They gave everybody at work a turkey just like last year, so we’ll make that up over the weekend. This year we got a bag that you bake it in to help seal in the juices.

Still no clue as to whether or not he really stands a significant chance at a partnership or if something up there just wants to tease us with the possibility, but he should get a bigger bonus this year from what he’s heard. Last year he got a $25 Fred Meyer certificate and this year it’s to be $50.

We got the guitar today. It’s ugly and very cockish, but it should eventually bring us a few hundred dollars at least. Tom’s going to enjoy playing it through the computer till it comes time to sell it. We saved the box and packing so we can repack it easily enough.

Tom’s X-box will arrive tomorrow, so he’s really excited about that even though he’s still sick.

My last story that I sent to Mary was returned. Figures, huh? They said it was because there’s a 5-page limit of printed pages. I don’t know if they really mean 5 sheets, but since when is this the case? Fucking jails, always changing and adding new rules! I think it was really a case of the person being too lazy to take the time to read it since they have that policy where they have to read incoming mail. Besides, it makes them feel more in control and all-powerful if they do shit like this and waste someone 4 stamps like they did, even if Mary’s 10 stamps more than makes up for it. I told Mary I wasn’t about to play any more mail games with that damn place, so since she’s so sure that she has no more than 3 years to go, I’ll send her anything I’ve written at that time. I figured I’d burn her a CD of my stories and pictures. I assured her that the pictures would look much better on a computer than printed on paper anyway. I just hope she’ll have regular access to a computer when she gets out, since it may be a while before she gets her own.

I also asked that she not pester me so much once she’s out, in the nicest way I could, and I let her know that the more we do for ourselves, the more independent we feel, and that’s a good feeling. I just hate to do favors for others and I try not to ask favors of others myself unless I have no choice, simply because I know that that way no one ends up feeling guilty or used in the end. Besides, I won’t have a whole lot of free time to cater to her because I expect to sweep for the rest of my life! And I’m not going to let cruel fate press the pause button on it for a few weeks or a few months, and make me have to start all over again! As it is, I started up again with Webshots, but because it’s been under a year since I was last a premium member, I didn’t lose any pictures. I just couldn’t get some of them for the last 10 months. Once we get a new camera, I’ll eventually upload photo albums, too. It’s good to store pictures online. I wish it were as easy to store my documents and MP3s there, too.

Anyway, as far as Mary’s begging for favors goes, I understand why she does it. First she was her mother’s puppet, then she was a slave to men, and now the jail has owned her for 5, nearly 6 years. She simply doesn’t know how to fend for herself and make her own decisions. Like me, she wasn’t given much of a chance to. In fact, she’s been more of a puppet/slave than I ever was.

Last night I hit an instant win and won a 10-oz. bottle of lotion. Since I have so much lotion right now, I jokingly said to Tom that not only do the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, but the well-lotioned gets more lotion as well! I still hope I get it because some of the smaller wins obviously don’t show up. It’s neat to know that since I became a premium member, I’m now winning something every few days, even if it’s mostly piddly crap.

We ordered a black platform and a Woodland oak headboard with shelves. It may be several weeks before they arrive, but I’m looking forward to it after a year and a half of sleeping on the floor! The shelves are going to be so nice too, to use in place of a nightstand.