Bits & Pieces

More Hot

So the temp's in the high 90's / low 100's again this week. And mebbe a 40% chance of a thunderstorm on Thursday. Blah. Mom and I even decided against our usual Tuesday out-to-lunch today. Just too damn hot (not to mention humid). Never used to think I'd ever say "too hot"... but then, I suppose I never anticipated the joys of getting old(er), either. :)

Small World (and/or University)

So I discovered last week that the New Girl in the office is actually pretty good friends with my old Boss From Hell. Was kinda funny, actually... we were talking about our bad experiences in past departments, and I started describing this woman. And the New Girl stops me for a second and asks: "What was her name?" I tell her, and she busts out laughing. She totally recognized the description. She agrees that the woman would be hell to work for... but they get along pretty well on an unprofessional basis.

Seeing Eye Cats?

So I've come to the conclusion that cats will NEVER be good candidates for Seeing-Eye Animal Companions. In fact, I'm also convinced that cats should never be foisted on the blind, period. They're dangerous enough for the Morning-Zombies (ie: me). Ms. Pukesalot's never so needy, insistent, directly under my feet and a pain in the ass as first thing in the morning. Or when I've "abandoned" her for longer than 2 hours. Which is essentially the same thing. I don't frequently lose ALL patience with her and yell at her to get out of the damn way... but when I do, she seems to get the point. At least for about 45 minutes. *snort*

Free Stuff

So I got free lamps this weekend. I'd been planning to purchase some new lamps (wrought iron, or at least a similar look, to match my pendulum wall clock and curtain rod in the living room) sometime in the future, when I had the money for it. Well... turns out, I got ANOTHER rebate from Lowe's from my Washer/Dryer purchase in May. This time, it was a Lowe's gift card... for $100. At first I thought: what the hell am I gonna buy at Lowe's for $100? I'm not quite the do-it-yourself fix-it girl. But then I remembered: Hey! Lowe's has lamps! So I got a really cool set of matching table lamp and floor lamp... both in a copper/iron swirled leaves pattern. VERY cool stuff. And free! Can't beat that with a stick. :)

Travelers Returned

So Mom and Pop returned from their trip to Sioux Falls on Saturday. They really enjoyed the place, aside from the state bird being the mosquito. Doh! It seems like the place is a serious candidate for moving time... Whenever that may be. They brought back all kinds of neat souvenirs... include, of course, a keychain for my collection. Pop insisted he absolutely couldn't wait for Sunday to show me all the stuff... so I schlepped on over soon after they got back. My keychain was pretty cool: featured the familiar presidential heads of Mt. Rushmore (Sioux Falls IS in South Dakota, after all), with images of four prominent Native American leaders overlaid in the sky above them. The caption reads: Founding Fathers. Pop got a mug with the same pic.

New / Old Furniture

Their return travel route included a stop by this evidently HUGE furniture mart in Omaha Nebraska... at which they found a new recliner for Mom. Which actually turns out working well for me, cuz I think they're gonna put the old recliner in the basement with another old reject. This leaves little room for the old sofa... so it looks like I may get to buy that off of them. Which will reunite MY recliner (another castoff of theirs) with it’s old cohort. So not only will I be able to move the futon to the guest room… I’ll also have a matching pair in the living room for practically nothing. I mean, this old set goes back at LEAST about 20 years. But they're still in great shape (my folks aren't exactly the type to thrash their furniture). They'll be perfect for me until I have the money for a nicer set that's more my style.

Grimace Status

So Grimace finally cried uncle yesterday and had to forego exchanging mini-novels with me until he could get his classwork finished up... probably after tomorrow. Which was fine with me, as I'm about ready for a break from writing, myself. While I express myself so much more coherently in writing, it still takes me about 10 times as long as it would take for me to just spit it out. But it was rather nice of him to give me a heads-up, rather than simply stopping our communication. He seems the considerate sort. At least in the first week *grin*.

I don't think that picking up again will be in question... especially as we've already agreed to meet up this weekend. And we've created enough of a comfort zone online (even if we'll have to start from scratch again in person) that I'm okay with meeting him so soon. And we're beginning to discover differences in our outlooks on life, which is actually a relief, as too many similarities just gets plain boring.

So, I guess Grimace Status so far is: Positive Progress with Positive Forecast. :)