The Curious Case of the Stolen Bicycle

Note: I've been wanting to write about this for some time... However, my husband thought it was important to wait a spell in case the party involved somehow has a direct link to my feverish mind and would be embarrassed to read of his exploits spread like hot mustard all over the internet. My husband reads nothing but political blogs therefore he doesn't understand the concept of my blog running more like dried molasses across the internet rather than the aforementioned hot mustard.

True Story:

The long lazy days of summer had come to a close and the husband and kids were resting after a long day of work & school... Fortunately I had held off dinner for a while. Suddenly my daughter, who was holed up in her bedroom, ran down the stairs and out to the garage. She immediately ran back inside and breathlessly announced, "Some kid just stole Zak's bike right out of our garage!" Nobody thought twice... We all immediately jumped up. I grabbed my car keys, my husband grabbed his and my daughter and I sprinted for the van, while my son and husband darted for his car. We live on a cul-de-sac and my daughter said she saw the kid on the bike heading out of our street and up the hill. So we hightailed it in that direction, while my daughter explained what had happened.

She said:
"I was up in my room when I overheard a neighbor walking down the street tell her dog to Heel!... So I peeked out my window to get a look at the dog and when I did I saw a kid about 15 or 16 yrs. old, walking up our driveway toward the house. I thought he might be selling something and expected to hear him ring our doorbell, when I didn't hear the bell or a knock, I looked out the window in time to see him ride off with Zak's bike... Because I wasn't 100% sure it was Zak's bike, I ran down to the garage to check and sure enough, it was gone."

So we drove up the street but as we passed the cart path which leads to the golf course I had an inkling that's the route the kid might've taken and I was pretty certain of it once we got up to the dead-end and saw no sign of the kid or the bike. So I made my way back to the entrance of our development and as I did so, we noticed our neighbor on the corner standing near the 3rd hole of the golf course (a place where the bike thief might eventually make his exit from our development.) So we rolled down the window and asked our neighbor friend if he'd seen a kid on a bike go by and started to give a description. Before we could finish the neighbor said, "Yes, that's why I'm up here. I watched that kid walk down our street and he looked suspicious. When I saw him head back out on a bike I thought something might be up because a neighbor just up the street from me reported they had a bike stolen out of their garage not long ago."

We quickly thanked our neighbor and told him we were off to try to find the kid. We headed out of the development and down the hill into the main part of town. After traveling about a mile, I really had no hope of finding him and wasn't sure what to do if, I in fact DID, catch up with him. That part was making my daughter really nervous. As I sat at the stop sign into town I took a moment to think, "Should I go home and call the police to report the theft or should I just head on over to the police station?" Since the police station was just a couple blocks away I decided to head there and as I did, what/who do you think we saw? That's right, the kid, ON MY SON'S BIKE! He was on a dead-end area of a street that's near a field... So I floored it towards the police station (well, not really floored it. The speed limit in town is 25mph and when you're heading toward a police station you don't really want to show up burning rubber... So I went as fast as I could get there.)

Upon entering the police station my daughter and I went immediately to the dispatchers booth to report the crime. I gave her a half-assed description of where we saw the kid with the bike (I really suck when it comes to remembering street names.) and she dispatched over the radio. She told my daughter and I to wait on a nearby bench. That's when I noticed I hadn't even bothered putting shoes on, I'd been driving around in my socks... Oh well, at least I'd bothered to take a shower that day.

As we waited on the bench I continued looking out the front doors of the station thinking aloud to my daughter, "Yeah right, like he'd ride a stolen bike past the police station." It wasn't long before, guess what? He did JUST that! I could see the reflection of the mini mart/gas station directly across the street from us, in an office window across from where I sat. My daughter and I watched as the kid rode up to the station on OUR bike, layed it down, greeted a guy out front and watched them walk into the mini-mart together. The two of us ran over to the dispatcher and informed her of the latest development. She called to the back of the station and two officers came out, we pointed to where the bike lay beside the mini-mart and pointed out the kid, as we watched him exit the mini-mart and stand out front continuing to chat with his friend, an adult male who I imagined to be the leader of the stolen bike ring (yeah, I'm hip to the gang mentality, I saw Oliver.) We watched as the officers made their way across the street, confronted the kid and arrested him... That there's called 'Swift Justice'... One of the officers returned with the bike and we were asked to continue to wait so a report could be filed.

I wondered about my husband and son out on the streets spinning their wheels as my daughter and I neatly wrapped up the crime, but along with my shoes I'd also forgotten my cell phone. And while justice is swift the paperwork moves along much like that molasses I mentioned earlier. So for a crime which took place somewhere around 7:00pm we finally made it home, with bicycle in hand, around 9:00pm. The officer who took the report informed us that the kid lives in our neighborhood and his family is currently renting (most likely one of the many foreclosed homes we have around here.) He warned that we might run into the kid and should we encounter any problems or forms of retribution, we were to contact the officer. I should note that we did see the kid the very next day wandering the neighborhood during school hours, which made me furious all over again. I made eye contact with him and whether he knew who I was remains to be seen, but I'm keeping my eye out, in fact BOTH eyes... I'm like a chameleon.


When we at last returned home the guys told us about their wheel spinning, which my son said involved pulling into a lot of driveways and peering into open garages. He said, "People probably came to the conclusion WE, were the ones trying to steal bikes." We all walked together down the street to the neighbor who had his eye out for a bike thief and thanked him for his help. He LOVED that we caught the guy and couldn't believe the brainlessness of riding to a spot just across from the police station. We all shared a laugh and then our family went out for a celebratory dinner.

Did we celebrate the fact that a family somewhere in our development had to bail their teen out of jail? No. In fact, the idea of that is really quite sad. What we did celebrate was the fact that we, through sharp awareness and quick action, insured we didn't become victims. And now? Now we're vigilant to keep our garage door closed, any time where not outside.

'Hot-lanta' Whatta Trip!

Yes, I know, I've been such a slow poke about getting this post put together... Life has been crazy busy since I've returned home and I've been trying to get everything in order before the next wave of crazy busy hits... The month of October has a great deal of activity looming on the horizon.

SO... about my trip... Let me first say my friend 'Atlanta Rose' is the most gracious hostess... I mean, get a load of this incredibly beautiful guest room I was appointed:


But that's not all... I had not just ONE guest room but TWO at my disposal... I stored my suitcase and my stash of purchases in my SECOND guest room... How lovely is this?

I KNOW, it's like I was staying in a very high end bed and breakfast. Does the Queen of England have to pay for such hospitality? I doubt the queen stays in many places much grander than this:


And my only method of payment was giving thanks to my dear friend for all her graciousness, hardly seems fair, does it? And oh, I should also mention the Duchess made me feel at home by licking my fingers, curling up in my lap for a nap and always greeting me with this sweet little face:

So what did we do while we were together? (I'm referring to Rose and I, not Duchess)... What else? We LAUGHED, We ATE and we SHOPPED!
What did we eat?... What didn't we eat?... Crepe's from a charming french restaurant in Marietta:

For dessert a Choclate Mousse Crepe with Cherr & Raspberry Puree, Mmmmm!

Feasted on some real southern BBQ:

Pulled BBQ Chicken on a bun Mmmmm, and I loved the rustic atmosphere.

We also ate at a Delicious Cajun Restaurant one night and a wonderful Italian spot the next afternoon... Sorry, I didn't take pictures at EVERY restaurant. I did however, eat enough to insure my jeans hug my thighs a lot closer than they did before my visit.

So yes, the eating was good but the shopping... OH THE SHOPPING!

Rose introduced me to a wonderful little place known as 'The Classy Flea'... Well, I should say I begged her to introduce me, as I'd read about this little gem via Susan's blog 'Between Naps On The Porch'... Now I should explain, I've never been very interested in flea markets per se' but this place is beyond wonderful, the prices are great and the stuff... Well let me show you what I managed to shove in my suitcase:


Now, that there on the bottom, that's a King Size Matelasse coverlet with two king size pillow shams AND a bed skirt for just $49.00... That's right, forty-nine buckaroos! As for how I got the whole thing home? Let's just say my suitcase ended up being 7 lbs. too heavy for the limit so I spent the plane ride home with a king size coverlet on my lap.

The other three items I fell in love with and just couldn't leave them for someone else to take home. The finial didn't fair too well in the suitcase and came home in pieces but my friend Lori patched it up with some ceramic glue and it's none the worse for wear. Unbelievably the chicken made it through without a scratch! By the way the chicken was a steal, had a Kirkland's tag on it priced at $23.95 but I got it for $14.95 at 'The Flea'... As for the 'Welcome' sign, I plan to change out the ribbon with some lovely plaid ribbon I have on hand and then I'll walk it all around my house until I find the perfect spot. Not pictured are a purse I picked up for my friend Lori and the cutest Halloween decoration which I gave her also (she's totally into Halloween, as for me, not so much!)... I'll have to steal a pic of it and post it here later... And yes, all except the coverlet fit into my amazing expando suitcase!

But wait, here are some items I wish I could've taken home with me:

This adorable little chair was just $19.00... Had I gotten it home I would've given it an extra special paint treatment, a fluffy new cushion and some gorgeous fabric, maybe a plaid or a victorian botanical.


I might've hung this above our bed.


This silk valance would've worked perfectly in my master bedroom.


And this chandeleir would be adorable over my kitchen table.


I LOVED this tv cabinet with pocket doors... How gorgeous this would look in my family room and only $299.00
This piece was the first thing that caught my eye when we walked in the door. I couldn't find a price on it, probably because it was sold before we left the store. I mean, how gorgeous is this and it's massive in real life.


When Rose and I saw this we just had to get a picture because it summed up our visit so perfectly.


Next visit to Atlanta, I'm renting a u-haul... Better make some extra space in that second guest bedroom Rose!

Don'tcha Wish Wednesday

Thanks to all of you for your comments and well wishes regarding my trip to Hot-Lanta. I had a wonderful time and look forward to sharing some stories and pics but first I have to spend a little time getting my house back in order. What with the Beach Vacation and my recent trip, it's been over a month since anything has been touched with either a vacuum or a sponge around here.

I came up with this little idea of 'Don'tcha Wish Wednesday' as I was cleaning the bathrooms... Feel free to play along with your comments.


Don'tcha Wish:

Every day at 4:00pm a professional chef showed up at your door to cook an amazing meal for your family and that each family member would drop their finicky attitudes and try something a bit more exotic than chicken fingers?

One of your friends would sign you up for one of those make-over shows, like 'What Not To Wear' so you could finally find out what clothes are most flattering for your figure, get a free credit card to buy them all with AND receive a hair and make-up consultation also at no charge?

You could eat whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted and then when a special event came along you could spend just one day of dieting to restore your perfect figure?

Okay, now it's your turn... What are you wishing for?

God Bless The Guy That Invented The Expandable Suitcase

We ate, we shopped, we talked, we laughed, we shopped some more and ate some more. I'm saying goodbye to 'Atlanta Rose' today... I'm sad to leave but excited to see my family who I REALLY miss.

Tomorrow I'll try to post some pics and tell you all about the wonderful finds down here in Georgia, most of which I'm towing home in a bulging at the seams suitcase.

To the skies!

I'm Leavin' on a Jet-Plane!

I'm off to Hot-Lanta baby!

I'm ready to spend a weekend of 'Girling it Up' with my BFF 'Atlanta Rose'... Gonna help her celebrate a half-century of awesomeness!

I'll be back Monday night with stories and hopefully some decent pics.

Hangin' 'em High!

The heavens opened... The angels sang... And it was good!

I FINALLY found comfortable bras today. The kind I've been wearing since my breast reduction surgery back in '97. Sears quit selling them some years back and I've been on a fruitless search ever since. All the while, the ones I had have been falling to pieces. Quite literally the difference between the brand new ones and the one I'm currently wearing is like bedspread to cheesecloth.

So what does a gal do, when she at last finds the bra she's been searching for? She buys every damn one of 'em in her size! I've got 7 new bras, 2 of them are black, for when I'm feelin' sexxxxxxxxy! Boo-Yeah!

I Named Him 'Fred' Because He Was Dead...

What you see here is the remains of the dinner I ordered on Friday night at a fun little restaurant called 'Patsy's'. Let it be known, I've never eaten anything with a face before, especially a face with the eyes intact and teeth, teeth which appeared to be sticking right up through the middle of it's snout (snout? Do fish have snouts?) I'm really not very squeamish when it comes to food. In fact, as an appetizer we had Calamari and because my friend Lori IS squeamish, her daughter, my daughter and I played with the little squid by dangling them by their little rubber band like arms in front of Lori's face until she begged us to stop. I did a lot of dangling and I ate a lot of calamari.

It seemed every meal I sat down to during vacation I had the feeling I was still in the midst of digesting the previous meal I had eaten... Such is the pleasure and the pain of vacation, too much good food, too little time to eat it all. So really when we went to Patsy's I would've been happy to order just a salad or a bowl of soup because I felt full after playing bungee with the calamari but my son said he'd like to try the 'Snapper' if I ordered it... And if my son is willing to eat anything other than chicken fingers, then by God I'll be sure to make it happen. So I ordered the Snapper.

When the waiter set the platter of what I ended up referring to as 'Fred' the whole table (there were 10 of us) took a collective gasp. I think that means I'm the first of the group to have partaken of something with a face looking back at me. I couldn't NOT eat it... Anything on a menu that is listed 'Market Price' instead of a $ figure has got to be expensive and since I'm always busting on my kids about wasting money on food not eaten, I couldn't set a bad example by wasting money on 'Fred.' I also knew there was also absolutely no chance in hell that my son was going to be trying the snapper. I was on my own! So I took a deep breath, tore off the back fin and forked up some meat. It was surprisingly not fishy, though you wouldn't know it by staring into the lifeless eyes of a whole fish upon your plate. In fact, it tasted a lot like the Talapia I make at home. I really thought I was doing pretty good about ignoring the eyes, the teeth, the fins and the mouth as I picked away at the meat but when the waiter stopped by our table and pointed out that I still had a lot of good meat left and said, "There's a lot of meat left in the cheeks." Well, that was all I needed to hear to make me want to set my fork down and not even consider another bite... The fillet? Fine! But start pointing out facial features and I'd had enough. I wasn't even sure at what point up the back I'd be near the brain and I definitely wasn't going there!

Trying to sleep later that night was difficult. Regardless of the Tums I took to settle my stomach, I kept imagining Fred and the squid chasing each other around my insides. I also made a promise to myself that I wouldn't be teasing Lori with calamari ever again.

Of Turtles & Honor

Leaving the beach was especially hard for my husband and my daughter. The two of them hail from a long line of 'Beach People'... You know, those folks whose spirits are energized by the ocean... I call them 'Water People.' My husband often laments over the fear that he will live his entire life never having the chance to "live on the water." I'd simply hate for him to work hard his entire life and never know the joy of living near the ocean. I hope it's written somewhere in the stars his wish comes to fruition.

As for my son and I, we're homebodies... Give us air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter, a place to create and a light to work by and we'll be forever content. So it's no surprise the boy and I are happy to be home. However, not all was as it should be once we unloaded the car and set about putting things back in their respective places.

It started with the hurried footsteps down the stairs, a tear stained face and sobs as my daughter buried her face in my chest... "Neville is dead!" At that point the whole family stopped what they were doing. My husband walked over and put his arm around her, my son stepped in and caressed his sisters shoulder, all of us saying how sorry we were stood there in place for a good 5 minutes as my daughter sobbed uncontrollably. Eventually we all sat together in the family room, searching for the right words to comfort her. If this were our dog we would've been on equal standing with our grief but Sarah & Neville had their own special bond. Because It's difficult for me to sit and watch my child so upset, I attempted to speed up the grieving process by letting her cry for 10 minutes and then asking what it is she wanted to do first. I'm sorry, I was just getting a bit squeamish thinking about a decomposing turtle floating around in the tank in my daughters bedroom. My husband gently reminded me she didn't need to make any decisions right away. Eventually she was ready to discuss burial plans and together we found the perfect box and a soft cloth. I was relieved to see Neville hadn't been dead for too long and appeared to be sleeping. I could've mentioned a taxidermy opportunity lay in hand but imagined it would be especially difficult to turn a dear friend into a first project, so I held my tongue. Once Neville was placed lovingly into his box my husband accompanied my daughter to our newly planted landscaping, dug a small hole, placed the box within and without ceremony, filled in the hole and added a small resin headstone. It was a sad evening for my daughter and the pain was still fresh when she awoke this morning to a tank void of turtle yet still teaming with the four goldfish he hadn't eaten. Does this mean we now have 4 pet fish? Gosh, I hope not.

A deceased turtle wasn't the only unsettling thing awaiting our return however. While going through the mail I noticed an official looking letter for my son, my son who rarely gets mail. Upon opening the letter he informed me it was a 'Selective Service Registration Form' and together we tried to determine what that meant because there's something rather ominous and threatening about the pressure to sign a government form which states 'Failure to comply is subject to a fine and/or imprisonment.' However, through discussion and subtle jokes to relieve the tension, as in, 'Please Print Clearly'... Son said, "Well, so sorry for you." in regards to his atrocious penmanship... My son signed the form and prepared it for Monday's mail. At that point I told him about his grandpa who memorized the eye chart because he knew he wouldn't pass the visual exam to get into the army. Is the world so different from that time to present? I know there isn't a mandatory draft. I don't know if there ever will be. It's difficult for me to look at this boy of mine and think of him as a man. A man who might one day be called upon.

Vacations Last Sigh

Tomorrow we head home.

I thought we'd make it through this trip relatively unscathed, but this morning the factions could no longer hold their tongues and a... um... discussion(?) between the Democrats & the Republicans in this house, for lack of a better word, ERUPTED. Damn, I was SO hoping we'd make it through unscathed.

Oh Well.

A SLOW Read...

I purchased 3 books on the second day of our visit to the beach. My friend Lori purchased something like 6 books from the wholesale bin. My books were carefully chosen after perusing not one but two book stores.

It's day 5 and Lori has finished over 3 of her books. I have roughly 5 pages left of the first of my 3 books. This book is all of 257 pages. Why do I read so slow? No matter how hard I try, I simply can't block out all the conversations which float (sometimes fly) back and forth in this house. I'll be reading a sentence from my book and it'll go something like this:

"It was a dark and stormy... SO THAT'S WHY EVERYONE IS UPSET WITH AL GORE."

I'll clear my head and then start again:

"It was a dar... JOEY TOLD MONICA THAT RACHEL WAS GOING OUT WITH ROSS." (We brought 'Friends' along with us to the beach and I made the mistake of reading in the same room as the dvd player.

So I'll move out to the porch:

"It was a... SO, WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN ME FOR A BEACH WALK?"

Then I'll move to the bedroom:

"It wa... HEY HONEY, WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS FOR DINNER THIS EVENING?"

I'm gonna try hard to finish my last 5 or 6 pages. After that I'll most likely wait to start the second and third books until we get home and everyone is back to school and work.

Shrek at the Beach

A pretty close match sure, but
his eyelashes are actually longer than mine.

Beach vacations always prove to be a confusing time for me. What could be so confusing about the beach? Well, appearance is my main concern. I'm the kind of gal who upon waking in the morning jumps in the shower, puts on make-up, fixes her hair and THEN begins her day. Well, there are those mornings when I walk a mile or so first but that hasn't happened in a good long time so I'd feel as though I weren't being entirely truthful if I added that into my morning routine... But I digress.

Anyway... The trouble is that while I'm at the beach I'm never entirely sure how to start my day. Why would I want to hop into the shower if there's someone in the house who might invite me to join them in a beach walk. I certainly wouldn't want to shower before a sticky, sandy, often times sweaty, wind-blown walk along the shore. So while I'm at the beach I wake and put on the clothes from the night before. Then someone is apt to say, "Would you like to run to the beach shop with me?" I consider showering first but then another family member will inform me we're planning dinner out for the evening. That's when I reconsider the shower before the beach shop and just merrily head out with yesterdays make-up mostly melted off my face, in my frumpy, sweaty clothes from the day before. I mean after all I AM on vacation... Who am I trying to impress?

Let me tell you what the problem is... I've been wearing make-up for so many years now that without it, I feel like a beast. And though some would say the ocean air was good for the complexion... It seems to have quite the opposite effect on me. Sand and sea tends to leave me with the appearance of a 14 yr. old whose mother hasn't explained the effects of hormones nor the merits of Clearasil.

Often times I stop and consider wandering the aisles of the 'Beach Bonanza Shore Store' and somewhere between the 'Life is Good' t-shirts and the $5 boogie boards, I picture an encounter with a lovely, nicely dressed woman with perfect hair and make-up and then I'll feel like Shrek and want to crawl through dark alleys to make my way back home. So rather than throw caution to the wind I instead decide to run and take a shower first and throw on some make-up. However, once I return from the shops I'm invited down to the beach where the make-up I applied earlier slides down my face in rivulets of sweat and my hair becomes a greasy mat of stickiness. So I come back to the house, take another shower and am then informed we're ordering pizza in for dinner. Did I mention that I find showers an annoying waste of time?... A valuable necessity but still a waste of time. So more than one a day leaves me completely annoyed, but at least a tad better looking than Shrek.

Hanna, we hardly knew ya.

Okay, so you've gotta love a beach house with wi/fi. You've also gotta love a hurricane which downgrades itself to a tropical storm in anticipation of your beach vacation arrival. Yes, there were some high winds but we had a lot of fun on the boardwalk, admiring the storm and leaning into the whipping wind and biting rain. It was also amazing to see first hand the power of the storm on the sea. I seriously wanted to take pictures but didn't want to risk my camera to all that precipitation.

Today I made the short walk to the book store and am now prepared to sit myself down, make myself comfortable and read to my hearts content. Lucky, lucky me!

What's A Little Hurricane Among Vacationers?

Tomorrow we're headed off on vacation...

Our annual 'Beach' vacation...

You guessed it, we're headed directly into the eye of Hanna. Or Hanna is headed directly into our path. Regardless, we're destined to meet somewhere along the coast. I'm really hoping Hanna is the friendly sort. You know, the type of girl that likes to make sure the garden gets just enough water to insure the flowers continue to grow. Forecasters on the other hand are predicting Hanna is an angry sort of bitch with a nasty attitude.

Nothing like a little hurricane to get a jump-start on all those fine vacation memories. Hmmmm? I wonder where and when Ike's planning on setting up his party?

Another Day Later... Another Day Sicker...

Yesterday I woke with the tell-tale stuffy head, aching ears, sore throat and stiff neck I come down with every year at this time... It's the Sinus Infection illness that spirals downward into Bronchitis month! It's like freakin' Halloween, it shows up every year despite my wishes that it never existed (did I mention I hate Halloween, No?... well, that's a blog post for another day.)

So when you wake up with symptoms that the plague is ready to descend what do you do? Well, you call the doctor of course! So that's what I did and you know what? Even though I called at the stroke of 9:00am, I was offered an appointment for 2:45 TOMORROW!!! Say Wha? "You have nothing available TODAY... Can't you just call something in for me?" "No, you say?... The doctor HAS to see me?"

So here I am, a day later and a day sicker... The razor-blades scraping the base of my throat awakened me at 5:00am and I can't tell if it's menopause or fever that's got me breaking out in sweat.... Uh sorry, I mean a dewy perspiration, every 10 min. or so.

Can I just say how much I ADORE going to the doctors office to be robbed of my co-pay, plop down for a 20 min. waiting room sit, a weigh in, another sit in the exam room, a quick glance in my ears and a look down my throat, just so I can tell the doctor I've got the same creeping crud I get every year. She'll then write me a prescription, I'll drag myself to the pharmacy and have to wait another 24 hours for the drugs to take affect.

Now I certainly wouldn't want to deprive the doctor of looking in my ears, 'cause dammit, they're gorgeous, who wouldn't want to get a look at these precious semi-circle orbs of perfection. But c'mon, is it really necessary to make me wait an extra day to get an antibiotic started on beating out the evil cells of darkness waging war on my system?

It's my ears, she's just GOT to see my ears... I know it, they really are that AWESOME!

He doesn't know what morning looks like...

Conversation over the breakfast table this morning.

Son (looking at watch): "Wow, we're missing a good portion of the 'All School Meeting' at school today."

Me: "Why, what time does it start?"

Daughter: "The meeting begins at either 11:00 or 12:00, I'm not sure."

Son (looking at watch again): "Yeah, but it's 1:24... Right now!

Me (looking at son quizzically) : "No it's not, it's 9-o'clock in the morning!"

Son: "It is?... But my watch says, 1:24.... Ooooohhhhh, AM!..... Hey, what's wrong with my watch?"

Me (rolling eyes): "Your battery must've died... But seriously, you can't tell the difference between 9 am and 1 pm?... You really DON'T know what morning looks like, Do You?"

Dear 10 yr. old Self... (Writers Workshop Wednesday)

Dear 10 yr. old Self,

Burt Eaton is a dork! Don't waste your time trying to get him to like you.

Love,
M-

P.S. I know you're going to find this hard to believe, but someday you're going to enjoy playing the piano.

*Join in on Writer's Workshop Wednesday here.

Sweet Jesus, I'm Completely Alone!

My husband is working at the office today and the kids are back to school.

The ONLY things stirring in the house right now are the dog (eating her breakfast) and the tappity-tap-tap of the keyboard as I sit blissfully alone, typing away.

Things I should be doing right now:
1. Start a load of laundry.
2. Empty the dishwasher and load dirty breakfast dishes in the sink.
3. Vacuum (Good Heavens, how desperate the carpeting looks right now, in EVERY damn room of the house.)
4. Pick up all of everyone's 'crap' that's been left behind on every flat surface in the house.
5. Math & Reading homework (Aristotle, you'd be so much more palatable if you wrote like Erma Bombeck.)

Things I'd like to do instead:
1. Poke around the internet and read a few blogs.
2. Make myself a second cup of tea.
3. Call 'Atlanta Rose' and gleefully discuss my upcoming visit to 'Hot-Lanta'
4. Head down to the studio and 'Create'
5. Take a nap

With so many options available, this really is an 'Anything Can Happen Day'.