Wednesday, September 28, 2011

caution! this is what it looks like inside my brain.

so today . . . i've been thinking about making some changes to my blog. this is where you come in...

it seems like life is getting a bit more complicated for me lately. i'm trying to keep an awful lot of balls in the air. and when that happens, the ball that typically gets dropped first is my blog. but i love to blog! i don't so much love all the other balls. i've seriously contemplated getting rid of some of them, but the time doesn't seem to be right to let any of them go. i am working toward that though. i am hopeful that maybe a few years down the road i'll have half as many balls, and they will all be happily defying gravity.

do you have any idea what i am trying to say? i'm not quite sure i do either.

i'm feeling the need to simplify and focus, but in practical terms it isn't going to happen right away. moving was a huge undertaking this summer! well, maybe not so much the actual moving as the decision-making that was involved. but the result has been so worth it! hard to get rid of stuff? yes, but so glad to be living a bit lighter... and going back to work takes major chunks of available time out of my day. and makes me tired. i've only been back at work for three days, and i'm already starting to get that 'swamped' feeling. it's not so easy to simplify. or focus.

the problem is, some new balls have been added to my juggling act recently. so in my quest to keep my head above water, i am afraid that i might not be as consistent blogging every day has i have been. or would like to be. because as i said, i love to blog. but it is more time consuming than you might think. but i also know that you, my loyal blog readers, are busy too. and i am sure it is unbearably disappointing :-) to come to my blog and find that i haven't written anything new. day after day after day...

so i am thinking of adding the an option that would notify you by email when i post a new blog. then you wouldn't have to come check every day--you could just look for an email telling you that something new is waiting to be read! i kind of thought this might be a good idea.

but then...

but then i thought, wait. if i do that, then they will only come when i have written something new, and that will slow the traffic on the blog. which doesn't really matter to me at this point, but what if someday i decide to try to market it or make a little extra cash by selling ads? i need lots of hits to make that worthwhile. and if all 19 of my followers only come when there is a new post, i could be in trouble.

but then i thought, get serious. i will never have enough traffic to make any money at this. and even if i did, do i really want to subject my 19 loyal followers to a bunch of ads? (not to mention the fact that i am pretty sure that not all 19 of my followers actually still read my blog every day...) ads would just clutter up my blog! would there even be room for the ridiculous number of labels i have used to organize my blogs if i added ads? or my hilarious (at least to me) tweets? probably not. and what is more important? for you to read that i saw a pigeon wandering around in costco, or for you to have the opportunity to be directed to another site trying to pry money out of your wallet?? i like to think that you would rather hear about the pigeon. and i think i would rather have you hear about the pigeon, than make 4 cents when you click on an ad...

which brings us back to my original question--should i add the gadget that lets you subscribe by email to my new posts? or do you like the anticipation of "will there be a new blog today?" every time you type in www.jewelielyn.blogspot.com? or is the disappointment that occurs when you don't find a new blog too devastating to deal with more than once or twice a week?

perhaps i overestimate my importance in your world...

everything i have read about 'how to get traffic to your blog' says that you should always ask a question. a question encourages a response from those who read. which makes them feel connected, and gets people interested and talking, and then they mention it to their friends, and eventually those friends will come check it out. and that is how you build a large enough base of readers to support ads. but the purpose of my blog has never been to be interactive or have a gajillion followers. i just like to write. and hear myself think. and tell stories. and try to make you laugh (although apparently not today. today you are getting stream of consciousness thinking. i think i'm too tired to be funny today.) so i don't ask questions. i do, however, always hope you will just spontaneously comment. just like you look forward to my blog posts (i think,) i look forward to your comments. so maybe i should ask questions...

but the problem is, i don't like to do things the way i am expected to do them. ever. i'm not a rebel, i just think the unexpected is much more interesting than the status quo. and i would rather be interesting than predictable. so maybe i should continue not asking questions...

...except then how would i know if you want the email notification option?

what we have here is a veritable "catch 22." so here's my solution. i'm not going to ask if you all would like the email notification. i think i might just add it, and then if you are one of those busy people who don't spend your evenings clicking around websites just for fun, you can use it. but, if you are one of those random, spontaneous people who like a surprise now and then, you can ignore it. either way, the blog will still be here, waiting to be read and commented on...

just maybe not every single day.

Monday, September 26, 2011

a day in the life...

so today . . . i went back to work.

it started off pretty good. i didn't have too much trouble waking up--i only hit the snooze button once! I had everything ready to go, so i was up and out the door in about half an hour. but before i could even get out of our neighborhood, i had to turn around. i had my computer bag, my books, and my lunch... but i forgot to grab something for my breakfast. i would have loved to just swing by 7-11 and snag a brownie, but i am trying to eat better now that i am getting back to work. so i turned around, went back home, and found a hard boiled egg and a cheese stick in the refrigerator and headed back out, confident that now i wouldn't starve...

it took me longer than i anticipated to get to work. even though i still live just a mile and a half away, now i have to go through four stop lights instead of two... and one of those is a left turn... and i am driving on much busier streets, which means more cars sitting at those lights, which means there is a risk that i won't get through on the first green. and then there was construction (although, it was going the opposite way i was going, but still...)

i got to school and went to clock in, but i couldn't find my time card. which was really unfortunate, because for the first time in a long time, i wasn't late. in fact, i was about 7 minutes early, and i wanted it documented!! but my time card was not at the bottom of the rack where it usually is.

my time card position is a bit of an issue for me. i have worked at this particular school for 8 years, but my time card is always at the bottom! other people have been hired since me, but my time card is still always at the bottom. my time card never seems to be able to work it's way up the ladder, because i don't work in the summer. occasionally during the school year, it will manage to go up one or two spaces, only to lose that coveted ground in july when i don't show up for work for two months. then in september, there i am, back at the bottom. this seems so unfair, but i have finally resigned myself to the situation and have tried to embrace it with the thought that at least it is always quick and easy for me to find my time card. which is especially important on those days when i am playing "beat the clock." but since my card wasn't there in it's usual spot at the bottom, i just thought maybe they had forgotten i was coming back today. after all, i am three weeks late starting school, and we have someone new working in the office, so maybe she forgot...

as it turns out, she didn't forget. she promoted me! because there i was, in time card slot #3! yes, i am now #3!!! i cannot even tell you how awesome this is... and i know, you are all sitting there thinking, "this girl needs to get a life! who cares what slot their time card resides in?!?" well, clearly i do! AND not only was my time card now in slot #3, but i clocked in EARLY.

and no, the world didn't end at 7:56 this morning.

my day was off to a pretty good start. then i walked into my classroom...

let me just say here, that i had an awesome substitute while i was gone. really. there are only a couple of people that i would have felt comfortable leaving with my brand new class for the first three weeks of school, and i got one of them. but she hadn't been in the classroom since friday afternoon, and i think gremlins had gotten in...

the tables were moved. there were work papers everywhere. i am pretty sure that on friday afternoon, those work papers were organized, but by this morning, let's just say they were somewhat more randomly arranged. i started trying to make sense of it all and find the things i needed to get through the day. but i also had a room full of preschoolers that hadn't had play time in my room yet, so they were somewhat exuberant in their explorations and needed some supervision.

i continued to move furniture and plow through papers. and then i realized it was time for music...

i love music. i hate leading music time at school. ms. martha and i have finally figured out a schedule that makes us both hate it just a little bit less, but that schedule has me doing music on mondays. and today was monday. which meant i was going to be leading music today. ok, i thought, this won't be so bad. i haven't led music all summer. maybe it will even be fun to do some of the songs i like. so i put a cd in the player and got started. but all of these children are new to our classes. they don't know our songs yet. and as much as i hate leading music, try leading a bunch of kids who don't know the songs yet, while one of them continually runs around swinging his arms, hitting as many kids as he can. yes, my day was going downhill fast...

--the new table arrangement for the pre-k kids was not working out.
--the bathroom light was burned out, and the janitor doesn't come in on mondays.
--we had wheat thins for snack. (i love wheat thins. four and five year olds do not.)

and then it was time for language class. this is one of my schedule changes this year. the kindergarteners go to the same language class as the pre-k kids, which means that on monday, wednesday, and friday i have a 45 minute planning time. YIPPEE!!! i sure needed it today! i spent 15 minutes at the copy machine, 20 minutes moving tables in and out of the room (because something HAD to be done with those pre-k kids,) and ten more minutes looking for the top of my desk under all those papers. but at least i was alone in my room, and it was quiet. briefly.

actually, it was quiet longer than i expected. because usually the kids come back from their language classes at 11:15. but today they didn't come back. and i didn't go looking for them! i just said, "thank you Jesus," and kept shuffling papers. and then suddenly, there they were, all lined up in the hallway and ready to go outside.

some things had apparently changed in the last three weeks...

it was cloudy today, which made for a nice time outside. until i saw a little girl take a nosedive over the front of her scooter and plant her face on the sidewalk. she cried. and bled. and bled and bled and bled. thankfully none of her teeth fell out, but i couldn't tell that immediately because of all the blood! i don't do well when kids are bleeding from their heads. i was the first teacher to reach her, but i quickly handed her off to ms. jessica (my friend who bumped me up to time card slot #3.) ms. jessica is fearless and can handle anything! she saved my bacon more than once today. because later in the day, our toilet (in the bathroom with no light) clogged and overflowed. i don't do well with bathroom incidents either. (i know what you are thinking--why do i teach in a preschool when i can't handle blood and bathroom issues. my answer is, usually i teach kindergarten where we have very few of those issues. but add four year olds to the mix and things are quite different...)

the day did have a few bright spots.
--my lunch time was changed to 12:00-1:00. not only did i get a whole hour (instead of my usual half hour,) but i got it during the kid's lunch time! which means i didn't have to serve lunch. or try to convince them to eat their veggies. or put them down for their naps. ms. jessica got to do all of that :)
--i didn't call anyone by the wrong name. of course, sometimes i avoided using a name if i wasn't sure... but the point is, i didn't call anyone by the wrong name!!
--i got the homework out on time and only had to ask one parent to wait for it. and that only happened because they were early.
--i found the top of my desk. it took me until 5:15, but i found it.
--i have a class full of cute kids. they aren't going to be easy, but they are going to be fun. i think.

and let's not forget that no matter what happened today, or what happens tomorrow, my time card is in slot #3!

i am now just two slots away from being #1...

hehehe...

Sunday, September 25, 2011

hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work i go...

so today . . . is my last day of summer "vacation."

i say "vacation," because it hasn't been all that restful. i've spent my summer packing, moving, unpacking, trying to get rid of stuff, trying to get someone to take the stuff i want to get rid of, finding places for everything i have left, deciding i need to get rid of some more stuff, and packing and unpacking for business trips. i've spent hours in airports waiting for connecting flights. i've eaten more meals than i care to admit at the burger king which is close to my new house. i've also spent more time than i care to admit at ross, t.j. maxx, and marshall's trying to track down cool and inexpensive and useful things for the new house. which seems contradictory, i know, considering how i have been trying to get rid of stuff. but sometimes new spaces require different things...

i am still in love with my new house (even after some neighbor anonymously complained about our dogs barking "incessantly" during the night, which maybe they did, but 'man up' and sign the note so i can come talk to you!!) and the way it is coming together. i just wish i had been able to spend more days on the porch swing with my book instead of wandering around thinking, "where am i going to put this?!?" but it had to be done. my "to do" list is still a mile long, but most of the big things have been accomplished. and now, it is time to go back to work...

i am starting three weeks late this year, because we had to be out of town for a couple of weeks, and then my mom and dad were able to visit during the week in between :-) so tomorrow is my first day of the new school year with my new students. but i am sort of feeling like the new kid...

usually before school starts, i have spent many, many hours preparing my classroom and materials, and when the kids come in on the first day, they are coming into my space. this year, i only had a few hours to prepare things in august, and now the kids have been there for three weeks without me, so i am sort of coming into their space. it is going to be interesting...

my class is different this year. i have a split class like i've had the last couple of years, but this year i have more pre-k children than kindergarten. since i've been out of town, i haven't been in the classroom since august. usually i plan ahead so that on monday morning, all my materials are prepped for the week. but i wasn't there last week. so i am going in tomorrow armed with only my lesson plan from last year and my teacher voice.

while i don't really feel ready to go back tomorrow, i think it will be good for me. i think i need to get back into a routine. i know that when my alarm goes off in the morning, i am going to smack it a time or two before i actually get up. i know i will wish i had cinnamon melts for breakfast instead of my usual hard boiled egg. i know i am probably going to be playing "race the clock" as i head out the door and discover what kind of traffic perils lie in wait on my new route to school. i know i will mix up the names of some of my new little dumplings. i know my lunch break will seem too short. and i am pretty sure that when it is finally time to go home, i will probably turn the wrong direction out of the parking lot and head to my old house...

but i also know i will get to bed at a more reasonable hour (i hope,) i will drink more water, i will make someone laugh, i will roll my eyes at least once, and i will get a natural dose of vitamin D during recess. and i will help tiny children to learn something new, to get along with each other, and to make good choices. i hope. because that is what gets me out of bed in the morning...

... well, that, and the promise of a paycheck ;-)

Friday, September 16, 2011

adventures in cooking #1

so today . . . i cooked. it wasn't pretty.

i have this brand new lovely kitchen. it has new cherry cabinets. it has wood laminate flooring. it has stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. it has big windows and is open to the family room. it is beautiful! i love to be in it, so i've decided i should start cooking again.

i actually decided this about five or six weeks ago. it was one of those nights after rollie was staying at the new house, but i was still packing up the old house. all alone. which was ok--i didn't really want rollie to help me pack, because i knew at that point his idea of packing was going to be to throw everything into the dumpster! so i was all alone in a big, not empty enough, very quiet house, but nothing was getting packed. i just kept walking from room to room, picking things up, moving them around, but making no progress. i needed noise.

i cannot explain it, but my brain seems to need noise to function properly. which was a problem, because all the tvs that could get hd programming were gone. all i had left was the small, old tv that i used in the scary room, and it was not hd ready! it only got one channel. but luckily the channel it got was shopping tv! so i flipped it on, and started packing boxes...

i was packing boxes with half my brain, but the other half was watching shopping tv. nine o'clock rolled around, which is midnight in florida. this meant it was time for a new "today's special!" so i stopped for a minute to watch. and guess what? the new "today's special" was a set of cookware. and it came in red...

i have cookware. i got most of it as wedding gifts, so it is kind of old. but it is still in pretty good condition, because, you know, i don't use it all that often. but this new cookware had clear glass lids (the better to see what you are cooking, my dear!) a new type of ceramic non-stick interior surface (good for temperatures up to 850 degrees!!) and did i mention it was red? and sparkly? clearly this cookware was made for me.

i texted rollie--"i think if i am going to start cooking in our beautiful new kitchen, i need new pans. red ones." he replied, "ok."

ok?!?! what kind of a response is that?? i needed clarification.

"what do you mean, ok? do you mean it's ok with you if i buy them? or do you mean ok YOU will buy them? or do you mean ok, yeah, i'll believe it when i see it?!?"

and his response? "yes." (there was also a goofy smiley icon with weird eyes and the tongue sticking out. sadly for you, i can't figure out how to get that into my blog.)

"ok, then i'll take that as a yes! thank you
!!"

this was a bluff. because here's how the finances work in our household--rollie keeps track of the money and pays the bills, and i don't worry about it. (although there are written instructions in case something happens to him-like he gets lost in the bermuda triangle, which could happen-and then i would have to keep track of the money and pay the bills.) i used to keep track of the money and pay the bills, but mostly i would spend it. so this way works out much better. which is why i was checking with him before purchasing a new set of cookware.

"well," he texted, "you are working and have some money to spend... or how about this? how about if i buy them after the third home-cooked meal in the new house."

he is so funny...

"it will be too late by then! they will be sold out! but you are right. i chose to buy shoes and jewelry instead... and it isn't like i don't have pans... or like i actually use them..."

i know you can't technically hear 'tone of voice' in a text, but i am pretty sure he detected my not so cleverly hidden whining and sighing. ever mindful of my feelings, he texted back. "oh, it's a sale. ok, how about if you buy them tonight, and i will reimburse you after the third meal you cook in them?"

i was beginning to think he didn't believe me when i said i was going to start cooking more. and clearly he had forgotten that it was summer, which meant i wasn't working OR getting a paycheck. i mean, i had money, but i might need it for something... like, like, well you know, SOMETHING...

i finally ordered the cookware, and it came while we were on vacation. but after we got home from vacation, i was busy still unpacking boxes, and then we had to leave on a business trip, and then my mom and dad came... so not a lot of cooking was been going on...

which brings us to tonight. we had planned to take my mom and dad to eat at ruby's in seal beach. it sits on the end of the pier, and the food is really good, and i thought it would be fun to be at the beach and drink a milkshake! but it was cloudy all day today. all day!! not a great day to go eat at the beach. and rollie was feeling a little under the weather. and my dad had his nose in a book. and my mom and i were learning how to use our new electronic devices. so we decided to eat at home.

we have eaten at home some since they got here--mostly bologna sandwiches. WHICH WE LIKE!! but this was dinner, so i thought it should be hot. and yet, we were all kind of busy... so, toasted cheese sandwiches it was!

i got out the bread and the cheese and the butter. i unlocked the cooktop and turned it on. i got out my new frying pan :-) and proceeded to make toasted cheese sandwiches for my dad and rollie, because yes, this frying pan was big enough to make two toasted cheese sandwiches at once!

here is how i make toasted cheese sandwiches--i butter one piece of bread and plop it in the pan. then i slice the cheese and put it on top. and then i butter the other piece of bread and put it on top of the cheese. then i flip it. typically this works. but tonight was not typical...

because you see, not only had i never before used this particular frying pan, i had also never before used this particular burner on my cooktop, which meant i wasn't quite sure how hot was hot enough. apparently "7" was too hot. because no sooner had i finished constructing the second sandwich for my dad, than i thought there was an awful lot of smoke coming from the first sandwich.

"quick," i said to my mom, who happened to be standing in front of the utensil drawer (because how would she know that was the utensil drawer--we hadn't used any utensils!) "move! i need to get the spatula!" (i never know if spatula is the right word for that flat thing you use to turn stuff over with. i've always called it a pancake turner, but it seems kind of odd to call it a pancake turner when using it to flip an egg or a hamburger or a toasted cheese sandwich.) i opened the utensil drawer only to find... wooden spoons. no spatulas. or pancake turners. and then i remembered...

when diandra moved back in with us three years ago, some of her kitchen utensils were much better than mine (obviously, since i had been "using" mine for over 25 years!) so i had just tossed my old ones out and replaced them with her new ones. but now that she was planning to move out again, i had packed her newish utensils with her stuff. which meant that i had no spatula. or pancake turner. what i did have was a smoking pile of bread, butter, and cheese and nothing to flip it with.

i grabbed the only thing i could find. the cheese slicer. it was small, but at least it was flat. it was not however, a spatula. or a pancake turner. i tried to flip the sandwich only to have everything slide off to one side...

oh nonononono! i cannot have a misaligned toasted cheese sandwich! it might be burned, but those bread edges were going to line up properly and that cheese was going to stay inside! i flicked the now burned piece of bread repeatedly until everything was square, and then repeated the process with my dad's sandwich, which was also threatening to burn.

"you might want to turn the heat down a little," said my mom.

she is obviously the cook in the family.

it hadn't even occurred to me to turn down the heat. i was just trying to keep the sandwiches moving so that at least the second side wouldn't be burned. after her suggestion, i turned the burner down to "5"...

i've been cooking on a gas stove top for the last 20 years. on a gas stove top when you turn the flame down, it is immediately cooler. this is not true of an electric burner. electric burners take a while to cool down--especially if you have already heated them up to "7."

my dad's sandwich wasn't too bad. i can't say the same for rollie's. my mom (bless her little pink heart,) said, "why don't i eat that one, and you can make rollie another one." ok i thought, i've got the hang of this now. surely if i make a third sandwich, it will be perfect...

so i turned the burner down, buttered another piece of bread, and proceeded to make another toasted cheese sandwich, thinking "third time's a charm..."

sadly, it wasn't. not even close.but the good news is, i've now cooked in my new pans three times--i made toasted cheese sandwiches tonight, and i've boiled eggs. twice.

the bad news is, i appear to have forgotten how to cook!

i'm pretty sure that even though i have new, red, sparkly pans in my cupboard, they are not going to forget our names at rubio's...

Friday, September 2, 2011

let the wild rumpus begin!

so today . . . i am alone in my new house, all by myself, for three whole days :-)

i love my family. they are my favorite people on the planet. so i'm not quite sure why, but i occasionally need some extended solitude in my own house.

when we lived in oregon, rollie used to leave me fairly regularly. he would make short out-of-town trips every few months. but since we have moved to southern california, it almost never happens. because all of his meetings are now less than an hour away. unless traffic is bad. but traffic is never bad enough that he has to stay overnight somewhere...

this has been a craaaazy summer. between packing and moving and unpacking and going on vacation and starting school three weeks later than i normally do, i have completely lost track of time. which is how i find myself sitting here tonight all by myself...

...because several weeks ago, rollie was asked to speak at a retreat this weekend. he said yes. the retreat is for the church where my school is, so i thought it would be fun to go for at least part of it. but we are leaving on tuesday for a business trip and won't be back until saturday. which isn't a big deal, except my mom and dad are coming to visit NEXT FRIDAY. before we get home. so i have a lot to do...

and then, as i mentioned, i am not going to start working until the end of september. a perfectly capable substitute will be teaching my class. my wonderful assistant will be there to assist her. so i decided i was not going to even try to whip my classroom into shape. i decided i would just leave it alone and deal with it at the end of the month, and instead use the time to finish unpacking. and then, i got the class list...

for the first time, i will have more pre-k kids than kindergarteners. i am not thrilled about this, but that's the way it goes. at least i still have a job! but this change in enrollment is going to be a problem unless i make some changes in the classroom. so i spent almost five hours cleaning and rearranging furniture this afternoon. and i'm still not done. i'll be going back for a short (i hope!) time tomorrow morning. because i am almost done. i think.

and then, rollie asked me if i wanted to teach one of the sessions at the retreat. he asked me this about a month ago, and since it would help him and it's easy for me, i said, "sure!" i said this a month ago when i thought i was almost done unpacking (which clearly i wasn't!) so now i have to make some notes about what i am going to say tomorrow night. i know what i am going to say, and i don't get nervous about speaking, but if i don't have notes i tend to get off track--which can be entertaining, but sometimes i forget to say what i had planned to say...

...which is exactly what is happening on my blog tonight!! this was supposed to be about being home alone, and look what i've written so far! sheesh...

ok, so i'm home alone. i worked at school until almost 8:00 tonight, and then went to target. at 8:00 at night!! probably not a good idea. but i knew since i would be home alone, i was going to need snacks. and new nail polish. and while i was there, of course i wandered about. i found a perfect lamp to put on my piano, and it was on sale for only $13! but then as i looked at it, i realized that i was going to need to buy a shade. so i looked at shades, but the shades cost more than the base! the base!! the part with all the electrical parts (and a bonus free light bulb,) was cheaper than the part consisting of a wire and a bit of fabric. which was bad enough, but then i couldn't figure out how to attach the shade to the lamp. i thought maybe that was why it was on sale, but there were lots of lamps with no visible way to attach a shade, so i don't know...

and then i saw these.pillow pets of the anaheim angels rally monkey!! (ok, i know they are now the los angeles angels, but really, i don't know how anyone who calls themselves a fan can refer to them that way! los angeles has a team--the dodgers. angels stadium is in anaheim. they are, and always will be, the anaheim angels. it isn't rocket science, people. it's marketing.) i love pillow pets! i have loved them since i went on a hunt to find one for my nephew at christmas. they are cute and soft and cushy. the main reason i don't already have one, is that i haven't been able choose just one. but i think now i have--this is the pillow pet for me. sadly, it didn't get to come home with me today, because i was already carrying nail polish, cheetos, a shade-less lamp, and a bag of chocolate chip cookies. (oh, did i forget to mention the cookies? they weren't my first choice, but i couldn't find the devil donuts.)

i wandered back to the lawn and garden section by way of the school supplies. thankfully my hands were too full to pick up any pens or markers, but there was a giant CLEARANCE sign above the outdoor stuff. i don't know what there is about clearance signs that make me suddenly feel the need to purchase something. i was looking at gardening tools (even though we have a gardener who takes care of our yard,) decorative pots in all sizes and colors (even though we have all these empty plant beds around the edges of our yard just screaming for me to plant something in them,) and grilling accessories (even though we don't have a bar-be-que yet.) i managed to talk some sense into myself and headed for the cash registers. without any clearance merchandise.

and then a miracle happened (other than making it out of the store without buying any clearance merchandise)...

...because i have a track record at target. it doesn't matter what line i get into, the people ahead of me in line inevitably have problems with their transactions. my line is always, ALWAYS the slowest line in the store. always. but tonight i found a cash register with no line at all! the cashier was just standing there, probably counting the minutes until the store would close and she could go home.

it was pretty exciting for me.

i got home, pillow petless, but with snacks and new nail polish. i let the dogs out, watched some tivo and ate my sourdough jack. i was home alone. in my new house. and feeling pretty good.

and then i needed to go upstairs...

i don't normally get weird about being home alone. but i started up the stairs, and then realized that the back door was open. the back door was open, because we don't have a doggie door installed yet. so when we are home, we just leave the back door open so the pups can go in and out whenever they want. but it suddenly occurred to me that if i went upstairs, and the dogs followed me, then someone could come in the back door unnoticed. and i watch enough tv to know that when someone sneaks in your back door, it never ends well.

i turned around and closed and locked the door. i started to set the alarm, but then remembered that i can't set the alarm if the upstairs windows are open. since we have a big covered patio, our upstairs windows are apparently vulnerable to intrusions. although, it seems to me that by the time a crazed criminal could scramble up onto our tiled roof and get through a window, the dogs would have alerted the whole neighborhood and mia would be waiting to eat him. or her. but who am i to argue with the security company...

so here i sit. all alone. by myself in my new house.

for three more days :-)