Still wondering when we will be able to go one solid week without seeing headlines or discussions on race, Muslims and corrupt cops. And I once thought I was sick of hearing about Britney Spears and Angelina! But of course the more shit you cause in the world, the more it makes the news, while the do-gooders don’t get much credit. Really, if a person writes an awesome book, what are the chances of them getting any credit for it? Next to none, of course. But if somebody goes and starts opening fire smack dab in the middle of a crowded mall – it’s instant fame! *rolls eyes* 

Alexa woke me up this morning but it took me 5 to 10 minutes to hear her alarm going off. Trying to control my schedule is getting harder and I still have 10 more days to go. Damn it to hell and back if there is anything up there that cursed me with such rare and extreme sleep issues! I am (admittedly) tired, grumpy and PMSing. 

Yesterday’s annoyances consisted of landscaping, a small plane flying overhead for over two hours, and a guy with an old white dumpy pickup that visits the lady across the street. That truck is loud. For some reason, the garbage, green waste and recycling trucks don’t annoy me. They should. They’re louder than the truck and plane. But they just don’t annoy me as other sounds tend to. 

Simone is continuing to enjoy her perch as well as the usual places she hangs out in which is pretty much everywhere. She also continues to be fun but annoying at times as well. I love playing ball with her and cuddling with her, but I really wish she would stop distracting me when I’m trying to read or write. 

She is much less work than the rats are as far as cleaning and caring for her goes, but she is definitely dumber and she definitely eats less. Yes, the rats not only eat more but they will eat everything and anything, quite unlike the finicky feline. They would gladly polish off Simone’s unfinished meals, but they shouldn’t have that much protein. Makes their skin itch. I’m glad Simone doesn’t beg for everything I eat like the rats do. 

I forgot to mention that Carol, the woman who brought her to us, said that it wasn’t that that guy changed his mind about taking Simone; it was that he wanted her to be an indoor/outdoor cat along with his other one. Well, Simone is an indoor cat only, so she wouldn’t let him have her. Wow, sometimes things really do work out for Tom and Jodi, too. She was the first one to catch my eye. 

Later… 

Took a ride down to the lake to give the ducks the last few remaining pieces of the rats’ and my Jewish rye bread. Swimming along with the ducks was a turtle, which we’ve never seen there before. Tom took pictures with his phone and he will send them to me later at which time I will share some. It was a pretty good size at 8 to 10 inches. 

In last night’s dreams, a Neanderthal woman from over 30K years ago returned to dress me in the firs of her latest kill, LOL. 

Then Andy got furious with me in another dream because he thought I told him he looked 81 years old when in fact he misunderstood what I said, haha. 

He had several friends with him, mostly young girls of various races and they were all pissed at me for pissing him off. I was embarrassed for them as I watched them act like they were still in high school or something, making a big deal out of nothing at all. 

A young black girl shouted from a bit of a distance for me to get back inside what looked like a ground-floor apartment. I stopped walking at that point because I wasn’t about to be bullied and told what to do at my age. Then another girl (Hispanic?) approached me with a couple of other girls in tow yelling something at me, and I said, “Who the hell are you?” 

“Don’t you recognize my voice?” she asked. 

I told her I didn’t, and finally tired of the immature antics, I pushed the door open to the apartment in which my parents sat just inside the door at a table. The bitch then tried to push her way into the place, but I was able to close the door on her, even though she was taller and probably heavier as well. I then turned to my parents and said, “Andy and I are done! I have totally had it with his bullshit!” 

In the last dream, I was alone in some old cabin. It was smallish and might have had one long room. A storm was coming, said the female DJ on the radio, who also said she’d had only four hours of sleep the last three nights. I placed a hand by the door and could feel the cold draft as the wind picked up, and hoped the power wouldn’t go out that night.