Six thousand steps before lunch and panhandled by a toddler

It's been a bit since I posted here, and I still need to finish my travelogue!  All I can say is that I haven't felt like writing.  Somehow, the day on Thursday made me want to write it up.  A couple of weeks ago I bought I cheap pedometer from Walgreens.  I've been averaging 4-5000 steps per day and hoping to get better as time goes on.  On Thursday I had 6000 by lunch and another 3000 by bedtime!

A little background: in 2014, the judge set up twice-monthly hearings where interested* parties have a chance to object to estate inventories and accounts.  I'm in charge of pulling the files, giving them to the magistrate covering the hearing, explaining the rules to people who want to object, checking folks in and sometimes explaining to people who show up that they don't need to be there when nobody has objected.

Some hearing days we have no cases, some days we have lots of cases, and on days like Thursday, we have only a few cases with a boatload of people.  They all need to be herded into groups and then into the hearing room one case at a time, and sometimes kept apart if there are strong emotions at play.  The magistrate took people into the hearing room on the basis of "First case with all their people here goes first" and once she had the first case being heard, I had a minute to call the attorney for one side of the third case, because she hadn't shown up yet.

The parties for our three cases were interesting.  One had a trio of African-American great-aunts, ladies who looked like they had seen some shit and weren't taking any, another had a really arrogant asshole attorney and the third had a guy who looked, sounded, and shook hands like he'd been living in a cave his whole life.  Damp, pallid, skinny and doughy.  ::shudder::

So in the middle of running back and forth herding cats and occasionally stopping at my desk to try to work on guardians' accounts, I was stopped by the gumball machine by an adorable little boy who asked me if I had a quarter.  Softie that I am, I gave him two.

Things were calmer once the magistrate cleared all the cases.  I call her "The Fastest Pen in the Midwest" for good reason--in one of the cases, she had her decision to me before my colleague had even docketed the attorney's notice of appearance. :-)

I did manage to get all the accounts and inventories published or approved that afternoon and cleared my desk of a boatload of work.  I also got a notification that a library book I'd been waiting on had come in, so I stopped on my way home to pick it up.  My phone rang when I was two blocks from home, but I knew it just meant Mom had beat me to the house, so I didn't answer.

Mom and Dad have been emptying the attic, so Mom brought over a bunch of unused carpet scraps for me to put out for the fabric recycling company to pick up Friday morning.  I fed the dog and let her out and put her away again while Mom was stuffing bags and carrying them to the curb.  I helped with the last bag and then we were off to Home Goods.  Mom had a bunch of rewards, so she gave me half, and I got the softest new blanket and a shedload of hand soaps (for home and for work) and three yummy-smelling Halloween candles.

After that we had dinner at Aladdin's and then went to Gabriel Brothers, where I found a gorgeous fall jacket for only $12.99 and Mom looked at all the bras and didn't buy any because they were all push-ups.  I got home about 9, lit the juniper and clementine candle and was glad that Mom & I had gone out, even after a very busy day.

*"Interested" is used here as a legal term--someone has to have a stake or share in the estate, not an interest in the sense of curiosity.

Downs and ups

Wednesday was Call Day, which is the one day of the month when I play bailiff, and although I've gotten much better at it in the last year, it's still a little stressful.  Then I had a co-worker have a hissy fit at me (I think as a stand-in for the rest of the world) and give me work that she didn't feel she could do impartially.  So I fell off the non-smoking wagon. :-(

Thursday was an appointment with my regular doc to see if she'd be willing to take over prescribing my Lexapro.  My neurologist was responsible for it, but it costs $500 to see him, and even if I only pay $60 of it, add in driving time, cost of gas, cost of parking and it adds up quickly.  In addition, the county is self-insured and I'd like not to be the straw that broke the county's back.  Dr. J was willing to prescribe Lexapro for me, but when I asked about an increase, she said I'm at the maximum safe dosage.  So she put me on 5 milligrams of Wellbutrin, and asked me to come back in 6 weeks.

I went in to work, did the Orders from Call Day, which the judge has to sign, and came home and slept.  I'm not proud of that bout of self-pity, but it happened and now it's over and I'm moving on.  Moving on was helped immeasurably by a phone call from my friend Doc, who has been my friend since second grade--she's getting married, and she graciously acceded to my demand to be the clerk who signs her marriage license.

Three of us had drinks after work Friday night and had fun.  I'm still looking forward to Universal with Captain Crossword and the Princesses, and meeting Jen and John from Cakewrecks, and yes, my friend Donna backed up the wagon so I can climb back on.  So life is far from awful, and I have many, many, lots of things to which I look forward.

Leftovers and unremembered dreams

Mom and Dad are leaving tomorrow for Florida, so yesterday when I was at their house, Mom gave me a bunch of perishables.  Since the sour cream absolutely had to be used up first, I started with a batch of picnic potatoes, or as Sherri named them, Potatoes of Doom:

The ham adds the protein these needed, and because I am a lazy Jammies, or perhaps because I got all the laundry done, the sheets changed and made a quick trip to the grocery store before I ran out of spoons, I didn't have a veggie.  I drank 4 oz. of grapefruit juice and called it a complete meal.

Dessert will be something I've fallen hard for:

Lemon Peeps!  This was a total surprise.  I blame their purchase on The Impulsive Buy, but they're my new addiction because they're very good.  Ordinary Peeps are far too sweet, but the lemon perfectly balances the sweetness.

I did of course take a nap today, because it's Sunday.  I woke up with a frustrating awareness of having had VERY odd dreams but not being able to recall them.  It may be because I am always unsettled when my mom is out of town.  I miss her a great deal.

Well, it's time to set up the coffee for tomorrow morning, start the dishwasher and settle in for the finale/Christmas special of Downton Abbey.

By the numbers

Attorneys I've dealt with this week:

Passive-aggressive, 2
Patronizing, 1
Argumentative, 3
Determined to re-write a previous discussion, 1
Funny, 2
Charming, 2
Irritating poser, 1
Failure who tried to go over my head, 1
Lying sack of weasel shit, 1
Irritating because they're filing stuff at 3:59, 2

Members of the public I've dealt with this week:

Sweet and sad, 1
Slightly odd, 1
Loud but adorable, 2
Loud and argumentative, 1
Prone to empty promises, 1
Bat-shit crazy, 2
Just did not understand, 1

But thankfully, unlike last week, no one screamed at our chief magistrate so loudly that 4 people pushed their panic buttons.

That was fun, I should have done it sooner and I will do it again

Last night I did something I don't ordinarily do, and made a phone call at 10:00.  When I got my aunt's answering machine, I apologized for calling so late, but I just had to talk about Downton Abbey.  Thankfully, she picked up and I hadn't scared her, and we had a wonderful conversation about the show.  Next week, I promised to call her on Monday, but last night I couldn't wait BECAUSE PUPPY!

Speaking of puppies, my next dog is going to be either a lab or a lab/shepherd mix.  Of course, with any luck, it will be a good long while before I get to the next dog.  Little Miss Piggie Pie is still going strong, although she has packed on some poundage (just like her owner) and I've been calling her Fat Squirrel.

I enjoyed my 3-day weekend, but didn't get as much done as I wanted to.  The laundry is done, the sheets changed and 4 of 6 storage cubes are put together.  Work tomorrow should be, erm, interesting (objection hearings).

A lovely ordinary day

I woke up at 5:50, absolutely convinced that it was Monday.  As the dog was eating and the coffee was dripping, I realized that it's Sunday!

Then I got my grocery shopping done and realized my rewards card was up to 10¢ off per gallon of gas, which was presently $1.409, so I filled my tank for $1.3309 per gallon!

Then I got the laundry done by 5 p.m. and found a $10 bill in the process!

Yeah, James pretty well summed it up for me:

The Cupcake of Doom

aka my day.

Today being the first day of the month, we had objection hearings.  The magistrate doing them was ready, the hearing room was set up, and we had a LOT more people show up than we were planning for.  Two of the cases wound up being re-directed to another magistrate, and as I was running back and forth with files and making sure everyone was checked in, a co-worker snapped at me about how poorly organized the hearings were and how a third co-worker (who hadn't said a thing to me) was being importuned by people asking her questions.

Later, when my boss said something to me, I told him the truth about how I felt, and essentially got told to get over it, that's just this co-worker's personality.  HellOOO that does not make it okay.  If I went around interrupting visibly busy people just to snipe at them and then said it was how I roll I don't think I'd keep my job very long.  Fortunately, the magistrate didn't think it was a big deal and the actual hearings went smoothly.

By the time all of that stuff was handled, it was lunchtime.  An hour away from my desk was really not long enough, but I went back like a good employee, only to spend the afternoon trying to audit inventories while taking phone calls from idiots.

After work, I went to Staples, intending to mail three simple packages.  Of course, instead I locked my purse, packages, phone and AAA card in the car.  A nice manager at Staples let me use their phone to call Mom and ask her to call AAA, which she did.  I waited for almost an hour, missing the UPS pickup while I did, but eventually a tow truck arrived.  The idiot inside said truck pulled up behind my car and sat in there until I approached him, then rolled down his window and asked for my card.  IT'S IN THE CAR, IDIOT!  is what I did not scream at him.

Once the car was unlocked, I got my stuff out and turned in and paid for, got back in the car and came home with a pounding headache.  At least the poor neglected hound was glad to see me, oh, and my hair still looks good.

Sea change

Today is Monday, so I'm rather surprised to find myself in a better mood than I was yesterday.  Granted, I did not have to do laundry all day, but I did have to deal with needy customers, entitled attorneys and slightly grumpy co-workers.

Still, I got awesome pens for everyone for 60¢ each, wore a kickass outfit, had a carrot cake cupcake for breakfast and didn't make any egregious errors.  Plus, I was reminded that my presence at Friday night's after-work drinks party was appreciated, and I reminded myself that on Saturday, I by-golly started and finished Mom's payroll taxes in 3.5 hours.

And then I came home and there was a sweetly supportive comment on a blog entry that made me A. smile and B. resolve to get someone's birthday pressie mailed ASAP.

Some days I wish I were a dog

Little Miss Piggie Pie is sleeping on the floor by my chair, blissfully ignorant of the nasty things called "consequences" which have plagued me all day.  It's not that they don't apply to her, just that she doesn't think that far ahead.

Ignore your laundry for two weeks, get a Horta on the basement floor (image courtesy of Mallie)
Smoke for 35 years, have lung issues.
Quit smoking, gain 11 pounds.
Sleep on an 18 year old mattress, have a sore back.

Nothing horrible, nothing earth-shaking, just irritating, especially because it's my own fricking fault.

Car stuff!

1958 Volvo PV544 with my dad in the driver's seat.

In Dad's own words:

In spring of 1963 this Little marvel of Swedish engineering agreed to take me across the plains and deserts of Rt. 66 to the Mojave Desert. It never failed me, although it sacrificed portions of its valves and piston rings to get me there. Long May it Run.

I have my oil change appointment tomorrow morning at 8:42 (yes, they're that precise).

In other car stuff, to the owner(s) of the nice house in the spottily-gentrified area of Akron I drive through on my way to and from work, your BEWARE of dog signs only work as long as people don't see your two little terriers in the yard being all adorbs.  Hyperbole aside, cuteness is not a killing weapon.

To the dude with the Star Trek personalized message on a Superman license plate, I am really impressed at your mingling of fandoms and a little bummed that you're probably married.

To the person with the plate 8U4DNR, why would you hate someone for choosing a Do Not Resuscitate order?  That's very selfish.

To the person with the plate N8FKIN, whose next of kin and why does it matter?

Bits and pieces

My adorable dog is hard on toys, so I buy inexpensive ones with no faces.  This is what she does to them:

So on Sunday night, I went in with the big trash can and cleaned up all the bits of stuffing and other debris while LMPP made pathetic noises which I translated as "I'm not done with that" and "That one's still good, really!"

When I got out of the shower, she was lying in the hall on top of two unshredded toys, nibbling on a third.  Nobody is going to get Smaugette's hoard now!

Work is interesting right now.  We've had a streak of people doing really dumb things, like forgetting to mail in paperwork, etc.  There is also lots of work going on as the front counter area gets renovated.  Most of the work is being done at night, but today maintenance was taking apart half of our file storage shelves and moving the other half.

Power tools on metal shelving made our court sound as if we should be answering the phones "Stormer's Tire and Lube, how may I help you?"

Yesterday was Call Day, so that's over for the month and we have Monday off, so I'm getting an oil change.  For the first time since I bought Edgar, I am truly angry with Ford.  The coolant light was on, so I bought universal coolant and then couldn't get any in the car because the fill opening was under the rigid part of the hood.  I wound up using a kitchen funnel held at an extreme angle and my hand braced around it to catch any spills, all at 7 p.m. in my unheated garage.  But the light went off today, so victory for me!

Grr

I woke up at 6:20 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep, which made me cranky and made the dog very happy because BREAKFAST NOW PLEASE.  So I got up, got dressed, and went to do my shopping.  I hit two grocery stores and the drugstore, finding everything except wintergreen lozenges for my little brother, then got gas and stopped at the warehouse store for lightbulbs, and then went to Staples, where I hit a snag--they don't open until 11 on Sundays. :-(

So it was home again and unload the groceries, change the sheets, unload the dishwasher and put new lightbulbs and decorations on the outdoor lights by the front door.  All that by 10:30 and I am Out Of Spoons.

Since I just can't make myself go back to the mall area on the Sunday before Christmas, I have now officially missed the shipping window for Christmas delivery to Jay and Mallie.  I know that they won't hold it against me, but I do.  I think Imma go take a nap now.

So much accomplished, so much yet to do

So far on this long weekend I have:

Gotten all the houseplants but one in from the garage, arranged and watered.
Gotten the final 40 pound bag of softener salt down to the basement and in the softener.
Done 4 loads of laundry and put clothes away.
Went to the grocery store and got my contribution to Tuesday's 'comfort food' lunch at work.
Moved my vintage trunk so it is under the antique map.
Gone out to Mom's house, watered her plants and sorted 10 days' worth of mail.
Cleaned the bathroom & kitchen sinks plus the tub & toilet.
Swept the kitchen floor.
Remembered to take the recyclables to the curb on Friday night.
Took compostables out to the pile.
Changed the sheets.
Changed to my holiday blanket and comforter (with help).

Blanket:

Comforter:

Things I still need to do:

Finish the laundry, including the fall comforter and blanket, and put it all away.
Sweep and steam the bathroom floor.
Take all the dog hair to the compost pile!
Set up my new nail polish storage system.
Vacuum.
Shower, exfoliate, all that.
Manicure.

I'm realistic enough to know that the vacuuming may not happen along with the bathroom floor, because I definitely can't skip showering and washing my hair and I've only got one back and a few spoons.  Still, when I type up my list, I can see that I wasn't lazy, I did get stuff done, and if I did it with lots of breaks, then who cares?

Not my best Sunday

Oof and oww.  My day started with me spilling coffee on the counter and into an open drawer full of clean dish cloths, and then I went on to haul two 40 pound bags of softener salt into the basement and doing laundry.  Then I hauled 10 or so houseplants in from the garage and hauled raw water up the basement stairs to give them and their 10 cousins who were already in the house a drink.  I stepped on a stone in the garage and got a bruise on my heel right through my slipper.  I am sore, tired, cranky and so not ready for work tomorrow.

On the other hand, my nails look pretty and it's a short week.  So I am saying good-bye to this day and going to bed early.

My Friday the 13th

started out thirteeny, as I looked out from the kitchen window and saw my recyclable can on its side and all of my recyclables in the driveway, both ditches and generally higgledy-piggledy.  Then as I drove to work, the dog at the towing place was sleeping on his back with his feet up in the air and I worried that he was dead.  I worry about that dog anyway, wondering if he gets pats and love as well as food and a doghouse. :-(

Then I got to work and it was all guardian's accounts and getting ready for Call Day and then it was 1:30 and I was being a bailiff and we had the fewest cases and the largest number of people we've had all year, and Magistrate H and I worked really well together.  Then it was 2:30, only 90 minutes of work left and I got to make one of my co-workers do a happy dance when I told him yes, my mom will bring back some of my brother's beer for him.

Then I went home and the headache hit, so I took a nap, ate dinner, loafed online and then went back to bed.

Today was much better.  My head only hurt a little bit, I got the presents for Texas all wrapped and out to Mom & Dad's for delivery.  Plus, Mom made an amazing turkey dinner because I will be alone on Thanksgiving, and then sent me home with pounds and pounds of leftovers, PLUS snack mix.

Tomorrow is going to be dedicated to laundry, cleaning another quarter of the breezeway, and moving more houseplants inside from the garage.

Close your eyes and imagine...

a rat running across your front lawn.  And then another.  Would you not shiver, perhaps shriek, and hope that there weren't more?  Of course you would!

Then why in the name of all that's good, do you think squirrels are cute?  They are RATS.  Rats with fluffy tails and good PR, but still Satan's little disease-carrying minions.

Oh, and btw, they tried to kill me again today.  This time, it was a walnut left on the front sidewalk from the walnut tree that is in the very back of my very long yard.

So fine, keep on giving them peanuts and bird seed.  Just don't say I didn't warn you.

P.S. All the houseplants are either in the garage or in the house, sans walnuts.

Elections, attorneys and flash crushes

Everything I wanted happened at the polls on Tuesday.  One of our magistrates was elected as a Municipal Court judge, my school district's bond issue passed, Ohioans said Hell No to amending the constitution to create a monopoly and a qualified candidate was elected as Municipal Court Clerk of Courts.

I was both surprised and amused to see that a local attorney who's been doing domestic cases for a long time has absolutely plastered her truck with Bernie Sanders signs.  And on October 30, a group of local attorneys who perform as a rock band called Roxy Moron dressed up as characters from The Wizard of Oz and played live at the Tangier.  I didn't go, admission was $50, but I got to see pictures, including one of our Chief Magistrate dressed as the gatekeeper of Emerald City!

Everyone's heard of flash mobs, flash fiction and flash floods, but on Thursday I had three successive flash crushes. :-)  All were on attorneys, two of whom were definitely my "type", and all three of whom made me laugh.

I am looking forward to my day off on Wednesday, and I have lots of plans which may or may not come to fruition.

Went to Powell, played in the pool.

Went to Pickerington, ate pizza and chatted.
Brought home a sunburn and a migraine.

Now recovering and chilling.

Miscellany

I've posted so many entries to Bubbles & Baubles that it feels weird to start this one without a disclaimer at the top!  It was a good week at work.  I met a couple of nice women from my city who were serving as jurors on an ugly case, my boss came to talk to me about some suggestions I'd made to our notices, citations and call day (and she left with my good pen!) and I didn't even think about killing or maiming anyone. :-)

I did think some nasty thoughts about someone else who works in the courthouse.  I don't know who she is, but she drives a black Cherokee with some distinctive window art.  A couple of weeks ago she pulled that "zoom up the far right line at top speed and then jump into the far left lane just before you need to turn" move.  Okay, I really, really dislike that move, but I didn't want her to die in a car fire until I got caught in a lane I didn't realize was closed ahead and she wouldn't let me in the other lane.  Selfish cow.  DIACF.

Next week is going to be a really good week for books--a new Cherie Priest book (squee!), a new Seanan McGuire book (squee!) and a new Terry Pratchett book (squee!) which is sadly the last Discworld novel ever (sniffle) will all be mine by the end of the week.

This morning was interesting--I had to go to the grocery store and get frozen food, then come home and stuff it in the freezer so I could go work out.  I put my bathing suit on under a dress and shopped and unloaded successfully and did the unthinkable in terms of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I forgot my towel.

Now, if you've been to Casa de Jammies, you know that the Natatorium is only about 2 miles from my house, but when I got there and realized I'd forgotten my towel, I didn't go back for it.  The reason was in part because I didn't want to waste gas, but also in part because we had a storm forecast, and I didn't want to miss my window before it started and the pool got closed because of lightning.  It turns out I didn't need to worry about that, but I worked out anyway and then drip-dried in the car on the way home.

We hates the quad stretcheses, Precious, yes we do.  Nassssty, nasssty horrid little stretcheses.

Yesterday, one of the local radio stations played a live version of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" complete with horrible feedback squeal, and this morning, the album version was the last song I heard played as I finished my workout.  So here's a little Stevie & co. so you can share my earworm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_aYibUx1B8

Laughter, tears, family and frustration

When I called to wish my dad a happy birthday, after I had done so, Mom got on the phone and told me Aunt Cathy had died.  Aunt Cathy was really Mom's aunt, and my great-aunt, but she was always Aunt Cathy.  She was married to my grandmother's baby brother, a wonderful man who she survived by 10 or 11 years, and they had three kids, five grandkids and four great-grandkids (by the time Aunt Cathy died).

My grandmother was the oldest of four, so there was quite a gap between her and Cathy, but despite the age gap and despite my grandfather moving the family from Pittsburgh to Elyria, my mom still grew up spending time with her cousins and her aunts and uncles.  Mom and her siblings attended Ed & Cathy's wedding, but were deemed too young for the reception, so they were bundled off back home while their parents went.  Mom remembers that Gramma brought them each a piece of cake, but that she was still mad because it wasn't the same.  That may have been what inspired her to allow my brother's and I to come to the wedding of Ed & Cathy's younger daughter.

Since Mom and Dad and I left at 7:00 a.m. to be at the church by 10:00 (with a generous margin of error for Pittsburgh traffic and directions), we had lots of time to talk about that wedding, my grandparents, and Ed & Cathy.  When we arrived early enough to grab a cup of coffee, Mom and I got a case of the giggles when Dad could not get the voice-activated Google maps to understand "McDonalds".  But we found one, and I had a quick iced coffee and Dad had a cinnamon thing (or McThing, who knows?).

The church was large and modern, the soloist/organist was a phenomenal musician and the priest did a good job despite the fact that he had never met Aunt Cathy.  Apparently, her church doesn't have its own priests, but relies on visiting priests from other parishes.  The one who performed her funeral mass was built on the same lines as Shaquille O'Neal.  He also had a very good singing voice.

The trip from the church to the cemetery was a long one, so more Mom and Dad and Jammies chatter ensued.  I mentioned that it was the only time we could run red lights in a car with out-of-state plates and not get pulled over.  Fortunately, as part of the procession we did not have to interrupt our conversation to listen to the GPS.  A large part of the chatter was Mom remembering where Uncle Henry lived, or Uncle Bill, or Uncle Ed, and whether or not she and her siblings had visited.  Two of Uncle Henry's children were at the funeral, and Mom made sure to get e-mail addresses for everyone.

The 'graveside' service was actually at the mortuary at the cemetery, and everyone else went straight from there to lunch.  Since Mom wasn't about to have visited Pittsburgh without visiting her parents', grandparents' and sisters' graves, we followed the hearse to the grave site.  When we left, we got lost in the cemetery, but found our way out in time to truthfully tell Mom's cousin that we were on the way to the restaurant.

Lunch was very nice, and I got to know two of my first cousins once removed more than I did 10 years ago.  They're very impressive young men, and Aunt Cathy had reason to be proud of all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  When we left after many hugs and some tears, Mom asked if anyone wanted an ice cream cone or a milkshake, and Dad didn't, but I did.  Since we were right by the Pennsylvania turnpike, we got on and stopped for our sugar fix at a service plaza.  Mom got a milkshake, I got an apple & caramel sundae, and Dad got a frozen coffee drink.

Shortly after we left the service plaza, traffic started to slow up, and then it stopped.  We sat at mile marker 225 for an hour in the hot July sunshine, with the car turned off and all the windows open.  After a while, people were getting out of their cars and walking forward to try to see what was going on, a few cars managed to turn around and go back east on the westbound shoulder, and three assholes on motorcycles rode up the shoulder to try to get to the head of the traffic.  Dad hoped that there would be a cop waiting for them.  I just hoped they crashed and totaled their bikes!

After an hour, the traffic started to move, and we drove west to mile marker 223, where we were directed across the median and onto the eastbound turnpike, where we had to go 9 miles back to get to an exit, then wait in line for another 25 minutes to actually get off the turnpike.  It turns out there was a horrible accident and the whole turnpike was closed.  Although I had joked (before learning why we were stopped) that Mom's craving for ice cream got us stuck, it could very well have been that it saved us from being part of that accident.

Mom and I were relatively pessimistic about the people zooming up the left hand lane and whether they'd cross back into the right line just at the exit and Dad said he didn't want to hear us being negative.  So of  course as we tried to find an alternate route back home, Dad called the voice on the GPS a "chirpy little bitch", told it to shut up and told Mom that the frustration had to come out somehow!

After a stop for gas (for the car), cheese popcorn (for Mom) and almonds (for me), we got back on the turnpike and had an uneventful trip home the rest of the way.  I slept for a bit in the car, then took a short nap on my folks' couch, then came home to a very, very hungry dog.  Fortunately, LMPP forgave me as soon as the food hit the bowl, and does not seem to be holding a grudge.

One of the things Mom said as we left the church was that she was grateful for a happy childhood.  I am equally grateful for mine, especially as I have grown up and learned that happy childhoods are not as common as they should be.  Aunt Cathy was part of that happy childhood, and it's hard to imagine a trip to Pittsburgh that doesn't end with seeing her.