My new bedspread, shams, and curtains are finally in. :) I am thoroughly convinced that the post office held them back until after all the Harry Potter books were delivered. Fine with me. It was an excuse to put off deciding on paint colors and....da dum....painting the bedroom. Ugh!

My Smithsonian package (Christmas present for 'A') came in at the same time. I had decided that I'd wait until today and then start sending out Whaz Up? e-mails. Glad I didn't have to do that. I actually have several small Christmas gifts boxed up. And son#3 has told me he knows what he wants. It's so much easier when the kids are older -- more expensive if you're not careful -- but easier all the same. My favorite Christmas shoppping experience has become choosing a night, sitting in front of the computer in pjs with a cup of tea or coffee or a glass of wine and shopping my fingers to the bone online. :) Ah! I sleep so well after it's over.

It's just after noon and a bad thunderstorm has just made its way over us. I guess it cooled things off momentarily before the steam rising off the sidewalks and streets make it seem ever more muggy. It's just too hot to do much of anything. Even when staying inside you feel drained of energy by the afternoon. J wants to go to a Band and Bugle Corp performance Monday. =8-0000 It's OUTSIDE at 6pm, which means we would have to get there well before to park, find seats and such. It's just TOO HOT! We went last year and were blessed in that it was cloudy (no rain), but the whole thing just lasts so l-o-n-g.... We're not even big fans of that kind of thing. It was the first time we had seen something like that. It was neat, but..been there, done that. I tried to get one of the boys to commit to going with J, but no luck so far. ....I think they are waiting to see how much I'm willing to pay. ;)

My house is full. And....that's probably why yesterday was a two drink day. Two rum'n diet cokes. First at (blush, blush) 2: something pm. My excuse: I had not gone to bed until 2 am the night/morning before because I was in one of those reading modes. I think those modes strike when I'm attempting to escape my sorry life. I've been through two books and am 2/3 finished with this one (a V. I. Warshawski who-dunnit that 'A' gave to me after she read it while going through her odd situations). That's where my life is nowadays, doing my tedious 'stuff' while waiting until I can finish and veg-out with a book and a rum and coke.

Not only had I not slept well -- or long, but I had spent the morning hours cleaning the house. I gave it a pretty thorough going over and felt much better afterwards. ....So much so that I headed for the liquor cabinet?!? In my defense, it was freaking H-O-T yesterday. I was sweating (not glistening or glowing but sweatin') while vacuuming and dusting and cleaning bathrooms and moving stuff so I could vacuum and dust and then having to move the stuff BACK to where it was in the first place to wait until I had to move it again so I could vacuum and dust. I didn't even want to bath until it cooled off. Which ended up being around 11 pm.

That bring me to my observation for the day (or for yesterday). There is so much stuff in my house that has no business being here. No point for it to be here. Except that it's crap J is holding on to for whatever reason. He has places to store all this stuff so it won't cause problems between us, but then he'd have to take care of it. So, he brings it to our house, dumps it, and thinks it becomes my problem. Which it does because in order for me to have space to live, I have make room for me and my stuff. It's not supposed to be like that in your own house.

I tell him this and he reverts to his old saying that all this stuff 'has value.' And since he's not going to reclaim this 'value' himself, it stays where he dumps it and wastes away. I hate that! To me, it's sinful. So....that's what drove me to the early drink yesterday.

The fifth season....that's what hurricane season's called down this way. I've spent most of the day watching Dennis hit FL. For a while it looked as if he was heading in as a cat.4, but -- thank G-d, he weakened and made landfall at a 3. I hate for a hurricane to hit anywhere, but, having said that, I was glad my beautiful Redneck Riviera didn't get slammed for the second time in less than a year. The area Dennis hit is one we go to often.

'A' is back from her business trip. She and her two roommates are planning a trip to NYC. They have tickets to RENT and The Lion King -- no room as of yet, but what the hell..right? :/ Hopefully they will find something nice and safe that won't max their credit cards. I think I'm gonna plan a trip up there for me and J this month or next.

Well, that's it for now. I talked J into taking sons @2&3 to the movies so I could get my vacuuming and cleaning done today. It feels so good not to have that facing me in the morning. Now maybe I can paint some of those door frames down the hall.... :(

So we're back from Bama. I've been busy all week playing catch up with the house and restocking the food and the wash and....you name it. 'A' and her two roommates came in last weekend after J and I had left. (I think it was planned so she would miss J), and..sons 2&3 were staying here so the house was full. Full of teenagers and young adults. :/ That's why I've spent two days/daze getting things back in order. They are good kids and try to clean up their messes but you know there are always things to set back in order.

'A' is on her first business trip this week. She sounded exhausted when she called Wednesday. They had worked most of the day and then had to drive a couple of hours to the airport and then take a couple of flights. She'd better get used to it because if sounds as if she'll be traveling quite a a bit. At least she's with someone she knows this time out.

Now on to last weekend at the house from hell in Bama. J worked his butt off finishing painting the outside of the house and hanging bathroom shelves, and I spent two days working on ornamental wrought iron. It was NOT fun! It was hot, hot, hot. I used a drill, paint stripper, a paint scraper, a wire brush, sandpaper, and anything else I could think of. I got a tad over half done. I also primed the full bath. It'll be ready to paint next time. There's always a next time. I thought we were going to come back on the 4th but J said he'd promised me he'd have me back for the 4th, which was a big, fat lie. He's the one who wanted to get back. I don't know why he just didn't say so.

We stopped by 'A's' on the way home and met her new roommate. She seemed cool. The three of them seem to getting along fine.

It's taking the bedding and drapes I ordered f-o-r-e-v-e-r to get here. I'm hesitant to buy paint base on a picture. I'd really like to have some material to match. Of course, with my track record, it won't matter either way. I'm sure I'll manage to make a mistake. By the time I develop 'color sense' I'm gonna be so tired of painting that it won't matter....