Went to Big Lots yesterday and found a surprisingly lame selection of desks there as well as at Fry’s. So we ended up at Office Depot where I had to decide between a $220 desk and a $150 desk. I decided on the latter. My choices were espresso, cherry wood and maple, and I went with the maple. I’m not a fan of dark colors, especially black where every spec of dust shows up on it so easily. It’s huge compared to the old one, but there was simply no room for it in the trailer.

Tom couldn’t figure out how to attach the door that goes on one side, but then the answer came to him in his sleep. Even so, it’s fine as a shelf. It’s such a complex design that it took him (plus whatever help he dared ask of me) about 4 hours to assemble it. The only thing I’m not thrilled with is the keyboard tray. I didn’t think to look at this in the store, but it’s not very wide. I don’t have much room at all to put the mouse by the keyboard, so it’s up above it. It’s going to take some getting used to having to reach up for it. Shared pics with Tammy, Andy and Nane.

I also got a cute tape dispenser set inside a high-heeled snakeskin shoe, a little pink ring watch, some fruity body mist, a jewelry holder in the form of a woman’s body wearing a glued-on blue glittery dress (the jewelry holder is where her head would be), and a cute pair of shoes.

The pink and purple slip-on shoes with their rubber soles were just $5 and great for when I don’t want to wear sneakers, sandals, boots or heels. Maybe I’ll wear them to my dentist appointment on the 8th. Yeah, I’m finally getting back to my health issues, then I’ll go for a regular physical for the first time in a million years to make sure I don’t have thyroid problems, diabetes or heart problems. Not sure I’d want to know it if I did, but I know that ignoring anything that could be serious isn’t smart either. I still think I’m healthy, though, and that all lab work would come back fine.

Worked out and cleaned until my feet were sore. Despite the increase in activity but no increase in calorie intake, I haven’t lost weight. I started to lose a few pounds but they came right back. Then last night I saw a fascinating documentary on the Atkin’s Diet. I’ve long since heard of this diet and like the idea of counting carbs and not calories (though one still needs to be sensible where calories are concerned). I just never did the diet because it seemed too complicated, like most diets that deal with numbers and counting. I remembered Teresa, an inmate in jail, who said it was the best diet ever and all that. She said she didn’t it at first, but the main idea is to eat more protein and fewer carbs. Instead of bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and sugar, you focus mostly on meat, eggs, dairy, fruits and veggies. Some fruits and veggies aren’t allowed, though, if they contain too much sugar. I can’t bring myself to starve or purge, so maybe I should focus more on this concept and see what happens.

Had a great chat with Tammy and Mark yesterday, but poor Tammy sounded awful. They expressed a desire to get together and again I wondered if it was simply because it’s been so many years, or could there be something more to it? Like the possibility of Tammy not being around much longer. What’s scary isn’t just how horrible she sounds, but how much she sounds like mom, too. Anyway, I don’t know that Tammy would bring it up if she thought her years were numbered. She may not only find that hard to admit to her own self let alone someone else, but she may feel it would scare me and not want to put that on me. Would it literally scare me, though? Well, yes and no, I suppose. I might not necessarily fear I was next, but I did always wonder if God would kill my one and only safety net for if He decided to beat us over the head with money again. After all, if God wanted to financially torture us again, He’s not going to do so with people around I could run to for help. She’s the only one I know who would send help and, worst-case scenario, send us tickets to get holed up in her place till we could make it on our own again. Everyone else I know couldn’t afford that, wouldn’t give a shit enough about us to take us in, or both.

If I had to guess, I’d say Tammy still has many more years left in her. I don’t think she’ll get old, but I don’t think she’s got just a few years either. I hope not for her sake! And for Mark and the girls.

Better not put some of these concerns for Tammy in public.

When I got up this morning I heard hammering next door and thought, oh no. My worst fear has become a reality. The guy’s gone and turned that damn garage into a workshop. But I caught a quick glimpse of him hammering something in back. Fortunately, it didn’t last long either. Things are usually pretty quiet around here. The only annoyances (they’re mild) are car doors and landscaping sounds.

I took pics of the new desk (Andy and I got new desks the same day) but forgot to shoot the new drapes. Maybe later. And maybe I’ll update my Photobucket albums, too.

What false advertising it is for them to say these drapes block light and sound! They may muffle sound a bit, but to say they block light is total bullshit. If it weren’t for the blackout shade behind them I’d be pissed.

Realized I could intensify the pressure of the shower massager quite a bit once I adjusted a lever that was on its side. I use that for rinsing my hair. Otherwise, I like it gentle.

Been getting stuff done around here little by little. Today we got the toilet paper and paper towel holders up that we got for our Maricopa house, the outside lockbox, a hook for the potholders, and our robe hooks.

Although it costs $400 and couldn’t get behind furniture, I’m tempted to get one of those robotic vacuum cleaners. It just seems like a neat idea.

Wonder how the leaker house is coming along? I haven’t walked by it lately. I realized I was wrong in saying they were asking 12K for it before it was bought and remodeled. They were actually asking 15K.

“Nobody can stop me,” I got on Ask. Let me guess – that was Molly sneaking online, right? And the one asking if I knew who Mike O’Malley was came from Kim, I’m sure. I was followed by a Mike O’Malley on Facebook, and not being a celebrity worshiper, I thought he was just any old guy. Curiously, I checked him out and saw he was a celebrity. Well, what celeb would suddenly follow me? Only the celebrity-obsessed person running the fan site who’s been stalking me for 13 months would do so, so I blocked them (Kim). There’s nothing to follow right now anyway since I keep most things between friends only. She’s probably the same one to ask if I’d ever get a third rat. That’s not only something she would ask, but something she has asked before, and Kim is notorious for asking the same damn questions over and over.

Again I’m contemplating dumping my known Ask account altogether. Or maybe only allowing for anonymous questions during non-troll hours. Their trolling hours usually seem to run from around noon my time into the evening. I just don’t get why any human being in the world would care to bother with someone who dumped them and wants nothing at all to do with them. Is it just fun for them? Funny in some way? Or are we really friends in their sick minds?

Had some weird dreams last night. In one dream Tom and I were living in Europe, though I don’t know which country. In another, I was renting a room in a large building by myself which I’d come home to find ransacked, after a night out with Jessie. I wondered if anyone I’d had issues with online found my whereabouts and broke in.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” she said, then turned and fled.

Strangely enough, police tape was strung about most of the room. When I went to call them on my cell phone, loud music would blare out of it, so a call wasn’t possible.

Then I turned to find a strange man grinning at me in the doorway. Knowing he was responsible, I flew at the guy and began punching the shit out of him. I held the collar of his shirt in one hand so he couldn’t back away from the blows. Just when this seemed like it wasn’t going to do me any good and like he might turn the attack on him, I kicked him in the groin and sent him to the ground. I then kicked him in the head and knocked him unconscious.