letter I have ever received. All I could figure out (and part of this based on a previous letter I partially translated) is that she does not work but doesn't consider herself a domestic engineer, she lives with her boyfriend, has a lot of relatives and go traveling a lot. OH, and she is writing a book and did a comic or something. It's like she is a modern day woman with a Victorian woman's sensibility. Entertain, entertain and do some more entertaining. I am a little unsure how to respond. I might have to give it a week or two.

Yeah, anyway. I gotta finish the letter to my Mom and a few other folks today, in addition to finding Sarah's invitation to see when the wedding is tomorrow.

Oh hey, remember the last post where I said I wished I had something to do on a Wednesday night? Matt came online and agreed to pick me up so I could be a heroic fan to his DJing. Yah! Then Tim picked me up at 11:00...but for TWO hours I went out. I can't tell you how much of a difference it made. Yesterday I woke up with so much creative energy and ideas.....I made Halloween decorations for the bay window. It's cute. Tim asked me where I got all of them, and when I said from cookie cutters and crafting he was amazed! Or at least pretended to be. :) He even suggested that we will have to cut some jack o lanterns. HE SUGGESTED IT. Not me! That means it will happen for sure. The other week I learned how to roast pumpkin seeds too...except I roasted squash seeds because they looked like pumpkin seeds.. but really aren't. Eh. I threw the batch out, but am now a wiser cook.

I am really looking forward to seeing how many trick or treaters we get. Growing up we never had them. First because we lived way out in the boondocks, then because Mom didn't want to provide candy to the neighborhood (although she had no qualms about driving us to the richer to parts of town to load up). Since we went out later, we would turn of the lights, draw the shades and keep the TV on low. Don't you DARE answer that door otherwise we will give them YOUR candy. Which I wouldn't have minded really. It's nice sometimes to feel like you are normal part of the neighborhood and participate in normal activities such as the generosity of cavities to kids.

OH and yesterday Pluto got mail! Holy cats, did he ever! Doggie treats that look like cookies that I want to eat and a greenie from a sympathetic listener (in regards to Pluto eating cat poop). Aww.

I went to the post office to today to send the two bills I paid. Yes, you heard it here. I paid some bills. I haven't done that .... two in row! in a long time. It was amazingly easy - even a step child could do it. I wish that making money were as easy as handing it out. Speaking of we also got the gas and electric bill. One of the highest I have ever seen, but I suppose that is what having a house does to you. The darker side of the lining.

I also went to Woodman's where at 4.00 in the afternoon all of Madison's hipsters go grocery shopping. I haven't seen so many alternakids at a single establishment since Ned's last show. Of course they were all buying soy products, environmentally friendly toilet paper and organic vegetables. I bought the more expensive but not as expensive as some of the breads - bread at 1.69, chili and brown gravy mix- each for 39 cents, big yogurt for Pluto 1.19 and candy for the adults (2.89 but I got a wide variety and a lot of it). Not too shabby. We have tons of staples in the house for all those cheap home cooked goodness that yields leftovers for lunch.

Yesterday I organized all the beads and crafts! I can't believe it. I have never been able to do that before in my life. The seed beads in the test tubes I organized by color. I then put a pile of unsorted beads away so that I can sort them while watching TV and being next to the computer. It's the ultimate in multi tasking and a great way to relieve stress. It's so cool. I just want to continue playing with it , but there are other tasks that need to be attacked -- like making the guest room nice somehow. I wish we had a bed for it. Or a futon. Or the money to get those items. That would help so much and then I could keep my promise to my Mom and let her visit me in November. As of now I only have an air mattress and there is no chance my Mom can sleep on that. Tim and I would have to help her up in the morning and down at night. That is no kind of guest accomodations. Sigh. But at least I can work on the rest of it, right?

Tim is going to his board game night tonight. I wish there was something I could go to.