I’m still recovering from the 2300-calorie binge I went on over the weekend, slowly working my calories back down to the 1200 range or lower. It’s been tough. I should’ve known better than to get that carried away. I had a few brownies and tons of chips in every variety imaginable! I’m up nearly two pounds.

Tom started a diet because he’s pushing 250 pounds.

I’ve now built up enough stamina to run several songs, but I usually just do 4.

Paula left a message saying she couldn’t get online. Now why doesn’t that surprise me? sighs I’ll call her when my schedule rolls around a little further and see if I can find out why, although Tom would probably be able to help her more than I could. I don’t see what the big deal is, though. She was online when we were in Maricopa.

Got a letter from Mary saying she should know something about her case by the end of this month. Today’s her 31st birthday, too. She agrees that staying at her aunt’s may not be the best place for her, but neither is jail. Her aunt’s going to throw her a huge barbecue party when she gets there. Tom laughed when I said I was glad we won’t be her neighbors! I HATED it when the fucking freeloaders would party just a few feet beyond our walls!

Tom overheard people talking about a particular site at work that he thought I might be interested in, and when he checked it out and told me about it, I said, “Wow, Mary’s going to want to know about this one!” It’s lulu.com and they publish people’s works. But the good thing is that no one has to approve and accept your manuscript like at PD Publishing. It can cost anywhere from about a grand to several grand depending on how many copies you have made, in hardcover, softcover, etc. It gets better. They’ll even edit your book and you don’t have to worry about not having a full-length story like PD wanted, and they’ll help you obtain and ISBN (barcode) and get your book into stores! I’ve got a few stories I’m working on now. Maybe those or some future story I haven’t even started yet will be the one I’ll get published! This is obviously not something we’d do while money’s tight, but it’s nice to know a site like this is out there in case I ever get serious enough about my writing in the future!

You know, the thought of surprising my folks with a published paperback of mine sure is a hell of a lot funnier than surprising them with a postcard from some other country!

It’s been warmer again in the 80s and it should stay that way for the next few days. Last night was nice because we didn’t need the main heater. I just ran the little portable one in here a bit and that was it. I didn’t even need my robe.