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The unpleasant, acrid smell of burnt poetry.
Young Men in Spats, 1936

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August 30, 2009

This is how Mommy drives, she said. Kids say the cutest things.

Nothing is better than freshly groomed puppies.

10:41 p.m. - Ahhhh, one of those perfect Sundays. The weather was amazing - 72°, cool, and not so much as a whiff of humidity. Marcus and Amanda dropped by this morning with little V. in tow, cute as a button. She's at the age where everything she does is a-freakin-dorable, and she performed her preschool cheer, where, she informed us, she is a junior. Being a junior, Jennifer and I insisted she needed a car, so we put her in the Smart car and had her "drive." Afterward, Amanda and V went off to spend some time with Grandma, while Marcus and I looked in on the Dell for a lunch, followed by a stroll around Stinson Park and the Old Market.

Afterward, I took a ride on the motor bike while Jennifer took a brief lie down. The weather continued perfect, and I grilled in the evening. We had a great dinner outside while the dogs ran around. Today should have lasted forever.

August 29, 2009

10:34 p.m. - Yes, to those wondering minds, I have resigned from Facebook's Mafia Wars. I utterly fail to see the point in checking back to do the same thing, day after day after day, hour after hour, in order to get some meager reward from the Man. I can do that at work, so there's no particular point in doing it in the virtual world. It was fun for a month, but no more.

Nice day. We went out to Crescent Moon for lunch, and I had the Sam Adams Imperial White beer with a sourdough patty melt. Quite nice. I like the beers with that spice and fruit flavoring - a very fall-like beer! In the afternoon, I picked the dogs up from the groomers, worked on the small room upstairs, picked up some groceries, and dinner from Greek Islands. We went for a nice drive, and have been relaxing this evening, enjoying some beautiful weather. My kind of Saturday!

9:33 a.m. - Took the dogs to Mel's for grooming. They were holy terrors on the way. Arabella and Percy both decided that, as their feet were both muddy, they were going to roam my new car at will. They crawled on everything - mostly me. I had to physically chuck them in the back seat or elbow them out of my face, just to drive to her new store. I am glad to have a day without them.

Meanwhile, I'm busy trying to empty the furniture out of the small room in the back of the house. It was probably originally a nursery or a maid's room, and once we pull the fecund carpet up and paint it, it will make a nice guest room (assuming we put some base board heaters down so it's not 20 below in the winter).

August 27, 2009

8:53 p.m. - Pleasant evening at casa de Evans. We went to China Road or China Palace or whatever-the-deuce it's called and had a mediocre dinner which I shall regret later. Then we looked in on the Willa Cather branch library, and I picked up a biography of Rockefeller and J picked up The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexander Dumas. We stopped by Frank's place downtown and admired the beautifully crafted cobblestone sidewalk he's building. The man knows how to build as well as he knows how to demolish! Once we got home, we crossed the street to chat with Greg who was out working on his car. Then we put Jennifer's new plates on her Smart car, and are now relaxing inside. I wish this evening was tomorrow - the weather is utterly perfect.

2:22 p.m. - Miracles happen! After a week of frantically tearing up my office, my car, my computer desk, my rolltop desk, and any other surface that might have been concealing my two memory sticks, on which all my collected wisdom and knowledge is stored, I finally found the two buggers, hiding under a pile of papers at work. I was utterly terrified they were lost, since so much important stuff is stored on them, to take from home to work and back again. 

Meanwhile. . . I was out today running errands and I stopped at the famous Five Guys burger joint out in west Omaha (ie, 132nd and Dodge). You know, it was so much tastier in Savannah than it was in Omaha. Perhaps it is the rushed nature of 20 minutes for lunch versus the leisurely vacation time. Who knows? But the burger was not flavorful. Good yes, memorable no. I was not impressed. No seasoning whatsoever, wherein the secret of a good burger lies. The grilled onions were not truly caramelized so they didn't burst in your mouth like flavor crystals, as one finds on a properly executed White Castle burger. I won't be schlepping back out to extreme west O. again for that. 

This guy is all kinds of stupid.

In other news, CNN reported on a 13' truck that got caught in a 12 1/2' tunnel, in spite of warning lights and signs instructing the driver of the tunnel height well in advance. When asked why he plowed his truck into a tunnel too small for his truck, he replied, "My GPS device told me to go this way." Another whiskey tango foxtrot moment. What kind of stupid do you have to be? He snarled up traffic for hours as they worked to get his truck out of the tunnel. Can you imagine the daggers shot at him from all the people stuck behind him on their way to work? I would never wish unemployment on anyone, but I hope his supervisors hauled him on the carpet for this Grand Master of Stupid. 

7:13 a.m. - Worked from 7:30 yesterday morning until 6:00 last night. I think I am suffering from exhaustion. I'm just too damn tired in the mornings.

August 25, 2009

7:17 p.m. - An epsilon-delta definition is a mathematical definition in which a statement on a real function of one variable f having, for example, the form "for all neighborhoods U of y₀ there is a neighborhood V of x₀ such that, whenever x e V, then f(x) e U" is rephrased as "for all e > 0 there is d > 0 such that, whenever 0<|x-x₀| < d, then |f(x)-y₀| < e."

Whiskey tango foxtrot? I have pondered these sacred words and I have no idea what it means. For every epsilon, there is a delta. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

Meanwhile. . . I took a thirty minute snooze when I got home from work. It will screw up my sleepy time this evening, but it was worth it. J is working late at the TempO! concert at the Gardens, and I'm watching television and the 3 sleeping puppies.

7:09 a.m. - Barely slept worth noting last night. I woke up at 3:00, and could not get back to sleep until after 4:30, and only then slept intermittently with strange dreams interrupting bouts of tossing and turning. At one point, I dreamt about creating a chart of accounts for the accounting department at Clear Channel radio. Even my dreams are lame.

Back still on the mend. I am probably doing too much, but there's too much to do and no rest for the weary.

August 23, 2009

Great band!

Percy tries to crash the party. . . and gets stuck!

Spongebob Squarepants does his best Duke of Gloucester impression, drowning in the butt of malmsey

8:26 p.m. - I'm still feeling wonky. We went over to T and J's backyard party, and listened to some great music and enjoyed great food. I managed to sit for an hour, until my back hurt too much sitting in the chairs. I looked in to let the dogs out, and of course Gryffindor made a bee-line straight under the fence to Mommy. Percy tried, but got caught under the fence. Just like Winnie the Pooh.

5:15 p.m. - Took a 45 minute nap. Back is still stiff and painful, but much better than it was this morning. Whatever this is, I sure worked a number on it.

11:19 a.m. - Well, I acted prematurely earlier. I tried getting up to take the dogs out, and I made it downstairs with minimal problems. But then I seized up and was in agony and had to hunch over to keep the pressure off my back.

I can't even sit properly in the comfortable chair, so I'm sitting here still hunched over keeping the pressure off the nerve. Jennifer thinks I pinched a nerve. I hope it's not a disc or something serious. I had really anticipated going grocery shopping and doing house work, but I am barely functional at the moment.

10:25 a.m. - Yikes! I wrenched my back so badly this morning, I've been immobilized for the past hour. Let's see what 800 mg of ibuprofen can do for this. This came on suddenly - literally instantly - this morning as I hopped out of the shower. I wound up lying on the floor and wasn't able to get up for about 20 minutes. This is horrible!

Little else to report, as I sit hunched over at the computer. I worked for about 4 hours yesterday at the office, catching up on things. J. was still at work, so I took an hour's nap and then spent a few hours cleaning, tackling laundry, vacuuming, and so forth. In the evening, we went to Burger Star for dinner and then drove around for awhile, basking in the approbation of our fellow Omahans as they admired Jennifer's Smart car.

August 19, 2009

9:24 p.m. - Jennifer has been in KC for since Monday, and is returning even now. She said they may be driving into a huge thunderstorm, so I hope they are driving carefully and arrive safely. I am dead tired and want to go to bed, but I can't retire until she gets home and calms down three very excited puppies. I've been enjoying a quiet evening after getting home from the NCGO board meeting. Nothing on TV this evening, so I spent some time downstairs reading, and then I spent about an hour lying in bed reading with Arabella snoring at my side.

7:32 a.m. - I continue to sleep very poorly. Woke up 2 or 3 times over the night, and I tossed about in a febrile manner half the night. The room was too hot, but it was not hot enough to merit turning the air on. I was up by 6:00, took the dogs out, and am up and dressed, but am just killing time before heading out west for a meeting. I wonder if I could shut my eyes for another 15 minutes this morning. With my luck, I'd fall into a peaceful slumber and wake up at 10:45. I took a 10 minutes catnap after work yesterday, which probably did me no good.

August 18, 2009

7:07 a.m. - I don't know why it is, but I slept poorly again last night and kept waking up. It doesn't help that Gryffindor is a poor mate with whom to share a bed. The little beast - all 9 pounds of him - hogs the entire bed and would periodically wake up himself and make elephantine contortions to make himself utterly comfortable at my expense: scratching at the bed, rolling around, or claiming new real estate that somehow gave him more bed space.

At any rate. . . I am up early, the dogs have been outside twice this morning, and I made fresh green beans and a roasted chicken breast for lunch. Off to work. . .

August 17, 2009

8:27 p.m. - I gave blood tonight at Florence Lodge. Normally, it's a fairly cut-and-dried procedure. They prick me, I scream and cry and thrash around, only to realize they've been done for 30 minutes and I never felt a thing. This time I got up after they finished, and the color drained from my face, and I had to lie down. They put those cold packs on my head, made me drink regular Coke (it was nasty), and put a fan on me. I felt thoroughly nauseated for about 15 minutes for some reason, and then it passed. I sat with the fellas for a while afterward, and then made a brief appearance at the Scottish Rite picnic. It almost seemed a shame to buy a $5 ticket and have a single marshmallow for dinner. I didn't win anything in the raffles, which was just as well since they were raffling the uncooked meat which kind of looked iffy after sitting out for an hour or so.

Got home, and kept cleaning up after Gryffindor who seems to wander around the house peeing on everything except the great outdoors. J. is in KC until Wednesday, so I'd normally enjoy peace and quiet except I have so much work to do, I may as well get started on it right now.

7:30 a.m. - Slept very, very poorly last night. Kept waking up thinking about stuff to do today, including tonight's blood drive at Florence Lodge and the SR picnic at Cooper's Farm. Sigh. . . Too busy to be tired. Off to work. . .

August 16, 2009

Mmmm. . . a backhoe filled with cold beverages.

My God. . . . the suburbs are entirely beige. It was horrible!

7:22 p.m. - Today is one of those perfect Sunday's that comes along in a blue moon. The weather was utterly perfect - warm, but not humid, and with a delightful breeze. We started a late morning with lunch at Louie Mmmmmmm's. I never grow tired of their guacamole cheddar bacon burger. We drive around South Omaha for a while and got home around 1:00. Jennifer did some weeding in the garden while I supervised from the porch with Arabella as my assistant. Scott called, and I spent an hour chatting while sitting outside, and then I went to sit with neighbors for a while, enjoying a wee dram of Scotch.

Afterward, I did some light cleaning around the house and began prepping dinner. Roasted chicken breasts for lunch during the week, and then steamed fresh green beans and lightly pan fried them in olive oil. Then I grilled pork ribs. Jennifer picked up a slice of garlic bread from the grocery store. What an excellent dinner! All for about $5!

It's about 7:30 now. The laundry is clean. The kitchen is clean. The dogs are fast asleep in their baskets or pillows. Jennifer is watching National Treasure, and I am about to tackle laundry folding. What exciting lives we lead!

. . . last night I went to a farewell picnic for a friend who has taken a job out of state. I admire members of his Lodge who hosted a huge barbecue for him. No one in my Lodge would do that, which is kind of sad, really. We just don't have that level of cohesiveness or camaraderie. It was fun to see a couple of backhoes filled with ice and bottled water, soda, and beer. You don't see that too often! Great dinner, saw old friends and met new ones. I was beat by the time we got home, and I slept entirely through the evening, and apparently slept right through a thunderstorm!

August 15, 2009

Turns out the driver's side was not as badly damaged, and the driver lived to challenge Death again.

10:12 a.m. - You know that e-mail going around, purportedly showing a Smart car (yes J., I capitalized the S in Smart car. Bite me.) smooshed between two larger trucks. Turns out it was not, in fact, a Smart car, but a Ford Escape. My sister-in-law sent that e-mail to Jennifer, and Jennifer has pulled out her claws and found new depths to her bitterness at E's e-mail, which urged safety and caution. Had it been to me, I'd've responded with some kind of long and tedious report on the National Safety Council's latest crash test rating and a renewed vow not to accept wooden nickels (whatever that means). Jennifer is lashing back with an e-mail rant, with the kind of fury that makes me want to imitate the noble possum, curl up and play dead, and go so far as to have my friends over to weep at the bier and say what a tragedy it all is. Those Cribb girls know how to channel rage & fury. Fortunately for me, I am reasonably equanimous and it blows past me like reeds bending before the tornado, and my brother-in-law is a hockey player so he's both used to having sharp objects fly at him, and can always retreat to the hockey rink where it is safer.

Meanwhile at the ranch. . . I've spent a delightful morning, sitting outside continuing to read Melville Goodwin, USA by John Marquand. The aging book disintegrates in my hand, and the pages go right into the recycle bin as I finish them. It was pouring rain this morning, so I had my first caffeinated Diet Coke in a few days on the porch and enjoyed the cool weather.

A few months back (I really forgot how long, but it may have been May), the barber butchered my hair. For a long while, it was so short, I didn't even bother to comb it. It finally grew back to the point where I needed a trim, so I stopped on my way home from a late event out in Elkhorn to get shorn, and she did a reasonably fine job. Feels good not to have the long, flowing hippie hair. Jennifer was out with Julie at some kind of crafty show downtown when I got home, so I took a shower, chatted with the parental units, and sat outside with a glass of Glenmorangie and turned on the twinkly lights on the porch. . . Went to bed at about 11, and slept very poorly. Woke up at about 3:00 and could not get back to sleep for the life of me.

August 14, 2009

8:34 a.m. - Working with the DMV to title my scooter is the most energy draining experience ever. There was once a show where minions of the devil worked in the DMV. After getting bounced from Sheriff's inspection office, to DMV, to County Treasurer and back again, I can well believe it. They are helpful, but not overly nice. Or nice, but not really helpful. No one has an answer or volunteers to look into the question and call back. After two months, my motorbike is still not properly plated or titled, and it becomes a harder and harder process to make it happen. I'll have to take time off of work just to get it out to the sheriff's inspection office. Sheesh! 

Meanwhile . . . I got the scooter back from the repair shop yesterday and took it for a spin through the neighborhood for a few blocks. It felt good to get it out on the road. I can't wait for this process to be finished - this will have to wait until after my September events, which are my entire focus for the next month or so. 

I keep waking up at 5:00 a.m., stressing about the upcoming events. I am exhausted. Utterly exhausted.

August 12, 2009

Perfectly grilled steaks. An Evans specialty.

Contrary to her looks, Arabella did not enjoy being in the recylce bin. But she sure was damn cute.

8:46 p.m. - Yet another exhausting day. I hope I sleep better than the last few nights, where I wake up in the wee hours thinking about what I have to do during the day. Quiet evening at Casa de Evans. I got home at about 5:15 and grilled a few t-bones, which had been on sale at Bakers this past weekend. What better way to relax than working my patented magic on the grill? And the steaks were perfect, if I say so myself. Fortunately, I took some time at lunch and met a few friends at the Dundee Dell, which also added a bit of luster to a busy, busy day. In my greater effort to enjoy less red meat, today was a total and abject failure, considering how I nom'd the famous Dell burger, and enjoyed every juicy morsel of it. On the plus side, I haven't had so much of a whiff of caffeinated beverage today.

I had some interesting story to tell - perhaps it was my Adventures at the DMV or possibly the Mystery of the Missing Orange Pip - but I can't recall what it was. Ah well. It will come back to me eventually.

 

August 11, 2009

7:13 a.m. - Slept awfully last night once again. Too much stress. And I woke up at 5:00 a.m. this morning with a raging headache, which won't go away. I like watching Arabella play with her squeaky ball in the morning and Percy curl up on the black chair and go straight to sleep. Wish I could join them today, read a stack of books I've been meaning to get to, and then take a well-earned nap. I wish I had time or energy after work to ride my bike, but I seem to be spending a great many evenings going to one meeting or another. I'm exhausted today, and today's going to be a long one, followed by an even longer one tomorrow and a longer one after that, and an even longer one after that, ad nauseum.

 

August 10, 2009

Only in Nebraska. . . .

7:10 a.m. - I slept awfully last night! I should not have had dinner so late last night, and certainly not followed it with the (caffeine free) Diet Coke. Back to healthsome cold water for me. In the meantime, a nice London fog has settled in over Omaha.

August 9, 2009

9:18 p.m. - I've been a bit naughty on my diet, and had a few Diet Cokes today. Back to water and healty living this week. I've been reasonably good about avoiding red meat during the week, though not quite so good on the weekend. Giving up my Diet Coke hasn't been too painful, as long as I have my jug of cold water in the fridge.

7:58 p.m. - Pleasant Sunday, but busy. I went to the grocery store this morning (and had to go back for a bag because the goram clerks forgot to put one into my cart because they were too busy talking), and spent the afternoon cleaning around the house, tackling loads and loads of laundry, washing dishes, dusting, etc. I took a few breaks to watch an episode of Better Off Ted online, enjoy a tot of Glenmorangie on the front porch while it rained, listen to WNCW, and play with the dogs. Earlier today, I marinated chicken in a vinaigrette Jennifer made last night, and I grilled the chicken for dinner tonight along with corn on the cob. We're enjoying the tail end of the day. Jennifer is watching an episode of Doctor Who, and I'm finishing typing up the minutes from yesterday's KSA meeting.

8:17 a.m. - I started my Saturday off with a KSA meeting at the Scottish Rite, and Jennifer left early for some festival or another at the Garden. I got home at about 11, and made a concerted effort to be industrious, but it didn't really pan out. I wound up taking a luxurious nap  until about 2:00, and then being mildly industrious with some cleaning and laundry, before shoving off to help host a big wedding at the Scottish Rite. Somehow, I wound up with outdoor duty, greeting guests as they came in from the sweltering heat. Fortunately, it was a dry heat and I was none too worse for the wear, though somewhat damp. One of the fellows suggested we cap off our round of heavy greeting and howdy-doing with a nightcap at the Dundee Dell. It was a capital idea, so upon securing the approval of Miz J, we all met up at the Dell. We had a round of nachos, and for some reason the single green pepper I got ahold of did me in while the others guys were happily munching them. So much for establishing my Man creds with the guys. I had a patty melt, and accompanied an excellent meal with a glass of Glenlivet Nadurra, which was a very interesting Scotch. Perhaps it was the green pepper on my palate, but it had an intensely spicy flavor. I liked it quite a bit. I followed that with a Balvenie's Doublewood, which was much more mellow and more to my taste. Some purists might balk at a patty melt and nachos flanked by two extraordinary Scotches, but it was all very good, and the KSA may have a new tradition of meeting post-wedding reception for a topper.

This morning, J is getting ready for another round of Fetival at the Garden. Percy is sleeping peacefully while Arabella enjoys a well-earned breakfast. I'm getting ready to tackle my To-Do list, with groceries, and some serious house projects. We'll see how far I get on that. . .  

August 7, 2009

9:52 p.m. - Quiet evening at Casa de Evans. I endured another round of abuse while taking the dogs to the vet. They wriggled, and writhed, and squiggled, and jumped, and leapt and crawled all over me on the drive to the vet, and once there they milked their cuteness with the vet techs. They did very well with Dr. Cory who is very good with them, and after about 90 minutes, we were on our way home. They all took their shots like little troopers! Jennifer and I went out for Chinese for dinner, and got home at about 8:30 or 8:45. We've been lounging about for the last hour, and now it's time for bed! Tomorrow is a busy day.

August 4, 2009

My Political Views I am a center-right moderate social libertarian | Right: 1.4, Libertarian: 1.2

9:04 p.m. - I can't argue with this quiz, though I thought I might be right above the line toward authoritarian. Close enough for government work. And who am I to question a quiz I found online?

Meanwhile. . . the days are crazy busy and the evenings are not any less. Last night I went from a Scottish Rite meeting for the RiteCare fundraiser dinner straight toward to Florence Lodge for the monthly business meeting. I am embarassed to report that the moment those meetings are over, I tear right out of there and head home!

Tonight I had a 7:00 meeting for the committee preparing the 60th Anniversary of an eminent member of our Lodge, who was Past Grand Master and a major figure in Nebraska Masonry. I've got appointments for the next 3 days and a KSA meeting on Saturday morning with a Scottish Rite wedding rental to host in the evening! And even more next week!

August 3, 2009

7:11 p.m. - Karma is a tough pill to swallow. I had a Diet Coke last night, and I knew I would not be able to sleep afterward, but I had it anyway. I could not fall asleep to save my life, and I finally drifted off around 11:30, and kept waking up at odd intervals in the morning. It's probably stress, as I start thinking about work in the wee hours.

At any rate, I'm off to the office. The dogs have a nice life. Percy is fast asleep in his chair, and Arabella is in the basket snoring like a banshee. Gryffindor is curled up in a little ball of fur in the bedroom. Pampered dogs really have the life, don't they?

I unbent a little over the weekend on the ol' diet. I have no willpower at all. But it's Monday again, and I'm back to my water, my carrots, and my veggies.

August 2, 2009

My first attempt at making sushi! Sadly, there was no ahi for my sushi.

8:41 p.m. - We went to dinner at Julie's house while her parents were in town. She had a sushi bar set up, and we rolled our own sushi! I've never made my own, and it was fantastic. Instead of raw fish, she had cucumbers, faux crab, shrimp, roe eggs, tamogoyaki, and other fixin's. It was excellent, and I went back for seconds! I also had way too many wasabi peas. I am going to SUFFER for this later, but it sure was good.

1:01 p.m. - Grilled some excellent burgers for lunch (my first red meat in nearly a week - and probably last for about a week). Jennifer is running an errand, and I'm pottering around the house tackling the never-ending pile of laundry, cleaning, vacuuming, and general tidying. The weather has since warmed up, and it is a warm 85° outside.

10:20 a.m. - Took Percy and Arabella for a nice walk around Field Club. You wouldn't believe how much Percy can expel along the way! Then I did some light yard work while the dogs ran around the back yard  - removed the weeds around the A/C unit and sprayed the cottonwood and grass clippings out of the A/C. The weather is perfect today! I really need to spend the day outside.

8:47 a.m. - Weirdest dream last night. I dreamt that I had been pulled over for running a red light and the police officer began asking me all kinds of questions about my car which I couldn't answer, so they pulled me out, hustled me off to some nearby building to wait, and began stripping it down. Then they got a bunch of people to swear false testimony about the car and wouldn't tell me why. So when I finally got out of the building, my car was just the frame up on blocks. The Chief of Police told the gathered witnesses that my car had been impounded for some reason which escapes me, so I jumped up and began making an impassioned plea for Justice like Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but no one listened. Then I woke up and was worried about what would I do without a car, before realizing it was a dream.

I told you it was weird.

Meanwhile. . .  Percy and Arabella are fast asleep. They like to sleep in on Sundays. So does Jennifer, and damned if I can see anything wrong with that scheme.

August 1, 2009

Earlier this evening: Crookshanks managed to unfurl a roll of paper towells & make himself quite comfortable on his makeshift bed.

10:48 p.m. - Quite a pleasant evening. The weather has been perfect today, more like early Autumn than the middle of summer. It's usually a 90+ degree blast furnace out, but its been in the 70s today without so much of a sniff of humidity. I wish we had had more time in Walnut to poke amongst the shops. At any rate, we went to Venice Inn for dinner, one of Omaha's few remaining old Italian steak houses. Normally, I'd've gorged on steak, meat, more steak, and meat. This time I was moderate. Didn't quite stick to my diet, but not bad either. I had the chicken parm, which was incredible. Instead of a baked potato or mostacolli, I had a double portion of steamed veggies. Yes, I had a bread roll and a few bites of Jennifer's sorbet for dessert, but I could have been much naughtier. And I didn't have my traditional gallon of diet coke, instead having water.

Time for bed. It's hard to tear myself away when Arabella is being utter adorable and having the grandest time playing with her squeaky ball. How can I interrupt her play for bed?

You never know what you'll see in Walnut, IA. I'd love to ride this tractor on the July 4th Field Club parade.

7:01 p.m. - First of the month. Heartworm medicine day for the dogs. It is kind of a mixture of international diplomacy, a mafia payoff, a jiu jitsu competition, and pehlwani wrestling to get the dogs to ingest their pill. I stuff the pill in cheese, and the gnaw around the cheese and spit the pill out. I give them more cheese. I stuff the pill in peanut butter. In a piece of turkey. They figure out how to get the food without the pill (except for Percy, who'd eat anything offered to him). I finally got them to take their pills with minimal loss of life or limb.

We spent the morning doing house cleaning, and then on a whim went up to Walnut, Iowa to poke around the antique stores for an hour or so. We wound up having an ice cream and then heading back home so I could shower and change to get down to the Scottish Rite by 4:00 to greet guests for a wedding rental. I got home at about 6:30, and now we're pondering options for a late dinner. This has been my kind of quiet, relaxing, and comfortable Saturday.

8:49 a.m. - Okay, I was bad yesterday. Jennifer wanted pizza, so I went to Pizza Hut for dinner. There goes my diet, but once you fall off the horse, you get back on. If it counts as a mitigating circumstance, I had cheese pizza and still had my water. Does that make up for being naughty? Probably not.

Jennifer played online for a while and went to bed early. I watched the final episode of Battlestar Gallactica which had been recorded on DVR for a while and went to bed at 10:00 myself. Friday was none too exciting in the old Evans homestead. As for today, we have no plans. J. is still sleeping, and both Percy and Arabella are fast asleep with me, and I'm catching up on the day's news with the Boston Globe online.