*Big DumpTruck*

The two books I ordered on how to be a successful freelance writer just arrived. More money into the pockets of writers! I need to get some business drummed up for a couple of reasons:
1. I need to create something a customer is happy with just to reinforce that I am good at what I do. I know I am, but I want proof.
2. I need to have a client list to show other people so I can have an even bigger client list.
3. I can't just sit here watching Mikey the Fish all day for the rest of my life. I did clean out his tank today. And every time I do, I'm reminded how much I appreciate that our friend Kim gave him to my son for a birthday present.

They were WAY less noisy last night. Of course, it was freezing cold again, and I think they are noisier when it's warmer out. Either way, I got some sleep and we can all be thankful for that. I did hear some rumblings early early this morning, but nothing that would jolt me out of sleep like they did the other night. Yeesh.

Poor mousies. I hardly knew ye.

Looks like today I should call it the Snow Cam.

WHY AREN'T THEY DEAD YET?!!!

I mean, I love animals, just not in a PETA-way. I love them when they are not in my house, when they are not potentiall destroying wiring that will set my house on first. When they are not leaving feces all over the floor, and messing up my insulation. They did NOT pay me rent, and I want them out. If it were possible to put them outside and tell them "listen, you can't come back. You aren't welcome" I would have. But these things are destructive, and worse, they have been getting so active and noisy that I can't sleep. Do you understand? They keep me awake ALL NIGHT. It's like living in an apartment building and the upstairs neighbors are having a party. I bang on the ceiling but it doesn't stop them.

So last night I'd hoped they would be quiet, but NoooOooooOooo. I hope they find that mouse bait really tasty. And soon.

One hundred and sixty-five dollars later, I am told that within 2 weeks Mickey Mouse and all his little relatives will no longer being alive in my attic. I think it's worth every penny. Those little buggers are LOUD when they start scratching at 2 in the morning.

I've decided to use the time I have sans work to make some improvements around the house. I don't know that I'll be able to do everything I want to all at once, after all, I'm unemployed (gotta fix that!) but I think I'm going to slap some paint on these old walls. I took junior with me to the paint store to look at the color options, which may have been a mistake. Now he thinks HE is going to get to paint the walls. Uh oh. I don't think I'm ready to let a four-year-old help me paint.

Once I finalize on colors, I'll see if I can recreate them here somehow. Or maybe the Sherwin Williams website has paint chips.

I wrote anothe story that got into this week's The Daily Probe! Warning to all my relatives: this web site is rated R.

I ran out of one of my prescriptions a week ago Friday, and my PCP has been on vacation for a week. Turns out that this particular item has been the one that fixed me "I can't seem to stay awake" problem. Man, I'm not going to let THAT one run out again.

p.s. I hope I'm not addicted to it, but if I am, I want to go to the treatment center that all the celebs go to. Do you have to live in California to go there?

Went for a hike in the woods to search for bears. Well, not me so much as my brother-in-law and my dad. THey went on a bear hunt with my son and nephew. My sister and I had my niece and we couldn't keep up with their mountain-climbing skills, and we stayed at a lower level of the bear's forest home. Then we played on the playground. It was a bit chillier than it looked because there was a healthy breeze.

I think it's a great idea to put the bears in the woods so you know they aren't going to be in your back yard - I prefer to have to go out to find them.

I have officially decided that I prefer a McDonald's double cheeseburger to a Whopper Junior. I used to like the Whopper Junior, but I haven't liked them in a while, and the one I had tonight seemed stale. Sure, it's cheap food but you want it to be fresh.

McDonald's probaby puts some chemical in their burgers to make them seem fresher longer. I don't what to know about it.

Well, it's quite a bit colder out there than it looks. I'm not going to let that scare me off though. As soon as I'm doing paying bills (oh the joy of it!) I'm going out for some R & R. Or maybe just some R. I don't want to go crazy.

Just online for a few minutes before I go out and face the world. It's sunny and bright and I can hear airplanes flying all over the place around here. To me those kinds of days, where it's just constant planes, always reminds me of summer, and having the windows open.

Spent the day with my parents. Always a joy. Well, I wasn't with them the WHOLE day, but a good part of it. They are still computer desk shopping, and I think it's GREAT fun to browse furniture stores. The one I told my mom she HAS to buy costs $1200, and it looks like a baker's rack so it won't look all desky in her living room. $1200 for a desk! And as my friend said "for 1200, I want everything HIDDEN.

Here is a picture of the item. It really is wonderful. If I wasn't so busy trying to pay the mortgage, I'd go for it.
Computer Desk

oops. I forgot the lawyer's office and the Chamber of Commerce. Okay, I'll do that tomorrow morning. Tomorrow isn't a big full day like today. But of course, I have that Danny Bonaduce book to read now.

I think I got most of the to-do list done. Went to the post office and the library, had lunch with my friends and sent out an email (late) that I said I'd send out today. I felt busy.

The library thing was interesting. It's school vacation week and I guess they had a magician doing some program for young kids (preschool age, maybe up to 2nd grade.) I got there as ALL the kids were leaving with the parents, and the kids all had magic wands. I hope nobody cast any spells on me.

Oh man, I was looking at the statistics for this page for yesterday, and I noticed that four hits were from one link...and that happens a lot except this made me REALLY NERVOUS. See, the link was to www.amihotornot.com.au/Top10/show_rating_pic.asp?ID=57507 and all I could imagine is that someone took a webcam shot of mine and posted it up there to be mean or something. And then I looked at the URL again and realized there is no way I'm in the top 10 at amihotornot. I mean, I like myself, but I am grounded in reality. So anyway, I'm not turning that into a link...if you want to see what a top 10 female at that site looks like, I'm sure you won't be disappointed, but I'm not going to help you get there faster. So I still don't know why it's showing up four times in my log, unless the chick in the picture is a fan of the blog. That would be fine and dandy, and then I wouldn't be nervous any more! Hello top 10 girl! You look really lovely in your bra...

I've got a whole full to-do list for tomorrow. I need to run to the post office, the library and my lawyer's office. I am meeting some online pals for lunch, and then I should drop by the Chamber of Commerce to get some information about the benefits of joining (specifically group insurance rates.)

Does that sound like a lot? Well it's everything I've needed to do for the past couple of days, but with Junior hanging out at home with a throat infection, I've had a hard time getting any work done. Well, it would have been a little easier if I hadn't spent 4.5 hours at prompt care with him on Tuesday. He's been on antibiotics for 24 hours so he can go back to daycare tomorrow. Whew!

I'm watching Rugrats (what else is new) and it's an early episode. It might be the first - I think it's the first one with Angelica because Didi actually explains who Angelica is to Phil and Lil's mom Betty. And their dad, Howard, has like a TON of lines. I'm pretty sure this is the most I've ever heard him talk in an episode. And Betty is pretty subdued. I love watching how the characters have changed on shows, even cartoons.

55 on Thursday! Save me a chair at the beach! Yahoo! Weather - Leominster Forecast


Oh, and in other news? He's not that crazy about the Lite-Brite. Well, he is, but he can't do the pictures that came with it because he's not really at the age where he call follow the letter guides. From the Mom point of view, I can't figure out what some of these colors are...is that red or something else?

The manicotti was GREAAAAAAAT. And I learned what a serving is. I made enough for each of us to have 3, but man, after 2, I was done. So now I have some in the freezer and I feel like Helen Homemaker! I'm psyched that at some point I have a really cool meal ready to go, all I need to do is bake it up!

I'm SO not happy with the Hasbro company right now! Do you know that they don't even include a lightbulb with a Lite-Brite? And when you read the box and see 25 Watts, you'd better read closer, you need a 25 watt CANDELABRA bulb. And don't get bent tip, get blunt tip. I had to run out to get the bulb, but got the bent tip and I'm just hoping the house doesn't burn down. I don't have a clue why they couldn't just charge me an extra $2 and provide a stupid bulb.

I went out for "coffee" yesterday with a good friend of mine...actually we both had tea, but the invitiation was to go out for coffee. She invited me and the boy to have dinner with her family, and told me she was going to make stuffed shells. Um, YA! I love stuffed shells. So we stopped at Shaws before heading back to her house and she called her hubby who said he had already started dinner. *pout*. We bought the stuffed shells fixins anyway, and I bought some too because man, once you put that idea in my head, it's not going away.

I have everything I need except....the shells. But I do have some manicotti tubes so now I'm having manicotti. I wish I owned a pastry bag, but I'm going to fake it with a Zip-Lock with the end cut off. Should work, right?

Ooh, did I forget to write yesterday? Ever so sorry. I'll make up for it later today.

Okay, I'm writing the new Dump, just like I promised even if it's not on time. It should be up before the end of the day. That's midnight, right?

I need to remember to go to the library. I reserved Danny Bonaduce's autobiography (but it was highly recommended!) and I only have 4 days to pick it up.

Whew! Looks like Blogger is back up. I missed it. Of course all my words of wisdom that I had ready to post are pretty much gone. I'm going to have to come up with some new ones.

I spent a major portion of the afternoon at Tatnuck Booksellers. I was kind of disappointed that they turned the coffee shop into a full-service restaurant. While I'm sure the food is great, and it's pretty cool to have a restaurant in the middle of a book store, I miss the days when you could just wander in, grab a table and do the self-service coffee and tea thing. Oh well, all good things much change, eh?

Okay, okay, I swear I will update the Big DumpTruck tomorrow. I have a few things to put in it, if I don't forget them between now and then. I just didn't want to have to make the changes by hand (i.e. editing the HTML) but you know what? My "fans" are worth it. Plus, it will bring up the hit count before the weekend. I always like when that happens.

Visit early and visit often, that's my motto. My other motto is "anything made with wine can't be all bad. I made some very good chicken and mushrooms in wine sauce tonight. Yummers.

Had to make a tissue run this morning. We are blowing through them like, well, tissues. (Blowing through them? Get it? Get it? Ewwwww!)

I'm just happy to have a few headache-free hours this afternoon. Ugh, I hate being sick.

I have a complaint. Where the hell are all my teaspoons? What were we thinking, only buying one set of flatwear, anyway?

Every time I open the drawer for one, that slot is empty. I know it has a lot to do with Mookie, who seems to use one for every meal he eats, but sheesh! I wish I knew the model of flatwear we have, I'd try to contact the mfg and see if I could buy replacement spoons. But it's not like the fancy stuff you register for, so I don't know if they sell onsies. It may be time to just buck up and buy a couple new sets. Or start eating with sporks.

Note to self: Don't go to the chinese buffet restaurant when there aren't many cars in the parking lot. Man, you can't believe what happens to that food when it sits in the warming trays for a while. Gah. So I just want to make it clear that I get to eat chinese food again as soon as possible to make up for last night's experience.

The lemon squares we made last night as a cooking project? Blech. I guess I should have been nervous that the only thing I needed to add to the box mix was eggs and water. Or maybe the mix was just old. Or maybe I'm not much of a lemon square person after all.

Actually, what I wish I could have found was the low-fat lemon cake mix that was put out by one of the major mix brands under one of their "low fat" brands. I think it came in a purple box. I'll have to remember what it was called, but anyway, they don't sell those low/no fat mixes at my local store anymore, so I just assumed they don't sell them at all.

Crap. I have to pull together writing samples to email to someone who may have work for me and I don't have that stuff all prepared. Why didn't I set this up BEFORE today?

Here's an article in thelocal paper about the efforts to save Whalom - Whalom Park created memories.

I don't know that I'm the person he's talking about, maybe more than one has said the same thing, but I think I might be the person who said I would help clean the park in the spring if it was reopened, because I did. I've exchanged email with Allyson Bowen and in one I told her about the dream I'd had that I was hired to paint picnic tables. Very strange. But I do want the park to reopen. I loved working there (summer of 83) and loved going back with my son. It's such a shame that this is happening.

Wait, there is mention of a cashier from the summer of 83, who first went in 1965. I mean, I'm sure that's when I first went, because my parents probably took me as a baby just for something to do. I wonder if she's talking about me or someone I worked with? I'll have to try to find out. I haven't been in touch with anyone I worked with at the park that year, for a long time, although I did keep in touch with one friend for at least 3 or 4 years. I don't know why I keep thinking everything refers to me, how self-centered is that? I did offer to put stuff on my website. I keep talking about it in the blog, but I want to put some sort of button on the main dump page. I have to put that on my to-do list. Save Whalom.

Got the webcam back on today. It's not on me because I have a cold, so I feel horrid and look worse. I think the view out the window is pretty nice anyway. Although it would be good to take a picture of my OWN house instead of the neighbor's.

I should aim it more at the house across the street, as there is likely to be more activity there. The house is on the market, and yesterday was an open house. I should have gone over, just to look.

I am such a pushover. Stopped at Walmart with sonnyboy after breakfast to buy him a new toothbrush. Left with kites and a toy motorcycle.

I need to take a course on how to say "no".

Except I wanted a kite too.

Oh crap, I saw something funny today and I couldn't wait to come home and tell you guys about it and now I'm home and I can't remember what it was. Phh.

I'm making some beef stew today. I'm not sure why, as it isn't a "stew" kind of day, but I didn't have anything else planned for this morning so I decided to try it.

I have to admit I haven't really made stew before, but I think this one looks okay. I guess I'll find out when it's time to eat it. My fear, of course, is screwing something major up, like maybe overcooking it, if that's possible. Oh well, I'm going to let it simmer a little while longer. If it's bad, it's bad. It's not like I spent $30 on ingredients.

I hadn't looked at the suggestions in a while so I just went. The first ELEVEN pages are all news programs. In there I have spanish news, The Farm Report (no, they really have that?) and Bush's Weekly Radio thingy. Good Morning America, Sports News and "Alan Keyes Is Making Sense"

What the hell did I do to deserve this?

I think this changing the fish tank water is going to get old REALLY fast. And if I let it go, that corner of the room starts to smell like wetlands. I could use this as a learning experience for the boy, but I don't really want to have him write a report on algea.

Another dreary day, but I'm not going to let that get me down (can you just feel the pep talk in the air?) It's supposed to hit 40, so maybe I can chip away more of the icy driveway from hell.

If nothing else, for my next house I'll know where the driveway should be located so that stuff melts off it. I'm so jealous of people whose driveways actually get sun on them in the winter.

There's an ad for Amazing Elastic Plastic on Nick and they say not once, but twice, that you get "two tubes of blow."

I know someone at the company is giggling in his sleeve at sneaking that past the CEO, but it amuses me much more than the thought of having my house filled with Amazing Elastic Plastic bubbles. Cause the parents in the commercial appear to be thrilled about it. I wonder if it stains?

I started editing my novel again. I'm though a good seven pages. Ugh.

I think it's working. It's not perfect, but it's working. I'll work on "perfect" later. (But do I want to disappoint people who are used to my lack of perfection?) [update: I spelled "are" wrong! I had to fix it, even if it was funny in context.]

I just need to figure out why the Blogger software keeps eating my template code. I finally realized that it isn't MY fault that my links keep disappearing. I just posted a message on the troubleshooting forum. Because that is how I wanted to spend my day today. grrrr.

My home page has been picking up some traffic ever since the Webcam32 people (Surveyor Corp) listed my site on their list of places using Webcan32. I guess that means I should plug it in more often, eh? I also need to do an update, but I don't have the right software on this computer. Yet. Anyway, I'm going to take a stab at it just using a regular HTML editor. I can handle that, it's just a lot slower than the way I normally do it.

Except for this blog. The blog is a piece of cake. The rest of my site should be so easy. Don't worry, I'm not switching to an all-blog format. Yet.

And then, there are the web pages that you can't stop staring at.INDUSTORIOUS CLOCK ||| M ONO*CRAFTS3.0 is one of them.

Oh, and I made a lovely dinner tonight. Sauteed chicken in a little bit of wine and mushrooms (I started to write "whine") and, well, the best part of the meal, Stovetop Stuffing. I found it when I was putting other stuff away. I couldn't resist.

BRRRR! I guess the danged groundhog was right about 6 more weeks of winter. It's tres chilly this morning. I suddenly realized that so far we haven't had any of those below zero-car-won't start-nose hair freezes weeks this winter. Not that I'm complaining. But it did occur to me this morning because I think it's the closest it's been so far.

I suppose I just jinxed myself. Oh well.

They say it's your BIRFDAY JPLF!!!!!

Hey, 11 isn't so bad. One more year and you can ride in the front seat!

I just want everyone who said the Patriot's didn't stand a chance in the Superbowl can stand in line to kiss my lovely bum.

14 point underdogs? I don't think so.

Sunday morning. It's the morning with the most junkmail in my inbox. I mean seriously, I can't believe how many spammers send their stuff out on Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Is that something they teach you in the Spam Handbook? I had to have 20 different things in my inbox, which is so sad because there wasn't much real mail there other than that. I got one today for some guy selling a horse farm in Arizona. The note said it wasn't spam because I must have contacted him in the past. I love that line. Oh, sure, I'm always emailing Arizona Realtors. As a matter of fact, I have been thinking the thing that's missing from my life is a ranch. Praise be that this guy sent me an email this morning. I'm off to the bank to cut him a deposit check.

SUPERBOWL! SUPERBOWL! I like the superbowl because it usually means a party, but this year I am beside myself because the Pats are in it! Talk about rooting for the underdog, though. I am on a few mailing lists with people from all over the country, and people just don't want to root for the Pats, even if they hate the Rams. How can that be?

Today's date is 02/02/02 A person could get carried away with the Oh Twos. But it looks nice, and that's what matters to me.

In the great "shovel or not?" debate, I am kind of not shovelling right now. It's raining like heck, and it's starting to ice up on everything, so some part of me thinks it just a teeny bit safer to have a bit of snow under the ice cover.

But at least we still have heat and electricity here. I saw pictures of Oklahoma and, well, wow. Ice is forming on stuff, but it's not too thick. I will keep an eye on our birch trees and move the van if they start bending. I heard it's pushing 50 in Boston, but we here 35 miles away aren't so lucky. I'm guessing it's 30 or so right now.

We didn't get the 7 inches of snow they were predicting, and I can't say I'm all that sorry about it. I know some people would only be happy with two feet of snow but I'm not one of them. It's pretty icy out. I'm not going to leave the house until it warms up a little. Mookie will just stay here with me today. He's soooo sad about it. Poor kid, he's running around the house just having the best time.

I know I have to leave the house today because I'm in charge of bringing the chip/dip type foods to the Superbowl party. Can't have a party without onion dip, can you? I think I'll also make some of that Hidden Valley Ranch dip we first had at T&D's Christmas pah-ty. I guess that means I need to buy carrots and broccoli and stuff too. Hey, they are veggies, they count, right? I'm going to try to be good, because I'm down another two pounds. I think that puts the total at 7 pounds from just before Thanksgiving. I want to do the last 3 pounds REALLY badly, because man, losing 10 pounds just sounds SO cool.

Oh, and I fixed the links on the left. You can thank me later.