CafeChatNoir

OK, I need to go to bed. I’m thinking way too much.

Still SO freakin’ tired. Slept like a rock last night, got up at my normal time, came downstairs, watched the news & market open and proceeded to doze on and off for on the couch for a good 2 more hours. Needless to say, I’ve not been exceptionally productive today.

I’m also in a bit of a funk given the realization that the “congrats, you’re pretty much toast” birthday is less than 2 months off. Ick. I think I shall leave town and hide for a few days when that comes around.

I’ve got a ton of stuff on my mind, but I just can’t seem to articulate it to get it out of my head. There are some things in my life I am not happy with right now, but I have no idea what to do about it. I’m still so tired I can’t even think straight, which certainly isn’t helping.

I guess it comes down to the fact that there are things I either cannot fix, or cannot figure out how to fix. I don’t like not being able to somehow fix things, and I really don’t like hitting the point where I have to admit that I cannot fix something.

Maybe some more sleep will do the trick. Yesterday morning I was having a very good problem solving dream, and I was *right* on the cusp of having some answers, and the alarm went off. Worst day in the world to have the alarm go off at 5:45AM…

Everything, and I do mean everything sucks.

Well, it’s been an interesting day, and we’ll just leave it at that.

Today was at least a net-zero effect day as far as the chaos in life goes. The storage container is EMPTY - and get this - all the boxes have been unpacked. I SHIT YOU NOT. All the pieces of furniture have a place to be. (Granted there are 2 dressers in the upstairs hall until I rearrange a couple things in my room tomorrow.) I was completely sure there were only 2 dressers in storage. Forgot about the 2 nightstands and the cedar chest.

It’s been a very long week. It’s still not over, but I am going to go treat myself to a beer and some time with my guy.

The downside of a roommate is someone seeing how fucking clumsy you are.

Normally, if I’d managed to somehow flip a corkscrew on to the *perfect* spot on a wine glass to break it, no one would be the wiser but the animals. Instead, I have an actual person coming upstairs after hearing said breakage and asking if I’m OK… Yes, just still as much as a putz as I ever was - I just never figured anyone would actually know about it.

Got an email from little bro yesterday entitled, “Are you ready?” Um, OK, let’s consider my mental state of late - I’m not sure I’m “ready” for anything else at this point.

Opened it anyway, and discovered it was only, “Are you ready for a roommate?” Well, probably not, but too late now! So, he’s (finally) here for the duration and currently getting my TiVo setup. (And quite possibly on the verge of chucking a brick through the TV.)

I haven’t had an actual roommate since 1991, and that was in a college dorm. (I don’t count when living w/someone I’m involved with, to me that’s completely different.) I’ll admit, I’m a little concerned that I will be a horrid roommate.

It’s already hard to realize he’s going to actually be here - I have to drop my car off for service Wednesday night, I asked him if he could come get me Thursday to pick it up. He said, “As in, walk upstairs and we go get in the car?” Oh, yeah, I guess so.

But, I think it will be fine. Neither one of us is the type that “things must be done just so” when it comes to the way the house is, we aren’t the type to steal each other’s stuff out of the fridge, we have our own bathrooms, and we’ll be living on separate floors. Chances are we’ll rarely run into each other.

That, or in 6 months, we’ll be putting the house on the market and moving to opposite sides of the earth.

First, as much as I think of Benadryl as a miracle drug, it’s failed me this time around. Spent the vast bulk of yesterday in a antihistamine coma on the couch, with a seriously messed up ear. Went out last night cause I was feeling slightly less than death, but desperately needed to get out of the house. Repeated again today, and when the last B-dryl wore off around 5 with really no decent improvement, I went old school. Shot of whiskey (Jameson’s if you’re interested) followed by sitting in a hot bath til my forehead broke out in a sweat, followed by another shot for good measure. Less than 1 hour and I had a cleared out ear and was feeling right as rain. So, don’t discount your grandma’s “liquor + whatever” home remedies.

The other thing I discovered tonight is - I’m the bar freak. ;) (Well, depends on who you ask.)

At the moment, I have some deadlines - some self imposed, some hard. Townhouse ready for sale by 1/1. Estate totally distributed by 12/31. Grandma arriving on 12/20. Granted, “Grandma” is the only truly hard deadline, but the other items I really, REALLY want to have done by those dates. Each is a fairly large project in and of itself. Lots of little things to make the big things happen.

I have a steno pad that I (now) keep in my pocketbook. The front side is writing ideas. The backside is the to-do list from hell. I’ve discovered that when I am out for last call at GD’s, that seems to be when I have those random “OMG, gotta do X to accomplish Y” thoughts. I realized I just need to have the damn notebook with me so I can write things down so I don’t have to remember them. I will readily admit that this is in no small part to the fact that I am a control freak, and if I have shit written down, I feel like I am just slightly more in control. Hence, the steno pad is with me at all times so I can write shit down.

It has actually greatly reduced my stress on these three pain in the ass projects. Once it’s written down, I don’t have to try to remember it anymore, and I can just let it go (and given how much runs through my head at 100MPH, this is a good thing), and I have a snowball’s chance in hell of actually remembering where my keys are since that part of my brain isn’t occupied with something else. Most of the folks that know me at GD’s know I have all this nonsense going on and understand why I might be sitting there having a Guinness or Irish Coffee and watching SportsCenter and suddenly pull it out and write something down, and that some nights, I just get my drink and go through the list and cross things off and add to it. Tonight I ran into someone who does not know this, and he was greatly concerned about my mental state. It took the better part of an hour to convince this well meaning (and I will say, somewhat burned out) gentleman that I was really OK, and that writing things down as I think of them really does keep me from going over the edge, and that I really didn’t give a rat’s ass if it looked weird or not. I told him to check in with me around mid-January and he’d see that I was a fair amount more laid back. :)

I think what cracked me up the most about the entire encounter was that by time all was said and done, he was praising me for knowing what I needed to do to keep myself from losing my mind and that perhaps I didn’t really need to “talk to someone” (ie, seek professional help) after all. Cause yeah, I am really going to seek professional help because I am a list-maker and will tend to those lists whenever the mood strikes me… ;)

Well, it seems that it’s snowing everywhere else in the US, and here it’s 65 degrees… Granted, it’s not going to last, but it’s decidedly weird for December 1.

Sleep patterns are well and duly fucked - fell asleep (on the damn couch) around 2:30 and then was awake at 7AM this morning. Nothing quite like waking up and it’s still freakin’ dark outside. Somehow I see a nap in my future today. Or falling back asleep before the markets even open.

PODS redesigned their website, and it’s totally broken. So much for arranging delivery of my stuff online. Cox’s website is also fucked, which means I have to get on the phone with them, which I can’t say thrills me.

It’s going to be a long day.

I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since Sunday. My stress levels have been running high. Of course, this means ear infection time!

Spent the entire day burning it out with copious amounts of sleep and drugs.

Unfortunately, this means that my sleep patterns will be even further whacked out, and my stress levels aren’t exactly being helped by the complete loss of what could have been a perfectly productive day.

Whee.

This may end up sounding rather angry, but really, I’m feeling quite good about things right now.

So, I had a little revelation this evening, which has been years overdue, but hey, I always have been a procrastinator.

I’ve struggled with Christmas for many years. It’s not that I don’t like Christmas, I do. Lots of things I don’t like (Macy’s decorating before Halloween, people getting in fistfights in malls, the whole $$ spent on presents = love), but there are lots of good things. Giving. People actually being decent towards their fellow man, even if they can’t manage to carry it past New Year’s. Christmas cookies. Christmas lights. Spending time with people you care about. (Yeah, that goes on all year, but there’s something about it at Christmastime…)

The struggle comes with my grandmother. She has stayed for a month every year. This year, it’s only two weeks. We’ve never had anything really approaching a good relationship. I sort of understand the reasons, but she’s basically been a thorn in my side my whole life. How many 6 year olds ask their mother, “Why doesn’t grandma like me?” Yeah. There is nothing I can do that is right in her eyes - never has been. I’m used to it, but I still let it get to me. But it makes it incredibly difficult to enjoy a holiday when you have someone in your life who pretty much disapproves of everything you do, and lets you know it, and you can’t avoid them.

A while ago, I told someone who was letting some jackass get to them, “Do you really want to give them that kind of power to screw up your whole evening?” Hmmm, physician, heal thyself.

Tonight I decided, I don’t care anymore. When she arrives, I am sure she’ll find something wrong in the house in the first 24 hours. She will resent every time I leave the house, be it to go get groceries or actually go spend some time with friends. She will tell me “I’m trying to do too much” the minute something burns on the stove, and then obsess about the oven blowing up. I am sure she’ll have some choice words about my decision to go back to school. There will be fantastic dinners but the portions will be too large.

This is my life. The key word being there is MY. Not hers. If she doesn’t like what I do with my life, my time, my money or my house, that is HER problem. Not mine. Realistically, she has no power over me whatsoever - there is nothing she can do to me if she doesn’t like the way I live my life.

I will probably have to remind myself of this several times over the course of her visit. But, I like Christmas and I’m not letting it get fucked up yet again. I just want to enjoy this holiday, and I fully intend to.

You don’t fuck with me.

More importantly, you don’t fuck with people that I care about, and I assure you, that list ranges far and wide.

If you do, and I find out about it, I will do everything in my power to make your life a living hell, because I have more protective instincts than you can possibly imagine.

That is all.

Didn’t sleep well last night at all - lots of weird dreams, dealing with the townhouse, this house, classes, the estate, and managing what we’ve distributed from the estate so far.

Apparently my brain has decided that these are now my full time jobs and is obsessing accordingly.

Usually when I start having “work” related dreams, it means I’m starting to lose focus and/or things are teetering on the brink of heading downhill if I’m not careful.

So, this means I need to redouble my efforts to stay on track and keep getting things done, otherwise who knows when I’m going to get a decent night’s sleep again.

Last week, our bartender Jess had a birthday, and there were lots of cameras all over the place. She was sweet enough to get me a copy of this one. :)

Me & my guy.

So, is it just me, or does it seem that for every person you know or deal with that not only does their job and does it well, there are at least 2 complete fucktards you have to contend with?

Got into the broker this week and got a new account setup for myself and thy did their magic to get the “big” estate account split for us. Frankly, I was kind of dreading it - among other things, I just envisioned mountains of paperwork to get this accomplished. Well, our broker rocks - got there, all the various and sundry pieces of paper were already filled out and ready to go, so we ended up sitting around shooting the shit for a while and I signed 3 pieces of paper and it was all done. They’re doing the split electronically, my new account is up and running (saw it online today) and the funds should be moved either today or Monday. Finally, something went easily!

Back in the day Dan (our broker) & my Dad worked together, and back then he was just a broker like everyone else there. Looking at his business card, I discover his title is now now Senior Vice President - Wealth Management. Oh my. Which may explain the ever so slightly confused look on the receptionists face yesterday when my brother & I show up in our usual uniforms of blue jeans & work boots (woulda been Tevas if it was summer) saying, “Hey, we’re here to see Dan!” There is nothing about us (including our bank accounts) that says, “these people need wealth management, and the attention of the SVP in particular.” It really is all about who you know, I suppose. :)

The annuity people are now putting a rush on the last 3 contracts since there is no reason they shouldn’t have been processed by now. Granted, it’s not the end of the world that they apparently got stuck in a bit of limbo, but I just want to get those crossed off the list.

It’s also been an existentially angsty week - which is incredibly annoying, cause I really should be over that given my age & stage. Lots of “Why am I here and what should I be doing?” questions and annoyances. It’s mildly frustrating to have some of the places you want to be in life dependent on time and other people, and well, I’m running out of time and the right people can be hard to come by sometimes, so sometimes you need to set some ideas aside. Ah well.

Not all bad, as a 10 year plan has emerged from the fog of questioning - I’m just going to take over the world. Let me know what job you’d like. (Please keep in mind some spots have already been filled, so do have a second choice at the ready.)

After a couple 70 degree days, we walked out of the bar this evening to the winds whipping up and the coldfront coming through.

Now, I’ll admit, I like it more when these come through in the summer vs. the other seasons (me <> cold tolerant), but there is something about Mother Nature just deciding to have a bit of a hissy fit and bringing in new and different things.

Like Dave said, “There’s nothing like a good blow” - and he’s completely spot on. I absolutely love when a front comes through, even if it does mean I’ll be freezing my ass off in the next 24 hours. There is something about the wind that just really gets to me. There is so much raw power there that absolutely no one has control over - to just stand out in it and just revel in the experience can be amazing. I suppose that’s why I also tend to stand outside in the summer when the storms come through.

Complete with Starbucks run. Which can only mean the rest of the day will go to shit, LOL!

Woke up WAY too early to the sound of my phone ringing - it’s Terminix confirming the appointment for this afternoon… Um, I made the appointment yesterday - yes, I’d say I’m still aware of it. (Yeah, I know they probably don’t have that in the system when they make those calls.)

Decided as long as I was up, might as well make some more phone calls. All the utilities are now in my name, with the exception of the cable. Have to take a death certificate to the cable offices to get it switched over. (Otherwise there would be a bunch of disconnect/reconnect fees.) Switched over water, electric & gas. Telephone was already done. Am I forgetting anything?

Appointment with broker is next Wednesday at 1PM. At least one of the annuity contracts is liquidated - checked the website this morning and it’s only showing 3 of them instead of 4. So, obviously they got the last bit of paperwork yesterday. Also got on the horn with E*Trade & got the excess earnings that went with my excess IRA contribution processed and en route to me. (They calc’d the earnings, called me and told me what they were, but didn’t actually distribute them with the contribution…why not, I’m still not quite sure.)

Figure I’ll hit the cable place after Terminix, then do the marketing, if I can figure out what I want to make for dinner.

The other task at hand for the week is getting this place cleaned up - looks like a tornado hit it. However, I’m not so sure that is going to happen today, considering that I’ve discovered muscles I didn’t know I had from yesterdays yardwork blitz. Ouch.

Sometimes all you can do is laugh.

So, I was off to a pretty rockin’ start today - phone calls and appointments galore made… Headed over to the townhouse…

First, Black & Decker’s cordless string trimmer is a great idea on paper. In reality it is a total POS and will not hold full power for more than 5 minutes it seems. Fine, I’ll go over to Hunter Hardware and get what I need for the windows and figure out what’s next. Much to my dismay, they have 50% off inventory liquidation signs up… :( Yes, one of the few decent hardware stores left will be closing, cause the landlord has jacked up the rent big time. (I’ll spare you my very non-PC conspiracy theories on the new landlord at this particular shopping center.) Was able to get what I needed, but I still needed a decent/working string trimmer.

Dave & I had been discussing our common loathing for Home Depot, and had been trying to figure out where the closest Lowe’s was - we were sure it was in Fair Lakes. Well, if it was, it’s not there anymore. So, not wanting to spend even more time wandering around, I went back to Home Depot, got a corded trimmer and back to the townhouse.

Get the trimmer out and plugged in and…the extension cord I have apparently no longer works. Insert cussing here. Rout around in the utility room and find another one. Then it’s off to the races. Can you say, “scorched earth policy”? I knew you could. :) Got the back and front taken care of as best I could considering the somewhat soggy conditions, figure I’ll hit it again in the next couple days to take care of any missed spots. (Actually it was a good day for yardwork - nice & cool.)

Here’s what I love - I looked around and at least half the townhouses on our block of units need to have their gutters cleaned as well. And I’m the only one that seems to have raked the leaves from the rear terracing.

While I was finishing off the front, my left-neighbor (I’d take a bullet for the little girls that live there) wife came by and we exchanged pleasantries and next thing I know, she’s suddenly raking the leaves out of her yard. Nothing like a little peer pressure, LOL. Of course, I can’t help but notice that I am *bagging* the stuff from the front, and it looks like the rest of the neighborhood is just sweeping them into the street. Next thing I know, right-neighbor (of the email) drives up. Cue awkward moment.

He’s all nice and wanting to know if there is anything he can do to help out, blah, blah, yada, yada. Pointed out that, gee, looks like it’s not just MY place that needs the gutters cleaned, and he allowed as how, no, it wasn’t just me. Also discovered that he’s not actually seen any mice whatsoever, it’s left-neighbor that thought he saw something… I adore left-neighbor, but I’m not sure he could tell the difference between a mouse & a chipmunk, and there is an azalea in the front of my house that usually has about 30-50 little brown birds playing in it during the day, and when they get going, it sounds like a very large animal is mucking around under it… Will know for sure tomorrow, I suppose.

Then it was on to the friggin’ windows. I now at least know the best way to get latex paint off glass. A liberal application of goof off, followed by razor blades. Works much better when you have a good little holder for said razor blades (thank you HH) - didn’t take too much time to get it done, but between using the string trimmer for a good long time, the raking, and the scraping, my hands are damn cramped up this evening.

While I was working on the windows, left-neighbor husband drives up and sees I’m there and knocks on the door. First words, “We miss you!” I love these folks. We talked for a bit, he wished me the best of luck with a smooth sale on the house when I get it on the market, and asked if I was sure I didn’t want to move back. :)

I’ve just faxed off the “It’s fixed, now please, PLEASE stop pointing out every one of my shortcomings” letter to the HOA, including a note that yes, the gutters will be cleaned on Thursday - I know when they go to check that things are as I’ve said, they’ll notice - figure I’ll save them the trouble of informing me they need to be cleaned.

Seriously, I’d love a full day to go smoothly when it comes to the whole townhouse/estate stuff. Eventually. It has to, right? ;)

ETA Oh, and today’s escapades resulted in another item to add to the list for ‘right before going on the market’…carpet cleaning. Managed to drag in dirt/mud on the floors. Linoleum is easy enough to deal with, but the new carpet? Gonna let it dry, vacuum it up and then bring in pros to spot clean it so I don’t manage to make it worse.

It’s just one of those days where everything is going to take 3x as long as it should, for no other reason than I am pressed for time. I hate it when that happens, but sometimes ya gotta say “Fuck It” and just do the best you can.

Good news is, there is no one standing at my front door saying, “Aren’t you ready yet??!” :)

Trimmer battery just didn’t have quite enough juice in it to finish the job, but should be 100% charged on Tuesday when I can hit it again. The windows are going to take longer than I anticipated, again, will finish off Tuesday, with different tools and some serious gloves. (Goof Off is some nasty stuff.) Then I can fax off my love letter to the HOA telling them “Ha, beat your deadline.”

The “rotted board” in the back of the townhouse is apparently invisible. I have absolutely NO idea what the HOA is talking about on that. I’m going to have my guy come out and do the gutters sometime next week, I’m going to ask him to take a look at the eaves in the back - I think (hard to see it from the ground) there is a wasps nest up there which may be what they think is “rotted” - will ask if he’s got someone brave enough to knock that sucker down.

But, my bag is packed, the cooler is filled, and I am ready to go.

I quite literally have been on the dead run since about 7 this morning, but even though I didn’t get *everything* done, I got quite a bit accomplished. It’s been a 2 Starbucks day to make it happen, tho.

Nah, not yet, just keep telling myself yes I will get everything done in time. I’m quite glad I got up at 6 now…

The chicken is now chicken salad and chilling in the fridge, the last of the laundry is in the dryer, the window solvent & paper towels are right by the door and I’m off to go desmudge the windows and finish off the yard…

Sent off a text to get a ballpark time of when we’re actually leaving - I know the absolute earliest possible would be 3:30. Figure if I am back here by 2, I should have time to make the sandwiches, clean the kitchen up, clean myself up and get packed. Right?

Right.

And away we go!

And just not because I was up at 6AM, a full 2 hours before my alarm time.

So, I had to make a quick run to the mall yesterday, and they’re getting the Christmas stuff setup… While I’m not surprised, I AM NOT READY for the holidays.

My grandmother is only going to be here for 2 weeks this year instead of a full month, thank god. I know it sounds bad, but a month is just too much time to have another person in the house, and especially one that seems to go out of her way to make me insane. 2 weeks may still be pushing it, as it will be 2 weeks where I basically can’t leave the damn house, and New Year’s will be trashed yet again, but it’s better than a month.

Had to go to Home Depot yesterday. It was yet another utterly fantastic customer experience. I need to find another place to go, because if I have to go in there again, I can’t be held responsible for my actions if I yet again cannot locate help, or to be told that I should use the Self Service Checkout by a clerk that is too damn lazy to ring up my purchase. I do believe most everyone in the front half of the store heard me say, “I do not WANT to use the self checkout!” I did hold back on the second half of the sentence, which was, “because I WILL get service out of someone here today come hell or high water!”

My Marine buddy is apparently not getting deployed after all. Have to say, he’s a good guy, but in the time I’ve known him, I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. I shot him an email asking about his work schedule cause I needed to go do some work on the townhouse and didn’t want to barge in when he was sleeping or something (he’s got a weird work schedule) - that’s when I found out he’s back at his place now - um, darling, when were you going to tell me that? I’d held off on doing some things because he was staying there… Ah well.

November’s theme will be “townhouse, townhouse, townhouse” - starting today with whacking the yard down again, finding this mystery board in the back of the house that the HOA finds offensive, getting the last of the paint smudges off the kitchen window, and letting the HOA know I am almost finished with fixing everything they hate, yet they never noticed in the first 11 years I lived there. Then it’s getting the paint contractors in, getting a contractor to fix whatever is wrong with this board on the back, get the last of the crap out, fix a couple light fixtures, and that sucker goes on the market. Thank god.

But not all of life has me beating my head into the wall at least! MCM rocked, I am enjoying my no-training recovery week, I’m going fishing this weekend, and I had a nice somewhat spendy day yesterday. (While I don’t recommend retail therapy, sometimes it works, and especially when it’s on actual practical things.) Picked up the case of wine I ordered last week from the wine shop. Hit REI and got myself a nice mid-weight windproof shell with a zip out fleece lining that can be worn by itself. They had one by the same manufacturer w/no lining, but I didn’t like the the tabs to tighten up the wrists - hard plastic vs cloth tabs on the higher end one. Figure it’s not the end of the world to have an extra fleece zip up. Also picked up a new pair of Timberlands, which were stretched and broken-in in the space of 6 hours. Gotta love that.

Tons of little things to do before we take off this evening, and we’re leaving a little earlier than I’d originally thought, so it’s probably best that I am up this early after all.

It wasn’t until they were talking about Dow 12K and the anniversary of the ‘87 crash on CNBC that I realized that today (well, technically yesterday at this point), it’s been 10 years since my Dad died. I’m sure it sounds exceptionally weird, but the actual date does *not* stick in my head whatsoever, it never has. I just know it’s the anniversary of Black Monday and 12 days after my brother’s birthday - and the 12 day thing I only know because my brother keyed into the fact that my Mom died 12 days after my birthday. Even knowing that, I have to sit down and count days if someone needs the actual dates.

When it hit me, it wasn’t anything horrid or terribly sad or anything, just “Has it really been 10 years?!” In some ways it feels like it’s been forever, and in other ways, like he just left. I’d like to think that he’s somewhere and able to watch the adventure I’ve made of my life and smile at it. I know his reaction to MCM and tris would be basically the same as ’s - “You’re nuts, but I’m proud of you.” - and would be scouring the internet for training tips for me. :) I know he’d be really happy at the fishing & kayaking trips of late - especially the fishing *while* kayaking my last dash out of town. So, though I miss him and my Mom every day, I can’t say I’m sad, just a bit befuddled that it could possibly have been this long.

I’ve had a few days of feeling slightly guilty about my escape from productive society, but then things happen that remind me that right now, I need to be living life on MY terms and not the terms set forth by the HR department of some corporation. Saturday night I got a call, “How would you like to hit the beach for a couple days?*” Well, come on, who could resist that? Sunday was finishing up a paper while sitting on the screened porch (50/50 score) followed by surfcasting (reeled in 2 blues on one line, go me) which was just awesome. Monday was kayaking on the sound again and rediscovering that I have NOT lost my casting skills, I just need a saltwater rig that fits my size. Tuesday was just a lazy rainy day at the beach, with a wonderful candlelight dinner at the end of it. This freedom to get up and go is what I’ve needed for a very long time, and I’m very grateful to have it.

The kayaking was freakin’ awesome. Last time, it had been 13 years since I’d been out, and over the course of the outing, I did get very comfortable in the boat, but when Dave pushed me off first, I’ll admit there were some nerves there. This time, he pushed my boat off and my first thought was, “He’d better hurry up, cause I’m not waiting for him” and off I went. Kayaking skills *do* come back quickly - a hell of a lot faster than riding a bike to be sure. Was quickly doing hard turns and stops with no issues whatsoever and enjoying the hell out of it. It didn’t go unnoticed as about halfway through the afternoon Dave declared me a natural in the water. Hell, I’m a Pisces, I should hope so. At one point he asked, “How ya doin’ over there?” to which I replied, “I’m mentally accessorizing my new kayak.” Seriously, I am definitely thinking about acquiring a boat - you can paddle in all the lakes up here, and it’s SO relaxing, and sit on tops aren’t prohibitively expensive.

Of course, as we were getting out of the kayaks, he says, “The cops are here.” Oh lord, NO - we weren’t doing ANYTHING prohibited this time!!! Turns out it was just one of the guys from the Sheriff’s department who happened to park in the general vicinity of where we parked and was doing paperwork or eating lunch or something and didn’t really care about us.

For those that hit OBX on a semi-regular basis, North Shore Outfitters in Duck is dangerous. (West side of 12, next shopping center past the ABC store) They’re the folks that have supplied me with a kayak the last 2 trips down there, and they are very well stocked with outdoor goodies by The North Face, Patagonia, Royal Robbins & Icebreaker among others. I now have a wonderful pair of fleecy microfiber pants, a kickass fleece type tank top and a good pair of shorts. It’s in the same little shopping center as the coffeeshop/bookstore, another place I managed to not be able to leave with *just* a latte. (And then discovered that Dave has the same book I bought - Wine and War - which may be research material for my next paper.)

While we were down there, I found a couple Lawrence Sanders books in the house, including one I hadn’t actually read yet - I figured his folks probably had brought them down, cause his writing tends to lend itself to an older generation. Well, while we were talking tonight, it turns out they were his - and he loves the McNally series as well, for the same reasons I do - it’s fun fluff, but well written, and you have to love the descriptions of what Archie McNally wears and especially the food descriptions. Lordy, we are dorks. ;) Spiffy to find someone else who also considers the fall of the family cocktail hour to be a sad, sad thing.

So yeah, that’s where I’ve been the past few days.

*It was supposed to be him & his Dad going down to get some work done on the house, and his Dad literally bailed at 9:30 Saturday night. (Legit reasons, and I can’t say I mind, I got a couple days at the beach.)

Feeling much better this morning. As I told the wonderful , who “gets it”, I think a couple hours of just being an angry little person did the trick.

Now it’s time to go box diving for those last four pieces of paper. Also need to get up to Staples for some ink cartridges - that will help for the things I actually have to print, don’t you think?

Gonna try to get the annuity paperwork kicked out once and for all today. Once that’s done, several other things can fall into place, which will be good.

The only really critical “deadline” (and even that is self imposed) is to get everything distributed by 12/31, just to keep this from creeping into another tax year.

But first, the taxes…

Well, after a Starbucks run. I feel like I’ve earned it. :)

Don’t know if you read the BB board over at TMF, but there is a thread going that made me think of you and realize I may have not properly thanked you last year for what you did.

Thank you again for the chocolates - because you were right - times like those call for chocolate. We had enough flowers and plants to start our own shop (not a bad thing, I love flowers!), and enough food to feed the eighth army (again, good, cause I sure as hell wasn’t cooking), but you were the one that realized chocolate was in order.

Thanks again, my friend.