Instead of going to Red Lobster, we went to Home Depot and K-Mart early yesterday morning.

K-Mart was pleasantly dead. We got blank CDs, plus a 6-pack of flavored Chap Sticks (the mocha and mint chocolate chip are the best), and these really nice colorful bath beads filled with scented oil.

At Home Depot we got 3 live indoor plants, decorative pots with attached drain pans to put them in, plus some potting soil.

I have no idea the names of these plants. All I know is that two are tropical plants and one’s possibly from a rainforest. The rainforest one has big wide leaves stemming from skinny round stalks and it’s 3½’ tall and in a dark purple pot. Then there’s a spider-like plant that may actually be some sort of a palm that’s 2’ tall that’s in a light-colored pot with a few clumps of colorful streaks. Lastly, there’s a lamblike plant on tall skinny stalks that’s 5½’ tall in a pot with watery-like splotches of blue and burnt orange.

I don’t know how big these things are going to get, but I do know that the leafy one will get to be at least 5’ as we saw one there that was that tall. There were some plants there that were easily 8’ tall! I’m hoping they’ll all get big, as high as the ceiling! Of course, the ceiling levels vary over them depending on where they’re placed. The ceiling’s 7’ where the leafy one is and 9½’ where the biggest one is. I hope to get a couple more too, though I don’t want a lot of them cuz then I’d be stuck with the bucket brigade hassle.

I received a letter from Mary today with a hefty request, yet with a generous offer for doing it. She wanted me to type up a letter to José on plain white paper using the inkjet printer and send her 100 copies. She doesn’t know what prison he’s in so she wants to send them to all the prisons in the state. I still don’t know what he’s been convicted of, but she says he’s innocent and will tell me all about it. She swears she’s madly in love with him and that he’s this kind, caring, sensitive and compassionate guy, but I don’t know. I mean, I have a hell of a feeling he’s just like all the others – sweet-talking one minute, throwing punches the next. I’d have to see Mary with a non-abusive guy on the outs for a few years before I could believe she’s broken her thirst for violence. This is someone who craves abuse like I used to crave cigarettes. It’s not an easy habit to break, and everyone she’s seen or been interested in has a record, too.

Anyway, she says she can’t stop thinking of him, crying over him and wondering where he is. She said the best way to describe it is to use the pain and curiosity I went through with Teddy Bear as the best example, so I can certainly understand where she’s coming from. She offered to have her aunt send $5 while she sent 8 books of stamps and an envelope for doing this favor for her. I assured her that while it was a big job, I’d be happy to help her out. Also, why not get doll money for doing so? I asked myself if I was being selfish and taking advantage of her, but I don’t think so. Not after all I’ve done for her for nothing. I think it’s a reasonable deal, though I would still do it for nothing. I told her she could keep the envelope, send just one book of stamps, and make it $50, and if that won’t work she can go back to her original offer, but still hold the envelope and even the $5. I also told her that although I’d use plain paper and the fancy font she requested, I didn’t see why it had to be done on the inkjet printer. I’m going to do it on the laserjet since it’ll still look the same and I’m low on ink. I ran out of white paper so I’ll send what I’ve got till I get more and can finish the job. I’m sending something like 27 letters today.

We tried to look for him online, but couldn’t find him.