I wasn’t kidding when I said that if God doesn’t want anyone to make smart money decisions, it’s us. There’s a small, old dumpy piece of shit of a trailer sitting on a 10-acre or more lot a few miles away that’s for sale for just $5,600! What we should’ve done was get out of Phoenix years sooner, get more land, but much less house, then built a nice house ourselves, but of course God wasn’t about to let us know we could do this so he could keep me right where he wanted me – next to the blacks and Mexicans so I could be tortured for years by them. We still may do this someday, but we’d buy 2 or 3 dumps. One for living in, another for storage, then we’d maybe have one for the offices. If we’d done this, though, we wouldn’t have a house payment.

I’d still also prefer to move to a more in-between climate. I don’t want to go back to weather like what’s in New England, but I’m sick of nothing, but heat, heat and more heat, and living where spiders get so big. As long as he has to work, though, we won’t have as many options as to where we can go. If he were retired or if we won a large sum of money, then we could venture further out.

There has been life at the renter’s during the last couple of days. Someone was working on their evaporative cooler and their vehicle count’s gone back up again to 5-6. Most of them sit there with their hoods propped open, so I don’t know what they’re doing. There’s been no trash-burning going on, but of course not. They’re just dumping it all now.

Speaking of trash, well, I realized that if the winds could kick their shit up over the washes, they could certainly kick it up over any fences we may have. Also, I thought about it and realized that even a small dog couldn’t weasel through a barbless wire fence. The only thing a grid fence would’ve kept out easier versus a wire fence would be soda/beer cans. But we’d get enough shit blown over here anyhow that it really wouldn’t matter, so this is when I decided we should go barbless for sure. I asked Tom to see if he can find out the cost per strand and maybe we can put it up strand by strand rather than all at once. I might even set some of my allowance money aside for it. Finding out how much it’ll cost will determine if I’ll save for it, when and how much. After all, I still do want dolls and mannequins more than fences.

For quite a while there the days had been perfectly cloudless and ferociously hot. Well, they’re still really hot, but there are a few clouds hanging around these days as the monsoons get closer. I can’t wait for them to get here! The plant’s leaves need the moisture after being in such dry heat. Tom guesses that the oleanders will grow 3’ over the next few months, then a few more next spring, which will block the renters out, but only the people. That’d be okay. I wouldn’t mind seeing their rooftops, though he thinks the olies will eventually block those out, too. He says that at my height, they only need to be 8’ tall to block the people since I’m 5’ and the house is 3’ off the ground. So I guess we’ll have just one more winter with always having to see half a dozen people out there during the daytime, though that’s hard to believe. You know me, though. I never believe anything until I see it.

I won’t believe these vitamins can or will really boost my barely existent metabolism either, till and if I see it. Tom said that maybe they will work since they use green tea, the same ingredient in the Leptoprin that so many people praise, and the fact that it’s a name brand. Name brands tend to keep out of the gimmick scene, he pointed out.

I lost 4 pounds during the first week of this diet. I plan to stop on August 1st no matter what I weigh unless I should hit 110 before then, though I don’t see that happening. I should be down to 120 next weekend.

Tom’s mom will be 80 at the end of next month. Maybe she’s got another 10 or more years to go at the rate she’s going. As for her or Mary keeping the folks informed as to what’s going on in my life, I don’t care anymore. Besides, people almost never side with me when I tell them I don’t like someone. If I were anyone else, mom would’ve ceased to mail them anything when I asked her to, but when it’s me involved, no one’s on my side. I still can’t swear that she is sending them anything, but she probably is. Either way, these are people who can’t harm me in any way, nor will I ever see them again. Besides, if it wasn’t Mom or Mary keeping them up to date, it’d only be someone else. I do admit I have to laugh to myself when I think of their reaction to learning that I was mentioned in a book and a movie if that really happens. That’d shock the shit out of Art and Larry and drive Doe and Tammy into jealousy. Nonetheless, what they know is simply what they know. They may be armed with information, but they’ll never be armed with power and control. Not where I’m concerned, they won’t.

In a few hours when the lottery numbers are posted, I can check to see if we hit anything. I picked two sets of numbers for the Powerball and Tom picked one. Then I picked a set for Fantasy 5 and for The Pick.

He stopped at the PO yesterday. There was no mail from Mary, but sure enough, on a Saturday when no one’s at the window, there’s a package notification. We’re pretty sure it’s the Indian doll given when they took the money for it. It’s way too soon for the beauty stuff and if I ever get the fairy, it should fit in the box. If I don’t hear from them by the middle of the month, I’ll call them.

The big leafy plant sprouted another shoot, but leaves have yet to unfurl themselves on either of the two shoots it has.

Tom began digging trenches in back so we can also include the oleanders on the drip system. That way we won’t have to water anything but the olie by the well.

The mesquites are in shock but may perk up after a while. Tom says that if they’re going to make it, we’ll know it by the 19th.

Later…

I’m working on proofreading my story and I’m rather ashamed of myself for the number of typos I’ve got after going over it so many times. I couldn’t believe I was dumb enough to write: The previous day was much the same as the day before. It’s like – dah!

Walmart already has the two birthstone Barbies I want, so I guess I’ll save up for them after I save for Dalene, who’ll come after the ornaments and the other Barbie.

Now for my shocking news, I got a total of 5 numbers on 2 of the 3 tickets, though none were in proper order for winning anything. I’ve decided that since I got 2 of the 5 Pick numbers to concentrate on that, while Tom, who hasn’t gotten anything yet, focuses on the Powerball.

I revised the ‘to do’ and ‘to get’ lists, though I still wonder about the beds. I still don’t see why two friends need to sleep together. I’m 100% we’ll never have sex again, too. In fact, I’m so sure of it that I’d bet my entire doll collection on it. It’s simply a case of neither of us wanting to. Anyway, back to the bed - this is where I’m glad he either procrastinates or doesn’t do so many of the things he says he’ll do. I’m sure that if I never mention the beds again, he won’t either.

I wonder if he’d even mention the dog or the fences if I didn’t. I’m a little hesitant about getting the dog as even though he says he’ll bring the dog back if I’m not happy with it, I know him. He’d be like, “Oh, just give it a little more time,” and I wouldn’t want that shit. Because of him, I’ve been stuck with enough unwanted animals and I don’t want to go through that again.

Tom said that as long as he works overtime, we’ll have the same amount of money we had before.

“But then you won’t have a life,” I told him.

“At least I’ll get paid for it, though, this time around,” he said.

This is true, but wouldn’t it also be really damn frustrating to make money you have no time to use?

The rats are out playing now. They’re so cute and I do love them dearly, but I’d trade them in to have my Little Buddy back any day, just like I’d trade Mary in to find and be friends with Rosa. I really think she lost the address I gave her cuz I doubt she’d have decided to forget about me. It wouldn’t do her any good now, though, since our address has changed.

There’s still no one working on the house in front. Tom thinks there’s a problem or delays with the permit or something, but I think there are more houses to come that are going to get worked on altogether. That’s why there are other stakes over there and why this one’s so close to the edge and in a place farthest away from the electrical lines. If one person bought the land and house, they wouldn’t place it so far from the electricity like that.

We may not have to go to CA for a mannequin. The site I like that sells used ones says they’ll send me pictures and prices when I’m ready to order if I give them an idea of what I want. Meanwhile, they say they’re working to improve their site and include better pictures with individual pricing (I hope this doesn’t take a year). Right now it’s just a bunch of numbered pictures and not all of them are very good. If I’m going to buy a mannequin online, I’ll want to see its whole body as well as a face shot.