It was 105º out today and the clothes I hung out dried in no time at all. I heard the puppy whining and felt so bad for it (and the other dogs) having to be left out in the heat like this. I swear no one will let their dogs indoors in the West for even 5 minutes!

Not surprisingly, I saw two of the freeloader’s dogs coming down from the hill in back and heading down into the ditch. Tom heard me yell them off and came out to chase off the one who was a little more reluctant to leave. He said he couldn’t swear to it, but the dog looked very skinny like it was malnourished and like the renters may’ve taken off and left them behind. I doubt it, though. I think it’s Sunday, a day they know that no one will answer the complaint line, and I’m sure they’ll be here as long as we are.

Now I hear Brandy or one of the freeloader’s dogs going off. They sound similar, so it’s sometimes hard to tell. I just totally dread the winter! Not only cuz I hate the cold, but cuz I know Tom will be wrong again about it being quiet. I’m sure the barking will be a regular thing once it cools down. I just hope that stepping outside to yell at them to shut up continues to work, and while I’m glad I have some way to quiet them down, it’d still be a pain in the ass to have to do so. Especially when it’s cold and rainy.

I didn’t bother to call Jesse, who was out at the time (figures), as I’m sick and tired of trying to get other people to either tie up or shut up their own damn dogs!

Tom’s probably having the lamest, most boring birthday of his life, the poor guy. He’s now 1095 days too young, LOL. That’s how many days we have until we MIGHT be able to get a place in a senior community, but when our income will definitely jump $2400 a year.

It still saddens – even pisses me off – to have gone from nearly 50K a year and a 2100-square-foot brand new home, to less than 20K and a 500-square-foot trashy old trailer, but if we’re broke at our ages, it was obviously meant to be this way and probably always will be. That is unless his program really does work out the way he thinks it will, or there’s some other surprise along the way that I can’t see now. I’d settle for just 2K a month after taxes. That’s all we really need to be comfortable and have a little leftover for both fun stuff and savings. Why are some of the simplest things so much to ask for? I can see if we were lazy or druggies or alkies. Then I could say we deserve to be where we’re at in life. But in reality, we’re two people trying our hardest to just live a decent life in a reasonably comfortable way.

Ok, enough “poor us” talk and on to biking. I killed 130 calories today, but once again I’m doubtful of getting under 125 pounds. That’s ok, though. I’m not that fat, and this way my ring won’t get any looser.

I thought it might be neat to write a story to help me with my Italian even more than just regular studying. Not a story in Italian, but maybe have a character who only speaks Italian. That way I’d have to look up words and write more, but I doubt I’ll bother. I’m struggling to finish the one I’ve been working on as it is cuz I’ve been so lazy lately when it comes to story-writing.