Heres how my football picks did this past weekend: Idaho and Northwestern lost, Washington St won and Miami had a bye week. Indy and Chicago won, NY Giants lost and KC had a bye week.

I had a couple odd dreams last night.

In one dream I was living with an older woman who I was very much attracted to. We went to bed, we shared a bed for some reason, and this particular night she went to bed naked. Well I couldn't keep my hands off of her so we ended up making love. During the course of the dream our relationship unfolded. We became a couple and made love often. The things that were strange was the apartment was small which didn't bother either of us and that I never really got a good look at her face.

The other dream took place at night and there was some sort of celebration going on in the community. There were comfortable benches outside and people were walking around with smiles on their faces. When I sat down on one of the benches, I realized I had a small bag in my hand that had some fireworks in it. Not long after I sat down, an older woman came along and sat down near me. We talked about everything that was going on and the stuff I had in the bag. I ended up lighting one of the items and a small fireball came out and headed towards a house on the hill setting it on fire. I became upset because I thought there were people in the house had died. The woman sitting next to me joked about the fireworks. A couple minutes later the other item in ny bag caught on fire and flung a fireball towards a shack on a hill overhead setting it on fire. I got up and headed to my room in the hotel close by. When I looked back I thought a zombie was following me and I ran towards the river bank and then darted off. The next few days in the dream seemed to pass by quickly ending my death in the dream. Don't think I actually died though.

We got a little bit of rain yesterday morning, but it wasn't more then an eighth of an inch. In fact, we got just shy of half an inch on Thursday. The strange thing is, we had two bursts of heavy rain. The later burst lasted a few minutes. But that's how strange Mother Nature works sometimes.

Had a dream last night that me a few people I knew, went to this restaurant we had been here good things about. When we got there, a large crowd was in the lobby and we thought we would have to wait awhile. But they were leaving and so we taken to our table. We walked through the main dining area and descended the stairs to this large are downstairs that was dark. The person who was showing us to our table walked so fast that I lost him in the dark. As we continued to stumble in the room, I looked over and saw people sitting in chairs along the wall. Finally I took a flashlight out of my bag and found our table. The person who had led us downstairs and a few of the people seemed a bit perturbed by the flashlight, but I figured we would never have found our table without it. After we had been sitting down in the dark for awhile a projector turned on and some weird films started to play. Without us even having to order, some food was put in front of us. Since the tables in the room were rather large, a couple more small groups were seated with us. None of us in my group were happy about our experience so far. As the films played, a guy at our table started to cry about the gal featured in one of the films. He said it was so sad what happened to her, he was upset enough he couldn't finish his meal. After we eat a little of the bad food, we paid our bill and left. The next day I went to my office writing a review of the restaurant. When it was published, the newspaper got a little backlash from the restaurant and some of its fans about the article. We defended it, because it was all true. Later we found out that if they felt you weren't good enough to be seated upstairs you got taken to the basement dining room. A few days after the article appeared, the restaurant closed for remodeling.

Had some rain in the area yesterday, mostly in the afternoon and evening. Mom worked late last night and we went to pick up some dinner at the store, when we got back home it started to rain heavily. There had been tornado warnings for counties west of us, as far as I know we were never under a warning of any kind.

I have been having strange dreams again and I cant seem to remember anything but have fleeting images of what I dreamt. I wish I could remember more. In one dream I do remember a friend of mine, whom I haven't seen in months, came by with some friends of his and they talked to me about one or more of them staying at my place. They seemed disappointed by me not having enough space for them. That's all I remember about the dream.

My football picks results from this past weekend: College picks- Miami lost, Northwestern, Washington St. and Idaho won. NFL picks-KC lost, Indy, Chicago and NY Giants won. My picks did better this week, it would be nice if just one weekend they all won.

Got an inch of rain overnight. It is cooler today then yesterday. I think yesterday's high was ninety-one. At the moment it is in the sixties.

Had a headache yesterday, it never got really bad but had wanted to see a movie and didn't feel like I could sit through a movie with the pain I had.

So sad that this week two babies were kidnapped. One has been found safe, the other one is still missing.

Ann Richards, former governor of Texas, has died from cancer.

Whitney Houston has filed for a separation or a divorce, it depends on what news service you read.

According to weather forecasters, this past summer was one of the hottest since the dust bowl days. They base this on the average temperature.

Watched Project Runway last night and when they introduced the "guests", it was Vincent and the doofus Angela. The kicker was that if they won, they would be back in the game. Well I was ready to give up the show if the doofus won the challenge. The designers could only use two colors, black and white. I watched hoping that luck would hold out and doofus would not win and that her and Vincent would once again be off the show. Once the outfits had been made, the models put them on and off to the runway. After the runway show and after the judges chatted with the designers, it was Aufing time. Laura won the challenge, which meant adios to both Vincent and Angela for a second wonderful time. The loser of the rest of the designers was Kayne. I can see why they let him go, most of the outfits he made were really just variations of pageant dresses, at least in my opinion. Uli is for the most part also a one trick pony, variations of halter dresses. I think if Kayne and Uli had gone outside of there comfort zone and made something that wasn't a halter top dress or something gal could wear to a pageant, they might have gotten better scores. I am sorry to see Kayne go, not so sorry to see the other two go again. Good luck, Kayne.

My NFL picks were alright this past weekend-KC & NY Giants lost, Indy and Chicago won. Think I would be shocked if all my teams, both college and pro, all won in one weekend.

It has looked like rain the past couple days but didn't do anything. There is a chance of rain for today and then its suppose to warm up the rest of the week.

Have a mild headache today, but I'll take some aspirin with breakfast.

It has been five years since four hijacked planes crashed, two in New York, one in Washington DC and the last one in Pennsylvania. And since that day have we as a country learned anything? NO. Everything is normal, almost like nothing ever happened. Our government hasn't really done anything. Sure we have kids fighting a so called war, but nothing really has come of it. Sure we got Saddam, but look at all of the others that have slipped through the cracks. Gas costs more today then it did before the attacks, but rather then being outraged that greedy oil folks are making a ton of money everyone seems to just be resigned to paying more at the pump.

It is sad to think that all those people died for nothing, but that's where we are.

This week with my college picks- Miami and Washington St. won while Northwestern and Idaho both lost.

Got some rain early yesterday morning and then not a drop after about seven am. Today we have had short rain showers at least three times as the storm fronts have moved through.

Watched Project Runway Wednesday evening and was giddy to see Vincent finally go. There's just something weird about that guy and I'm not sure if I can put my finger on it. But I am glad he's gone.

Mowed much of the front yard this morning. Would have done it earlier, but I had a mild migraine. I began to feel a little better after I had eaten breakfast. The main reason I wanted to mow was there is a chance of rain for the weekend and as I've mentioned before, I don't like mowing during or right after it rains. Just my little quirk, but with our yard I don't want to go to the hospital with an injury because I couldn't wait a day or two.

Will probably watch a movie this afternoon. Still have one more disc of my Ren & Stimpy box set to watch. I bought it a couple months ago and then the heat came and then I didn't feel like watching them.

Miami lost to Florida St. last night. So that puts me at one for four so far. Okay I know it's only the first week.

Steve Irwin Died after a incident with a stingray.

Saw a few minutes of the Jerry Lewis MDA show, seems like they used to have it one the entire Labor day weekend. Guess times have changed.

So far my college picks dont look good-Washington St. lost, Idaho lost but Northwestern won. Tonight Miami plays and I hope they win.

Nellie Connally who was in car when John F. Kennedy was assassinated has died. She was the last living person who was in the car on that fateful November 1963 day in Dallas Texas. May she rest in peace.

Okay, here are my Pro and College Football teams I picked last week. Pro-Indy Colts, NY Giants to keep the Bears and Chiefs company. College-Idaho, Miami, Washington State and Northwestern. Watched the Ohio State Buckeyes spank the Northern Illinois Huskies yesterday.

Will do some chores today and maybe go out and do an errand this afternoon. I need to mow the backyard, but I am not sure if I will do that today or tomorrow.

Glenn Ford has passed away. I liked a few of the movies he starred in.

Was watching Project Runway last night and still can't get over that Angela got the boot at long last. Yes Angela, you're out. Go back to your little isolated Ohio farm and shut the heck up. Your lousy "International Jet Setter" outfit made it look like you were all dressed up to go out and slop the hogs. You should have been eliminated long ago. Talk to your stupid mother about how sad it is you lost and keep your stupid designs to yourself. Not sure how Angela got on the show or managed to stay as long as she did but ding dong the witch is gone.

This makes entry number 400 in my little blog. :->

Some areas north and south of us hardly got any rain. East of us had tornado activity or sightings of funnel clouds at least. So it was a big storm front that past through. The total, I think I mentioned this yesterday, is about four and a half inches. Most of that rain came Sunday.

Haven't picked out who I am going to follow in football this year. I have the schedules for the pro and college teams that were printed in yesterdays paper, will take a look at them today and see who looks good. The KC Chiefs and the Chicago Bears are a given for the pros, will pick out at least a couple more NFL teams. As for the college teams, Northwestern is the only team I know I want to follow this year.

I have slept pretty good the past couple of nights, despite having had dental work done on Saturday. In fact I am surprised I slept as much as I did Saturday. I don't have any paid related to the work I had done, which is good.

So far we have gotten four and a half inches of rain. It looks like we might get some more before the day is over. A inch and a half of that rain came in a heavy downpour mid-afternoon. We have flash flood warnings and heavy storm warnings until midnight tonight. It's like I have said many times, when we need rain we get some but not enough or when we need it we get too much. Well at this moment we have the latter. If we had gotten that much rain over the course of a few days, it wouldn't have been a bad deal, but that much in such a short time isn't good. The ground cant absorbs a great deal at once and when we get too much, we get flash flood warnings. If it doesn't rain the rest of the week, I will be happy. Don't take what I am saying as complaining, I am happy we are getting some rain. It's just we don't need this much at once.

I spent close to an hour downstairs getting water out of the basement, I usually prefer to have Mom help but she was too tired to help. We have a window well that needs to have a new cover and when Mom finally gets around to helping me with a few things around the house, it will get taken care of.

If by some chance we do get more water in the basement, I will try and take care of it in the morning before Mom goes off to work. If I don't I might wait until she gets back home, but I could do it where I have the garage door down a bit and locked so no one can get in.

We got some rain Friday and it looked we were going to get rain Saturday but got nothing. Early this morning, Sunday, I woke up and heard it raining. Since I didn't dump the rain out of the rain gauge the total from today will include Fridays rain.

Well, I spent four hours, yes FOUR hours, in the dentists chair yesterday. And it wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. For a few moments of terror I though I was going to need root canal, but I may not need it. I am crossing my fingers that I wont need it. I have a temporary tooth in and in a couple weeks I will get my new crown put in. In all it cost around $1,100 to fix my tooth. But I did get a lot for that though. There was exam,I did get a free tooth brush and dental floss. But you could say I paid for them anyway.

Broke my crown while eating breakfast yesterday, have a dentist appointment on Saturday. Had to walk to the bank this afternoon to take care of getting out online bank account. The account had gone dormant after three weeks ( we didn't know you needed to access it at least once every three weeks) and then was it was deleted after three months. Because we need to check our balance now and again or need to see if a check cleared, I had to walk to the bank and get the paperwork started on us getting an online account going. When I was almost home I heard thunder, I looked and saw a storm front that seemed to be following me. Not long after I got home, it started to rain.

It has been nice temperature wise all week. Even when it has gotten into the nineties during the day, it cools of in the evening and the house gets comfortable.

We got three quarters of an inch of rain Friday night/Saturday morning. The forecast for the week looks pretty good. Maybe people can begin to live again and without the blast furnace going.

Have some things I need to do today and I will do them despite having a headache and being tired.

I do not remember much detail of the three dreams I know I had last night, but I do remember what went on in two of the dreams. One involved me being in war (I have played three Medal Of Honor games several times, in fact I have played Frontline and European assault many times and I played a Call Of Duty for a bit but didn't like it and sold it), the other dream involved a sunken boat. Do not remember anything about the third dream, but what I do remember is that I didn't feel uneasy or frightened but what I was seeing and going through. I felt calm about everything.

Would like to take this opportunity to thank Mother Nature for Monday and Tuesday. Both days were very, very nice.

It looks like normal summer temperatures will be returning for the rest of August. Although today and Friday will be fairly hot, but I can deal with a couple days of it.

Bruno Kirby died the other day. I enjoyed some of the things he was in, he was a very good actor. He was only 57, so its a bit sad that he died. Not that it isn't sad when anyone dies at any age.

From last night through this morning, several storms dumped an inch of rain on our area. Even though the humidity is one hundred percent, it doesn't matter because we finally got a sizeable rain fall. Now if the dastardly heat much of the country has been dealing with would just pack its bags and leave.

Last night I once again had odd dreams. The only thing I can remember is that one involved oranges.

Forgot to mention that Mike Douglas, the TV host, passed away. I was a weird kid that grew to be a weird adult. But I remember watching his show when I was younger. I also watched Match Game and Dinah Shore, among other shows, when I was a kid.

Woke up yesterday and saw clouds. Thought it might be an indication we were going to get rain, but the clouds and the fog burned off by mid-morning. The day wasn't too bad otherwise. Looks like maybe we might get rain or a chance of rain once or twice this week. We certainly can use it, we are around eight inches behind for the year in the area.

Had a couple strange dreams last night. One involved me being on a basketball/dodge ball team. It was odd that some of my teams switched from being men to girls younger then me and a couple were twins. The other team taunted us, but we ended up winning, even though it appeared I was the only one who knew how to play. The other dream involved Mom and me being in some town I was not familiar with, but many people knew or at least acted like they knew us. We were walking around and decided to go to some bar, when we got to the door there was something blocking our way which was just pushing out of the way. The guy that helped us push the stuff out of the way wasn't sure the bar was open, but we looked through the dark glass and saw people inside so we went in. We sat down, placed a drink order and looked around. Even though we both felt a little uneasy about being in the place we decided to stay. At some point we changed seats, the lights went out and a movie began to play. There was a woman sitting next to me that began to take her clothes off, which was annoying. After a couple minutes, I grabbed the dress she was trying to take off and threw it several feet away. She never looked at me, but complained to the guy she was with and that's where the dream ends.

Mother Nature has been toying with us. There have been some storm systems pass us by and dump rain on some other section of the country. Worse yet, earlier in the week rain had been forecast and it really looked like we would get some, but we didn't. The storm ( as I already mentioned) just gathered its strength and gave the rain to someone else. Well finally yesterday we got a small amount of rain. It may not have amounted to much but we did get some rain and it cooled off a little. Right now we have a little bit of fog. I am hoping that the heat doesn't continue much long and does not care on into fall.

Have been having trouble sleeping, mainly caused the heat. And when I have slept, I have had strange dreams. Mostly I just remember an image but no details. This morning I had a dream where I was being put into a hospital. I remember I didn't want to be there. I was just arguing my case as to why I shouldn't be there and the argument fell on deaf ears. The last thing I remember was being told to lay down on a particular bed while I was talking with my mom. We were going back and forth with why I needed to be in the hospital and how we were going to pay for it when I didn't have insurance. That's all I remember.

Not sure what all I am going to do today. I do have some chores I need to get caught up on. But I am tired, from the troubles with sleeping and having to deal with the heat. So I am not sure just how much I will get done. Of course I will get the dishes and cat boxes cleaned, but I think I might just do one a or two light chores and call it a day.

Been dealing with computer issues and the heat the past couple days. Had to do a system restore after getting a trojan and it's screwed everything up. They outta just put an expiration date on computers like the do on seemingly everything else. That way you knew you had so long to have that particular computer.

Friday was a nice day for Moms birthday. It cooled down a little and allowed us to have fun an the Nelson-Atkins museum, Crown Center and then have a lovely meal at Red Lobster. We ate Lunch at the Rozelle (sp?) Court at the Nelson. After we were done at the Nelson, we went to Crown Center. Then we went home and rested a little while before heading out for dinner. She loved the gifts I got for her and had a pleasant day. Then the weekend came and brought the damned blast furnace heat with it.

The weekend was hot and nasty. Anyone who says they love summer should be shot on sight. There was a chance for rain last night, but Mother Nature is tormenting us again and we got nothing. Although, I think so parts of the metropolitan area might have gotten something. Today looks like rain and there's a slight chance for tomorrow, but I don't think Mother Nature will give us what we need. And what we need is rain and cooler temps.

Saturday, I looked at the Moon and for a moment I thought the glow coming off of it looked like a cross. It was strange, I don't know if because of it being not quite full or if was the angle. But it did look like it had a cross glow coming off it.

I spent most of yesterday convinced that the weather and forecasters were taunting us with claims it would rain. But yesterday evening the blessed rain came and brought its friend cool temperatures. So far the clouds are staying, hope they stay all day, and there is a chance we might get some more rain. My guess is that we got in the neighbor hood of half an inch last night. When Mom got home, which was late, we went out on a quick errand and the rain got a bit heavier as we got closer to home. Not only did we need a break from the blast furnace, but we needed the rain.

Mom's birthday is Friday and she managed to get the day off. So we are going to go out and have a little fun, then have dinner at her choice of restaurant.

Part Two of Items Of Mystery.

Items of mystery.

Okay this bigfoot is fake, but still.

I will not complain about yesterday, because yesterday was wonderful. It was about fifteen degrees cooler then what had been expected, we had a little bit of rain and the clouds stayed around most of the day. But, the next few days are supposed to be brutal. The crazy thing is, that on one weather site the forecast is one thing, on another site its close to the first forecast but varies on if we'll get rain and then the news says something else. So whom does one believe? The news says it will be a high of 107, which varies from the two weather sites, which both say the high is to be in the low to mid nineties. Just proves one thing, that they really don't know what they are doing even with all this fancy tools they have at their disposal.

Ken Jennings is a jerk and an idiot.

The past couple days it has looked like rain only we got nothing. We could really use the rain and cooler temperatures, not asking for a lot just want those two things.

Have been able to keep boredom at bay. Can't do to much in this heat, but I have been reading, listening to music and crocheting. If it were a bit cooler I would watch a DVD or two. I am really wanting to watch a Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie. But I don't feel like working the DVD player or VCR to hard in this heat.

Saw "The Devil Wears Prada" on Saturday. It was better then expected. We had lunch before we went, so we wouldn't be tempted by the $9.00 candy (okay that is exaggerated, but the movie candy does cost much more then what grocery stores or even convenient stores charge). After we show the movie, we did a little shopping and then picked up something for dinner before coming home.

The weekend temperatures were very nice. Dealing with the heat and other stresses finally caught up with both of us, so we took the rest of the weekend off. We got a quarter of inch in Friday's rain, not much but we'll take it. Looks like the coming week isn't going to be as bad as last week and at least one weather service mentions rain mid-week.

Kiska's first birthday is tomorrow and Mom's birthday is next week (not telling how old she is, for she would kill me). Franklin turned a year old last month. Haven't taken many photos of Kiska or Franklin lately so will try and do a little catch up.

At this moment we are getting some much needed rain. I hope it continues to rain for a while and if by some chance it stops, I hope it rains at least once or twice more today. The storm front pushed in warmer air last night, so sleeping was made harder by the heat. But at least we will have cooler temperatures for the next couple days and we are getting some rain.

Wednesday had a high of 104 degrees. I felt like I was being baked alive. If I ever win the lotto or come into some money I am buying a house with central air and turn it on so I can sit back and relax and not feel like I being baked.

I believe the heat has resulted in me having some strange dreams, some of which I do remember and have posted here and many I cant remember for more then a fleeting moment or two. But, I can have strange dreams any time of the year though.

Today, I am going to do a couple chores and then have an extended online time. Don't know what I am doing for lunch, its too early to think about that. But after I have lunch, I will sit back, relax and watch some TV and maybe a movie.

The weekend plans are to do a little shopping, see a movie and do some laundry. Will also do a little housework. I have a couple projects I would like to finish. Don't know if I will get to them this weekend. May just put them off until next week.

I have been managing alright in the heat. Yesterday I had a migraine and I lost most of the day because of it. The next couple days are supposed to be worse then what we have had so far. Went out and bought a couple new fans last night, I don't have central air and couldn't afford to run it much even if I did. We need rain and we need cooler temperatures, so if there was a way to bribe Mother Nature I would do it to get those things.

Red buttons passed away a couple days ago. The only movie I have of his is "The Poseidon Adventure", but I have seen some of his other work.

Thursday we went out to do a errand and have some dinner after Mom got off work. When we got out of the restaurant, it was a little cooler and some cloud cover had moved in. Later it started raining and we got have a half inch of rain in total. Some places south of us got a heck of a lot more rain.

Gas prices are on the rise again, as if that's a shock to people. I haven't heard of any drive offs at gas stations recently, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was happening more than we know about. Some people want to blame the owners of gas stations and convenient stores for gas prices and while some may be tacking on a few cents to make a profit, I doubt everyone is doing that. There are some honest station owners out there. Of course, it would be wonderful if a gallon of gas cost no more then a dollar fifty. But those days of cheaper gas are long gone. I do find it interesting though, that the price of gas has gone up while President Bush has been in office. Him being an oil man and possibly making money off doesn't have anything to with it. Or does it? No, we cant say something like that, or can we?

Had a strange dream with a recurring theme last night. Dreamt I was in high school again. The layout of the school was different then it was when I was there. After school was out for the day, I hurried towards the bus. When I got to the area where all the buses wait, I couldn't remember the number of my bus and when I finally did (it was 12 by the way), the buses began to leave which meant that I had to walk home. As I headed home, I repositioned my backpack and heard people behind me making fun of me. It didn't bother me a bit and I kept walking. At some point I realized that not only had it gone from day to night but I was over in Kansas City MO instead of Kansas City KS. It seemed a bit odd to me but almost as if that were normal. As I walked not only did I come up with a better back pack but I saw Melissa Etheridge walking along the street. She came over and started to direct us to the right way home. Even though I was heckled again and came up with a new backpack that I moved my stuff to and saw a famous person, nothing seemed to bug me and I thought it was all normal.

Looks like this is going to be a unusual summer in that it seems to be warmer then normal. Couple years ago it was cooler and wetter then normal so I guess Mother Nature is trying to even things out.

The strange dreams and troubles with sleeping continue. Nothing real bad, just one of the strange sleep cycles I get into from time to time.

Having been trying to find good (or at least entertaining) things to watch on TV in the evening and haven't had much luck. Until last night when there were four shows that overlapped each other were on. Taped one show in the living room, watched two and then caught the last one when it re-aired later that evening. I don't think programmers are trying to annoy us, but they are doing a good job of it.

June Allyson has died. I like a lot of the movies she was in. She will be missed.

The weekend and Monday were quite nice temperature wise and that's going to change this week. Today through the weekend it is going to get warmer. Friday is supposed to be close to 100 degrees and since the humidity is up from the rain and just up in general, that means it will feel every inch 100 degrees. I will say that when it has gotten warm, it wasn't that bad due to the humidity being low. Am not really complaining about the weather, I know it's summer and it's supposed to be warm and uncomfortable.

Had a strange dream Monday. I was with a group of people outside some building and we were told that there the bomb (a nuclear bomb) was going to be dropped. As we stood there someone screamed there's the plane now. We looked up and there was a large shiny plane and we became silent for a moment when we realized this was all for real. The guy who told us about the bomb spoke up again and said we needed to drink this juice that would help with the affects of the nuclear winter. I was standing at a desk that had cups set out and also had packages of this juice I was to dispense on top of it. I began to open the juice packs and wondered if I was doing it right, I wasn't sure of it because there was some mushy looking glob still inside some of the packs. After all the juice had been handed out, we headed for the shelters. As I walked to the real shelter, my dream self began to tell people where some of the other shelters were all the while knowing that they were screwed because they either wouldn't find it in time or because they were to close to the surface. As I walked to the real one I could people scrambling to get in to the cement corridors underground and look around for the entrance of the shelter. Some of the people were being to panic. Three other people and myself headed to the real shelter,when we got to the building where it was, we walked in and went to the elevator and headed down. My dream self hoped the bomb wouldn't go off while we were in the elevator. After we got down to the shelter level, the doors opened and revealed that we had to go through several glass doors before we could get into the shelter, we hurried to get through them. As we got closer to the shelter, a groupe of people appeared and asked where we were going. One of the guys I was with and myself managed to deflect there questions enough that they left. Once the last glass door had been opened and the shelter door had also been opened, all the glass doors closed and sealed us off. Once we entered the shelter and found everything alright, we sealed the shelter door and sat down. A few seconds later we felt the earth shake and we knew the bomb had been dropped. That's all I remember.

The past couple days have been pleasant. Cooler temps and a bit of rain will make anyone feel better. I must say that I am very happy I mowed the back yard and took care of some weeds yesterday morning. Although some of my neighbors will mow while its raining or even right after, I hate doing that.

Another plot to attack America was foiled. Idiots. We may get battered and bruised but we will always be ready to kick ass first and ask questions later.

The total rain fall of a couple days ago is one and a half inches.

Yesterday was cooler then Monday and way cooler then Sunday. Sundays high was about 100 degrees. It was cool last night as we sat out and shot of some fireworks. I kept a box of sparklers and a couple other things back for New Years eve.

We got some cooler weather and some much needed rain last night and into the morning. It start some time in the evening and rained heavy for a brief period, after it stopped I thought for sure we wouldn't get anymore rain. Around midnight it started raining and it continued off and on until early morning. From the looks of it we got a little over two inches of much needed rain and cooler temperatures.

Got several things done yesterday, including getting a safe deposit box at a different bank. The bank were we had the old deposit box at was no longer dealing with them, so they sent everyone letters instructing them what to do. So we switched banks and we got the first year free.

Finally saw the movie "The Da Vinci Code" yesterday. I had read the book but for one reason or another, I had just put off seeing the movie. Well the movie sucked. Yes I am going to say it, the book was better. Don't always say it but in this case its true. I was happy when the credits began to roll. What I should have done was just waited until it came out on DVD instead, that way I could have just fast forward through the dull parts, which would have been most of the movie.

This fourth of July is going to be hot. It is usually one of three things, cool, wet or hot. But it is summer so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Have a few chores I need to do today, but will take it easy much of the day. Tomorrow Mom has the day of, so we will do a couple things in the morning and not sure what else we will do. One thing we will take care of is transferring stuff we have in a safe deposit box from one bank to another. We will add a few things to the box before we go to the next bank.

Been having troubles sleeping, mainly being unable to stay asleep for the usual large chunks or all night like I normally do. I sleep hard for an hour and then have trouble getting back to sleep. On top of this I've been having some strange dreams, like the plane dream recently, and I usually don't remember much detail.

Got a brief rain storm last night. It didn't rain enough to fill the gauge. The storm headed southeast, so they probably got more then us.

Allergies have been bothering me a lot lately. My allergies and how bad they are vary with the season and also vary on how the weather is. Like if we are real dry, they might not be as bad or if we get a lot of rain they might get worse. It depends on what is growing and the time of year. Lately I have wanted to take my eyes out and dip them in water because they have felt so gritty. Thank GOD I have eye drops and over the counter stuff to help me combat them. I would like to know what it was like to live without allergies though.

Aaron Spelling passed away after suffering a stroke early last week. I enjoyed some of the shows he was behind.

Patsy Ramsey, who's daughter was murdered and the killer never caught, died from cancer. It seems odd and sad that the killer of her daughter was never caught, then again maybe the killer just died.

We decided that after we got the car worked on, an oil change and a radiator flush, and did a couple errands that we would go to a couple of the antique malls we used to go to. The main reason for going was to look for a replacement ironstone pitcher and bowl set that was broken by Franklin earlier in the week. I know frank didn't mean to break it, he just lost his footing after failure to jump were he had intended.

Anyway, we drove up to one and after walking around a bit, we I didnt find anything and set out to go to the next one. The next mall was closed and had been turned into something else, both of us were shocked it had closed. The place always seemed busy, although the prices some of the dealers were charging for there goods was a bit high. After we drove past the place again just to make sure it was indeed gone, we continued driving north to another antique we hadn't been to in awhile, when we got there it too was gone for good. The three other little antique places near it were gone as well. As we headed back home, we discussed the malls and figured it was due to many factors, including eBay and economy.

While we were out and about, we ran into some rain. I guessed, and guessed wrong, that we didnt get anything at home. When we got home, the rain gauge showed an inch of much needed rain. The rain watered the plants I have sort of neglected for the past couple of weeks as well as cooled things off. The weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow before it starts heating back up again.

Have been having some strange dreams lately. Most of them I can only remember just a tiny bit about and a couple I can remember more detail.

One dream involved Mom and me driving to the hardware store, I don't remember what we were going to buy though. I do remember that it was night, there was hardly a person on the road besides us, it was overcast and looked like it had rained and there was just enough ambient light so we could see (for some reason the street lights were out). The biggest thing in the dream is seeing a plane crash. As we drove we could see burn marks on the street and chunks of the plane here and there. I was a passenger in the car and saw the plane shoot up do some acrobat tricks and then crash. Neither of us seemed to be a bit worried about what had just happened. Not sure what the dream means and not sure I want to find out.

Got some rain this morning, not very much but at least it was rain. The rain brought some cooler temperatures with it. Today is much cooler then what it was yesterday. The next few days are supposed to be a little cooler then what its been lately.

Got the Ren & Stimpy DVD set of season one and two as well as the Star Trek Nemesis DVD in today's mail. I had taken advantage of a sale at Deepdiscountdvd.com last week and got twenty percent off the price of both items. Even though I already had the Star Trek disc, I didn't have the collectors edition version of it. Will sell or give away that movie. Am very happy to finally have Ren & Stimpy on disc, the set has some special features and will keep me entertained well into next week.

Saw the movie "A Prairie Home Companion" on Saturday. It was alright, it was the first movie I've since February because what's come out so far this year has been nothing short of trash. There are a couple more movies I would like to see and I think that will be for movies this year.

We got a little rain both Saturday and Sunday early in the morning. The weather was nice during the weekend for a change, sure it was warm but it didn't feel too bad. The heat returns for the week, the chance of rain is slim. This is turning into a bit of a dry year, although some parts of the country have it worse so I cant complain too much.

Cant seem to get myself motivated to do the things I know I need to do. Although I can try my best and blame the heat, that's only one part of it.

The previous two days were cool and nice, but we are now going back on to the Mother Nature roller coaster ride. The temperatures are going to be all over the map for the rest of the week apparently. I don't know if I put much stock into it though.

Today the movie "The Quiet Earth" is going to be released on DVD and I am very happy. Before long the copy I pre-ordered will arrive. I have been waiting for some years to get my hands on a copy of this movie, so when I found out it was being released on DVD I was overjoyed. The movie is fairly interesting, will watch and see if it holds up to how I remember it. One thing is for certain though, even if I don't like, there is not a chance in Hades that I will EVER sell it. No matter what, that will never happen.

Woke up with a headache and my allergies bothering me. Hopefully some aspirin and a allergy pill will make me feel a tad better, if not I'll just lay on the floor and moan like a three year old.

Yesterday and today have been warmer then normal. The heat is to extend into the weekend. What would be nice is a cool stretch of weather with a bit of rain. But I think this is going to be a warmer then normal summer, somewhat like what last year was like. So I will just have to plan accordingly and be happy when we get cool weather. Good thing is that it cools off a bit at night and the house isn't to bad. You do notice it being warmer when you're a bit sluggish and sweating.

Have not slept well the past couple nights and its not because of the heat, it does cool off a bit at night which helps a lot. Not really sure why I am having troubles sleeping. I am not having nightmares or anything. It could be just one of those normal things.

Have a couple errands to take care of in the morning. Need to go to the bank and the laundromat. Will let Mom catch up on her mail, sleep and a few chores. Next weekend we will go see a movie. The four day July fourth weekend, we plan on seeing a couple more movies and do some shopping.

It never rained here yesterday like had been forecast, though east of here there were thunderstorm warnings. So the total for Monday and the previous rain was three quarters of an inch. Much of that rain came in Monday's thunderstorm.

I don't know why, but I am a bit uneasy today. Could have something to so with it being 06-06-06, but I could be wrong.

Had a severe thunderstorm system roar through the area last night. The power went out for about thirty seconds, thought it would be out for awhile but I was wrong. The power never went out again during the storm. Since it looks like we might get some rain today, I will hold off with the rain tally.

Finished one of the afghans I had put off for months. It was just cool enough yesterday for me to finish it while I watched TV. The other one will wait until fall. Have decided to start another afghan and work on it when I can. Will be using some scrape yarn to create this one. Although I have a large quantity of yarn at my disposal, I want to use up some of this leftover yarn rather then store it.

We got some rain this morning, don't think it was forecast. The day turned out to be cooler then had been forecasted. This week it is supposed to be in the mid to upper eighties, but it cools off at night so it should be fairly nice in the house.

Finally getting around to finishing an afghan I started some months ago. I am very close to the end on it and will push to get it done so that we can wash it the next trip to the laundromat. I have another afghan, this one for a bed, that I need to finish but the thing would have to be covering my legs in order for me to finish it and it's a little warm for that. The thing can wait until fall, or a cool spell this summer. I might end up crocheting a couple small afghans this summer just to keep myself busy. Might even try knitting a scarf, a project I have been putting off. While I may not be very good at crocheting or knitting, my Mom doesn't care and she likes the things I make for her.

I got the MST3K DVD set last week and watched the movies. Loved "Wild Rebels" and "The Sinister Urge", but the "Women on the prehistoric planet" was bad and although I had seen the "Mixed-up Zombie" movie before it was as bad as I remembered. I can never remember the full title so I always call it the "Mixed-up Zombie" flick. I wonder what Rhino will put out for volume 10. Three films I would like are "The Mole People", "Revenge Of The Creature" and "Riding With Death". It wouldn't matter what the fourth film was, so long as I had those three.

We got a little rain on Monday, got a little more rain on Tuesday, got two inches of rain yesterday. It rained hard for about twenty minutes and then slowed done a little. The end result is as I said, two inches of rain. The air smelled great after it rained. I was a little afraid to go downstairs to open the garage door, because I was sure we had a bunch of water in the basement. But alas, the basement was pretty dry. There was a little around one pipe in the basement and a little water around the outtake pipe in the laundry room and that was it. This was despite the fact that we had a flash flood due to so much water in such a short time.

What standing water there had been right after the rain was gone within a couple hours. The fact we haven't had much rain lately was a good thing, the ground just drank the water up because we were a bit dry.

There was a bit of fog this morning, it left once the sun started to rise. I love fog, so I wish it had been thicker and had stayed around awhile longer.

Yesterday was supposed to get into the nineties like it done the previous few days, but we got a reprieve from the heat and got some much needed rain. Although it didn't rain a lot, it at least cooled things off.

Spent much the day watching 'Deadliest Catch' on the Discovery channel. Great program I have seen before, but got caught up with the show during the marathon.

It has been warmer then normal for the past few days. Yesterday you could really feel it, Friday it didn't seem so bad because of some cloud cover. Summer came early and has announced she will be nasty this year. Am hoping we get some much needed rain soon. I know it will raise the humidity, but we do need the rain.

My plans for the rest of the day are to get out and mow, then take a shower and relax. Have already done a couple chores. I'm waiting for Mom to finish her stuff so we can go take care of a couple errands. I am a bit irked at her because I got my chores done earlier thinking we would get the errands done so that I could mow. But she likes to be slow about things some times.

Even though I said I was going to give Resident Evil a rest, I played it again and finished it in a little over nine hours. I will now give it a rest because I would like to give my other games a chance.

Went out an bought an ice cream maker last night. Will probably make ice cream at least once a week.

Got some much needed rain early this morning. I don't know how much yet, but I would guess around half an inch. We could use a little more rain.

It is going to be fairly warm, borderline hot, the next few days. So we really never had a normal spring, at least not so far. But we could get a cooling trend at some point, which would make everyone happy. Of course, a cool wet summer is not a bad thing.

I got my three disaster movies this past week, forgot to mention it in an earlier post. Had to watch Earthquake first because I have waited years to get it on DVD. It was great, the picture was clear and it was fun being able to skip ahead or rewatch something easily in a way you cant do with video. Did watch Towering Inferno and Poseidon Adventure, but didn't give them my full attention. Both those movies and their extras look great.

Have a headache today. It has been strange lately, I have had mild headaches almost every day for about a week and a half. Generally they have left on their own, but I have a couple that stayed around and were just bad enough for me to need a couple advil and a nap. I just hope this isn't a sign of something much worse. Figure the roller coaster weather we have had lately is the villain in all this.

It was ten+ degrees cooler today then it was yesterday. The forecast for the coming week it supposed to be highs in the eighties. Mom wanted it to be a little warmer, well she got it and then some. I thought the cooler temps were delightful.

Did laundry, bought a quilt and laundry baskets for Mom, washed the car, gassed the car up and rented a couple videos for Mom to watch this morning. I was a bit tired from that, the fits of insomnia I've been having lately and not enough coffee before we left.

Will do some cleaning tomorrow and at least a couple errands. Because Mom will have this coming Friday off, I will need to do a little more around the house this coming week.

Finished the book "All The President's Men" this week. I started the book "The Da Vinci Code" Thursday. So far it is an interesting read.

Finished Resident Evil 4 for the third time and will be giving it a rest, a much deserved rest, for awhile. I would never have guessed that I would love the game so much that I would want to play it that much. So far I have logged in over forty hours on the game, that doesn't include the amount of time I have played the side games. At any rate it will get a vacation.

Earlier in the week there was a woodchuck in the neighbors yard. Have never seen one in the neighborhood before. I have seen them a few times along the roadside as we were traveling, on the way to do some shopping or whatever. But I had never had the chance to get a really good look at one. The poor thing was a bit terrified of the Huskies, even though it wasn't in danger as it was in our neighbors yard. I contemplated calling animal control, but didn't have to. It climbed over the fenced and got into a tree when I went inside to answer the phone. Sometime later I managed to get it to get it out of the tree and realize it wasn't in harms way. It ran like hell once it was out of the tree. Haven't seen it since and probably never will.

Will be ordering the MST3K set sometime next week, will be ordering a book on North American Wildlife with it.

Recently I had pre-ordered both Earthquake and MST3k set 9 DVD's. Last week I found out that there were special editions of The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure coming out. So I cancelled the MST3K set ( I will get it soon) and changed my order to get the other two disaster films. Now I am just waiting for the movies to be delivered.

Have started playing Resident Evil 4 again. I don't know what it is about that game, but I love it. Will get around to playing Eternal Darkness sometime, have had it awhile and haven't done much with it, I need to either play it or sell it.

Had a headache this morning, but managed to kill it. The one I had Saturday just wouldn't let go, it finally left late afternoon. So I didn't get much Saturday as I would have liked.

Beat Resident Evil 4 for the second time. The first time it took me 22 hours 22 minutes and 29 seconds to finish it. This time it took me 13 hours 3 minutes and 11 seconds to clear it. The second time through I had Leon wearing his RPD outfit. I bought another Resident Evil game last weekend and have only given it a quick look. I don't like it, but I am guessing if I play it long enough, I might get into it. I don't know if there is going to be another Resident Evil game, but I would probably buy it. I have another game that I bought last year (can't think of the name off hand) that is in a similar vain as RE that I need to play.

Woke up with a migraine that got worse as the day progressed. I am just starting to feel better. Wonder if something is coming it.

Got the second half of our Michigan Bulb order. Will plant the stuff in the morning and do some yard work.

This evening or Sunday will place a order with Bath & Bodyworks. They finally have their website set up to allow customers to purchase things online. Before they just gave some product information and that was it. Guess they realized how important having a online presence is to a company.

Had to go the Laundromat last night to wash some things the cats hate pissed on. While we were waiting the load to finish, one of the gals that works there said something about a car being on fire. Turned to look out the window, lo and behold across the street a SUV had smoke pouring out from under the hood. One of the attendants called 911 and as Mom and I were leaving, the fire truck had finished putting the blaze out. We figured the vehicle had to be totaled, because the engine was damaged and the tires had been burned a bit.

Today is cooler then it was yesterday and is a bit windy.

Got a little bit of rain this morning, around 1 am. Was awake when it there was some good lightning. Has been mostly cloudy all day. Has looked like it was going to rain several times today.

My weather channel program I have on my desktop stopped working. Have tried reinstalling it to no avail. I hate that it has stopped working, it was a really great program. Guess I'll have to look around for another desktop weather program.

Went to the zoo and a pet expo on Saturday. Both of which involved a lot of walking. We also had a nice lunch out and did some shopping. Although it was good for me, it left me a bit sore.

Sunday we got laundry done, planted some bulbs and mowed in the backyard. Could hardly move after that, but had to so I could take a shower.

Been having some strange dreams lately. Last night I dreamt that I was driving at night and Mom was in the passenger seat. It was a cloudy evening and it looked it had rained earlier. The area looked very much like our town, like so often in my dreams everything I am familiar with changes even in just minor ways. As we headed east, I looked up and saw the Aurora Borealis. At first it looked a bit odd. It started in the north and was brighter then I thought it would be and had strange formations which stopped and began to look like what it should. Then from the south, a band of color began to form and head north. After a few seconds, a band of color began to take shape about in the middle and within seconds everything joined up and put on a brilliant display. That's all I remember.

We got one and a quarter inches of rain yesterday morning in a brief but heavy downpour. It rained very briefly in the afternoon and then just looking like it was going to do something but didn't the rest of the day. Looks like it might do something today as well.

I planted flowers that we purchased Saturday on Monday. Tuesday we bought one more four pack to fill the garden out. Now it looks nice in our little container garden. Also planted some Zinnia and wild flower seeds. Will get the hummingbird feeder cleaned up and put it out this weekend.

Until late afternoon, yesterday was nice. And then it began to rain again. From afternoon until sometime this morning it rained close to two inches. It is cloudy today and it could rain again. Although we do need the rain, I hate when we get some much in such a short period of time. We have a dry period and then we get too much rain.

We got about an inch of rain yesterday, it was a gentle all day sort of rain. Looks like the next few days will be rain filled. Will do a final rain tally once the stuff has cleared out.

Can't mow in the backyard because of the rain, so we'll be getting out and using the weed whip to knock down some of the taller grass. It probably wont be until next week or the weekend before I'll get a chance to mow in the back. With the dogs back there, I can't just go back anytime I want, it has to be a planned thing. Mom has to be home and help with holding the dogs back. I might plan for mowing sometime in the week since there are things to be done over the weekend.

Pre-ordered the Mystery Science Theater 3000 volume 9 set and Earthquake DVD's. I have been looking for Earthquake for sometime as it is one of my favorite disaster movies. It had been out on DVD before, but had no luck getting a copy, so I am pleased as hell to finally get a copy. The MST3K set has three movies I have never seen. So I have something to look forward to later next month.

The sun is shining and it is nice out. I really didn't mind the clouds, the rain or the cooler temperatures. Wish the clouds could have hung around a few more days.

Not sure what we will be doing this weekend. I am hoping we can get out and do something a little fun, if it was cheap as well as fun then it would be a bonus. There aren't any movies coming out any time soon that I want to see. Have only seen one movie so far and that is sad. But since Hollywood can't seem to make a decent movie anymore, I am afraid the amount of movies I see in the theaters each year is going to be limited to just a few. Maybe there will be a summer blockbuster or two worth viewing.

Went out to dinner last night. When we were done, I went over to best buy to look at Gamecube games, as I left I looked up and saw a rainbow. It was very beautiful, was able to view it for several minutes. We have gotten, I have not checked how much rain we got last night, a little over an inch of rain since Saturday. The rain has been needed and gentle.

Have been dealing with a nasty case of depression this week.

Had to have the septic tank pumped again, it hadn't overflowed or anything I was just concerned it might.

I finally got my bathroom faucet fixed. Had been putting it off for months, knew it needed done because it was putting a fair amount of water into the septic tank. After I fixed it and the water was turned back on, was relieved to find there was no leak from under the sink and that when I went out to dump some root killer in the septic tank I noticed that the drip that had been there prior to me fixing the faucet was gone. On the plus side I saved us about two hundred bucks fixing the faucet myself. Am happy it is finally done.

The pizza place we went to last weekend is closed for good and that's just sad. Although they didn't have a ton of business, they always had a few customers. But that wasn't enough to keep them going. Now there isn't a good place to get pizza locally. Papa Johns is crap, don't like Dominos and there Pizza Hut is delivery only and isn't good on top of that.

Got a bit of rain last night and we needed it in the worst way. The storm was in and out of the area within about an hour. Am still nervous when it comes to rain and the septic tank but I can deal with that stuff.

Have a couple errands this morning. When we get back, will do some cleaning and see if the lawn mower still works. If by some chance I need to go buy a new mower, I will just buy a cheap and light one.

Had some severe weather sail through the area last night. We were on the outer reaches of the storm and got a little bit of some much needed rain. The sirens did scream due to a tornado warning. We were out doing a couple chores went the storm rolled in, had to return some bad avocados and decided to pick up some pizza for dinner. I was sitting in the pizza place and watched the TV they had tuned to one of the local news channels. They interrupted Americas Most Wanted to start the storm coverage, the weather dude mentioned that a funnel had briefly touched down. Once our pizza was done, I hurried to the car and drove home.

As we were headed home, we kept looking to the sky. The lightning was lighting up the sky as if God was playing pinball. The storm was a nice spring electrical storm. I watched the storm coverage as I ate dinner, while mom sat out in the family room and bitched about the coverage, but she also complains about sports coverage interrupting her shows so I just ignore it.

Have some chores to take care of this weekend. Among them is to clear some debris from the yard and burn it.

The past two days have been fairly windy. Yesterday was cloudy and breezy much of the day and then in late afternoon the clouds left. It warmed up a little and then sometime in the evening the clouds returned. During the evening, I saw lighting and would have sworn it was going to rain. No rain at all. The next few days are supposed to be warmer then should be normal for this time of year and we still haven't had rain in awhile.

Think the bird we saw at the lake Saturday was a Osprey. Not sure yet, will check out our bird books.

Took some pictures of the tulips I planted last year that are blooming. They are very pretty and will post a pic when I can.

Went to the laundromat yesterday morning. It wasn't hard for me to get up early, as I do it every morning. Mom, who can stay up with ease, like usual had a hard time getting up and moving. We did a lot of laundry, lots of towels and sheets.

The power went out twice last night. Its like the fourth time this year we have lost power. Although the wind was a little strong it wasn't so bad that it would cause the power to go out. I don't know what the problem is, but it is getting ridiculous.

We had just come back from doing some shopping and I was downstairs bringing the last of the stuff up, when boom power is out. Mom had to get a flashlight and guide me up the stairs by its light. Everything was put away in very little light and dinner was eaten by candle light, but not because we wanted to. When we were almost done with dinner, the power came back on. About ten minutes later it went out again and stayed of for about half an hour. When the power came back off again, I wondered to myself how long was it going to stay off this time. It stayed on and has been on since then.

Have a project to do today and then this afternoon we are going to go out and try to have some fun. Tomorrow we are going to the Laundromat to get caught up on the laundry that I have been behind on for a couple weeks.

The top pic is of Ashley, he's part Tabby and part Seal Point Himalayan.
The Bottom is of (From left to right) in front Delilah, Montana and Samson. Back row is Tiko, Felix and Zane. On the pillow is Zephyr, he is a Tabby Siamese mix. Franklin is the only one I don't have a good photo of, yet. I plan on taking some pictures this weekend.

Have some chores to do, a few errands and a big project planned for the weekend.

Have a major case of depression. I know I worry too much about things I cant change, obsess about them, get into fits of anxiety over little stuff.

It looks like the laterals from the septic tank are need to be replaced. I am sure that isn't cheap. Don't think we can get that done for fifty bucks. There is a plumber who lives up the street we will talk to Saturday. Until then we are going to do no laundry and conserve water as much as we can. I say that because it looks like we may need to have the septic tank pumped out again and we just had it done Monday. Yes, I realize that doesn't make sense, but the water is coming from some where and then there is the fact that rain is in the forecast and that water will most likely head right to the tank.

You know, I know life isn't supposed to be easy and all, but it seems like we and many others have a more difficult life then others do. An easy solution to some of this crap would be for me to when the lottery. But I don't see me dreaming of the numbers as I sleep or winning the bloody thing ever happening.

Karma, I love you, but you're a flipping bitch.

My baseball teams for the year are---Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and the lowly Kansas City Royals. I did well with the football teams I followed last year, let see how I do with these teams.

The septic tank was taken care of yesterday morning and since then I have been trying to come up with a way to lessen the amount of water that goes into it in the future. One thing I know would help, is if we could divert the washer water elsewhere. Then the only water going into the tank would be shower, kitchen sink, bathroom sink and toilet water, which doesn't add up to a lot of water throughout the day. Have been looking to what how local government has to say about gray water and also looking for grey water tanks.

While I was outside walking around the yard yesterday morning, I noticed that more of our plants budding. In fact, some of the things I planted last year are looking real good and may bloom soon. I might post some photos of them later on.

Lost power last night for more then an hour. The wind was strong, as it has been off and on for a few days.

We also found the septic tank was full, found out when I went downstairs to take care of some laundry and saw a trickle around the out take pipe. Both of us had to wash our hair in the sink and went without showers, Mom cleaned up with a rag and I went to bed a little dirty. I had taken a shower late Saturday so it wasn't as if I was terribly dirty.

We are now waiting for a pumper truck to come and pump out the tank. I know I need to get in the habit of using Rid-X, hopefully this will push me to start doing it. The tank obviously isn't draining right. Of course, neither of us want more digging and more cost to replace drainage pipes. Crossing my fingers everything gets done well and quickly.

I have a slight pet peeve with the post office. Since I sell items on eBay, I need to use the post office to ship my stuff. Yes on occasion I have used UPS, but not that often (in fact I didn't ship with UPS last year but I digress). Since December I have been paying for postage online, which is wonderful because I can walk out to the mailbox and hand the package to my letter carrier or stuff it in the mailbox if its small enough. My peeve lately has been that someone at my local post office isn't scanning the delivery confirmation before it leaves. So I have been nervously wondering where oh where the packages are. One was finally delivered and I got feedback for it. The other is still in transit and FINALLY got scanned in to the system today in Texas. Yes, I know there are last workers all over....BUT I never saw such a display of laziness with two packages in a row. It makes me nervous about shipping another package, even though I shouldn't be. Okay I feel better.

We got some rain on Thursday, the trees and flowers seem to have responded to the rain and showing some signs of life. The bulbs I planted last year have some buds, also two of the plants we planted last spring look really good. A couple up and died, but they will be replaced later in spring. The iris plants are looking good and we have some tulips ready to pop open.

Above is some irises from a couple years ago.

A rain storm rolled through last night while I was asleep and left us with about a quarter inch of rain. We need all the moisture we can get, we have been running a little dry lately.

Did some cleaning today. Did more cleaning during the weekend then I tend to. Friday Mom will be off work and we have some projects lined up. Not sure how much we will get done before the weekend is done.

Did some yard work yesterday, took out a flower bed and put some plastic boarder around the peonies. Also got some branches off the roof. The rocks we took out of the flower bed will be used in some other project this spring. Will order a small amount of plants from the Michigan Bulb company.

While we were out, we looked for a good area to plant some of the things we will be ordering. Also came up with some good ideas to fix our gutter downspout problem.

Buck Owens has died. I remember watching "Hee Haw" when I was a kid. Yes, I was a weird kid and I grew to be a weird adult. But I am comfortable with that.

Last week we had warm temperatures and rain. This week we have cooler temperatures and snow. It is now Spring, and yet we have snow. I am to young to say "When I was a kid...", but when I was a kid the seasons were more normal than this. Yes we did have the occasional weird weather and all, but you still didn't have the overlapping seasons as much. At least they seemed normal.

Had a migraine yesterday. It was a Monday and it was rainy. You know there is that old Carpenters song about rainy days and Mondays....if it is a rainy day and a Monday does something explode?

Have been having some strange dreams lately. Nothing scary, I don't feel upset by them, they are just strange. One I had last night involved Halloween, yes Halloween. Another involved an airplane. I don't remember any detail, just fleeting images. I do remember that when I was dreaming of Halloween, I was smiling for whatever reason.

Looks like we might be getting a late hit of winter weather. I guess Mother Nature wanted to fling one more storm at us before spring started. We were supposed to get some rain yesterday, but it never showed up. We did get a short, but light, snow yesterday. It didn't last very long, though.

I now own "The Sims 2", bought it yesterday. Sold a vase and made enough to buy it. It will take a bit of time to get used to it, just like with "The Sims:Busting Out".

Took some over the counter allergy meds, stuff with antihistimines (not sure of spelling of it), and had to take a nap. I am still feeling a bit groggy from the stuff. Don't thing I am going to be taking anymore of that stuff.

Had a migraine much of the day. Managed to get a few things done.

Maureen Stapleton and Peter Tomarken (he was the host of "Press Your Luck") have died. Peter died in a plane crash. I liked both of them, my favorite Ms. Stapleton movie is "Airport". Both will be missed.

Wow, what a ride weather wise yesterday was. Four storm blew in and out, we got close to two inches. Over an inch was dumped in just one storm. The first storm came through in the morning, the next two in the afternoon and the last one hit in the evening. Street lights were knocked out, cars were damaged by winds, debris or by hail. Some areas had hail the size of eggs or larger. The largest hail we got was no bigger than a pea. The lighting was probably the best in the even, because it was dark and we could see it best. Not sure if anyone died or is any tornados touched down. I do know there were reports of funnel clouds in the afternoon.

Severe weather in the area the past couple days. Just had heavy thunderstorm roar through, it dumped an inch of rain and some hail, it was in and out within about ten minutes.

Went out this morning to wash the car and do a couple errands before another storm was coming in. We got to the car wash when the window picked up and knocked the power out it rained heavy for a couple minutes. As we headed to Kmart, the rain stopped. The clouds were very dark and the wind gusted strong for a bit. Managed to get the errands done and was back home before anything else happened. It looked like everything was going back to normal before this afternoon storm hit.

The sirens are blaring off and on, there's still some thunder out. Not sure we are out of danger yet.

Dana Reeve, Christopher Reeve's wife, has died from lung cancer. Kirby Puckett, has died after suffering a stroke on Sunday. Sad about both, they were in their forties which is too young to die.

We bought a dryer at Lowes. Looked at some of the other dryers, but bought the one we had picked online. It is supposed to be delivered today.

Saw the movie "Mrs. Henderson Presents" yesterday. It was very good, I had heard nothing about it prior to seeing it.

Finally got some rain yesterday and early this morning. The total was about half an inch. There is more rain in the forecast for the coming week and we need everything we can get. It has been rather dry this year so far.

Yesterday was sort of a bad day, glad it's over.

It is, at this moment, like twenty degrees cooler then it was on Wednesday. Rain has been forecast for the weekend, January was the warmest on record and February was the driest on record.

Have to go and buy a new dryer this weekend. Our old one decided it didn't want to live anymore. We are going to try Lowes first, as a last resort we will go to Sears. We usually go to Sears anyway, at least for appliances, but we wanted to do something different this time.

Last night the power went out, not once but twice. About twenty minutes into the first round, we decided to go out for dinner. I wanted to go somewhere where we could sit and chat, but Mom just wanted to get something to eat at home. But the joke was on her, because when we got back home the power had gone out again. So there we were in the family room, eating take out by candle light. When the power finally came back on again, I told Mom that I hoped it didn't go out again and it didn't.