Who loves who when the twilight falls on my eyes
Could it be true a love unloved slowly dies
Can you really believe I could love another
When you were brave enough not to smother
At least one confession of love, unspoken
I hope that your heart remains unbroken
Because, my love, I will claim it if you still
Love this woman who pours out more than her fill
Of unbidden love that threatens to rip her anew
All because she knows what was only known to you

So many ways to love a woman, a man, a cat, a belief, an idea, a part of oneself, and yet I just want to address my love for my Boston wife. Yes, that's right. It is our anniversary, and she knows that she gets the honor of a mention and some love. I sometimes wonder if other people are as rude as they are for the hopes of being spoken of. I realize that some people have confused bad attention for something good to have. I pity those who can't find positive ways to make themselves feel meaningful. Aravan, my love, you are meaningful, so I hope you don't have to resort to that. I, however, must resort to posting my love for all to see. While I am at it, our daughter sends a warm and fuzzy "hello" and a love nibble.

I can't change the world, I let them tell me this,
Deny me life, deny me dreams, deny me rights to kiss
The one I love in innocence, give my heart for his joy
Watch him act more like the man and less like the boy

I can't change the world or so the rumor is spread
As if all my weeping meant nothing, how my eyes have bled
For purest love, wanting to fulfill the simplest need
Instead of watching them suffer, watching them bleed

I can't change the world for I am only one soul
But if you were brave enough, imagine the toll
That two loving hearts could make in one life
And the protection we could give as husband an wife

Yes, that was written to my cat or perhaps not. Who knows? I'm going to go with--not you. It's been another long weekend with so much going on I didn't even have time to entertain this poor journal. I was too busy practicing hitting my brakes. People in this town can't drive. I should know. I am one of them, but I do at least try not to slam into other people.

Despite the cold, it did feel a bit like spring. People were out mowing the lawn, causing the smell of fresh grass to flow through the chilly streets. I am trying to ignore the cold, but I fear I may fail. In the meantime, I have crossdressing to plan and sponsorship to encourage.

Be everything this mermaid needs, all her soul craves
When winters come to freeze the heart, cast freedom away
I linger on your every word, love to hear you say
That you love me with words never spoke out loud
While your eyes scream that you wish you were allowed
To open up your heart to me, to say more than jealousy
While I wander through these halls, palace under the sea

I summoned you to join this dream, dance in salty foam
Bring your heart, your peace, where we choose to roam
Inside dreams, inside a heart, where wind whips through
Threatens to tear us apart, but I can not lose you
If you have the strength to be the lord to this maid
Come back to me, confirm our, before twilights fade

I think I need to stop dreaming to be honest. My dreams are rather bonkers and sometimes involve school buses packed to overflowing with children. I am still trying to figure out why I was riding a school bus. When I figure that out, I will move on from there.

It may be a while before I ponder that as I am building excitement for the Relay for Life. Don't forget to drop by from 6pm tomorrow evening to 9am Saturday morning to see me and my bevy of beauties, harem of hotties, or if you prefer, chicks from church. I will be dressed as a fellow at some point during the proceedings, so that should be fabulously good fun. We will also be selling all sorts of baked goodies. I won't be there the whole time, but many fabulous people will be milling around trying to support a good cause, so if you miss me, you will not have missed out.

Anyway, today was surprisingly uneventful except, of course, for the fact that my friend Becky got baptized today. Always good to see the smile that brings to someone's face. With that happy thought, I leave you to sweet dreams.

So I spent most of the day cleaning and preparing for the denouement of my week, Relay for Life. I woke up to find that it was wet and dreary and a bit cold (just a bit). I found this disappointing, but things had cleared up by noon. I was, understandably, excited about this because it meant we wouldn't be meandering about in the rain. Not that I mind meandering about in the rain mind you. I just prefer to do it alone and not on a track. In fact, most often I prefer to do it in my mind. Being soaked through is much more exciting in my internal wardrobe.

Speaking of wardrobe, I spent a fair portion of the evening dressed as a rather portly man. Most of you can probably imagine why I had to be a portly man. Large Marge and I had to share a pair of pants for this endeavor. My apologies to those who saw Marge's tale poking out of my fly and got the wrong idea. I have some fabulous pictures of me hanging out with an Eclipse. The little vixen showed up to lend support to the cause. I am just not sure how she got on the track (probably good looks and bribery).

Anyway, the evening came to a rather messy end when some wind picked up, some rain came down, and we were all sent home for our own protection. When I left, some people were still rescuing their tents from the fence. Paper bags and candles were everywhere. It was quite a bit of chaos. Of course, most of the event was chaos to my semi-Vulcan brain, but all will be well. All I need is some Sarah and something to distract me. Anyone got a cracker and some string?

And for my wife:

What could bring more peace to a candle in the wind
Than finding that one true, admirable friend
Who while the storm is raging still protects the flame
Stands by me through everything, barely knowing my name
As the earth shifts, the rain pours down and we two
Find a peace no man knows, no mortal ever knew

Sometimes the world is better seen in tiny segments. If we just see the small things, we can't see the grander picture. How is that reassuring? The world as a whole is too much competition. Call me a Communist, but if we made more of an effort to be kind to each other, we'd have much less strife and pain. I am not saying the world would be a perfect utopia (that would defeat it's purpose), but it would certainly make the hard times a little easier to deal with if we could have enough faith in and love for each other to not try to take advantage of each other. It's those little intricacies that often send me back to admiring certain people who have no idea they are admirable.

I keep reflecting on last night's relay. Overall it was a bit of a bust because of the storms. But if we look at it in degrees, it is easy to see that it really was a success. We managed to collect some money to help a worthy cause. We got to spend some time with our friends. A lot of us stuck it out through the first two light sprinklings. My wife tried to relight many of the candles during the memorial walk despite the fact that the wind was still blowing (yes, that explains the poem and now you know most of that story). We were reassured that we beat Marshall because they cancelled up front. They just aren't used to adverse conditions like the town potentially burning down on any given weekend. Living here can definitely make you more durable.

Another sliver I have reflected on is how my mind seems to work in small slivers of thought. It bounces from one idea to the next. This should probably indicate that I should limit the amount of time I spend with my mouth open to talk to people, but thus far, it doesn't. Anyway, not much going on to speak of, so I will try this whole relaxing thing. Who all votes I will fail?

That's not very nice. Voting that I will fail. No cookies for you. None. The rest of you may now go and have your cookies.

"The strength of this Church lies in the purity of the thoughts and lives of its members, then the testimony of Jesus abides in the soul, and strength comes to each individual to withstand the evils of the world." ~David O. McKay

It is not who is right, but what is right, that is important. ~Thomas Huxley (1825-1895) -Biologist and educator

If people are informed, they will do the right thing. It's when they are not informed that they become hostages to prejudice. ~Charlayne Hunter-Gault -Journalist

I don't believe in just ordering people to do things. You have to sort of grab an oar and row with them. ~Harold Geneen-Telecommunications executive

It's a poor rule that won't work both ways. ~Frederick Douglass (1817-1895)-Abolitionist

There was never a good war or a bad peace. ~Benjamin Franklin

The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway. ~Henry Boye

Compassion is difficult to give away because it keeps coming back.

It occurs to me over and over that the opinions of those around me should mean very little to me. My wives would be exceptions since they tend to not disappoint me or prove my cynicism justified. It's a crazy world. People value people for being disloyal, making money through fraud, disrespecting each other, and various talents that go against basic morality. Do we find this disturbing? No, we think it is normal, and we're expected to pursue these same sorts of goals. How many of us resist that urge?

My mini-vacation is almost over and I fear I didn't accomplish all that I hoped to. Such is life in my world. I have to work on my commitment pattern. I seem to have ongoing dealings with people who can't keep their end of a bargain and then act like I tried to exclude or cheat them. Neither of those qualities is in my nature or I would be rich and have a lot more free time. Unfortunately, some of my free time must now be spent convincing Lil' Guy not to touch me any more.

Another April has brought more showers and the tech fair or as I like to think of it (see title for entry). I went to claim a couple of the fabulously free pens. Among the ones I selected was one that is heavy and pointed on both ends, which I fear was designed as a secret weapon, and one that has bubbles in it. The bubble pen didn't show much promise as a pen since it acted like it was already out of ink the first time I used it, but I am sure the bubbles will come in handy for entertaining this hobbit and other small people.

I did win a gift certificate of undisclosed amount for my efforts. I also got quite a bit of exercise from wildly roaming the streets. Not much else to report to the public in the life of hobbit. Maybe tomorrow will bring more rays of golden sun to an otherwise hobbitless day.

Sometimes a person has to go back, really back--to have a sense, an understanding of all that's gone to make them--before they can go forward. ~Paule Marshall -Poet and writer

Whatever you do in this life, take time to sit quietly and let the world tell you what it needs from you. Take a moment to honestly understand what your gifts are--you all have them. The way you choose to live your life brings meaning to your life. ~Ann Reed -Songwriter and singer

So I decided I must be doing something right today. I am not sure what it is, but I am sure it is not my grumbling. I grumble more than clouds in a thunderstorm. I have to work on that. I think an IV full of chocolate may do the trick and it is Easter, so feel free to fill a basket and drop it off to me. Anyway, back to my original point, which in no way involved begging for chocolate. I came back from lunch and a meeting to find that someone had contributed some materials to my mini-notepaper-making break hobby. The notepaper is for me and some friends to write sweet little messages to each other. I think it's a pretty groovy idea, so I support it by making sure we don't run out of paper. Apparently, amid my grumblings I must have mentioned it and inspired a friend un-related to this distribution circle to donate to my cause. In other words, I must be doing something right.

These crowded halls can not hide His face
I feel Him ever closer in this hallowed space
He sings to me as no one can, with love unknown
Outside the sacred texts, beyond a moved stone
That brings to life what death once claimed
And brings more gifts whose price is unnamed
If we but seek the minstrel whose greatest song
Was to take away our sins, atone for our wrong
That through belief and faith in Him we may be
Everything He ever hoped that we could be

I'd blame that sudden bit of inspiration on poetry month, but I think it is obvious that it was prompted by something far more important than poetry itself. However, I do tend to not liking showing my serious side, so keep reading.

WARNING: As the Easter Season approaches, it is important to remind the confused chocolate lover's of the world to be cautious. We all love the Easter Bunny even when he has scary pink-rimmed eyes that make him look like he has pink eye or a drug problem. We even adore him when his fur is speckled with strange dots of color. We love him most when he brings us that basket of chocolate and colored eggs. Remember that he does this out of the goodness of his heart. This means that if he is asking you for your social security number or credit card number, he probably isn't the real Easter Bunny and wants to steal your identity as well. Don't confuse these numbers with your phone number. You are allowed to give the Easter Bunny your number as long as you will treat him well and he is not wearing a wedding ring or a bald spot of that shape on his left ring finger. The Easter Bunny needs love, too.

So I got the honor of taking a car trip with my brother, sister-in-law, and my step-nephew. You would imagine that a long car trip would be perfectly suited to my pleasant personality. It started out okay. Of course, the adorable little kid was sleeping happily in his car seat when my brother stopped by and hobbitnapped me. This means, however, that he woke up to find a strange woman in the seat next to him. This prompted a confused look before he drifted back off to sleep. He awoke again to stare at me in more confused silence for a bit and then he began a fascinating discussion on Barney. I can hold my own in conversations on many topics, but Barney is not among them. I have always been too old for the big purple dinosaur (he's scarier than killer clowns).

By the end if our trip, we had bonded to the point where he had figured out that touching hobbits with sticky hands results in frowning. He had also let me play the fun game of pick-it-up. This is the game where the child drops something over and over again until the adult feels they just spent hours in an aerobics class. We had shared some fun dining moments where he kicked me under the table (usually hitting that leg that causes your knee to twitch), which gave me training in not letting my reflexes go. We also reached the point where he calls me "Bell" (well, close enough anyway ;)).

I also got to visit a location that is near and dear to the heart of my red-headed stepmother. Someday I will get all those lovely photos that I have been collecting since February off of my camera and maybe even share them with the world. I make no promises though. I tend to not get as much done as I think I should be able to these days. I need a nice long vacation from being me. I have the days but not the money. Anyone want to foot the bill for that one?

So despite the fact that I have a million things I could say, I am feeling rather weary. I think I am going to go read myself into oblivion, so take care, squeeze the object of your affection (bald Santas, fuzzy bears, sheep, chocolate bars, twinkies, an airplane, a beautiful woman who shares your last name--Congrats, BTW!, a Mitsubishi Eclipse...wait that one is me...mmm...*chases after visions of pretty cars).

My Easter candy consisted of a lime circus peanut, a tiny chocolate egg, and a chocolate bunny. Now everyone knows how I love to suck the ears off of bunnies, but this bunny has a very human face. It's quite creepy. I'll just have to close my eyes while I help it off into the chocolate bunny afterlife. I am surprised I can eat meat at all knowing that it was once part of a potentially cute animal.

So I was thinking in my abstract way the other day about how people perceive themselves and the world. It is common to dislike lawyers because they are dishonest and love philanthropists because they give to the poor. Separating people into stereotypes based on such factors, however, is not a way to evaluate worth or happiness. Yet we live in a world where people are constantly trying to become someone or something else because we perceive that someone else is more well-loved or seems to get more of the juicy gossip because of the position they hold. I find in most cases that this belief is false. My job, for instance, is more suited to my tastes than the girl who had it before me. She did a fabulous job with the projects she had on hand, but since my old job duties kind of followed me here (as well as my job duties from the job before that), the position has changed due to the person. So if you are trying to follow someone else's footsteps to being "in", "hip", "trusted with secrets", or whatever else you are seeking, I fear you'll be disappointed since you are a different person.

Related to this is how we perceive the world and how we let it affect what we do. I've been tired of "societal norms" for years. I never blend. I never will. I never want to. Our society has debased itself greatly over the past couple of hundred years. In the old days, married couples on television slept in twin beds. Now all sorts of people have quick encounters of the intimate sort in thirty second commercials. We certainly don't treat each other any better either. The trick is to be the best person that you can and hope people learn from your example. Don't cast aside your own hopes and happiness because someone else doesn't seem to care about you or give you attention, just pick yourself up and be that person who uplifts others. You'll feel a world of difference.

One of the conference talks addresses the finding of happiness. I thought it was rather good advice but feel free not to read it if you don't feel interested. So what makes a hobbit happy?

Food brings joy to the heart of any hobbit. That's why I treated myself to some homemade garlic mashed potatoes (made with my own hobbit hands) and some marinated chicken, followed by a salad to wash my palate before I ate some Pecan Turtle trail ice cream. Now, I admit my mashed potatoes were not as amusing to make as watching my friend Micah mashing potatoes with a hand masher, but that may have been more amusing because he was surrounded by four other people. This can lead to such jokes as "How many Mormons does it take to mash a potato?" Make up your own punch lines. The ones in my head sound a bit too blasphemous to share at this moment.

Little Green Creatures bring everyone joy. I also brake for those with green blood. Anyone who knows me is aware that I love Yoda, Kermit, Spock, and the Geico gecko. I should just paint myself green and go try to lure some green prince into marrying me. I saw Star Trek VI and a Geico commercial today, so I'm good.

Dancing with cats, veils, doors, walls, trees, the wind, etc. can lift the saddest hobbit's heart back up above their head. I mention cats because merely walking can be like a dance when you step into the house after a long day and all the cats want to be fed. Care to dance with me?

Being respected and valued is definitely a feeling that brings happiness with it. Having my integrity challenged or people imply that my talents have no value can be a bit annoying. I realize we live in a world where many believe cheating each other and the system is the only way to go, but I don't follow that any more than I follow other societal norms.

Knowledge is obviously a staple for the joy of this darling diva. Despite having received a certificate of graduation from my church's Institute program, I still attend rather faithfully. I also work in one of the many fields that requires knowledge to be done right. I've been told a monkey could do my job before, but I fear that is not true. Some days I am convinced that at some point a monkey was hired to do the things that I am fixing now.

Passion is also another mood enhancer. I am not referring to lust here, people. I am talking about appreciation for the things in our life and a desire to make them better. I see too many people blame their unhappiness on the fact that they choose to do things they have no respect for in the hopes of getting rich quick. Money can't really buy happiness--not the way most people use it.

The goddess of love can't go through life without a bit of that forbidden drug. Love is a two way street, of course. I can't expect the people I don't truly love to love me. Love can cover so many facets of respect and affection for other people. It can be the way I feel a smile coming to my face when someone I haven't seen in a while comes into the room. It can be the way my heart leaps when someone takes my hand or I get the chance to give a present on my birthday. But we've all heard about me and love and I have more to do before I can sleep, so I leave you with someone else's thoughts again:

The gospel binds together the hearts of all its adherents; it makes no difference, it knows no difference between the rich and the poor; we are all bound as one individual to perform the duties which devolve upon us. ~Lorenzo Snow

With podcasts, blogs, and other methods of information dissemination, one can potentially influence the whole world with a few clicks and whirls. Isn't that fabulous? We can easily review, rehear, and renew our past. We can revel in it, mire ourselves in it, or use it to avoid walking straight into our future. Try as we might, however, the future draws closer and closer every day. Then it becomes the present and we plop a big, shiny bow on it and pass it along to our nearest and dearest friends.

The day proved rather uneventful. I stole some books from another library, only to realize that my greatest desire is to return them ASAP. Stealing isn't one of my talents. I know. I know. So many of my readers wanted to invite me to help them with their next heist. Don't cry. Perhaps, you can find solace in stealing quills from porcupines. You never know until you try. Anyway, I better go find some excitement to inspire my world. These are some words from our sponsors:

Since God could not be everywhere, he created mothers. ~Jewish Proverb

You never get over being a child, long as you have a mother to go to. ~Sarah Orne Jewett

It would be a very big book that contained all the maybes uttered in a day. ~French Proverb

These things are good in little measure and evil in large: yeast, salt and hesitation. ~The Talmud

The day started out with a fabulous heat wave. Actually it started at about 4am when the fuzzy alarm clocks went off in error, but my eyes couldn't stay open, so the day got it's official start when I wandered into the heated halls of the library. They really need to sue the contractors. Our air conditioning has never worked right and temperatures of 90 plus degrees are not good for books or equipment though the fiche can take the heat.

I fear my title may have led people to believe that I had something exciting to report. Sadly, the dance that was to be the source of this Friday's amusement, exercise, and friendly fun was canceled due to planning problems. That seems to be a theme for this month. Whether planning goes through as expected or not, someone always ends up angry and someone else is always at fault.

I haven't been feeling my groovy best (personality) today. I try. I even managed to find some real happiness in seeing some of the wonderful people who inhabit this dying world of ours. I am not sure they have any idea how sincerely I appreciate even a smile from them on days like today when I spent too much time listening to an unidentified whirring noise that grated on my nerves and left me wanting to throw things in the trash. Luckily, I tend to leave piles of garbage on my desk for just such occasions. I believe that I can now see a whole foot of desk that had been hiding under old papers and recalcitrant fiche for months.

My world is full half-finished things. I have half-finished thoughts, half-finished poems, half-finished loves, half-finished moments in my memory. I have half-finished quilts, half-attained dreams, half-created realms of existence. Most are only half-finished to the rest of the world. For me, they are complete because I know them. I live them. I breath them. I sew them. I tie them. My very blood makes them complete though it may not be complete, of itself. Have I slipped again into the darkness of the vampires or do I allude to something that you wouldn't choose to understand? It's hard to say.

I get reminded again and again of how little we know. We take half a gram of knowledge and call it complete when knowledge can only be complete on the subject when you possess a full pound. We tout our knowledge. We offer our unwarranted advice instead of our ears. When people want us to listen, we'd rather talk. (Guilty as charged, but how many else are guilty and refuse to be aware?) We claim we know. We know. We know. We can help you even when we can't help ourselves.

I see those who know so much continue to do things that make my heart weep. I see them prove again and again that they have no idea. If we know so much, why do we not realize how we defile those things we love. We cling to things we love when we should let them go. Sometimes it is only the memory we wish to keep--not the straw wrapper someone gave us as a jest at a local bar and eatery all those years ago. We want to hold onto those moments when we were held close by a loving parent, but we don't want them to hold us close right now and tell us how to feel and act. We have reached the point where we should know the right way to be a daughter, mother, sister, friend, wife, Christian, professional, etc. and, sadly, sometimes passed the achievement of those who taught us.

I don't feel a need, anymore, to make explanation for myself. And I tire of making excuses for family, friends, peers, and colleagues when they choose poorly. I tire of making excuses for why I should treat people with respect and kindness who get joy from abusing me, abusing my friends, abusing my beliefs. I am sorry if you think I am a bigot, a snob, a fool, or a doormat. I am none of these things, but I am polite, reliable, caring, and perhaps too used to compensating for what is missing in my personal relationships because we are a world of receivers not transmitters. That era may soon end--at which point, I fear some will find that they never really gave me the respect or love I deserved and they wanted to give. I hope that realization doesn't harm them as much as it has already scarred my heart, mind, body, and soul. It's so hard to see you are hurting someone else when ALL that you see is =YOU.

"he says when you gonna make up your mind
when you gonna love you as much as i do
when you gonna make up your mind
cause things are gonna CHANGE so fast
all the white horses are still in bed
i tell you that i'll always want you near
you say that things change my dear"
~Tori Amos

This day is dedicated to Bill and Jill. At least it was at work. Bill is my boss, so most days are dedicated to concentrating my attention on the projects he has told me to focus on, remembering to fill out my time sheet, or thinking to bribe him with chocolate to listen to me complain about the evils of such villains as GPO, Marcive, and OCLC. Today, however, was a bit different.

As I may have mentioned, Big Daddy Bill (not to be confused with Big Daddy Bishop) and his lady love, Jill, retreated to some undisclosed location to declare their unending love to each other. The location had to be kept a secret to avoid a massive influx of librarians, technical assistants, books, barcodes, fiche and other curious onlookers from interrupting the ceremony with excited chatter and advice such as, "Don't trip." or worse, "Put your shoes back on." They had what sounds like a lovely little ceremony on the beach without the encumbrance of shoes, and a charming photographer who is dear to both of them.

I can't actually tell you the exact day they were married. It is also a secret! Actually, it's just because my concept of time has been a little off since the Mad Hatter fixed my watch with a dormouse and some jam. It was awfully kind of him to do so, for free, but I begin to think that I would have been better off getting him to make me a fabulously huge hat instead. Everyone needs a fabulously huge hat, except Bill. Bill is tall enough without a fabulously huge hat. Of course, you are getting this opinion from a hobbit, so take it as you will.

The party didn't exactly get started on time. The food was ready. The food was perfuming the conference room for a while before anyone showed up to enjoy it. Then people began appearing to learn the bride was probably stuck in finicky dead week traffic. She arrived, at last, and we ate and ate and ate until we were all incapable of eating more sugar. Even I hit my tolerance as I discovered a moment ago when I tried to finish off some ice cream to make some room in the freezer. Such is life. Now on to other things, but first, a very happy hobbit CONGRATULATIONS to the bride and groom.

So I may have broken some poor fellow's heart today. I wasn't trying to. I was just standing around looking like your average book enthusiast. Of course, I was holding books of mathematical importance which do attract intellectuals of a certain mathematical aptitude. I had to let him know that I was not really exploring geometric variance theory. He looked sad and wandered off. For all of you book afficianados out there, I recommend being wary of the books you carry. You, too, may break some hearts simply by a misunderstanding.

In honor of my unbirthday, I have decided that everyone must list 10 fabulous things that they did today. These must be ten things that brought them happiness. However, and this is the pinch, they can not be malicious or harmful to others or done out of pride or a desire to prove our own worth by making someone beneath us. For instance, I may think that bopping Lil' Guy in the head is fabulous, but I am sure he disagrees. He may think that chewing on my head is fabulous, but I find it annoying. Let's see if I can find ten. Work on your own list for about ten to fifteen minutes. That's how long I give me, so GO!

1. Took a long, hot shower.
2. Used Caress soap. It makes me think of camp and pink pencil pouches--both somehow comforting.
3. Snuggled with my cats. Yes, I snuggled with both at once and it was fabulous.
4. Ate some delicious ice cream.
5. Listening to a beautiful song.
6. Realized it was my friend Celeste's birthday as well as my unbirthday. Celeste is gorgeous, sweet, and pretty smart, so it makes the day that much cooler.
7. Received huge boxes in the mail.
8. Talked to an old friend.
9. Wrote myself part of another love letter.
10. Resolved...

That actually took me less than ten minutes. Then my phone rang. My phone likes to do that for some reason. If it was ringing of it's own accord, paranoia would make me think it did that on purpose. Luckily, phones don't have their own hidden agenda. But phones don't have agendas, do they?

I spent some quality time tossing a baseball around this afternoon. I think my roomie is surprised that I throw pretty well (for a girl). I told him I was fairly capable. I guess I should have warned him that I duck from little spheres that are flying toward my face. I did catch the ball a few times though. All the neighborhood windows, cars, and passing animals were probably grateful for that.

Hey, Santa. I heard you were checking to see if I deserve presents this year. So how much improvement do you think I need before I get everything on my list?

Today is another birthday on my calendar. Cat Woman, darling, I hope you have a fabulous birthday. Sorry that I didn't get to spend it with you, but you know how life can be with a crazy cat chica like me.

I seem to be constantly overbooked and understaffed despite my personal entourage of Bella experts. Actually, none exists. Some days even I am floundering to figure out which side of left field I am heading for, but soon I may be able to make a presentable show of catching myself in a baseball glove. Won't that be groovy?

I found a recipe today that made me realize that my kitchen is somewhat lacking. I do not seem to possess a meat mallet. Think a hammer would do the trick? I think it would definitely make a repulsive bloody mess, so I will keep that in mind for October. Yes, it is already that time of year when my mind turns to the joys of scaring small children and dressing up in funny outfits. Of course, most pictures of me seem to feature funny outfits regardless of year or occasion. It's a skill I never really tried to acquire, but some times you just get lucky.

Anyway, I have been feeling alliterative this morning since I learned we will soon be able to go weewee on the wii (new Nintendo console) and decided it is fun to get wicked on he wiki, so perhaps, for my own amusement, I shall try to express the rest of my day alliteratively or maybe not (for your sanity).

For the third time this semester, I went to forum expecting to see the fabulous Irv and found he was not there. I admit I was a little saddened by this, but we did have pizza again, so the day did have its moments of cheer. Sadly, I don't think pizza when I think Forum. I am a junkie for other people's cooking. I did manage to steal a crossword puzzle from an unsuspecting young man, however. At the moment, it is floating around in one of my piles awaiting the joy of meeting my trash can. This is not to say that it became a disappointment. I managed to figure out all of the clues, so I am feeling a wee bit proud of myself. Thus it must be destroyed before I get too big for my britches. Don't worry, the humbling will come. Ziggy is good for that.

I picked up a few items in case we would need them for out fabulous cookout and field day on the way home. I need not have bothered because things went as I had expected (hoped). A large group of us got together and convened around tables full of food. I brought a recipe from my lovely lady Leda (Thanks you!), spinach salad. It was not as popular as it could have been, but I enjoyed it, as did a few of my other healthy and discerning friends. Then people started tossing around footballs, baseballs, frisbees and probably some food according to the wishes and happiness of their own hearts. A few adorable kids wandered over to join us and join the fun, but they got called away before the football game got under way.

The evening began to wind down when the water balloons were discovered by Mrs. Julia who proceeded to throw them into the football game if I am not mistaken. Some of us even got to maneuver around people from a different who decided to park in unique ways that basically blocked us in unless we wanted to drive up hills. Thanks to the ward mechanic, I managed to not harm anyone else's car and made it home safely to sit on my couch and pass judgment on my socks. My socks need washed. What more could you want to know?