Last night, Ernie and I ordered a Dell Axim. Any new gadget coming into the house gets me giddy. The reason for the purchase? So that Ernie can put the inventory of his train collection on it. Correction...I will be putting the inventory on it, as I've been put in charge of data entry because I get my kicks from that kind of stuff. That way, Ernie will have a handy device to take with him to train shows and stuff so he will be able to easily see if he already has something or...

I had a long weekend because of President's Day. I did a ton of housecleaning on Saturday. Ernie and I spent some time in the basement...him working on his trains, me working on rearranging my Barbie table. Sunday morning, Ernie made breakfast, as usual. We then drove about a half hour to go to a train show. I love looking at the layouts. They had one layout that was made entirely out of Legos. It wasn't a simplistic thing either...it was pretty much more elaborate than I could have...

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, obviously. Ernie has told me time and time again how much he hates the stupid Hallmark holiday and refuses to celebrate it. I decided to just go along with it this year and pretty much ignore the day, except for a mention on the note I put in his lunchbox (he gets a note everyday, so the note was nothing special).

Ernie always calls me when he's leaving work so that I know when to start dinner. Last night, he didn't call until 7:30. I'd already...

Saturday, I slipped on some snow and ice and fell flat on my back. I wasn't even able to try to catch myself. It was an instant 'VROOP!!!' Down I went! I hurt the back of my head, my neck, my back, and my booty. As of right now, just my right hip and the right side of my waist hurts, so don't worry, I'll be fine. I love you too, winter.

I did my grocery shopping and my usual Saturday run to Barnes & Noble for music magazines. I also stopped at...

Dad did my taxes for me and mailed the stuff to me so I could slap my signature on before sending them in. He placed sticky notes on the forms to indicate where I needed to add info. I called him up and thanked him for idiot-proofing them. He did that for me last year as well.

Speaking of last year...that tax refund ended up being a down payment on a new car, after that silly girl crashed her van into me and wrecked my beloved car. THIS year though...I'm gonna be...

I was driving to work yesterday morning when I remembered that with all of the ingredients I'd thrown into the crock pot before leaving, I'd forgotten to add the 3 cups of water. Guess who was late for work because she had to run home and dump some stupid water into the pot? Even though being late is no big issue at work, I still hate it when I'm tardy. I also tricked the dogs then too, because they were all excited to have me back home...and then I left again right away. Aww.
...

Yesterday, Chewie turned 3. Ernie and I decided to have cake on her behalf.



She wasn't completely left out though. We sang to her, and she and Buddy each got a Frosty Paw.



Unfortunately, Buddy isn't as nice about eating his Frosty Paws as Chewie is....

I got to my dad's place a little before noon on Saturday...and nobody was home. Dad had to run out to work quick, and Mom went with him. They thought they'd beat me home, but they were obviously wrong.

Before I gave Mom her birthday present, she gave me some belated Christmas gifts. She had told me I was getting a present, but I didn't expect all she gave me. Everything was in a memory box that she had made for me out of a shoebox and various clippings that...

Mom came over last night! She lives in Maryland, but she came to Michigan to spend a long weekend at Dad's. It's about a 600 mile trip, so I was surprised that with only 100 more miles to go, she'd want to get off the freeway and stop by Ernie and me. The last time I saw Mom was in June, so it was cool to have her over, even if for just a half hour. She was running late and didn't get to our place until after 9:00. She was excited to see my aquarium. She couldn't believe how clear...

Dad called to let me know that Chester Scott passed away. When Dad checked on him last night, he noticed that the previous night's treats hadn't been touched. He lifted up the igloo Chester slept in and discovered him peacefully curled up in a ball. He hadn't been sick, but I've had him for over 2 years. His time must have just come.

I'd gotten Chester in early December of 2004. I ended up moving away from home the following April to take a new job and be with Ernie. Chester...

After this month, I'll be less than $5,000 away from being debt-free. The offending bills are my car payments, student loan, and wisdom teeth. Pretty amazing. Both of my credit cards are clear...except for my internet charge that goes on automatically, but I pay that every month. I also realized this weekend that I've been saving more money than I thought I was from each paycheck. I was shocked to see a few hundred more on my savings account balance than I thought should be there. I called...

"i mentioned something about my therapist and stabbing her."

"i'm out of money. i will now have to exhange sexual favors for oxen. i hate when life imitates art."

"who needs a job? i was fired from kroger when i was sixteen. they only paid me $4.15 an hour, so i was like, peace out, bitch."

"boring? it is so not boring. how can a man who disrobes in a strangers kitchen be boring?"...

It's my dad's birthday, so I emailed him with:

"Well, birthdays are merely symbolic of how another year has gone by and how little we've grown. No matter how desperate we are that someday a better self will emerge, with each flicker of the candles on the cake, we know it's not to be, that for the rest of our sad, wretched, pathetic lives, this is who we are to the bitter end. Inevitably, irrevocably...happy birthday? No such thing."

He responded...

Today is an important date in my life. Some of you know why, and for those of you who don't...it doesn't matter. The sentiment is still the same.

My dad in particular was always big on trying to drill all of the "things will get better", "you never know what's around the corner", type of stuff into my head. When you're down so low though, those words don't have a whole lot of meaning. They seem empty and cliche.

As I laid in bed...

Dear Thief,

Somehow, you managed to receive a Christmas card that was addressed to my mother. It was sent by my father. It was a lovely Hallmark card that he picked out specially for her, and he also enclosed a generous Victoria's Secret gift card.

When you discovered this card in your mailbox instead of my mother's, you did not give it back to the mail carrier. Instead, you kept it. You opened it. You then used her gift card.

You are a dirty...