Clean Up.

Hubby just found out that one of his good friends from his Army days just got out of one of those rapid detox centers for heroin abuse.  It had been quite some time since hubby had last spoken to him, and when he did talk to him, the guy was an absolute mess.  His wife had left him…she took their two kids and moved into her own place.  He’d lost his job, and the last we’d heard, he’d been just about ready to lose his house as well.

Hubby had been shocked…this guy was one of those types of guys that was always in control of himself.  He was big into playing sports, and big into physical fitness.  When hubby saw him after all of those years, the transformation was astounding.  He’d lost a lot of weight, and looked ragged.

Now, it’s a different story.  His friend is now clean and sober, and he’s been that way for the last six months.  He’s put on some weight, and is slowly regaining the fitness level that he used to have.  He and his wife got back together.  His life is just about back in order.

Hubby and I both hope that he can keep it together, as he’s a really nice guy, and it was such a shame to see him the way he was!

Fall In New England.

Hubby has decided to sell his one week of vacation that he has left so that we can have some extra money for seasons greetings gifts. I like to get my holiday shopping done early, and I may end up doing a bunch of it while I’m away in New Hampshire in October.

I am so excited for my trip.  I have a growing list of things I want to do and places that I want to see.  I’m actually going to stay longer that I had first planned, and it will be so nice to get away, especially since it will be my favorite time of year!

I’m planning on hitting up at least one history museum, sightseeing, and bead shopping.  Yay!

Helping Hand.

A woman came into my shop on Friday to get some copies made.  I felt so bad for her…she was making copies to send off to get social security disability, and she’d been turned down three different times.  I asked her if she’d contacted a lawyer about it, and she said that she hadn’t.  I told her that she really should get in touch with someone as soon as possible so that she could get her benefits. One of my aunts had been through that ordeal, and it took her hiring a lawyer to finally be able to get her benefits.

I even gave the poor woman the name and number of a lawyer that I knew…he just happens to be a client of ours.  The woman was so grateful for the help that she tried to give me a $5 tip.

I gave it back to her, thanking her the entire time, but telling her that it wasn’t necessary.

Especially since she looked like she really needed that $5 for herself.

Disappeared.

Mom and I ran around on Saturday afternoon to take care of some errands.  When we got back to the house, Dad was nowhere to be found.  Mom and I had to run back out again, and Dad STILL wasn’t home when we got back about twenty minutes later.

Mom and I were relaxing on the couch when Dad came strolling in about a half an hour later.  Turns out that he’d gone off to Home Depot to buy some outdoor pillows for the deck furniture, along with some kind of cleaning to clean off the vinyl panels at the bottom of the couch.

Mom got on his case a bit, as he’d left the shed wide open, and his riding mower out in the middle of the back lawn.  Whoops!  At least he remembered to lock the front door before he left…

Hello, Operator?

I got into an argument today with a guy that called my cell phone and tried to sell me iphone insurance.  I told him that I had absolutely no need for iPhone insurance, especially since I didn’t even HAVE an iPhone!  He started arguing with me…I HAD to have an iPhone, otherwise, why would I be on his call list?

Yeah, I went a little nuts on him.  I read him the riot act and then proceeded to hang up on him.

You know what I hate about cell phones?

The fact that hanging up on someone is nowhere near as satisfying as slamming an old fashioned phone receiver down onto its cradle!

Beach Bum.

I had a very interesting chat with my Dad yesterday after I got to my parents’ house in the early afternoon.  He took me around to the back of the house, and told me in confidence that Mom was the one that didn’t want to go on our annual vacation to New Jersey in September.  He actually wanted to go, but Mom was rather vehement in her refusals.

I had a feeling about that, although I never would’ve guessed that Dad had actually WANTED to go.

Hubby and I ALWAYS want to go.  No two ways about it.  Unfortunately for us this year, everything’s conspiring against us, and there will be no beach vacation.

What I do know is that Mom would like to go someplace different for our family vacation.  Maybe I’ll suggest to her that we rent one of the Outer Banks homes that are available. Mom gets her trip to a different area, and hubby and I will still get our beach vacation.

That sounds like a win-win situation to me!

Cool Down.

For the first time in quite some time, I actually slept last night.  I slept pretty hard until around 10 AM, and then I laid in bed and dozed for another two hours.  I was having some fabulous dreams, and I didn’t want to let them go.

A cabin in the woods on a lake, comfortable log beds to sleep in, a roaring fireplace…yadda yadda yadda.  It was rather delicious.

It’s actually been a nice and relaxing weekend here at my parents’ house, but I’m looking forward to getting home, just for the simple fact that it’s bloody warm in their house!  The air conditioner is on, but it doesn’t seem to blow anywhere near as cool as mine does in my apartment!

I guess it also doesn’t help that my netbook does run a little on the warm side…

Time Off.

I’m headed off to Delaware tomorrow morning to go spend the weekend with my parents.  Since I’m one broke chick, there won’t be any hard-core shopping going on, other than a stop at the store that sells cigars and cigarettes really cheap, so that I can pick up my usual carton of smokes.

I’m actually looking forward to not having to cart my Mom all over God’s green earth in search of the perfect deal.  I think she’s taking me out to lunch, but that’s about it.  I’m going to spend the weekend working on my writing, and maybe making up some jewelry.

Other than that, it’s promising to be a very relaxing weekend!!

To Learn From The Best.

I just woke up from a little bit of a nap.  I’m now sitting all stretched out in my big chair in my home office, sipping iced tea, and reading the carinsurancelist blog.  I’m waiting for a friend of mine to get online for our nightly game rendezvous.

I am so super excited.  Kythryne from Wyrding Studios posted on LiveJournal the other day about two workshops that they’re holding in their New Hampshire studio…one in September, and one in October.

I AM GOING TO THE ONE IN OCTOBER!!!

I’m going to take a couple of days off from work…drive up to New Hampshire the Friday before, go to the class on Saturday, and go sightseeing on Sunday, and come home on Monday.  If I’m very lucky, I may even have a tour guide to show me around.

I’m giddy.  I’m so looking forward to this…I can’t wait!

The Rain In Spain.

Tonight was definitely not a night to be caught outside without an umbrella or rain boots. I got home a little bit before 6 PM to find the WeatherBug on my computer going crazy with severe weather alerts.

High heat advisory through tomorrow until 8 PM.  Joy.

And then, a severe thunderstorm warning popped up.  Normally, I don’t really pay much attention to the warnings, but this time, the thunder and lightning told me that I should.

We ended up having a fabulous, albeit quick, light show with a lot of rain.

And now the temperature is starting to climb again.  So much for the rain bringing any relief from this stifling heat…