Another sleepy Sunday...

First a comment on east coast weather - wow, it's bad out there today, isn't it? At least from watching the rainy football games. Looks like it would be miserable to be in the stands today! We had a lot of rain and cloud yesterday, and it was downright cool. I sat around in a sweater all day. It's very cloudy this afternoon.

On Friday, walking down the steps at the end of the workday, I felt something in my left calf like a rubberband breaking. Needless to say, it hurt. I limped down the rest of that flight of steps and took the elevator the rest of the way, then limped out to the car.

So I'm using that as an excuse to be lazy today. Yesterday, I still took a 43-min walk (at a slower pace), used ice and an ace bandage, and it's a lot better today. But since in general, I don't feel too energetic, I'm just going to laze around on it this afternoon. Might get in pool in a bit and do some exercise there. I've got two weeks until my 10K, and I want to be able to do that.

My fantasy football team is definitely rebounding! I'm on my way to another win today, five in a row. So I should make the fantasy playoffs. I want another T-shirt to go with my 2002 and 2002 championship years!

UT has hired Lane Kiffin, recently fired coach of the Oakland Raiders. Being fired by Al Davis is probably a good job recommendation... Supposedly his dad, current defensive coach of the Bucs, is coming with him. Monte Kiffin is supposed to be one of the best defensive minds in the NFL, but I wonder if he can work at the college level. His players won't have the size or speed (or brains) he's used to. Still, with those names, should make recruiting less shaky. Just nine months til we get to see the result...

Went to see "Australia" last night, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Hugh's been working out. He almost looked as dapper all dressed up as Chris does... hee hee It was nice to see all that Northern Territory scenery again. But I kept being surprised at seeing them, Nicole Kidman especially, all dressed up, often in long sleeves, and no sign of sweat. Just kept thinking how hot she must be. But then Hugh Jackman would come back on screen and I stopped thinking about that...

Normally I decorate for Christmas this weekend after Thanksgiving, but can't really get into it. So maybe next weekend. I'm taking Friday off to use up some of the last of my use-or-leave vacation time.

Might go back up to the North Shore and see the waves - they get big this time of year. They had a major surfing competition up there yesterday (and maybe today). The pictures on the news were impressive. First place I've lived where surfing was covered in the sports broadcast on such a regular basis...

Well, I'll stop rambling for this entry. Hopefully I'll have more of a narrative next time around!

Thanksgiving...

I had such a good evening at the concert that I had trouble falling asleep. Couldn't get my mouth to relax. Just kept smiling.

I woke up Thanksgiving Day and turned on the Titans game. Since they were playing Detroit, not a lot of suspense there. Chris also got up and after watching it get to 35-10, decided to take a walk. After it was 47-10, I left, too, and called my sister and mom as I huffed up my first hill.

I'm still exploring the neighborhood, so I walked over to the golf course and back. It's been just a near perfect day, weather-wise, just about 75 degrees with a delicious breeze blowing and a bright blue sky.

It was later in the morning than I normally walk, and I got back around 11:30, so I jumped in the pool! Ahhhh. Er, the water was a little cold, but not too bad.

I've spent most of the day since lounging by the pool, in my cheap chaise lounge from WalMart with my sunshade over it. Supposedly I've been reading, but have to confess there's been a lot of napping. It's just been so incredibly pleasant to feel the sun and the breeze on my skin. Downright hypnotic.

Chris has been making the Thanksgiving dinner. The pie is already done as I write and he's putting the turkey in the oven. We'll eat around normal dinner time.

So while I wait for that, I wanted to put down some of the things I am so very grateful for:

• A wonderful husband who makes me laugh every day. Who puts down the toilet seat and takes out the garbage with no complaining on his part or nagging on mine. Who still opens doors for me.
• The time I've gotten to spend with my mother, sister, and niece, and some of the great things we've gotten to do together, from exploring the children's museum in Huntsville, to having a group pedicure at the Opryland Hotel's spa to our most recent adventure at Dollywood Splash Country!
• Good health!
• A comfortable financial situation.
• Some incredible memories of places all around the world. Christmas markets in Germany. Berlin, Paris, Rome, Venice, Prague, Vienna, Strasbourg, Salzburg, the Swiss Alps, Norway's fjords, New Zealand's south island, Tasmania, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Great Barrier Reef, Malibu, London, Loch Ness, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Tallinn, Helsinki, Munich, Luxembourg, Normandy, Zurich, Lucerne, Interlaken. Great museums. Incredible art. Balloon rides over the outback. Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. Bicycle riding around the Chiemsee. The Bodensee and Mainau Island. All those sweet little German towns from Rottweil (yes, home of the dog breed...) to Meersburg. Coffee plantation on the big island of Hawaii. Whale watching. The little penguins of Phillips Island. Koalas. Kangaroos.
  
• Good friends all over the world who still want to keep in touch.
  
• No more APO or customs forms...
  

Concert report

Last night was our (Honolulu Symphony Chorus) big concert of this fall season with the Symphony Orchestra. We performed Bach's "Magnificat," Benjamin Britten's "Ceremony of Carols," and Rutter's "Gloria." It was free to the audience, but I was still afraid we'd have a small crowd. We were at the Blaisdell Concert Hall which probably has about 2100 seats.

So I was very pleasantly surprised to see a pretty full house when we walked onstage! And an enthusiastic one as well. They applauded after every movement of each piece, which you're not supposed to do at a classical concert, and even gave a few whoops for the soloists. A few people talked abt the audience back stage, but hey, I'll take every bit of applause and whoop we can get.

Chris reported to me that the audience even gave a special round to the harp player for her agility in getting her instrument on a little dolly and whisking it efficiently offstage.

On the Bach, I came in during a rest which I haven't done the entire time we've rehearsed it, and then I actually got the last five bars of the piece, which I'd pretty consistently screwed up, so I guess I'm even on that one. We had professional soloists for that piece.

The Youth Opera Chorus and a small chamber choir of our folks (we're about 120+ voices) performed the Britten piece. We were able to hear it backstage, but didn't get to see it, so Chris had to tell me more about that. There were a couple of solo voices from the girls that were really outstanding.

We finished with the Gloria which is a piece with a lot of brass and tympani and lots of different rhythms. It's a lot of fun to sing and I went at it with great gusto. Not sure I always cut off at the right spot - sometimes it's just hard to stop!

The audience gave us several "curtain calls" and all in all, it was a really great experience. Something about it was very magical, standing up there in my black dress and pearls with the orchestra in front of us. This is the first professional chorus I've sung in, and it's been a real experience. After the audition, I wondered if I was out of my league, and who knows, maybe I am, but I've enjoyed it.

The after action report came from Chris. He told me I was the best in my row. Awww. He also said that after we stood up, he couldn't really see me and wanted to know who put the tall people in front. Our director did say to us that she couldn't believe she forgot to ask for people's height on the audition form so that she could take that into consideration when placing us for the concert.

Chris and I both agreed that the Bach was our least favorite of the night. Before this, I've heard of it, and even had a recording of it, but something about it never hit my heart. Most of the time I become very fond of the music I've done after spending so much time rehearsing it, but not this one. I think we pulled it off in a reasonably competent fashion, though. It is a tough piece of music, written for 5 choral parts.

Even though I could hear most of the Britten, Chris filled me in on what they looked like and how many kids were in the Youth Opera Chorus. It was all girls, and I don't know why. On the Gloria, Chris' comment was that he couldn't get into the same Latin word or phrases over and over. "So tell me a story about Gloria. Give me a sentence. Did she bake a cake?" Well, no. Not what this piece was about.

Speaking of food, while I'm relaxing, Chris is cooking our Thanksgiving dinner! More on that in the next entry.

Contraptions...

It's another Saturday, more college football. I was actually rooting for Vanderbilt in the UT-Vandy game. SOME Tennessee team ought to go to a bowl game. But UT actually won, and I was actually disgruntled.

We were watching the Maryland - Fl State game. I say "we were" because Chris was with me during the first quarter. But once the score got to be 14-0 (Fl State on top), he left. *sigh* I still remember the day Frank Reich brought them back from the biggest deficit in college football. It could happen again!

My title for today's entry, contraptions, has to do with the neti pot that I purchased this week. I've heard about them for years through yoga publications, but was always a bit too squeamish to give one a try. You use it to rinse your sinuses. It looks like a tiny teapot. You put the spout up one nostril, tilt your head sideways until the liquid comes out the other nostril. You do that on each side, and then blow your nose a bit, and your sinuses are rinsed! I used a LOT of kleenex the first time, and needless to say, you perform this over a sink.

My sister had gotten one a while back and swore by it, and certainly the yogis do, so I decided to give it a try. Also supposed to help prevent colds. I've been using it at night to try to minimize snoring, and I seem to be sleeping better. Too soon to really tell. But I figure it can't hurt... It was kinda fun at work to describe it and see the looks on faces of co-workers...

Well, for those of you who found that to be Too Much Information about my latest goings-on, I'll switch to furniture... Some of our items from last week's shopping trip have arrived and it is great to have them! Our new coffee table looks as good as I had hoped, and the bedroom furniture is really perfect. I'll take pictures soon, as soon as the stools arrive and we have things more properly accessorized. Won't take any of the neti pot procedure, though, promise.

AND for those of you enduring the cold weather on the east coast, it is raining here. It has rained ALL DAY. If the temperature were to drop 40 degrees and the wind were to pick up, this could be England all over again! It's just been a wet, soggy, unappealing day.

Time to make dinner. Spaghetti and garlic bread are on tonight's menu...

"Training" update

I mentioned a few posts ago that I had signed up for the 10K walk portion of the Honolulu marathon, coming up December 14th. Since then, I've been taking some long walks, with 77 minutes yesterday being the longest. I really enjoyed that. Didn't really want to stop, but had to get on with the day.

I took a route today for 62 minutes that I plan to drive with my car to measure. I have a pedometer, but I don't think the distance is accurate. My 77 minute walk was only 4km, according to it, but some 8700 steps. Since I'm walking at a pretty decent rate, over 100 steps a minute, I don't see how that can only be 4km (abt 2.4 miles. I bought this pedometer from amazon.uk while we were in England, which is why it gives me km instead of miles. Even though they use miles there in England, not km....)

I think I could walk 6 miles tomorrow if I had to, but I want to do it with a reasonable amount of comfort and not be overly sore the next day. The Easy Spirit shoes I ordered don't feel as good as the ones I currently have, so I'm going to send those back and look locally where I can try them on. I was pretty bummed. Normally I have such good luck ordering those and it feels like I'm putting pillows on my feet. Plus sending things back through the mail is such a pain.

They're already advertising the Great Aloha Fun Run on President's Day in February, so I registered for that, too. It's 8.15 miles, and they have a walking category. As part of the registration, you estimate your finishing time, and I figured I can finish that in 3 hours, worst case. By registering early, I get an "In training" T-shirt, so couldn't resist that deal...

Then I looked at the finishing times, and they showed the top 3 for the various age groups. In the 80-99 age group, the top female finisher did it in 1:39:17. (In my age group, the top female finisher did it 58:37.) I doubt if I can beat the 80 year old.... *sigh* But the last finisher last year came in at 4 hrs, 18 minutes, and I think I can better that....

I see the doc on Tuesday for a general physical and want to especially discuss the bad knee with him, to see if he thinks surgery is still the best option. If I can squeeze it in between these two events, I should be able to do both...

The main thing is I just want to be more active and the occasional race should help my motivation (not to mention my T-shirt wardrobe). I still want to be that 90-year old woman I saw on TV. "I think I can beat my time..." You go, girl. I'm right behind you... Better yet, maybe a few steps in front...

Chris goes shopping...

Chris did a fantastic job of putting some finishing touches on the house, such as hanging pictures. The place looked great when I got home on Friday (he'd taken the day off). His labors made him decide it was time to buy stools for our kitchen counter, so we can start eating there.

The same store where I had bought the sofa was having a warehouse sale this weekend, and since I had seen some nice stools in their showroom, suggested we give that a try.

So this morning, we set out in the Fit, figuring we could put a couple of stools in there. Just at the point where we were supposed to make the left hand turn down the road, we see cars parked all over on both sides. But being in the shopping mood that we were, we kept going closer towards the warehouse and a helpful guy wearing a store T-shirt waved us into a parking lot.

As we got out of the car, we followed a line of people walking towards a warehouse. There was also a line of vehicles, apparently waiting to pick up. This didn't look good, but we kept walking.

When we got to the entrance, we went inside, to find a mob of people just standing there clogging up the front space, all waiting to pay. There were no organized queues, just people everywhere. Big people, fat people, skinny people, old people, young'uns, babies in strollers, and most looked confused and a bit put out.

I said to Chris, "I'd rather pay full price than put up this apocalyptic movie scene." He agreed completely, so we left. On the way out, as we pushed our way upstream, we saw two perfect counter stools, for $99.

But no way were we waiting in that. On the way out, the same helpful guy made us stop and wait to allow some folks to turn left. I muttered, "I guess he knows we didn't buy anything."

Even so, we were still in a furniture buying mood, so we headed out for the actual showroom. BestBuy was on the way, so we stopped there first to buy Chris' mom's Christmas present, one of those digital frames. As I'm typing, he's putting pictures on it for her (they don't have a computer or ever read the internet, so unless one of you tells, the gift secret is safe...)

Then we went to the showroom and walked around. We found a sale section, found a stool that we liked, but when we measured it, it was going to be too tall, so we found another one, also on sale. The salesman said he could give us new ones for the same price, so we took that deal. We looked around for a coffee table, and found a rectangular glass table with chrome legs and a wavy edge, and arranged for them all to be delivered in about 10 days.

While we were hanging out at the counter waiting for the paperwork, we heard someone else talking about the warehouse sale and that people were waiting in line two hours just to pay.

By then, it was lunchtime, so we went to Arby's. Good ol' Arby's. Then we went to HomeWorld, also nearby, to look for bedroom furniture. We have our lovely sleighbed, but Chris is still using an upside down cardboard china crate as his bedside table, so we wanted some things that would coordinate well with our bed.

We found a nice media armoire, so we can stick the TV in that, and we found bedside tables. We're a little nervous about how well the color will match, but at least those items will match each other even if the bed is a little different.

And, we found another coffee table. I'd had my eye on that table before. It was also glass-topped with a beveled edge, round, and had a really pretty light colored stone base. It will look great with our beige leather sofa and travertine marble tile floor. I could tell when Chris saw it, that he had a reaction to it, but couldn't tell if it was good or bad. He shrugged. "I like this one better. I've always liked round tables."

I liked it better, too, and it was a little cheaper than the other one. "I'll just call the other store and cancel the other table."

"No, no, don't do that. We've already paid for it."

"But it's not like they're on the way to the house with it."

But Chris shook his head and we went off to find a salesman to buy the bedroom stuff. Then I said, "we're buying a coffee table, too." Chris got a Look on his face, and I said, "You don't have to call them; I'll do it. We're going to have to live with it every day so it might as well be something we both like the best."

We finished our shopping afternoon by buying gas at Costco, now down to $2.40 a gallon here. "Normal" gas stations are around 2.87. (My mom tells me it's down to $1.88 there in Tennessee.) So, yes, we waiting in line 15 minutes to save about $5. But at least we were sitting comfortably in our car and not in a crush of strange people...

Once we got home, I called the other store and canceled the coffee table. "Did they yell at you?" Chris asked. And no, the guy was very polite. I'm sure we're not the first people to call and change our minds...

It was a lot of fun buying our stuff together and I hope we like it when it gets here! In a couple of weeks, when the furniture is delivered, I'll post more pictures.

Er, and in the meanwhile, is anyone out there using the pseudonym "Helen Doyle"? A lovely gift arrived from the "Slate Lady" and the only clue we have is the shipping label, which had my name and "gift from Helen Doyle" in parentheses. There's no card inside.

Oh, and another reason it's a good Saturday is Tennessee has an off week. So at least they can't lose!

Shopping adventure

Today is day 4 out of 5 that I have off in a row, the most time off since I started work in late July! Today was a shopping day, since I figured the stores were more likely to be crowded tomorrow.

I went to Pearlridge Center, the odd uptown / downtown place with the small monorail and the confusing layout. First stop, Macy's. They were having a sale and I had a Macy's credit card... I found some good buys on the Jones New York brand, and I was desperately in need of new clothes. Now that I no longer have a real fall / winter season, my summery stuff has been getting awful tired.

I noticed a bright pink jacket that I liked but was still full price, more than the three items I'd picked out all combined. I mentioned that to the sales lady as I paid, that I would just wait for it to go on sale.

"Oh, I can't take the risk," she said, laughing. "I'm one of those small size people and our small sizes just fly out the store. If I wait for things to go on sale, it's too late. They're all gone. I'm just so tiny. Too many of our island ladies are my size."

I was thinking, oh, good thing I'm a heifer and can wait for sales. But I just nodded and smiled, keeping myself amused with what her face would look like if I had actually said that... Yes, little skinny miss, go ahead and insult the paying customer...

Next stop, Arby's. They do a mean roast beef. I don't usually like roast beef because it's often tough and stringy, but never at Arby's. We had coupons in the paper for Moolattes at Dairy Queen, but there's no DQ at this mall. I could go for a Moolatte. My mom introduced me to those. Mmmm, mmmm. (Gotta keep my figure up so I can buy those big sizes when they go on sale... tee hee tee hee)

After lunch, I went to Borders and bought a couple of books and magazines. Then I left Pearlridge altogether and headed towards the Sports Authority, also running Veteran's Day sales. I bought an aqua-fitness kit there with a buoyancy belt, dumbbells and webbed gloves so I can do resistance exercise more easily in the pool, and I also bought a long sleeved wetsuit shirt.

I often feel chilly in the pool these days from the waist up, so I thought this shirt would help me use the pool all year round. And it worked. That thing is HOT before you get in the water, and then it's fine. So I topped off my shopping with thirty minutes of flailing about in the pool with my new toys. I've felt pleasantly tired ever since.

So one day left before work begins again on Wednesday. Looking forward to what the day will bring!

How to Make Your Spouse Laugh...

I asked Chris today if he'd like to do a 10K walk with me. I figured I already knew that answer, but thought it never hurts to ask.

It wasn't quite a laugh, more of a small snort, then a yawn and "It's too hot around here."

"Well, actually, it starts at 5:30 in the morning."

Sneer. "I'm definitely not doing that."

On the news the other night, I saw an interview with a 90-year-old woman who will enter the Honolulu Marathon for the 5th time this year. "I'm sure I can better my time," she said. Intrigued, since I didn't realize Honolulu had a marathon, I looked up the web site. The latest top 10 seem to be dominated by Russians, Kenyans, and Japanese, but sure enough, there's a marathon here every December.

AND there's a 10K walk as part of it! So I have officially registered for that. I wanted to try some 5Ks, since that's just 3 miles. But I did 10K Volksmarches in Germany (okay, that was 8 years ago, when I didn't have a bad right knee and a bad left foot), so I'm hoping doing 6 miles in 35 days will be do-able without being overly painful. I have already ordered new Level 3 shoes from Easy Spirit, my favorite brand!

In 2006, 28,637 people entered and 24,575 finished. There's no qualifying time; if you pay your money and show up, you can run. The top male finisher was from Kenya and finished in 2:13:42; the top female was a Russian finishing at 2:27:19. One man and one woman competed in the 90-94 age group and both finished. 4,888 people did the walk. The marathon starts at 5:00am, and they start us walkers at 5:25am. I figure I'll finish the walk at about the same time the elite runners finish the whole marathon course...

The main thing is that I hope it will be motivating to get me out and moving!

More Saturday football... And new neighbors...

I am watching the LSU-Alabama game. Not sure who I'm rooting for. Don't like either team much, but figured it would be a good game, and so far at the half 14-14, it has been. The Tennessee-Wyoming game wasn't broadcast here (no surprise) so I had to go on the internet to see that my hapless Vols lost 13-7, the Homecoming game no less. I'm also wondering what I did all those years overseas with no football on Saturday television. I think I walked into town and did some shopping, which was probably a healthier lifestyle than hanging on the sofa eating snacks...

Along with football games come commercials. At first I made the naive assumption that if we got the commercial, we had the associated product here on the island. For example, I suffer through those stupid Sonic commercials with the nerdy couple eating their food in their car, dive bombing their biscuits into gravy and so on. But it did make me miss tater tots. So I look up Sonic on the internet and go to their store locator, to discover "there is not a Sonic within 1,000 miles of your location." Yeah, no kidding, since 1,000 miles in every direction is pretty much ocean... Or smaller islands than ours...

Our new neighbors are a pair of birds who have decided to nest in the eaves of our roof right over the front door. At first, I noticed several sticks and leaves all over our small front step and thought it odd that the wind had blown them all right there. Then I noticed two birds flying away every time I opened the front door. They've likely been happily nest building away all day while we're at work.

They're tiny little things, and they fly away to the neighbor's roof (the guy with the dogs). I tried to get a better look at them but they're small and fast. I always wanted to have a bird house that birds would live in, and I love seeing birds in the backyard, but I really don't want them in our roof. I also feel bad for them that they feel they have to fly out every time the door opens, especially if they're sitting on eggs (and I don't know if they are yet, but I assume that's their plan...). I'm so used to thinking of nests as a spring time event, but it is still getting into the 80's here every day, so I guess spring doesn't have the same meaning.

(Oh, no, the nerdy Sonic couple were just on. Ugh.)

So I guess for now we'll let the birds do their thing, and as soon as it appears their family is grown and gone, we'll find a way to block that hole, and next time I see a cute little birdhouse, I will buy one.

Still 14-14 for this game. Florida plays Vandy here in a bit and I will be rooting for the Commodores!

Jigsaw puzzle...

I am taking a long weekend from work, partly to use some of my use-or-lose vacation time. So I'm taking off today and Monday and with the Tuesday federal holiday, that means five days of giddy freedom.

I wanted to really make a last push to get the house in better shape, so purchased a computer desk. I like putting things together, so I am actually looking forward to this project. It's like doing a more practical jigsaw puzzle. I found the one I wanted at OfficeMax and it was on sale, too!

I was proud of myself first for figuring out how to get the carton to fit in my Honda Fit. I had to resort to the owner's manual, but managed to get the back seats nice and flat. I loved one comment in the owner's manual "Do not put anything heavy on the backseats while in the folded down position." Uh, and why do they think we need to put the seats in the folded down position?



So far I have counted out all the pieces and matched them to the parts list. Since I've got four pages of parts list (23 altogether), I've also labeled them with little post-its. Now I think it may be time for lunch...







12:04 (burp) Lunch was a havarti and turkey sandwich on ciabatta bread from Safeway's deli. Now, must get back in there. Next step, remove the existing makeshift desk that Chris cleverly constructed.
















12:35 I have gotten the frame together and it will stand up on its own. I consider this a momentous enough event for another picture. So far, so good. Not all the holes are a completely perfect match but no major problems either.

1:01 So far, no bad words have been spoken. I had a bad moment attaching the rear stabilizer, a cross-piece with four screws, and of course the last one wouldn't fit. I eventually had to unscrew two of the others and select another one to be the "last". Why that worked, not exactly sure, but it did.

1:22 I noticed what appeared to be a mismatch in the keyboard shelf support pieces, and sure enough, that definitely appears to be the case. I am going to try something creative before I call the help line...

1:41 My creative bit doesn't work. I call the help line and tell them I think the holes are drilled on the wrong side. They take address and will send replacement part.

I can't let go, though, and try again. I try the DIY'ers favorite technique - force it in... Doesn't work...

Resort to reviewing the instructions again. Sure enough, catch a subtlety in the picture that I missed before. Or rejected, because it didn't make sense to me. I take the sub-assembly apart and try again.

2:22 I have figured it out. Call the help line back - cancel that part...

2:40 Tighten everything up and put in glass shelves. Voila! Still cleanup to do but my thumbs are sore from pushing the allen wrench. The pool is beckoning... My evil twin tries to convince me that this is enough stretching and bending and no yoga is necessary today....















3:19 Cleanup is complete. Well, more or less. Still need to get carton to recycling and wash sheet I used, but hey, enough is enough. It's warm and sunny and there's water to go jump in!

Election Night!

I had a routine doctor appointment this morning, so worked late to make up for that. I got home around 6:50. The California polls are supposedly open until 11pm, which is 9pm here, so I didn't expect to see definitive election results until then. I was glad I turned on the TV so that I was able to see Obama's acceptance speech!

I always wished I could have seen MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech in person. I'm so glad that I got to hear Obama's speech live. This is really a defining, historic moment, and I am so proud to be an American. I have to admit that he made me misty-eyed. Though I laughed when he promised his girls a puppy. Obama looks like a St. Bernard or golden retriever kind of guy. I predict a big dog in the White House... No more Scottish terriers...

He's just a few weeks older than I am, and I marvel at that. Could have been President Eva! ha!

Locally, it looks like Mayor Mufi has been re-elected. Rail, the big question, seems to be leading "yes" by 5 points.

My heart is so full of many good things - just don't have the words to express it.

Sunny Sunday in November

I am marveling a bit that here is November 2nd, and I'm wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Of course, this was standard wear in Alice this time of year, but we were in the southern hemisphere then, well into spring and headed towards summer. This is northern hemisphere and it's fall.

Chris and I checked out the weather in Baltimore to see how it looked for his business trip there this week. Highs in the 60's; lows in the 40's. That sounds warm-ish for November there, but he was glad he didn't have to take a coat.

It is nice to have a largely sunny day, though it's been sprinkling on and off. But it has been sunnier than it's been for much of the last two weeks. I'm hoping to jump in the pool a little later. I like to wait until after 3pm, when the water's had a chance to warm up and the UV rays aren't as intense.

I'm enjoying a day of football, watching the Titans win and Dallas lose. I've always hated Dallas. It's always a happy day when they struggle. Speaking of struggles, watching Tennessee play South Carolina yesterday was terribly painful. The Titans game got a little heart stopping as they had to pull it out in overtime. And it appears that my fantasy team, the Honolulu Hornets, will have a comfortable win this week, though overall my record, at 4-5, is barely better than UT's.

The craft fair yesterday was much bigger and better than I'd expected. I was going mostly just to have an excuse to take a walk. There was stuff all over the place! Booths were set up outside along the edge of the school grounds, creating a trail to the gym area where there were inside booths.

There were some nice Hawaiian crafts such as cutting boards made of local wood and beautiful door wreaths made out of shells. One lady was selling locally made soap which had a loofah inside, so I had to buy one of those. The guy next to her was selling locally made dog biscuits, so I bought a small bag which I plan to sneak thru the fence... I also bought a sun shade for my lounge chair so I can sit outside by the pool without a hat. Tried it out yesterday and it worked well.

People were also selling gift baskets, baby clothes and accessories, Christmas ornaments, beautiful local photographs and a really spicy-smelling dip that a lot of people were trying but almost ran me out of the room. There were also a couple of food booths including one with some good smelling sausages, but it was too early (9:30am) for me to eat a sausage.

I walked around it a couple of times, but it was just getting too crowded to move, and I had spent enough money, so I came on home. There's another craft fair coming to the nearby high school in a couple of weeks, so I now have high expectations for that! And I will definitely bring more cash.

We're still doing things to get the place more liveable, but it gets better every week. We could still use several major pieces of furniture, and we need to get rid of a couple of big items that we no longer have a use for. In addition to the pool man, we've hired a lawn service that comes every two weeks to mow the grass and take care of all the various plants we have.

We may have to hire a housekeeping service as well, since cleaning that stupid whirlpool tub we have may be the end of me. The sides are deep, and I'm short, so it's hard just to reach the bottom with my hand while I'm on my knees beside it. And those stupid jet openings are just mold / mildew magnets. I've never been a huge bath person anyway, and with the outside spa, I'm not at all inclined to use this thing.

The first time I cleaned it, I said to myself "never doing this again," and got on the internet and searched how to clean a bathtub. I found several people rhapsodizing over Mr. Clean Eraser. I bought one and that definitely makes the job easier. But it's still a job, and I still hate those jet openings.

Well, Dallas is still losing 35-14, with 2:30 to go, so I'll sign off with that happy note.

Saturday morning...

It's a lovely Saturday morning here and I'm planning to walk up to a nearby elementary school for a craft fair a little bit later today. Get shopping and exercise all in one! Try not to think about Tennessee football!

In the meanwhile, I'm thinking evil thoughts about our next door neighbor, the one with the sled dog team. It's not even 8am, and he's up trimming his little scraggly lawn. First, he went after a bush with a chain saw. Hasn't this yahoo heard of big pruning shears? Now he's attacking the rest of his yard with a gas-powered weed wacker. I feel positive he's violating the covenants (no noisy outside work until 8:00), though I think he does become legal in 4 minutes.

Last night his five dogs were barking and howling. Huskies seem to like to howl! It sounds kind of cute when they do it, but it was getting loud. So after several minutes of that, I went outside. They had all climbed up on this pile of trash he has out there, and I think some of the trick-or-treaters walking behind the back fence had gotten their attention.

As soon as I came into view, their ears perked up and their tails started wagging, and they looked SO cute. Then they all jumped down to come see me at the fence. I talked to them and petted their noses, and they were quiet after that.

It just breaks out hearts, though. They're so sweet and cute and responsive to people and we NEVER see him (or anyone) interact with them. By and large, they're good dogs. They don't bark endlessy and aimlessly like some of the critters nearby. It's just every now and then they get a little loud and they quiet right down.

Chris has just reported that the guy now has his lawn mower out. WHAT FOR? He has no lawn! "He has a few high clumps," said Chris. Those are WEEDS! I think I even hear him around the back. How does the mower deal with all the dog poop he never picks up?

And now Chris is telling me that I should be more understanding, guy probably doesn't have a lot of money, doing his best to keep his property up, and that's why he raises dogs for meat... ??????

Regardless of Chris's funny comments (ha ha honey), rest assured that if either of us gets wind of any harm to those pups, we'll be calling the humane society, the policy, Animal Planet, the Dog Whisperer, the Iditarod, you name it. They seem happy and though they're thin, they don't look unhealthy. But Aunt Eva is keeping her eye out... And her hand over the fence, petting them from time to time.

I hear a husky howl - guess they don't like the lawn mower noise either....