My Esme doll came today. She’s not quite as nice as she looked online, but still very nice nonetheless. Cool hair color, though I don’t know that I’d call her eyes violet. They look more like blue. The last Tyler doll I got doesn’t appear to have green eyes either. They look light brown.

We ordered from Yves as well as made that huge oil order I’ve been looking so forward to, and next Friday I’ll order Angelina, one of Tyler’s newest friends. To think that I had just 3 Tonners for the longest time and now they’ve suddenly tripled is mind-boggling!

They have this cool hourly sweep that’s to go on through the end of the year, and they say you have a better chance of winning at night. However, it’s not an instant. Your chances are better then because most people are sleeping then. They randomly draw names each hour and the winner gets to choose 1 of the 4 prizes, which are usually T-shirts or posters. When Tom’s home, he’s going to enter at times when I’m asleep.

The end of the month may be a big time for sweeps to expire, but the end of the year will be amazing! About 27 of my 40 pages of dailies will expire then. I’ll bet there’ll be well over 200 new sweeps on New Year’s Day.

Got a couple more boring small wins. Ugly stationery and address labels, and a coupon for a free 24-pack of Poland Spring water. The water would’ve been good in Arizona, but the water’s plenty drinkable up here.

A guy came to the house wanting to know if he could buy just the camper shell from the truck. Tom had just gotten in at that moment and so they discussed it. He decided in the end that while he could’ve sold it for $50 - $75, it would detract value from the truck itself, so we’re going to wait. He feels that if I’m right about California not being the next stop, then it’d be worth re-licensing the truck to move us to a better house, though as we both agree, it wouldn’t be good at all to move to California with. We’ll probably just drive a U-Haul down there and buy something when we get there, whenever that time comes. There are still no guarantees that he’ll get a huge raise or a partnership. For all we know, they could close their doors forever tomorrow, and while we’d have enough cash and decent unemployment checks till he found a new job, we could return to being poor and stay that way forever.

My ear is doing better, though it still has its moments of pressure and popping. When this occurs I pinch my nose and blow it open, but I have to do it several times before it stays open.

This rat is getting fat. She likes to eat, that’s for sure! She has so much Blondie in her that it makes me wonder. I can’t believe how clingy and affectionate she is! She hates to be alone. She spends a lot of time out and about. If I don’t see her for a while, I know she fell asleep somewhere, usually in Tom’s closet. When she’s awake, she almost always comes to me when I call her.

I’m down to 124 pounds. That’s what I was when we moved in here. I was getting pretty carried away there for a while and ate myself up to 132. I’m definitely more comfortable where I’m at now. I’ve upped my exercise and dropped my calories. I usually crunch, jog and bounce for variety. I’m not walking as much these days because it’s too damn cold.

I was hungrier today than I have been since I started the medication, but still considerably less hungry than normal. The only negative since I’ve been taking the meds is that I wake up a few hours into my sleep and can’t get back to sleep for an hour or two when I do.

I found what might be the Jessica I knew listed in Agawam. I don’t believe I ever knew her middle name, so I don’t know if it’s the Jessie I used to know, but I sent a letter to her anyway. It was very brief since I don’t know that she’ll get it. I last knew her to be in West Springfield, but that’s close enough to Agawam. A part of me sort of regrets sending the letter. Do I really need another long-distance friend? I don’t even need any local friends! Besides, she doesn’t strike me as the type to do email much less write letters by hand. I also remember her once making a remark about it being a sin to be gay and condemning gays who adopt after she first appeared to be accepting and telling me she was proud that I admitted to liking women. Well, we’ll see if I even hear from her. A part of me hopes I do. She was a good friend to me overall.