Peppy's Dream Moving Adventure Blog

Eric was up and out of the shower by 8:30am.  He was going riding!  I woke up around 9:00am and he left soon after to go mountain biking.  He took the car and drove an hour to a place called Noble Canyon.  He’s been there before and it’s got a great downhill ride, but you have to ride and walk up 7 miles to the top so you can ride ½ hour down the mountain.  He’s not thrilled with the ride, but at least he’s getting exercise!

I stayed in the apartment all day today.  First, I watched CELEBRITY APPRENTICE.  It was great, as usual.  Then, I had breakfast and started working on my tax information.  I have to compile my expenses for the business.  Since I only was in business through March 30 in 2007, it made it a lot easier.  There are a few excel spreadsheets I have to update and then separate all my expenses and add them up.  I am also still looking for the original document for the purchase of our house, which I think I may have shredded in my “shredding frenzy” the day before we left the house last August.  I thought I kept all the important house documents, but I seem to have everything except the main document and I can’t imagine where else it could be.

I might have shred it because I figured I had sold the house and didn’t need it anymore.  Little did I know it’s very important to have, because you have to prove what you paid for the house and what you sold it for, in order to figure out what taxes you owe on it.  Oy!

It took me a few hours, but I got a LOT done.  Then, I decided to do a decoupage project.  I had the clear glass vase that came with my Valentine’s Day roses from Eric.  It was very plain, but had a ribbed design, instead of being flat.  I thought it would be interesting to decoupage, since the paper would go in all the ribs and make a nice design.  I used more of the clock pictures, so it would match the tray I made last month.  It came out great!  I’ll have pictures on my CRAFT BLOG as soon as I finish varnishing it!

By the time I was done Eric came home.  He had a good ride (not great, but not horrible either).  He told me all about it, then we relaxed together and watched TV.  I made him a NUTRISYSTEM fajita, and then he took a nap while I watched THE BIGGEST LOSER.  When he got up at 6:00pm we both took showers and got dressed to go out to dinner.  We decided to go someplace new.  We were bored with the same old restaurants we’ve been going to for the past 2 months.  It’s either HAIKU for sushi, or LA DOLCE VITA for Italian.  We were going to drive to HILLCREST, but as we passed the sign for OLD TOWN, I told Eric to get off I-5 so we could check it out.

I have been told that OLD TOWN is a great place to go for dinner, or just to walk around, because there are a lot of tourist attractions there and a lot of art galleries and shops.  Called “The birthplace of California,” it looks like a Mexican village, because most of the restaurants on the strip (San Diego Avenue) are Mexican.  Everything is stucco and terra cotta with the Spanish-style roofs and lots of Mexican décor.  The souvenir shops all have Mexican-inspired souvenirs, and postcards and t-shirts for San Diego.  It’s a real tourist trap.

I felt bad, because I forgot my new camera!  This would have been such a great place to take pictures.  I told Eric I'm just not in the habit anymore, like I was when we were on vacation.  I have to get in the habit of putting it in my purse all the time, so I can shoot pictures wherever we go!

We first went to a teeny tiny restaurant (7 tables) called NEW ORLEANS CREOLE CAFÉ, but we couldn’t get in without a reservation, so next we walked to ZOCALO GRILL right down the block.  It turns out that this place is owned by the BRIGANTINE family, who also owns AZUL in La Jolla, where we went with Jimmy for my birthday!  They also own MIGUEL’S COCINA and MIGUELITO’S and BRIGANTINE SEAFOOD.  They had a great menu and Eric and I had a delicious meal. 

Eric got a Bloody Mary and I had an iced tea.  We didn’t get any appetizers, just a main course.  I had the Seared Spicy Tuna with a mango salsa and a chorizo risotto.  WOW!  It was so good!  Eric had plantain-crusted crispy chicken salad with roasted peppers and Peruvian purple potatoes, grilled corn, avocado, tomatoes and cotija cheese with an orange-cilantro dressing.  Both dishes had perfect sized portions.  It was just enough for us to feel satisfied, without being stuffed (or take home leftovers).  We always used to order 1 or 2 appetizers and eat so much, and then take some home.  It’s better for our diets (and cheaper) to just order a main course.

After dinner we walked around Old Town for a while.  We walked all the way down one side and then all the way up the other.  We went in and out of all the stores.  It reminded me of when Eric and I were traveling across the country.  I would get so excited every time I saw a postcard rack.  I told Eric, “We’re not tourists anymore.”  It made me a little sad, but it was fun to visit the shops anyway!

We went into one shop called SOUTH AMERICAN IMPORTS that had all kinds of rocks, crystals, handicrafts, and jewelry.  They had beautiful rocks carved into shapes like hearts, spheres, animals, and then some in their natural shape.  I love those stones – the turquoise, rose quartz, hematite, and all the others.  Eric and I each picked out a rock – a got malachite, a marble green stone that is supposed to stimulate personal power and reduce stress.  Eric got a piece of pyrite, which is supposed to aid digestion and improve circulation.  It looks like “fool’s gold.”  They’re both so pretty. 

We also went into a shop that sold all natural soaps.  They had soaps of every shape and size, soaps of every color, soaps containing every ingredient you can imagine.  The pineapple smelled just like pineapple.  The cucumber smelled just like cucumber.  Eric LOVES soaps like that.  He’s such a clean boy.  He can be in the shower for a half hour and he soaps himself up so much that he looks like the abominable snowman – covered from head to foot in lather.  He really enjoys a good soap, and I always love to buy him some big bars of home made soap when I’m in a shop like that.  Of course, he’d buy me anything I wanted, but when I wanted to buy him a bar he didn’t want me to.  I should have insisted, but I didn’t want to argue with him.

We went into the museum shop of the WHALEY HOUSE, which was right next door.  The WHALEY HOUSE is an old house that is supposed to be haunted.  We could have gone in for a tour, but we didn’t feel like doing it right then and there and decided we’d come back another day when we had more time to devote.

The museum shop was filled with books and decorative items, jewelry, and toys.  A lot of the books were about the architecture found in San Diego.  I didn’t realize until we moved here that San Diego had so many Victorian and Mission style homes, both of which I love so much.  Eric and I enjoyed looking at every item in the shop and I especially liked looking at all the books.

After we left OLD TOWN we drove to the next exit and went to our favorite gelato place.  It’s getting to be our “weekend thing” to get some gelato.  It’s our once a week cheat on our diets.  We got some Chocolate Hazelnut and some Espresso and came home to enjoy it.

We watched TV and Eric fell asleep.  I stayed up to work on the computer and write today’s blog.  I’m very excited to go to the SAN DIEGO NORTH PARK CRAFT MAFIA show tomorrow at THE OTHER SIDE COFFEE SHOP.  I hope to be able to get a booth at a future show and will be prepared to pass my business card around and do a lot of networking.  Wish me luck!

Eric and I were awoken at 9:00am by the guy who practices his drums maybe once a month.  I can’t believe the manager complained that I played my music too loud – on a Sunday afternoon – and here was this guy DRUMMING at 9:00am!!!!  I just think that’s rude and selfish.

The first thing we did was watch last night’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.  The highlight was the skit with Hilary Clinton and Obama, followed by an appearance by the REAL Hilary!  She did a great job.  I hate to talk politics on my blog, but I’d really like to see her become our next president!

After watching SNL, I made us NUTRISYSTEM breakfasts and then I jumped in the shower to go to the craft show.  I was excited to meet the girls who would be selling there, and the girls who are the founding members.

I had previously emailed them and asked about selling at their next big show, and I am thrilled to report that I will be selling my jewelry mosaics and decoupage pieces at their SPRING LINE UP on Sunday, March 30th, along with 59 other vendors!  I was so lucky to get in, because it seems everyone wants to be in this craft show.  They told me there were people ahead of me on the waiting list, but because my work is so different they would put me in!  They had never seen anything like my work before and were really impressed.  That just about made my YEAR!

I have put lots and lots of pictures and a summary of the whole show on my CRAFTS BLOG, so please check it out!

After I left the craft fair, I drove immediately to La Jolla to pick up my pieces from Gili Anna.  She was SO understanding and supportive and proved just what a lovely, sweet person she is!  I was thrilled to hear that she sold 4 pieces – including the larger round mirror, two small mirrors and the pink commissioned piece (which she purchased for herself!).  I brought home 4 other small mirrors and a small silver frame, so I now have 5 pieces to add to my collection for the show on March 30th!

When I got home, Eric was just leaving to go for a ride.  I had a fast lunch and then went food shopping.  When I got home I was exhausted, so I took a nap.  When Eric came home he relaxed for a while and woke me at 7:30pm.  I made us NUTRISYSTEM entrées and soup for dinner and then worked for almost THREE HOURS on my crafts blog, downloading all the pictures, and writing about all the beautiful things I saw today.

I just have one more thing to discuss, and then I really must hit the sack!

I have read a few books recently and I’m not interested in keeping books I’ve already read and, since my sister gave them to me in the first place, I think it would be great to pass the books on to someone else who may be interested in reading them.  If anyone who’s reading this is interested in THE RED TENT, I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE, or FOR ONE MORE DAY (which I bought in NY and read when we first got here), just email me and I’ll send any or all of them to you!  It will be that much less to ship when we go to NC!

I stayed up too late last night – much too late.  I was working for so long on the CRAFTS BLOG and then, when I finished that, I quickly did my regular blog.  I won’t be doing the crafts blog every day, and I also won’t be downloading over 25 pictures every day, so that won’t be a regular problem.  I got into bed at midnight and turned off WILL AND GRACE at 12:17am, but it was VERY windy outside (after an unbelievably hot and clear day) and the wind chimes of my neighbor were keeping me awake.  Eric hardly heard them, but I heard them loud and clear.  It would settle down for a while, and then the wind would pick up and it would start chiming again and it would wake me!  NOT a good night’s sleep!

I told Eric I wanted to go out there and not take it down but just put a rubberband around them, so they couldn’t chime.  Would that be a crime?  A Chime Crime?

So, I was already exhausted this morning and we had tickets to see the FOO FIGHTERS at COX ARENA tonight.  The show is at 7:30pm, but there are TWO opening acts, so we knew we weren’t going to get home early.  NOT a good way to start off the week – wind chimes and a rock concert.  Looks like I’ll be exhausted for the rest of the week, because it’s very hard to catch up on missed sleep – especially for me.  I’m just glad Eric doesn’t have to get up for work tomorrow – at 4:00am!

It’s funny, because my boss is out this week until Thursday and I could easily tell them I’m taking a day off, or just a morning off, but I feel guilty losing the money.  I figure if they’re willing to pay me to do absolutely nothing (but read the next book I brought to work today – THE STOLEN CHILD by KEITH DONOHUE) then I’ll just let them!

So, I had this oval pin I loved.  It had a faux carved jade piece in the center and was surrounded by faux pearls in a gold setting.  The other day I was leaning over the bathroom sink, putting it on (so I didn’t wake Eric) and one of the pearls fell into the sink.  As it was spinning around (like the marble on a roulette wheel, before it finds it’s pocket), I was able to catch it.  I thought that was REALLY lucky.  I reglued the pearl and wore it.

This morning I wanted to wear the same pearl so what do I do?  I stand in front of the bathroom mirror AGAIN and AGAIN another (different) pearl drops and this time it goes down the drain.  I felt SO stupid.  I mean I KNEW it could happen and it already DID happen and I just had to push my luck!  So, now I have another really nice piece for my mosaics.  It’s obvious the pearls are all loose and will fall out one by one until they’re all gone.  I don’t want to deal, so I’d rather just use it for my crafts.

I did absolutely nothing at work all day today.  I mean if you used the stop watch today it would have been about 20 minutes.  The only thing I accomplished was booking our trip to North Carolina.  We’ll actually make a quick stop in Delray Beach to see my folks, then go to Asheville and Charlotte for a week.  It’s a complicated trip, because we have to stop in Atlanta every time: San Diego to Atlanta to West Palm Beach; West Palm Beach to Atlanta to Asheville; Asheville to Atlanta to San Diego.  Fun, fun, fun!  I still have to take care of the hotel and car rental, but the hotel is complicated, because we don’t know exactly how many days we’ll be in Asheville and how many days we’ll be in Charlotte, so I figure we’ll play that part by ear.

I was SO bored all afternoon.  Thank goodness I got to leave work at 4:30pm, because my ride was ALSO going to the FOO FIGHTERS tonight!  What are the odds?  We both couldn’t believe it when we found out.

So, we’re on the way home when her husband calls and tells her there’s a chance the concert has been cancelled, because there were such bad winds in Phoenix that they had to turn the tour bus around!  So, we tried to listen to the radio, find out something online, but between us all we only heard that it WAS going on, so we left at 6:30pm.

Since I’ll be getting home too late to blog tonight, I will review the concert (if it’s on) and tell you everything that happened tomorrow.  Thanks for your patience and understanding!

So, let me tell you all about our night last night.  It turned out pretty darn great!   First, let me say that, in order to save my diet AND some money, we didn’t go out to eat before the concert.  We just ate at home, which turned out to be a good thing, because I had a chance to relax and unwind a little before our evening started.  I think BECAUSE I didn’t do anything at work yesterday, and I didn’t have a good night’s sleep (wind chimes) I was more tired than usual.  So, we left the house at 6:30pm and drove the ½ hour to the arena.

The FOO FIGHTERS did make it to the COX ARENA and the concert was great!  Long and great!  There were TWO opening acts – AGAINST ME! and SERJ TANKIAN (who used to be the lead singer for one of Eric’s favorite newer bands – SYSTEM OF A DOWN).

We got there just as the first band started.  Eric thought they were great, but they were a little too alternative rock for me.  The second band was better, and I even knew one of the songs (because it was a SYSTEM OF A DOWN song), so I enjoyed them more. 

THEN, the FOO FIGHTERS came on.  I have to tell you, DAVE GROHL is SO great.  He’s just a guy who wants to make great music, and wants the audience to have a fantastic time while he’s doing it!  He’s got no attitude, no ego, no superstar “you’re lucky I’m here” kind of way about him.  It’s all about having fun and making great music – and that they do.  They played some new hits, and some old hits.  They had a long runway that he ran up and down.  He would go all the way to the left and the left side of the house would scream.  He’d run all the way to the right and the right side would go crazy. 

Then, he’d run down that runway and the front of the house (where we were – only waaaaaaay up top) would go nuts.  The whole band is great, especially Dave and the drummer, Taylor Hawkins.  Dave Grohl, for those of you who don’t know, was the drummer for NIRVANA, and then he started FOO FIGHTERS.  They’ve been around for over ten years and they are a great rock band.  Dave’s an awesome screamer.  I mean, this guy can SCREAM.  Eric said he doesn’t understand how he doesn’t lose his voice, but the truth is, when he sings softly, he has a beautiful voice and it’s very pure and sweet.  So, he can really do it all!

Halfway through their set this circular stage started descending from the ceiling at the end of the runway.  The crowd went WILD.  There were keyboards, a piano, percussion instruments and another drum set and the whole band moved to the opposite end of the arena (where WE were) and played an acoustic set.  They were amazing.  People were just going crazy.

Then, after 5 or 6 songs they went back to the main stage and kept playing!  They played for over 2 hours!  I was exhausted and wanted to go home and go to sleep, but I was enjoying them so much and I didn’t want to leave until they were done.  They came out to do a 3-song encore and we left in the middle of the second song, because we figured we’d beat the crowds leaving the arena and at the parking lot across the street.  We were home by 11:45pm and I got to sleep around 12:30am.  I slept like a log and it REALLY hurt to get out of bed this morning.

I knew my ride would be just as tired, because she was at the concert last night, too!  Eric was sleeping soundly and I went to work.  I didn’t do much, but I’ve read over 100 pages of THE STOLEN CHILD already.  It’s a weird book, but I’m enjoying it.

I worked on some projects today and even had a meeting!  I’m working with someone to update an online library of articles that my department maintains, so we had a meeting today with a few people to figure out where to begin.

I left at 5:00pm and came right home.  I made us a snack of edamame and did some work on the computer, cleaned a little, and then watched a little TV.  Then, I made Eric chicken cutlets and asparagus and I had asparagus and NUTRISYSTEM cheese ravioli (2 big ones).  For dessert we each had a little gelato.  I know, I’m bad, and the scale is showing it.  I’m back up to 125.8.  My lowest weight so far, about a week ago, was 124.8, so I’ve already gained back a pound!  It’s SO easy to gain.  Why can’t it be that easy to lose?  I’m going to get my act together and stop cheating.  I promise.  As soon as the gelato is gone!

Tomorrow Eric is taking me to the STATE OF CALIFORNIA BOARD OF EQUALIZATION downtown, so I can get a temporary seller’s permit.  I need it in order to sell at the show on March 30th.  I filled out the form online and printed it out.  Instead of mailing it, I’m bringing it there in person, so in case there’s a problem I can get it resolved and leave with my permit tomorrow morning (I HOPE!!!).  Eric will drive me, so I won’t have to worry about parking, and then he’ll drop me off at work.  I’m so excited about the show on March 30th.  I’m really looking forward to it.  I just have a lot of work to do before then in order to have a lot of inventory to sell!

Instead of going to work this morning, Eric drove me downtown to the California Board of Equalization, so I could get my Temporary Seller’s Permit.  We got there at 7:40am and I waited until 8:00am when they opened.  I was the first one there.  They took my name and then I waited 20 minutes until I got in the door.  I told the guy that I had to be at work by 9:00am, so he REALLY rushed and I was so grateful.  He gave me the “spiel” and I was out of there by 8:50am with my permit!  Relatively painless!

Eric then drove me to work and I got to my desk by 9:15am.  I actually had some work to do, so I was pretty busy all day and my boss came in at around 2:00pm and gave me more work, so the afternoon flew by.  Before you know it, it was 5:00pm and Eric picked me up to take me to get my acupuncture treatment.

He really stuck me a lot today.  He gave me needles in my foot that he called a “through and through” where they put one needle in very deep on one side and then meet it with another needle from the other side.  I have to admit it didn’t hurt at all going in, but I could REALLY feel it coming out.  It seemed like he had hit the exact nerve that is irritated or inflamed and I really felt it.  As soon as the needle was out the pain was gone.

He also put them in my hands, the top of my head, and my legs.  He’s a great guy and I really enjoy the sessions, for the most part.  It’s relatively painless, very relaxing, and I just feel good every time I leave.  I feel like it makes my foot feel better, but the results are short-lived.  He says through continued treatment we can extend the “feel good” period, so that it lasts longer and longer.  I guess that’s all you can ask, right?

When we got home I made us both a big salad.  Eric had an entrée, too, and I just had a bowl of my soup.  I also made a salad for myself for work tomorrow and put some soup in a container to take to work, too, so I’ll be having soup and salad for work tomorrow, too.  Since I don’t eat the NUTRISYSTEM meals religiously three times a day, I have a lot left over and Eric and I are getting our third delivery, so we’ll have TONS of this food.  We figure it will be good to have some when we cross the country (either in the RV or the car – we haven’t figured it all out yet), so we don’t have to eat out as much and don’t gain all the weight back!

I watched DR. PHIL and then THE BIGGEST LOSER: COUPLES, and then Eric joined me and we watched AMERICAN IDOL.  I like the guys SO much better than the girls.  Of the 8 guys there are 6 that we really like.  Of the 8 girls there are about 3 that we really like, the rest are okay or we don’t like them at all.  The talent lies in the guys this season!

Tomorrow and Friday should be really busy, because my boss has a meeting tomorrow afternoon, one on Monday and two on Tuesday and I have to get presentations and other handouts ready for all of them.  I’m almost finished with THE STOLEN CHILD.  It’s a really strange book, but I am involved and can’t wait to see how it’s going to end.  I’m sure I’ll get to finish tomorrow afternoon, when my boss is in his big meeting.

Today this young guy had his baby at work.  He looks so young that I didn’t even know he was married or had a baby, but the baby is six months old and he was SO SO SO SO SO SO cute that I wanted to eat him up.  I didn’t get to hold him, because one of the other girls was hogging him and since I hardly know the guy I felt too shy to grab his son and smother him with kisses.  He was the happiest, chubbiest, sweetest, cutest boy.  Oy!  I love babies!  I told him if he ever needed a babysitter I was available!

I wish there was someone in the complex here with a baby.  I would offer to babysit and make some extra money and get to hug and squeeze a little one.  It would be so much fun!

So, I got something great accomplished today, getting my seller’s permit.  Now, if I can just find all the paperwork I need to get my taxes done, and send them off to our accountant in Flushing, I would have the weight of the world off my shoulders.  I HATE this time of year – really I do!

Before I close, I have to say HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY to my beautiful niece, Jessica!

I wish I had something exciting to write about, but today was pretty boring.  I went to work, finished my book (which really did touch me when I was done), worked hard all morning, because my boss was in, and then was SO bored all afternoon, because he was in meetings.

He has three out-of-town meetings on Monday and Tuesday and I have to get a LOT of stuff together for them tomorrow, so I should be nice and busy all day tomorrow!

I left at 5:00pm and got a ride home.  I got home right before Eric, who was at the dentist getting his teeth cleaned.  I wish I could get mine cleaned, too, but I HAVE to have some kind of sedation or I won’t do it.  It just is too scary, because it hurts so much.

After watching DR. PHIL I made us NUTRISYSTEM PIZZAs and I had cherry tomatoes with some hummus.  Eric said he was eating all day, so he didn’t want anything else.

I watched some TV and then came into the living room to do a project.  I worked on two mirrors tonight – small gold-framed mirrors in unusual shapes.  I did one in all blues and silvers and it came out great.  The others is multi-colored, but mostly greens and oranges.  They both look good, but I have a little more work to do on each before they’re done.

I can’t believe tomorrow is Friday already.  It really amazes me how fast the weeks go by and how soon the weekend comes each week.  I guess it’s a good thing, but I just feel like time is passing too quickly and, before you know it, we’ll be gone from here.  I really am enjoying my days here, so I wish the days would not fly by!

We have no plans for the weekend, but I’m planning to do a lot of work, finish up my tax stuff, and get a lot of jewelry mosaic and decoupage projects done.  I want to have an enormous inventory for the show on the 30th.  I’m very excited and think about it a lot.  I’m already planning how my table will look.  I ordered 4 yards of red satin to make a tablecloth and I’m going to bedazzle it, so it will sparkle as people approach.  I’m so excited to finally use the Bedazzler that Jimmy won for me!  The multi-colored jewelry mosaics and decoupaged objects should look fabulous on the red satin!

I’m also planning to print out color signs that will just be my business card enlarged.  I will have them all around, with my business cards, too, so people will remember my name!  Oh, I’ve got lots of plans and I am so looking forward to selling at the fair.  I wish you could all be there!

I finally feel like I earned my pay today!  I worked hard and I got a lot accomplished.  As I mentioned before, my boss has three meetings next week – one in San Francisco on Monday; two in L.A. on Tuesday.  When he has these client meetings he brings along a folder with two pockets.  There are different documents that go in each folder for each meeting, along with a spiral bound PowerPoint presentation.  I don’t type most of the documents.

I do make minor changes to the PowerPoint presentation, changing the name of the client, the date, who will be at the meeting from our firm, and sometimes other small changes.  Most of the documents are done and I just have to find them on the network, send them to Fulfillment (printing department) and give them instructions as to how many copies I need and whether or not it’s one or two sided, bound or stapled, color or black/white, etc. 

Doing the work for three meetings in one day was a lot, because it’s confusing.  Each client gets different documents or different versions of the same document.  I checked and double-checked and I hope I got it all right!  All I know is that it was all done by 4:30pm and I was exhausted.

I thought Eric was taking me out to sushi tonight, and I was really looking forward to it, but when I got home he said there were two great basketball games on TV tonight and he didn’t want to go out, so we’d go tomorrow night.  No biggie.  I got undressed and into my pajamas, watched DR. PHIL and had a snack of celery and hummus.

After that show (Eric was already watching basketball in the living room) I made a NUTRISYSTEM entrée and watched THE CELEBRITY APPRENTICE, then ELI STONE.

My friend Robyn, who lives near Temecula with her husband, Sal, called to catch up.  It’s been a long time since we’ve spoken and we filled each other in on everything that’s going on with us.  Robyn is another of my “faithful ten” – someone who religiously reads my blog every day.

Since I haven’t known her very long (she’s really my niece Melissa’s friend and we got in touch and became friends because we both moved from New York to San Diego!), I am especially flattered that she takes the time to read about us every day.  She expressed her concern for Eric and what he’s going through.  She says she knows it is hard to adjust, because she and Sal are also new here and know what it’s like.

We promised to get together for dinner soon since she works very close to where we live.  I’m looking forward to it!

I got an email today from the woman who bought our house.  She and her husband and two gorgeous daughters are really enjoying the house – finally.  They did SO much work that they weren’t able to move in until November!  Remember – we moved out August 11th!  They thought they’d move in on September 1st, but it took almost three months longer than they planned.  She sent a bunch of pictures of the renovation, a few of which I am sharing with you all today!

The living room, with the sun shining in their new door.  New floors, new closet door new banister, new ceiling fixture!

There is a good reason for the delay.  They renovated almost every square inch of the house.  The only things that are left the way they were when we lived there are:

1. The long built-in wall unit in the living room (which Eric lovingly built).  I’m SO glad they didn’t tear it down.  I was worried about that!
2. The French doors in the dining room, although they DID put up gorgeous shades.  I never covered them, because no one could really see in and I loved the sunshine all day long!
3. The shelves at the end of the hallway – between the bathroom and master bedroom.
4. The master bathroom.
5. The upstairs bathroom.
6. The dining room set.  That’s the table and chairs that I sponge painted and decoupaged, which was part of the deal for the sale of the house.  The realtor said that Cynthia fell in love with the set and wanted it to come with the house.  Since I was planning to sell it anyway, I was more than happy to give it to her (and very flattered, too!).

Samantha's room in the attic -- which used to be the leopard room!  The crib is where the bed used to be.  New walls, new floors.  The dresser/changing table is the same dresser that was there when WE moved into the house 21 years ago.  I left it for Cynthia.  She painted it and put decals on it.  Isn't it adorable?  It's 1940s and it's still going strong!

Here’s what they DID do:  ALL new floors throughout the house (except for the bathrooms), new window above the bed in the master bedroom, new bay window in the living room, complete new kitchen – and they broke down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room and put up a wall that led from the kitchen to the hallway.

The master bedroom with the new ceiling fan and fixture, the new fabulous window above the bed (we had a small window higher up on either side of the bed) with a sconce on either side.  The best thing about this picture?  Zoe and Samantha, of course!

They broke down the wall hiding the staircase to the attic and put a new banister up.  ALL new light fixtures (they even took down the ceiling fan in the master bedroom and put up ANOTHER ceiling fan!), ALL new doors – every single door, except the mirrored doors on the big closet in the master bedroom.  They raised the ceiling in the attic rooms, added “pot light” fixtures in the ceiling (we always used lamps in the rooms upstairs, because there were no ceiling fixtures or light switches), enlarged the rooms by breaking down walls where the crawl spaces were, and also took away all the radiators and put in baseboard radiators, took out all the air conditioners and put in central air, and refinished the basement adding a third bathroom, and making a bedroom out of the area Eric used as a workroom (we haven’t seen pictures of that yet).  Oh, and they painted EVERY SINGLE ROOM. 

The living room, with new wood floors and the new bay window.  I'm glad to see Eric's wall unit is still there!  And there's that cutie pie -- Samantha!

Can you believe it?  The house looks AMAZING.  The sad thing is, we painted the whole house right before we moved out and the colors were great and Eric did SUCH a beautiful job, but they changed all the colors.  Cynthia has great taste and I love what she’s done.  And that’s just the inside!  They also did new siding and will be getting all new lawn and front landscaping this spring.  It’s hard to believe it’s our house.  The thing that makes me happiest is that two beautiful little girls are living there, enjoying it and will grow up there and make wonderful memories.

Here's the bay window with the shade up.  There are sconces on either side of this window, too, which is such a nice touch!  Daniel (the husband) is an electrician, so he went all out!

The people who owned the house before us bought it when they were in their 50s, so their children were all grown already.  We never had kids, so the house never really knew the pitter patter of little feet.  Cynthia is pregnant with her third child, and it makes me so happy that there will be a sweet, beautiful family living there, raising their children and enjoying life on Leggett Place, which is as it should be.  That house was so sweet, so cozy, so lovely and we enjoyed it for 21 years.  Now, it is passed on to a beautiful family that Eric and I really fell in love with.  We couldn’t be happier for them.

Here's a picture of the dining room, taken from the kitchen.  Notice anything missing?  The big, ugly air conditioner that was in the wall!  The light fixture is new (but I think they'll miss the fan for circulating the air when you're cooking).  I love the two lights hanging over the granite counter.  What a room!  Isn't it nice to see my table again?

Tomorrow and Sunday is all about running errands and creating more pieces for the Craft Fair.  I am going to work like crazy this weekend, because I really want to get a lot done.  I want to have more than I can possibly sell in one day – and then sell it all!

I forgot to show you a picture I took with my cell phone the other day, when I went to get my seller’s permit.  Since I was in a government building, there was a lovely picture of our governor (or should I say the governator) Arnold Schwarzenegger.  I almost had to laugh, because it just struck me as so funny.

So, I really didn’t have anyplace to go today until I received an email from the CRAFT MAFIA saying that we could pick up flyers today at 2:30pm at a STARBUCKS in the Hazard Center.  Isn’t that a weird name for a place to shop?  It’s also the same place where the Latino Film Festival is being held at the Ultrastar Cinemas, and John Leguizamo and Cheech Marin are set to appear!

So, this morning, before I left to go pick up the flyers, I watched TV and just did stuff around the apartment with Eric.  We watched an episode of MONK from season two, which is one of my favorites.  Monk has to act in a play in order to try to figure out who murdered an actor.  Amy Sederis guest stars as his assistant’s sister, and Betty Buckley played their mother.  It was so funny!

We both spoke to our friend, Larry, whose birthday is tomorrow, and I spoke to Geri for a long time, too.  Unfortunately, they were having a bad thunderstorm in NYC and they lost their power!

I jumped in the shower and then my friend Susan called and we spoke for a while, too.  Then, I finally got out of the house just in time to drive to the mall to meet the girls and get the flyers and posters.  It’s weird, because most of the malls here are really just shopping centers.  They’re all outdoors.  It’s not like the big buildings in NY where you can go from store to store and never go outside.  Here you just go from shop to shop but you are walking outside as you do it.

I got the flyers, which are really professional and beautiful.  I was so impressed.  They’re made to look like an old-fashioned WANTED poster and they came out great!  I got a bunch and then left to run more errands.

First, I went to HILLCREST, because I had a few pairs of screw-on and clip-on earrings that I thought might be worth selling.  I figured if I could sell them and get a credit, I could buy myself something pretty!  I went to FLASHBACKS and I only sold 2 pair, but I got $13.50 and ended up getting a fabulous vintage purple Asian jacket with the frog closings.  It fits perfectly, but it’s much too long for me, so I am going to have it shortened to above the knee and then have the extra fabric made into a purse!  I love it!

Next, I went to a card store, because I wanted to buy my Mom a birthday card.  Her birthday is March 14th!

When I got back to Clairemont I did our food shopping and then got home just as Eric was coming back from a ride.  He helped me with all the bundles and I put everything away and made us a late lunch.  I knew it was a big mistake, because Eric decided we had just eaten at 5:30pm and it was dumb to go out and have sushi, so we stayed home AGAIN.  I mean it, he’s really getting away with murder!

We watched another episode of MONK and then we both came out to the living room.  Eric watched a special about John Lennon with old video and interviews, pictures and music.  I just listened, while I worked on a few projects.

I finally finished and I’m exhausted from working for almost 4 hours without stopping!  Tomorrow I have some yucky tax work to finish (adding up all my expenses for the year) and then I can play some more and make more stuff to sell at the craft fair.  After seeing the girls today, I am more inspired than ever!

If you'd like to see the full line-up of more than 60 vendors who will be selling at the CRAFT FAIR on Sunday, March 30th, just click on this link (and you'll see the picture that they choose to go with MY link!):  http://sandiegonorthparkcraftmafia.com/SpringLineUp/SLUVendors.html

I wrote myself a note, so that I would remember Daylight Savings, but of course I forgot anyway.  When my phone rang at 8:30am it woke me up, but it was really 9:30am.  I stayed up until after 1:00am last night, working hard on pieces to sell at the Craft Fair.  It was our friend, Jerry, on the phone, and I told him I’d call him back later.  I went to the bathroom, walked around the apartment, and then decided to go back to bed.

The next thing I knew, it was 11:30am, which was really 12:30pm, and Eric and I were still in bed.  What is up with THAT?  When we finally got up we didn’t do much – we just sat in the living room.  Eric was watching a basketball game and I was working on the computer.  I called Jerry back and we talked for a while.

Eric and I decided to go to Haiku Sushi for lunch, instead of dinner, and Eric said his first game would end at 3:00pm and the next game was starting at 5:00pm, so we’d go to a late lunch at 3:00pm.

We took showers, got dressed and then I started working on compiling all my business expenses for 2007.  When his game ended we left the apartment to go to the restaurant in Pacific Beach.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day – even a little hot – around 72 degrees.  It felt GREAT!

We had shumai and three different roles – one shrimp, one salmon and one scallop.  Delicious – as usual!

Then we got Eric a regular coffee at a stand nearby (he’s becoming quite the coffee drinker.  I think he feels he needs the caffeine to get motivated.   Whatever it takes!

Then, we went to STARBUCKS, so I could get my decaf skinny mocha latte.  Then, we headed home.

We got home at exactly 5:00pm and Eric started watching his second basketball game while I went to the Laundry Room to do two loads.  I worked on the computer, adding up all my expenses on an Excel spreadsheet, and then started working on another project for the Craft Fair.

We didn’t really have a regular dinner tonight.  Since we had a big lunch we didn’t really have that much of an appetite.  Eric had leftover sushi and I had some snap peas and hummus.  Then I had some NUTRISYSTEM soy chips and a little Ben & Jerry’s Light Phish Food Ice Cream.  It’s really good.

I am happy to report that the scale is going down ever so slowly again and I’m back down to 124.5 lbs.  I’ve been fluctuating between 125 and 126 for over a week, so seeing 124 ANYTHING was great! 

I watched EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION and OPRAH’S THE BIG GIVE.  I enjoy shows where people in need are helped and you can see how it changes their lives for the better.  I wish Eric and I were doing volunteer work, because I know how gratifying it can be.  I am going to work on that when we get settled someplace else.

I started working on making some signs for my table at the Craft Show.  I typed up some information on my work and put it on an 8½ x 11 piece of paper with a leopard border.  It says:

Decorative Reincarnation
My work is all about recycling – about trying to keep stuff out of the landfill.  It’s about taking something that someone else might think is garbage and giving it a “new decorative life.”  I’m bringing things back to life for another chance to make someone happy, to serve a purpose, to bring beauty to the world.

I made another sign letting people know that I do custom, commissioned work.  It says:

New – Yet Vintage!
Most of my work is created using vintage jewelry.  I use pieces that are broken, missing a stone, a pin without a clasp, a single earring, loose beads, antique buttons, and more.  If you have vintage jewelry that you don’t enjoy wearing, but that has sentimental value, let me create something fabulous that you can look at every day and treasure forever!

I’m also creating a price tag that has the a sticker with a tiny version of my business card and the price on one side and a description of the item on the other.  I’m so excited about this craft show.  I think about it SO much.  I’m confident that I will have a lot of great pieces – lots of different kinds of things, too – so people will really get an idea of what I can do.

I’m bringing my 3-panel screen with the perfume cards, my pearl lamp, the big round mirror with the clip-on and screw-on earrings, and a lot of little pieces, too.  I’m also bringing my decorative storage – the framed boards with the brown velvet and the fishnet earring holder.  I’m bringing picture frames, mirrors, and other accessories for the home using the jewelry mosaics and also decoupage.

Getting into this show is the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time.  It’s really given me something to work towards, something to think about, and something to look forward to.  I wish you could all be there to enjoy the day with me!

Have I mentioned how much I HATE this time of year?  How getting everything ready for the accountant makes me neurotic?  How having them prepared – yes, I don’t even do them myself – makes me lose sleep?  I never felt this way until I opened the shop.  Then, it became MUCH more complicated and there was a lot of work for me to do.  This is (hopefully) the last year it will be this complicated, although if we move again I can’t see it being much less complicated with tax returns filed in TWO states.

Anyway, my ride couldn’t pick me up this morning, but I let Eric sleep in and took the car myself.  He didn’t think he’d need the car anyway, and I had my acupuncture appointment after work anyway, so it made life a lot less complicated.

I didn’t do much at work today – the boss was in San Francisco – but I did read about 100 pages of A MILLION LITTLE PIECES by James Frey.  I know it’s not all true, but it’s still very hard-hitting.

I handed out the postcards for the SAN DIEGO NORTH PARK CRAFT MAFIA SPRING LINE-UP CRAFT FAIR (that’s a mouthful!).  Everyone was very enthusiastic and I’m hoping some of them will actually show up!

I put up an 8-1/2 x 11 poster in the cafeteria and left some postcards in strategic locations, plus I gave them out to anyone I thought would like that kind of thing.

After work I went to the acupuncturist and gave him a flyer, too!  He’s so sweet and I think he’ll actually come.  He said he likes that kind of thing!

When I got home I made a small salad for each of us and then baked salmon for me and lemon sole for Eric with asparagus.  It came out great and all I did was drizzle a little olive oil on the pan before putting the fish down and a little balsamic vinegar on top.  I put some bread crumbs on Eric’s fish, because he likes that, and added some MRS. DASH no-salt spices. 

After dinner I watched some TV, then finished a project I had started last night.  I’ll be photographing everything and posting it to my crafts blog by the end of the week.

Eric said he felt like ice cream, so he went to KEILS to get some dessert.  I thought he’d bring home frozen yogurt or low-fat ice cream like I always do, but – no – he brought home HAAGEN DAZS Chocolate and Peanut Butter – my favorite – full of fat and sugar and CALORIES.  The scale was already up this morning from yesterday – and I don’t understand that AT ALL.  I was SO good this weekend.  I was 124.5 on Sunday and 125.8 this morning.  As Karen on WILL & GRACE used to say, “Huh? Wha? Heh?”  I don’t get it.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings – after a VERY small serving of the “good stuff.”

Meanwhile, my big box of NUTRISYSTEM food arrived today – our last delivery – so it’s not like we didn’t have any of THEIR desserts left.  And it’s not like they’re bad – because they’re not.  It’s just that we’re getting very lazy about the diet after 11 weeks.  Bad Eric and Peppy!

When I was done working on my project, I watched GIRLICIOUS, which never disappoints.  Then Eric watched the news (SPITZER!) while I blogged.  I’m going to bed now to watch MEDIUM, another show I just love.  Did you know the oldest daughter on that show was ELOISE in the made-for-TV-then-to-DVD movies with Julie Andrews as NANNY? 

I played ELOISE in one of my cabaret shows and Dick Gallagher sang a song and I had cute, witty dialogue as Eloise in-between his lines.  The song was written by Kay Thompson, who created the character of Eloise and wrote the books, too.  If you’d like to see more about ELOISE and read the lyrics to the song, click here: http://www.eloisewebsite.com/eloise_song.htm

Well, as Eloise says (in the song), “I’m feeling rather tired, tired, tired.”  So, goodnight, dear friends!

I woke up at 3:18am this morning, because Eric’s soap, which he keeps in a plastic travel case, fell off the top of the shower door (where he keeps it) and made a loud noise.  Scared the heck out of me.  I picked it up, took the opportunity to go to the bathroom, and then had a hard time falling back to sleep.

I was pretty tired this morning, but I still was ready on time and got picked up at 7:30am.  My boss was in L.A. today, so I figured I’d have nothing to do but, lo and behold, I was given a project!  It’s a great project, which should keep me busy for WEEKS, when my boss isn’t around.

What I need to do is list a ton of articles on subject matters of interest to my group, which are on the network.  I put them into an Excel spreadsheet.  It’s not hard work, and I only have to open each document, look at the article, and put information into the Excel Spreadsheet.  I type in the title, publication, author, date, add a hyperlink, so they can find it easily, and use key words to describe the article, so that if someone wants an article on a particular subject they will be able to just put in a key word and the articles will come up.

This Excel spreadsheet will then be passed on to someone who will put the information into some kind of system called ROBOHELP, which will then make the articles easily accessible.

There are literally thousands of documents, so it should take me a few days.  I’m KIDDING!!!!  This will definitely last me until I leave there!  This is great, because sometimes I get tired of reading.  Really!  I’ve already read over 200 pages of A MILLION LITTLE PIECES.  It’s a really good book.

So, the day went by quickly and when I got home Eric and I went to COSTCO.  We picked up a few things, like Listerine, pistachio nuts (Eric’s favorite snack), conditioner, and FUZE drinks for me (24 bottles for $22!).  Eric also got 36 DURACELL AA batteries to use with his portable CD player (which he uses when he rides his bicycle).  36 batteries was less than $13.  If you go into a drug store and buy 4 AA batteries, it’s over $3, so it would cost about $30 for 36!  THAT’S why COSTCO is such a great deal (like BJ’s in NY).  We also got 16 bars of LEVER soap (which Eric uses) for $6.99.  I think that’s SO cheap!

When we were traveling across the country, and for three months before we joined COSTCO, we were buying everything in supermarkets and drug stores.  We had always purchased stuff like that at BJ’s in NY, and I realized how great the deals are, because in regular stores you’re buying ½ the amount for twice the price!

We also got frozen edamame that comes in individual serving bowls.  You just pop them in the microwave and they’re ready to eat!  It was only $7.65 for 12 servings!  We love our edamame!

When we got back Eric washed the car, because there was huge bird poo on the trunk.  It looked like a bald eagle had pooped on the car.  I mean it was really all over the back and Eric said it would “ruin the finish” so he had to get it off quickly.  That’s my Eric!

I came upstairs and called ENTERPRISE and reserved a car for our week in Asheville.  We’re going to try to get a PT Cruiser.  I just love them and feel very comfortable driving them.

The only thing I have left to do for our trip is the hotel reservation, but I don’t want to reserve a whole week, because we may go to Charlotte and we may want to stay at different places in Asheville.  So, I think I’ll just make a reservation for Thursday and Friday, and then we can decide if we want to stay longer.  I’m sure there won’t be a problem extending our stay if we want to.

Eric and I have decided we should stay right in the city, and then he can take the car to go riding, and I can find my way around by myself.  If we do that for a few days then, if we want, we could go to a place closer to the trails, and then I can drop him off and take the car to the city myself.  Then, we could get a feel of where we need to live for him to ride and me to work!

I’m getting very excited about our trip, but I’m dreading all the changing of planes.  I wish we could fly non-stop, but it just can’t be done.  I’m going to pack VERY light – I don’t care if I wear the same outfits every single day.  I just don’t want to lug too much stuff around from airport to airport.

I have a lot to look forward to.  I’m pretty sure my cousins from L.A. are coming on the 22nd and we’re all going to the Wild Animal Park.  Then, the Sunday after that is the Craft Show.  Then, 8 days later we leave for Florida, and then Asheville. Wheee!

So, last night I put some pictures on my CRAFTS BLOG and the light came on showing that the battery was low.  I had problems with the battery when I first bought the camera, because they gave me the wrong one.  When I went back and gave them back the battery they gave me a new one that fit the camera, which was already charged, so this was the first time I needed to charge it.

Unfortunately, the charger was for the OTHER battery, which didn’t fit in MY camera, so I couldn’t charge the battery!  I was SO frustrated.  Eric volunteered to take the battery and the charger back to CIRCUIT CITY with the receipts and get me the right charger.

Of course they didn’t have it and they suggested that he go to RADIO SHACK, which he did, but RADIO SHACK doesn’t sell CANON accessories.  Isn’t it frustrating that every brand makes their accessories a little different, so you can’t use any other brand?

So, Eric went BACK to CIRCUIT CITY and they told him I had two options:  1. Get a refund; or 2. Return this camera and buy another one, which will be more expensive.

I told Eric I wanted a THIRD option: Get a more expensive camera FOR THE SAME PRICE.  So, I’m going to go on Saturday and give them a hard time.  After all, I bought a floor model, but they were supposed to give me everything that went with it.  First, I had to go back because they gave me the wrong battery.  Now I find out they ALSO gave me the wrong battery charger!  It’s very frustrating.  Eric told them that I use the camera for work and I’m losing money (my smart man).  So, I’ll let you all know what happens and meanwhile – NO CAMERA!

Work today was pretty busy, although I did get to read more of my book, which is very compelling.  It’s too bad a lot of it isn’t true, but it’s still got me wanting more!  I’ll probably finish it by Friday.

I worked on my “new project” today, too, but after about an hour my eyes started to cross, so I had to stop.  It seemed like my boss was in conference calls all day long, so I didn’t really do that much for him.  He’ll be in the rest of the week, too, but he’s going on vacation next week to NEW YORK (I’m SO jealous!).

When I got home I was exhausted and I made us edamame and started watching Dr. Phil, but I fell asleep.  Eric woke me at 7:00pm and I made us NUTRISYSTEM pizzas and a salad.  Then, I watched THE BIGGEST LOSER, and then Eric and I watched AMERICAN IDOL.  I love when he watches with me.

I can’t believe tomorrow is Thursday already.  It amazes me how fast the weeks fly by.  Too fast, I think.  I try to enjoy each day, because I know my days here in San Diego are numbered, but I want them to last and they’re really not.  I know that before we know it we’ll be leaving.  It makes me sad, but I’m also really excited about Asheville, too, and I’m PRAYING that it works out.  I just found out about a fabulous place called the PENLAND SCHOOL OF CRAFTS, which is right outside Asheville.  I remember reading about this place years ago and telling Eric that I wanted to go there!  Now, we may end up living right nearby!

I did some research this afternoon on hotels, but it ends up that the ones in the city are just too expensive.  So, we’re probably going to stay in a cheap place by the airport.  After all, it’s not about hanging out in the hotel room.  It’s about Eric riding and me driving around, getting to know Asheville.  So, all we really need is a clean bed and a clean bathroom!  I just can’t see paying $200 a night for the luxury of walking to all the stores/shopping/museums/galleries.  I’m not going to be there as a tourist, anyway.  We’re there to see about living there!

The red satin fabric I purchased on ebay for my table at the CRAFT SHOW arrived today.  It’s GORGEOUS.  I’m going to bedazzle the parts of it that hang off the table (with the lovely Bedazzler that Jimmy won for me!) and it will sparkle before people even get to my booth!  The CRAFT MAFIA sent around an email saying that they want everyone’s tables to look BEAUTIFUL and PROFESSIONAL and want everyone to have tablecloths, so you don’t see bags and boxes underneath.  I think that’s great and I’m sure all the crafty people will come up with fabulous booths, too.  I can’t wait!

I stayed up too late last night.  Eric was watching LENO and he kept telling me to go to sleep, but it’s hard when Leno’s so funny!

Anyway, it was painful to get out of bed this morning, but of course I did it.  It really helps to know I’m getting picked up in the mornings, so I really can’t be late!  It’s so pleasant in the mornings.  My ride picks me up, we talk about stuff like what we did the night before, AMERICAN IDOL, and the weather – and occasionally talk about something a little deeper.  The ride is only 15 minutes, so it’s not like we’re in the car a long time.  I get to work just about 8:00am and my boss is never there before 9:00am.

I start by turning on the computer and reading any work emails.  Then I go to YAHOO and read my emails.  Then, I go upstairs to the 7th floor, which is the only place to get decaf coffee (they need their caffeine around here!).  When I get back with my coffee I have my NUTRISYSTEM breakfast, which is usually a packet of cereal or granola, or one of their breakfast scones or muffins.

If I have a book to read (I finished A MILLION LITTLE PIECES this afternoon), I’ll read by book while I eat and then see if there’s anything I need to do regarding the work emails.  Usually there’s not.  I’ll read all the news that’s fit to print on YAHOO NEWS and then maybe email a friend -- usually Jimmy, to see what’s going on with him).  Jimmy and I are pretty much in contact all day, emailing back and forth.  It makes the day much more interesting!

When my boss arrives, sometimes he’ll have something to do.  Other times, like today, he’ll be in conference call after meeting, after conference call, after meeting, and I really don’t have any interaction with him all day.  He answers his own phone – almost every single time and he reads his own emails, makes his own appointments and maintains his own calendar.

I now have my “special project” but it is such boring work that I find I can’t do it for more than a half hour at a time without my eyes crossing.  So, I’ll read for a while, then do my project until I can’t stand it, then read my emails, then see what’s new on YAHOO NEWS, then email Jimmy, then go to the bathroom.

I know, it’s all so exciting.  If someone gives me something to do, I practically jump for joy!  I had a few requests this morning – I had to have 4 copies of a PowerPoint presentation printed, bound and sent to Milwaukee (woo hoo!).  That was my big project for the day. 

I’ll do research online, too – Asheville real estate, Asheville jobs, Asheville hotels (I haven’t booked one yet).  I read about their community theatre and their line-up of shows for 2007 was pretty great.  That’s something to look forward to!

At around 11:30am I got the “tamale man is here” email and I decided I could use some excitement in my life, so I went downstairs to see what it was all about.  I figured I’d buy a tamale and have it with my salad.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know the drill.  The tamale man sells them by the DOZEN – a dozen for $20.  Well, I figured Eric would like them, too, so I went for it.  He had pork, beef, chicken and jalapeno cheese.  He said I could do a mix, but I just got a dozen jalapeno cheese.

He handed me a bag with two tin foil-wrapped packages.  Each contained six.  They were HOT.  I mean so hot that I had to hold the bag by the handles, and not the bottom.  As I was going back into the elevator my boss was coming out.  I thought to myself, “Tamales for the boss?”  A few minutes later he showed up and asked me if I wanted a tamale.  I told him I got some, too – jalapeno/cheese.  He said he’d give me one of his beef or chicken if I gave him a jalapeno/cheese.  I told him I don’t eat meat or chicken, but I’d give him one of mine anyway.

He took it, and we both had one and they were SO SO good and fresh and delicious!  When I emailed and told Jimmy he said we “bonded over tamales.”  It’s true, it was the friendliest we ever were to each other.  He’s very nice, but we really don’t talk much and 99.5% of it is business. 

I put the other 10 tamales in the fridge and ate my little salad.  It was the perfect finish to a great lunch!

My afternoon was pretty much the same routine as the morning – emails, yahoo emails, read book, work on project.  Then, when I finished my book at 2:00pm I panicked.  What was I going to do for three hours?  The afternoon really dragged on and I started yawning.  The less you do, the more tired you are.  Know what I mean?

When I got in the car for the ride home, I really felt like putting my head back and taking a little nap, but of course I didn’t.  When I got home I made a tamale for Eric and me (I know, the scale is definitely going to show it tomorrow!) and I watched DR. PHIL.  I fell asleep again, just like yesterday.  This is a REALLY bad habit to get into and I don’t want to do it anymore, but it feels SO good!

Eric woke me at 8:00pm and I made a NUTRISYSTEM entrée for each of us, but I couldn’t finish mine, so Eric did.

Tomorrow’s Friday again.  I swear, the weeks fly by!  The only plans I have for the weekend are to go to the WHISTLE STOP BAR in North Park for their knitting social on Sunday afternoon.  No, I haven’t learned to knit (although I’d like to!), but a lot of the CRAFT MAFIA meet there just to do their crafts and hang out and they are meeting there to collect donations for the raffle at the CRAFT SHOW.  I’m donating two pieces – one small decoupaged box with gold ball feet and a green felt-lined interior and a small bejeweled silver frame.

Oh, I forgot to mention – Eric’s been working on the RV and he fixed the toilet.  He probably could have fixed it months ago – while we were on the road – but we were always too busy traveling and sightseeing to spend a day with his head in that tiny bathroom.  So, at least one thing is better for our next trip (or if we sell it)!

Today’s my darling mother’s birthday.  She’s 78 – the same age as Betty Boop.  Don’t tell her I told you!  I can’t wait to see my parents in 3 weeks.  It’s going to be WONDERFUL!  We can celebrate my Mom’s birthday!

When I was thinking about my mother’s birthday today, and mentioning it in the blog, I realized that I never gave our darling friend, Larry, a happy birthday mention.  So, Larry, we love you and we hope it was GREAT!

So, just to keep you up-to-date on the scale saga, I weighed 125.8 on Wednesday, 125.2 yesterday, and 125 today.  The scale goes down a little, but then it’ll jump back up a pound mysteriously.  I can’t really figure it out, but I need to step it up in order to lose more.  It seems like my body likes 124-125 and that’s a natural place for it these days.  If I want to be thinner, I’m going to have to exercise (yikes!) or be much stricter with the diet.

The first option is not very appealing, and the second option is hard, too, because after over 56 days on this diet it’s hard to not stray a little.  That’s what makes these kind of diets so hard – as soon as you stray, you gain back the weight!

I’ve been going for acupuncture once a week for a month now, and I haven’t seen any real improvement in my foot.  He did tell me it might take at least 10 sessions, and I knew it wouldn’t be a “miracle cure” but I’m just trying to get my foot in shape so I can walk more.

My hand also still hurts.  It’s a good thing I had it x-rayed or I’d really think something was wrong.  I can’t believe it’s almost 2 months and it still really hurts when I move it certain ways.  Also, when I wake up in the morning it’s bad, and I think it’s because I might lay on it during the night.  I don’t know what I do, but the mornings are bad.

Work was busy today.  I worked on my “special project” and also a PowerPoint presentation that my boss will be using in 2 weeks for a meeting in New York.  I also worked on his expense report, which I really love.  Do you believe I love doing that?  It’s just that the system they have on the computer makes it SO easy!  The computer automatically lists all his Am Ex charges and then he gives me all his receipts.  I look at the list and check off the ones that match the receipts and then I have to populate the form with explanations as to where he was, with whom, for which client, etc., etc.  It's actually fun!

I brought a tamale with me to have for lunch today.  I just LOVE those tamales.  I also had some salad.

When I got home I made us edamame and relaxed and watched TV.  Then, at 7:30pm I made us each a NUTRISYSTEM entrée and we watched an episode of MONK that I had only seen once and Eric had never seen.  Kathy Baker was in it and she was just in the most recent episode of MEDIUM.  She’s a great actress.  I always remember her in EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, which is a movie Eric and I both love.

Tomorrow I have to go to CIRCUIT CITY and get me a new camera.  They’re going to be sorry if they try to mess with me.  They’ll experience the “wrath of Peppy.”  I feel completely justified in being upset, because they’re the ones that messed up.  They sold me a camera with the wrong battery and the wrong charger.  Now, they have to make it right.

Eric cleaned the whole apartment this afternoon.  He vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, and organized my workspace, which is the table and 4 chairs in the dining room.  He is SO cute.  I kind of left the table a big mess and he organized everything and had all my tools lined up so perfectly.  He’s really a neat-nick.  I think he’s wonderful, but it’s really all about procrastinating, so he doesn’t have to work on the RV! 

He used to do that at home, too.  I’d ask him to do a particular job around the house and I’d wait a few days and then say something again and then he’d spend the next two days “organizing the back room (which is where his work room was).  He’d say he couldn’t start a project until the room was organized, because he wouldn’t be able to find his tools, or have a place to do the project.  It sounded good, but it was just procrastination.  He’s great at that.

Anyway, I DO appreciate that the apartment looks so great, but I really want him to get the RV in shape, because we’ve decided we’re going to try to sell it and if we can’t sell it then we’ll keep it until we move and then drive it across the country.  If we did sell it, we could drive the PT Cruiser across the country and since we’re going to make this a relatively fast trip (2 weeks max), it wouldn’t be so bad to stay in cheap motels all the way back.  That way, we’d have the PT Cruiser and save $2,000 shipping it across the country.

Eric also picks up my check every Friday and deposits it in the bank for me, so he saves me the trouble of having to do it.  He’s also been doing most of the laundry, only leaving my good clothes, which I prefer to wash myself.  I really prefer to do ALL the laundry myself, but he is really trying to do as much as he can for me, and I appreciate it all.

He’s been in a very good mood, and has been joking around and he seems more lighthearted than he has in six months.  It’s wonderful to see.  There’s a light that’s back in his eyes again – a light that I’ve really longed to see.  I know it’s because he is looking forward to the trip to North Carolina, and to leaving San Diego for good.  Seeing him happy again makes me know that we are doing the right thing.  When I see him smile, and hear him laugh, I know it’s because he sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  I just hope that everything works out for us in Ashevile.  We’re really putting all our eggs in one basket with this trip.  If Asheville doesn’t work out, I don’t know what we’ll do

I woke up and Eric was still sleeping, so I put on my headphones (yes, I have cordless headphones, so I can watch TV while Eric sleeps!) and I watched GHOST WHISPERER.  Then, Eric got up and wanted to go out to breakfast.  We decided to go to CAFÉ 976 on Feldspar in PACIFIC BEACH.  We’ve been there before and they have great food.  We sat outside, because it was a gorgeous morning, and I had a Spicy Eggplant Breakfast Burrito and Eric had Nutty Monkey Waffles with bananas, granola, walnuts and whipped cream! 

After breakfast, I dropped Eric off at home, to work on the RV and I ran a million errands.

First, I brought two dresses to the dry cleaners.  They were cleaned right before we left NY, but from being in the garment boxes for so long and then squished in my closet, they got so wrinkled that they needed to be steamed and pressed, instead of just ironed.

Next, I went to a local salon to get my eyebrows waxed.  It’s been a long time and I really needed it.  I have horrible eyebrows, because over-tweezing for so many years has left me with two little sperm-shaped lines that end much too soon.  I need to pencil in the rest, which looks horrible in the sunlight.  You can really tell.  If I leave them the way they are naturally, they just look weird.  My grandmother always shaved her eyebrows and penciled them in.  I don’t remember why (maybe my mother does?) and it always looked a little strange.  I’m not only becoming my mother, I’m becoming my grandmother!

Anyway, after the eyebrow waxing I went to MICHAEL’S to buy some spray varnish for my decoupage projects.

Then, I went to CIRCUIT CITY to get my new camera.  It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought.  First, I spoke to a young man named “Eddie,” which is one of my favorite names (my grandfather’s and my nephew’s).  I told him my sad tale of woe and he told me I couldn’t return the camera, because it was after 14 days.  I told him I didn’t want to return the camera.  I LOVED the camera.  I was dying to keep the camera, but how could I keep the camera if I couldn’t charge the battery?

Then, he started to tell me that I needed to use my warranty (which I had purchased with the camera), because the camera was purchased “as is.”  I quickly told him how THAT was going to go.  I told him I purchased the warranty because, since I bought the floor model, I was afraid it had taken some abuse and wanted to be sure I was covered if anything happened.  I told him the salesman never told me it was “as is” meaning that they were giving me the wrong equipment!  I told him the salesman told me the only difference with this camera was that it didn’t have the box.

He never said, “You better buy the warrantee in case we gave you the wrong parts.”  I told Eddie I wanted to speak to a manager.  He disappeared and obviously spoke to the manager himself because ten minutes later (yes, I waited for 10 minutes) he came back and told me he’d give me a full credit and I could purchase another camera.

I picked out the CANON POWERSHOT SD750, which is one step up from the SD1000 that I already had.  They don’t make the SD1000 anymore, because the SD750 is the “newer version.”  It’s also got a few nicer features.  A month ago, when I purchased the SD1000, the SD750 was $250.  Now, it was on sale for $199, so I got it and still got a $14 credit to my credit card!

I was very happy.  I kept my case, since they told me the new camera would fit, but of course it doesn’t, so I have to go back now, return the case, and buy another one.  I tell you, it never ends!

After I left CIRCUIT CITY, I stopped at CVS to get more lipstick.  My lipstick was worn down to the very end.  I really needed a new one!

Next, I went to STARBUCKS and got a Mocha Light Frappucino, which is more fattening than an Iced Skinny Mocha, but I was in the mood.  So shoot me!

I drove home, dropped off the varnish and the camera, took all the books I had read recently and went back out.  I drove to PACIFIC BEACH and stopped at THE SALVATION ARMY.  I found three things to decoupage for $3, so I was pretty happy!

Next, I went to PENNYWISE BOOKS where they buy, sell and trade used books.  He took almost all the books and I bought two new books to read.  I only paid $4 for each, but next time I’ll just go to the library and donate the books someplace.  I thought I could get some free books, because I was bringing so many (like 6), but he didn’t care.  The sign outside does say, "BUY, SELL, TRADE."  To me, trade means I give you books, you give me books, but here you just get a discount.  He told me he has to make a living.  I guess he does, but he's not really trading, is he?

I drove back to CLAIREMONT and went food shopping.  When I was done I called Eric.  He had been working on the RV all afternoon and he came and helped me with the bundles.  As soon as I finished putting all the groceries away, he helped me go to the laundry room with the big bag and I did three loads.

Then, I came upstairs and had a snack (tamale) while the laundry was washing.  Eric ate the other half of my breakfast burrito (it was really big and I couldn't possibly finish it).  Then, he went back to the RV and I threw everything in the dryer, and watched AMERICA’S BEST DANCE CREW, which is a great show that Randy Jackson produces where hip hop kids dance to different themes – like Michael Jackson, or Broadway.  Very entertaining!

When the laundry was done I pulled out the Bedazzler and opened up the red satin fabric to begin putting rhinestones on it.  The minute I looked at it laid out on the floor, I could see that it wasn’t 58” wide, which is what I purchased.  I measured it and it’s only 51 inches wide, which is NEVER going to work.  They said we needed 60” wide to cover the table, but I figured 2” wouldn’t make a big difference, but 9 inches is definitely too narrow.

I emailed the woman I purchased it from and hope she can send me the right fabric.  Since I wasn’t bedazzling, I decided to start decoupaging one of the purchases I made today.  It was an old metal file box.  It’s in horrible condition, all scratched, with a few dents and is pretty ugly.  I am covering it with Victorian pictures from old calendars I had.  It’s coming out great!

Eric had a tamale for dinner and I had a NUTRISYSTEM pizza, which Eric made for me, since my hands were covered with glue.  I washed them off and stopped long enough to eat and then I was right back to work.

I worked until 11:30pm, stopped to blog, and then we watched SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.

Tomorrow I have no errands to run, except to go to the WHISTLE STOP BAR to bring my raffle donations to the CRAFT MAFIA girls.  I’m so glad I got everything done today, so tomorrow I can relax a little.  I really worked hard today and ran around a LOT!

So, I heard from the fabric lady, and she insisted that all her fabrics were 58”.  I took out the fabric to measure it again, and Eric helped me.  Of course she was right!  I don’t know how I misread it last time.  Eric said the measuring tape he gave me is a little confusing, but still!  I wrote her back apologizing and told her “I’m usually not this stupid!”

So, problem solved and I can bedazzle tonight!  I DID get something great accomplished, because I worked on the metal file box and worked on it some more this morning when I woke up.  I’m decoupaging it with pictures from Victorian calendars, which are so pretty.

Eric got up and we had NUTRISYSTEM breakfasts (he cereal; me oatmeal).  Then, I watched TRADING SPACES, which had an Elvis impersonator and a Cher impersonator from Las Vegas trading houses.  They did an office in each room.  Her room was fabulous.  His room was awful.  Heidi was the designer and she’s crazy.  She made them glue shredded paper all over the walls.  Elvis and his wife hated it, and it’s going to be some job for them to get it all down!

At a little before 1:00pm Eric left to go for a ride.  He couldn’t have been less enthusiastic, but he didn’t ride yesterday, since he was working on the RV all day, so I guess he figured he might as well get a ride in.  He asked me if I had any suggestions as to where he should ride, but I didn’t.  He hates every place, so what’s the difference?  It’s really just about him getting out in the fresh air, getting his legs moving, getting his heart pumping a little.  That’s it.  It’s about getting in shape so he can really ride in North Carolina.

I left the house a little after 2:00pm and headed for CIRCUIT CITY.  It was relatively painless this time.  I just showed them the camera case I had and exchanged it for one that fit.  I actually LOVE this one.  It looks like a small purse, and it’s a brown Asian fabric.  It has a shoulder strap, that you can take off, and a wrist strap, separate from the wrist strap on the camera.  I’m so happy!

My friend Susan had called when I was in CIRCUIT CITY, so when I got back in the car, I called her back and talked to her all the way to South Park.  It’s always great to talk to her!  When I got there we hung up and I went to the WHISTLE STOP BAR.

The CRAFT MAFIA asked for donations to be raffled off at the CRAFT SHOW on Sunday, March 30th, so I picked two pieces and brought them to the WHISTLE STOP BAR, because Stephanie Hilsted of MADE WITH LUV was going to be collecting items there.

It was such a gorgeous afternoon -- perfect for a drive to South Park!  The WHISTLE STOP is a cute place with a pool table, a separate room with formica-topped bar tables and stools, away from the bar, and a stage for bands, which play there regularly.

When I went in, I was immediately greeted by some girls who were there to attend the KNITTING CLUB that gets together there some Sundays to teach, learn and just knit in the company of friends.  They asked if I was there to knit, since I was carrying a bag with me, which looked like it could have held yarn and needles, but I explained that it was craft stuff to give to Stefanie.  They were so nice and welcoming.  I told them I've always wanted to learn to knit, but never had an opportunity.  My Aunt Evelyn was an amazing knitter and my sisters and I wore sweaters when we were young that she had made for each of us.  There was nothing she couldn't knit!

A girl named Jen came over and introduced herself and then, as we were talking, Stef came in.  Stephanie had told me that the WHISTLE STOP was going to have a craft show on the 29th, the day before the one at the SPRING LINE UP.  I told her I'd love to participate, but she said they were fully booked.

Stephanie explained to Jen that I was interested in the craft show on the 29th, and Jen said that there had been a cancellation, but she had to know what I did, because she wasn't interested in certain crafts that had already committed to the show.

I told her that not only could I tell her what I did, but I could show her what I did, since I had two pieces with me!  I showed them the small decoupaged box I had made, and a tiny silver frame bejeweled with vintage jewelry.  She went nuts!  She said there was no one else who did anything like what I did, and that people would go crazy for my stuff!  I was so happy -- and flattered!

She said their price point was lower than it would be at the SPRING LINE UP on the 30th, but also explained that since the show was free, it was possible to lower your prices, since you didn't have any expenses.  I told her that I'd just bring a small table (the folding table that we use as a dining room/work table) and just my smaller pieces.

I had a few more errands to run this afternoon, so I left soon after and when I got home I got to work right away.

Now, I have to work TWICE as hard, because I really want to have a lot of inventory for both shows! 

When I got back I made myself a tamale.  Ah, tamales!   I watched some TV and then started bedazzling the red satin, since I now know it’s the right size!  It is not the easiest machine to work with, but I managed to put a bunch of clear rhinestones on the fabric and it looks SO pretty!  Wheee!  Thanks, Jimmy!

After I finished (and my back was ready to give out from working on the floor and leaning over), I went back inside to watch more TV.  Eric came home soon after.  He was SO sweaty and had gone all the way to OCEAN BEACH on his bicycle.  It’s at least 15 miles each way, so he really had a great ride today.  His t-shirt was soaked and he was all sweaty – just how I like him!  I was so happy to see him after 4 hours, and he really had a good, long ride!

He went into the shower and I decided to take a nap.  He woke me at 7:00pm and I made us a big salad.  It had everything in it!  He had an entrée, too, but I just had the salad.  It was more than enough for me!

After dinner I worked on my CRAFTS BLOG (I just wrote about my trip to Whistle Stop Bar).  Then, I watched EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION and an episode of PSYCH.

This is a short work-week for me, because the firm has a half day on Thursday and is closed on Friday, so I can REALLY get a lot accomplished.  I'm glad that I can work on Friday, because  Saturday Eric and I are going to spend the day with our cousins, Ilene, Kyle, Taylor, Evan and Elise.  We’re going to the SAN DIEGO WILD ANIMAL PARK.  We can’t wait.  We’re really looking forward to seeing our cousins again, but we’ve never been to the Wild Animal Aark, so it should be really fun!

There’s probably no holiday all year that has less meaning for me than St. Patrick’s Day.  I’m not Irish and I don’t really drink, yet I AM a GREENberg, so that should count for something, right?

I used to have a little green plastic leprechaun hat, with an elastic chin strap that I would wear all day on St. Patrick’s Day when I worked at PwC.  I reveled in being silly and it was much appreciated!

The highlight of my St. Patrick's Day was an e-card my friend Marybeth sent.  It was vintage-looking and had different Irish postcard images that were so pretty.  Mary is a lovely Irish girl I've known for almost 30 years.  We worked together for many, many years and Mary always made St. Patrick's Day great.  She would bring her famous Irish Sodabread to work and everyone would be happy.  She's an amazing baker and you couldn't help but get in the spirit when you were with Mary!

I would have worn green to work today, but I wore a dress on Friday that had green in it, and even wore green suede shoes.  I just wasn’t planning ahead and had nothing else green to wear today, so I just wore red and black!

When we lived in NY and worked in Manhattan the parade was always something to see, and people would be walking around with green bagels, green beer and anything else they could make green-for-a-day.  In 1982, when Eric and I worked right off Fifth Avenue, we watched the parade together, with a bunch of our friends.  THAT was festive.

Today, the only way I knew it was St. Patrick’s Day was from the internet and the few people who were wearing green in the office.  It just doesn’t mean that much in San Diego, but it’s no big deal since – as I started off saying – it doesn’t have much meaning for me anyway!

I had a pretty good day at work, except my boss was in a really bad mood and was pretty nasty.  I really have to hold my tongue, because I’d love to really let him have it, but then maybe he wouldn’t pay me to read, which I’m really enjoying!

Today I started a new novel – THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER, by Kim Edwards, which is really good.  I went online to read more about the author and found out they’re currently filming a movie, which will be released this fall.  Should be a good one!

When I got home, I just changed quickly because I had an acupuncture appointment.  Eric had just gotten home from a nice, long ride.  He was just going in the shower when I got left.  I promised him I would bring him home some gelato, since Gelato Vero is right across the street from Holistic Health Specialists, where I get my treatments.

I got stuck with pins and, as usual, enjoyed my time with Carl.  He is so pleasant and positive and I really think he is helping me.  Sometimes my foot hurts, but sometimes I realize it doesn’t hurt at all, and I'm so happy.  I’m so used to the pain that I hardly notice it anymore, but sometimes when it DOESN’T hurt, I realize and I’m pleasantly surprised! 

Afterwards, I had to drive around for 15 minutes and couldn’t find a spot anywhere (it’s a very popular area with about 5 great restaurants on one block), so I parked illegally outside, ran in and told the kid what I wanted, ran back out and stood by my car, then ran in and practically threw the money at him and grabbed the gelato.  It all worked out!

When I got home I made us tamales (there’s just one left for Eric to have tomorrow – boo hoo) and then we watched DANCING WITH THE STARS.  The guys danced tonight and Eric and I really enjoyed it.  They have a very diverse group of stars this year.  Check it out!

After DWTS I made myself a salad for lunch tomorrow and then worked on the computer.  Then I got ready for bed and watched MEDIUM.  I just love that show!

I didn’t get to do any crafting today, but Eric helped me out by varnishing my clock vase (I had done a few coats, but wanted more) and my newest project – a frame I completely covered with vintage keys!  It’s a medium I haven’t worked with before and I really enjoyed it, although it was really challenging.  I’d love to hear what you think!  I also want to put the word out that if you have any old keys hanging out in your junk drawer, please send them to me, so I can make something fabulous out of them.  I'd really appreciate it!  It took me YEARS to collect this many!

This picture was taken "pre varnish."  Now, it's really shiny and glossy, and Eric felt the varnish would help the keys stick better, so none will fall off!

Tomorrow I have to do a LOT of work, because Wednesday I’m having dinner with my friend Robyn, so I won’t get any crafting done.  It will be nice to go out with a girlfriend, because I really don’t have any friends here that I socialize with.  I’m getting to know the CRAFT MAFIA, and they’re all great girls, and there are some really nice girls at work, but I don’t really try to make friends, because I know we’re not staying, so what’s the use?  I really enjoy Eric’s company, so it’s not like I’m lonely.  I just wish all our friends were close by, so we could enjoy being with the ones we love!

I’m fast – there’s no denying it.  When I started, I really thought my “special project” would take weeks.  It was long, it was a little tedious and it was not something I could do for hours at a time.  Nevertheless, I finished the first part, which is the major portion, today!  The guy who gave me the project (who is not my boss) was shocked!  I just did it over the last week, in between reading and answering my emails, and reading my book (THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER is SO good!).

The woman who drives me to work called in sick today, so I drove.  My boss was supposed to leave today at 11:00am to go to Milwaukee for the rest of the week.  He came in this morning, looking like crap, and said he was sick and he wasn’t going.  I was wondering why, if he was too sick to travel, he bothered to come into the office (and get all of us sick).

He was coughing and hacking all morning and I kept saying to myself, “Go HOME!”  Yet, he kept working, having meetings, conference calls, etc.  I thought it was SO rude, because who wants his germs?

At one point he asked me to come into his office to help him with a WORD document.  I told him I have “germ paranoia” and didn’t want to step into his office, but he said, “Just don’t touch anything.”  So, I had to stand next to him and point to the keys he needed to press.  I have so much going on right now, and if I get sick, so help me…

He finally went home at 1:00pm, but I’ll be you ANYTHING he’ll be in tomorrow.  He’s a masochist (and a sadist).  I swear he knew I was dying for him to leave and that’s why he stayed (okay, so I’m really being paranoid, but that’s how it felt!).

I only have tomorrow and half of Thursday and then I’m off until next Monday, and I really plan to get a LOT done, so I better not get sick.

Tonight I finished the outside of my big metal file box.  I can’t wait to photograph it and show it to you.  It’s not done, because I want to do parts of the interior, too.  I also found another box I had decoupaged years ago, which I am going to try to sell, too.  I just have to add feet.  So, that’s another piece!

Eric is going to varnish the box for me, too, and I’m going to find something to use as feet for the box, so it doesn’t sit right on the floor.  It always dresses up a box when you put feet on it!

I made the reservation for the hotel in North Carolina tonight.  We’re staying very close to downtown, but not IN the city, so it’s much cheaper.  It’s an Econo Lodge, so you know it’s not going to be fancy, but at least it got good reviews for cleanliness and we’re only going to be sleeping there (in a no-smoking room with a king size bed!).  I only made the reservation for Thursday and Friday, because the woman said if we wanted to extend our stay, we could.  I figure if we HATE it, we won’t be committed and we can go someplace else.  If we like it, we can just extend our stay!

So, now the trip is all set – 3 days with my parents in Delray Beach, then 7 days in Asheville, North Carolina.  We’ve got our airline tickets, reserved the hotel and car, and Eric is working on renting a bike.  He called a couple of places today, and one of the guys he spoke to said that he’s gone mountain biking all over the country and that Western North Carolina (Asheville) is the best in the country.  That sure made Eric happy!

I’m getting VERY excited!  First of all, it’s always great to see someplace new, as we found out traveling across America.  Since we didn’t hit North Carolina on our previous trip, it will be exciting to add another state to our list!  Everything we’ve read about Asheville online and in print (I got a beautiful 2008 Visitor’s Guide) makes us think we’re going to enjoy our visit and we hope that it will suit our lifestyle enough to move there.

I know there are a lot of people out there who will be happy if we move closer to the East Coast.  I know there are those who were happy that we moved to the West Coast and will be sorry when we leave.  I do feel that being closer to my parents is a very good thing, as it always did bother me that we would be so far away from them if they needed us.  Eric says he likes the idea that he can drive to NY instead of flying, since it’s not as long a drive as it would be from here!  So, there are many positives!

I was too lazy to blog last night, so I’m typing this on Thursday morning!

I realized in re-reading Tuesday night’s blog that I didn’t tell you something VERY important!  I made Eric chicken cutlets that night and I prepare them in a new way!  I make a mixture of balsamic vinegar, a little olive oil, a little honey mustard, a little minced garlic, and a little light mayo.  I put it all into a bottle and shake, shake, shake and then I pour it over the cutlets (and sliced fresh mushrooms) and top it with some bread crumbs.  He loves it!

I made some soup for myself – just a small batch.  I used one container of organic corn bisque soup, peeled baby carrots, cilantro, red onion, and fresh sliced mushrooms.  It came out good, but not as great as my other extravaganza!

We also watched the girls dance on DWTS, which was very exciting.  We’re really into it and Eric does such a great job of critiquing and guessing what numbers the judges will come up with.  I really enjoy watching shows like AMERICAN IDOL and DWTS with him.  We both have fun!

So, back to yesterday!  When my alarm went off, I hit the button and then I wasn’t sure whether I hit “snooze” like I wanted to, or shut the alarm off!  I was too nervous to go back to bed, so I told Eric I had to turn on the light for a minute and I set the second alarm for 6:12, so if I DID shut the first one off, at least the second would wake me.  Turns out, I DID hit “snooze.”  I’m losing it!

Anyway, here’s my day yesterday in a nutshell:  Boss out sick (thank goodness he stayed home instead of “germinating” the entire office), I read over 100 pages of my book (I’m almost done and it’s SO good), and I DID do a little work, too!

I have an almost 8-1/2 x 11 version of my business card and thought it would be a great idea to make a border on my tablecloth (since it’s too short) with them.  We have a nice color printer in another room, so I chose that printer on my computer and sent 10 copies to print.

When I walked into the other room to pick it up, the guy in charge of the mail room was standing right there, waiting for something to print out, as my gorgeous, colorful “Peppy’s Dream” posters were printing.  I was SO embarrassed.  I just looked at him and said, “Sorry!”  He said, “No problem,” and he smiled.  He’s really nice.  I took them and then, as I was walking away, I turned again and said, “Sorry!”  Again, he said, “No problem.”  I just wanted him to know that I knew I shouldn’t have been doing that and felt bad about it.  Yikes!

When I got home I didn’t come inside.  I got right into the car and drove to MICHAEL’S to see if I could find “feet” for my big Victorian file box.  I found EXACTLY what I was looking for – round wooden balls (about the size of a tennis ball) with a flat top, so the box will sit right on top of the flat part.

When I got home I showed Eric what I bought and asked him if he could stain them for me.  He said he would!

I waited for Robyn to call to say she was ready to go to dinner and worked on the computer, paying some bills (ugh!).  We had a high credit card bill this month, because our airline tickets were on there.

When Robyn called I drove to pick her up.  I didn’t realize how far down Balboa she is.  I went into “uncharted territory” – someplace I had never driven before.  She works in a beautiful building.  It was already 7:20 by the time we were ready to leave, so I suggested that, instead of driving all the way to Pacific Beach and back, we try to find someplace local, so we’d have more time to sit and eat.  I didn’t want to get home too late, because I knew I had things to do when I got home.  I’m not used to going out mid-week.  I’ve really gotten into the habit of coming home every day and hanging with Eric.

We ended up going to APPLEBEE’S, which isn’t a huge thrill, but their food is always good and it didn’t disappoint last night!  I had the Cajun Spiced Tilapia, from the Weight Watcher’s menu, which came with steamed broccoli and a small portion of rice pilaf with some corn and bean salsa.  It was delicious and I ate every drop. 

Robyn got 3 choices from their “trios” menu, which is so much fun.  You get small portions of 3 items, so you get a taste of everything.  One thing she got were mini cheeseburgers and they were SO cute!  I love a smorgasbord or a buffet, where you get a taste of everything, so the trios were right up my alley, but they didn’t have much with fish!

We each had a pomegranate margarita, which was SO delicious, and probably SO fattening, so don’t think I’m so wonderful (if you were) for having the weight watcher’s dinner.

ALSO, we each had what they call “shooter desserts” which are little cups of either chocolate mousse, key lime pie, cheesecake, etc.  I had the chocolate mousse, and it was DELICIOUS.  It wasn’t a huge portion, but it was more than I’ve had in a LONG time!

Robyn and I had a great time talking, catching up with each other, filling each other in on what’s been going on (even though there wasn’t that much for ME to say, because she’s a religious blog reader!).  She’s a smart, sweet, beautiful girl, who is really good friends with my niece Melissa.  That’s how we met!  I haven’t seen her since right before we moved to SD.  We went to visit her and her husband, Sal, in their beautiful house in Murietta, on our way down the coast to San Diego.  She lives about 40 minutes from here and works about 10 minutes from here!

The first thing Robyn said when we got into the restaurant was, “You definitely lost weight!”  She saw me at my very fattest, so it made me really happy that she noticed a difference.  I knew I liked that girl!

I got home a little after 9:00pm, which was great, because I had so much to do.  I got my clothes ready for today, so I wouldn’t be stressed in the morning, and I worked on my Victorian File Box.  Eric had stained the balls AND did a load of laundry while I was gone (he’s SO good), so I wanted to get more done, so he could varnish the box for me.

At a little after 10:00pm we got into bed to watch last night’s AMERICAN IDOL.  It was pretty disappointing with just a few stand-outs.  Jimmy had sent me a review by some blogger and he was pretty spot-on.  My favorite was little David Archuleta who sang, THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD.  He’s going to go very far, that young man!

As soon as the show was finished, I should have gotten out of bed and blogged, but I was exhausted and ready to just close my eyes and go to sleep.  I thought about getting out of bed and going to the computer, and decided to just close my eyes!

My boss didn’t come in again today.  Still sick, I guess.  So, I finished my book (in less than 4 days – and, again, I only read at work!).  I didn’t do much else, and then it was 12:30pm and time to go home!  It’s so nice to work a half day and then have Friday off.  I love a long weekend!

When I got home Eric was just leaving to go for a ride.   After he left, I finished the Victorian File Box, which came out great, and did a couple of other small projects.  I painted and put feet on another box I already had, which I am going to sell (I need to gather as much inventory as possible!).  I painted a small 4x6 wooden frame with a mirror that I got at MICHAEL’S for $1.00.  It was plain unfinished wood and I painted it a reddish brown with acrylic paint I have in small tubes.  Then, I decorated it with tiny seashells I also bought at MICHAEL’S.

Gili had asked me if I ever decorated a frame with seashells and I told her I had done that in the past, but I didn’t have any more (I sold them all, before I closed the shop!).  They had a great bag of various small seashells for $2 at MICHAEL’S so, I got it and the frame and I only used about ¼ of the shells, so the whole thing only cost me $1.50!  It came out nice.  I think it looks very sweet and I think people around here like a beachy theme!  I also incorporated pearls because, after all, pearls come from shells, don’t they?  It’s a natural combination and it’s lovely!  My darling friend, Elizabeth, who is a wonderful artist, is the first person who suggested that to me.  She used to cover boxes with seashells and pearls and they were fabulous.

I watched the elimination show of AMERICAN IDOL and was happy that “Skunk Girl” (as I called her) was eliminated.  She was just a one-trick pony and always screamed.  At first, I thought she was interesting and different, but week after week she sounded and looked exactly the same and it got boring.  You have to be versatile.  You have to be able to change it up!  No one wants to listen to an entire album (or CD) if every single song sounds the same!

At 9:00pm, Eric and I watched DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS.  We like Wayne Brady, the host, and we love to see if we know the lyrics to the different songs.  It’s a fun show!

On a serious note, Eric’s medical benefits through the union are up on March 31st and we were offered the COBRA benefits, but they are SO expensive!  We need to use a company that is nationally accepted, since we’re here now, but may be moving.  We also don’t need dental or vision, because we just took care of that and this is just temporary – until I get a permanent job with benefits.

Actually, we really only need hospitalization, in case one of us gets very sick or is in an accident (God forbid!).  If there’s anyone out there who can recommend a good benefit plan for hospitalization, we would greatly appreciate it!

Tomorrow I am looking forward to more crafting and then a cut and color at HAIRSPRAY at 6:00pm.  I REALLY need it.  My roots are bad and my hair is bushy!

We both went to bed late last night, but for some reason I was up at 7:00am!  I started thinking about a project I wanted to start today, so I got up and got to work!  I had purchased a pink plastic tissue box cover (the kind that covers the tall tissue boxes) and I was going to decoupage it (I’ve done that before, and it comes out great).  I started thinking last night and decided I would do a jewelry mosaic.  It would be challenging, because I’d have to use a LOT of jewelry, and it would be hard because there were lots of corners and edges, which are harder to work with.

I worked until Eric got up, and then I stopped to have a NUTRISYSTEM muffin for breakfast and we watched an episode of MONK.  After MONK, Eric went in the shower and I went back to work.
He left soon after to go for a ride and I kept on working.  I knew I had to go in the shower by 3:00pm, because I wanted to pick up my check, go to MICHAEL’S and get a pedicure, before heading to Hillcrest for my cut and color by John at HAIRSPRAY.

I got everything accomplished with time to spare, stopped at STARBUCKS and then decided to stop at the bank and deposit my check, before heading to Hillcrest.  I went inside the lobby.  The bank was still open, but there was a big line, so I decided to just use the ATM.  There was an older woman standing at the “counter” (where the deposit slips and the pen on the chain are) and a woman with her teen-age daughter.  I took off my sunglasses, so I could see better, signed the back of the check, put it in the envelope and went over to the ATM to make the deposit.

I must have been standing there doing the transaction for 60-90 seconds.  When I was done, I turned around to get my sunglasses and leave.  They were gone!  I felt my head, and my chest, because sometimes I put them on top of my head or hang them on the front of my shirt, but they weren’t there.  I kind of knew I left them on the counter, but I couldn’t believe someone would steal them, so I started looking on the floor.  They weren’t anywhere to be seen.

I started to doubt my own memory, and thought maybe I had left them in the car, so I went back to the car.  I searched the car, and my purse, but I KNEW I wore them into the bank and I KNEW I left them on the counter.  So, either the old lady or the woman or her daughter stole my sunglasses.  Can you believe it?

I remembered there was a SUNGLASS HUT a few blocks away from HAIRSPRAY, so I drove to Hillcrest, parked in the HAIRSPRAY parking lot and walked to the store.  All the sunglasses were $10.99.  I tried on a few pair, picked out a nice pair of black ones, and purchased them.  I will miss my stolen sunglasses, as they had a leopard pattern I really liked and I liked the way they fit my face.  I had them for about 5 years!  I still can’t believe someone stole them.  It’s just a weird thing to steal, don’t you think?  I guess if I really wanted to make a fuss, I could have the bank look at the security tape (they always have them where the ATMs are) and I can find out who did it, but since the glasses were also probably worth $10.99, I guess I’ll just let it go.

I got my hair cut and colored and then raced back home to Eric.  It was about 8:00pm and we were going out for pizza.  We received a coupon in the mail from VOLTERO’S PIZZA on Balboa Avenue, welcoming us to the neighborhood and offering us a free 16” pizza – dine in or take out!  We thought we’d take advantage, since we haven’t had pizza in months, so we drove over there, had a Caesar salad and 2 slices each and left stuffed and happy.  We brought home about 1/3 of the salad and 4 slices of the pizza.  It was REALLY good pizza and I enjoyed every single bite.

When we got home I finished the tissue box.  I really think it’s spectacular.  Now, I have to hope that someone’s willing to pay a pretty penny for a box to hold their tissues!  I figure if I can’t sell it on Sunday I can always give it to Gili Anna.  Someone in La Jolla can afford a bejeweled tissue box cover!

I passed out postcards for the CRAFT SHOW at the employment agency and the hair salon.  I also put three up at STARBUCKS.  I really hope we get a great turnout.

I have to get to bed early, because we are meeting our cousins at the SAN DIEGO ANIMAL PARK at 10:00am.  I can’t wait.  I’m bringing my new camera and will get gorgeous pictures of everyone – and the animals!

It’s supposed to be a gorgeous weekend (it was spectacular today), so it should be a perfect day to spend with family!

I woke up remembering a dream this morning.  It was very interesting – all about consignment!  My old customers were there and they were bringing stuff for me to sell, but I didn’t have a shop!  My parents were there and I asked them if I could sell the stuff out of their house, but my dad said “no,” so then I said I was going to ask Cindy (who owns the salon that now resides where my shop was) if I could have everyone bring the stuff to her shop and I’d split the take with her!

I was trying to analyze the dream.  Maybe I’m thinking about my business and not feeling prepared for everything that’s happening so fast.  I am a little overwhelmed about the two shows next weekend, because I have so much to do yet, and I only have one week!  I know I’m lucky to be accepted at two different shows, but there’s a lot of work to be done, not only crafting, but also preparing my tablecloth, and fancy price tags (with descriptions of each item).  This week is going to be crazy, but it will all be over by next Sunday night, so I have to try to enjoy the process and not get too stressed out!

We left the house at about 9:30am, stopped at Citibank to get some cash (I was still hoping to find my sunglasses) and got on the road.  Unfortunately, we got a little lost, but Ilene and Kyle were running a little late, too, so we all got there at about the same time.  It was really hot today – and of course I forgot to put on sun screen.  Thank goodness Ilene is ever-prepared, with sunscreen, drinks, and snacks.  I had a string cheese while we waited on line for the JOURNEY INTO AFRICA tour!  She thinks of everything!

Ilene saved the parking spot right next to them, so we were together right from the parking lot.  Their son, Tyler, wasn’t there (and we missed him), but Evan and Elise were very excited.  We walked to the main gate, got our tickets, and went inside.  Ilene had won the tickets (she wins EVERYTHING!), so it was fantastic for them, because a family of four would be over $100!  Add in lunch and souvenirs and it would really have been a very expensive day.  I don’t know how families afford this kind of thing. 

Evan had the map, and we were ready to go!

The JOURNEY INTO AFRICA tour (which I kept calling "Out of Africa") is way on the other side of the park, so we got to see a lot on our way there.  Kyle and I were the photographers for the day.  He has a really fabulous camera, but I did pretty good with my new Canon PowerShot SD750 Digital Elph!  I’m really enjoying the zoom, because the zoom on my Olympus was minimal.  This one is MUCH better!

We saw birds, beautiful birds, including pink flamingoes, cranes, geese, swans, and lots of ducks.

Tyler checked out a giant-sized bird's nest!

Ilene checked out some new ears!

Sweet geese -- posing in profile -- just for me!

The view from a high balcony!

Our beautiful cousins -- Ilene, Kyle, Evan and Elise!

We waited on line for about 20 minutes to board the tour vehicle – the African Express, inspired by the legendary safari trains of Africa (actually it just looked like a connected train of golf carts, but the seats faced each other, so you could interact with your friends and family as you experienced seeing the giraffes, Cape buffalo, massive rhinos, graceful gazelles, goliath herons, ostriches, and horned antelope.  The driver, who is also the tour guide, told us all about the habitat they created here, the breeding and other programs they have in place to help conservation efforts in Africa.

Two females slept on the top of the car, while their babies slept inside.  The father was sleeping on the ground with three more babies.  We were so lucky to get to see them all!

Elise and her three new best friends!

After the tour, we walked around a bit more, and then stopped for something to eat.  I had a cheese quesadilla with beans and rice and a large iced tea.  The kids got their chicken nuggets in a cute souvenir bucket with raisins, chips, and animal cookies! 

After lunch we went to a little playground where the kids rode safari vehicles and Evan and I got foot massages from the rejuvenating foot massager!

Then, refreshed and renewed, we headed out again.  We saw gorillas, and a beautiful orchid display (I thought of our friends, Geri and Larry, who would really have enjoyed that!).  Next, we hit the carousel!  It was really pretty and so much fun to ride with the kids.  They really enjoyed it.  Elise was so proud that she got to ride it three times!

By the time we were finished at the carousel, it was about 3:00pm and I had just about had it.  We really walked a LOT and my foot was starting to really hurt.  Also, it was incredibly hot there – much hotter than it was by us or in LA, I’m sure.  It was 89 degrees there in the hot sun.  No wonder all the animals were sleeping in the shade!

I think everyone had a great time, especially Evan and Elise.  They really enjoyed all the animals, the playground, and the carousel.  It was a wonderful day!

This guy was my favorite today.  He seemed to be just sitting there posing for everybody.  Precious!

Such a regal profile this Meerkat has!

Evan and his new friend.  These animals were so sweet and calm.

Elise on a majestic giraffe!

There's evan (in the middle) on an eagle!

We walked back to the cars and said our goodbyes.  We were home by 4:00pm and we relaxed a little.  I had a slice of pizza from last night, and Eric had the other two slices and the leftover Caesar salad.  I’m not surprised he ate so much – it was the first thing he ate all day!  He didn’t eat breakfast, and then only had a bottle of water with lunch.  Not hungry?  Dieting?  Only he knows for sure!

Then, Eric put the feet on my Victorian File Box and it is now complete!  Check out my CRAFT BLOG if you’d like to see the latest pictures!

At about 6:00pm we took a nap and I woke up at 7:30pm, downloaded all the pictures and started organizing them.  I had about 70 pictures of our day at the WILD ANIMAL PARK! 

Eric got up at 8:30pm and we had a snack of edamame and each had a NUTRISYSTEM entrée.  I feel guilty because I have eaten MUCH too much two days in a row, and the scale is showing it.  Today I weighted 126.8.  That’s almost 2 pounds more than last weekend.  Boo hoo!  I better get my act together!  It’s SO much easier to put it on than it is to take it off!  Of course my rationale today was that I walked for hours, but that didn’t seem to make a difference!

I spent the rest of the evening working on the pictures, blogging, and watching TV.

Tomorrow I will prepare for the craft shows and head to KEILS for food shopping in the afternoon.  Ilene gave me two beautiful re-usable canvas totes with a flat bottom especially for your groceries.  I can’t wait to use them!  She’s so sweet and generous and is always thinking of others.  I just adore that girl!

I woke up at 8:00am this morning.  As soon as I woke up, I started thinking about how much I had to do, so I got out of bed and decided the first thing I had to do was work on my CRAFTS BLOG.  I had a LOT of new projects and I wanted to get them all up on the blog and also talk about the two shows coming up.  I worked for TWO hours.  I was just about done, and I had been saving my work all along, because I know how things can go wrong.

As I was finishing and saved my work for the last time, when it was done I went to look at the blog and there was just one picture.  I had loaded at least 20-30 pictures and they were gone!  I freaked.  Eric was still sleeping, so I didn’t want to wake him, but I was actually sitting here saying, “Oh, no.  Oh, no.  Oh, no.”  I couldn’t imagine doing what I had just done for TWO hours ALL OVER AGAIN!

I decided to go all the way out and then go back to the website and go back into the entry.  I saw that there were TWO new entries.  Don’t ask me how, but somehow I must have clicked on “create new entry” because there was an entry with the one picture, and then the other entry with everything else.  I was SO relieved!  If you’d like to see all my latest creations, which I will try to sell this weekend, click here: CRAFTS BLOG.

Eric woke up a little after 10:00am.  We had cereal and watched an episode of MONK.  Then, he went into the shower and geared up for a ride.  I got to work on some decoupaged frames.

I had found three square wooden frames in a thrift shop in SOUTH PARK for $1 each.  They are about 10” square and have a very wide flat frame and a small square mirror in the center.  I decided that I would do a specific theme for all three, so if someone liked all three they could purchase them together and use them to make an arrangement on a wall.

I looked at the subject matter of all my cuttings and considered an Asian theme, leopard or stained glass, but I settled on a “maps and travel” theme.  I decided that it would be nice to have something a guy might be interested in, considering 99% of my product is definitely for the diva!

I did the first frame with lots of globes, world maps and antique-looking maps.  For the second, I used maps of the USA and also reproductions of classic vintage state postcards, which were actually made into postage stamps a few years ago.  Remember?  I always loved those and had copies of those stamps.

After I completed the second frame I decided to go food shopping before starting on the third.  I jumped in the shower, got dressed and was out the door in a half hour.  I did my food shopping, came back, unpacked the groceries, and then decided to do a load of laundry.  As I was coming back I saw Eric returning from his ride.

I started on the third frame and made that one more about specific places – New York, London, Paris, Havana, Monte Carlo, etc.  They all came out great and are different, but with a specific theme that ties them together.  Eric is going to varnish them for me this week.

I had one more project I wanted to complete today, and I really had the time, but I was exhausted, so I’m hoping to get it done this week.  I have about 30 pieces to sell over the weekend.  I’m only bringing about 12 pieces with me on Saturday, because my table will be smaller and the price point is lower, so I’m not bringing the higher-end items.

If I sell all of them (which would be nice), I’ll still have almost 20 pieces for Sunday.  If not, I’ll have more for Sunday, which would be great, because I can charge more for my items at that show.

Eric and I had NUTRISYSTEM entrées for dinner and then we had WEIGHT WATCHERS ice cream for dessert.  Oh, I forgot to mention – my bad eating over the last couple of days has really shown on the scale.  I weighed 127.2 this morning.  I had BETTER get my act together, because I was down to almost 124 and now I’m up three pounds!  Bad Peppy!  Bad, bad Peppy!

Tomorrow I have the acupuncturist after work.  I’m only going two more times, because Eric’s benefits will be done and I’m going away after that anyway, so I told the guy that I would not be coming back after that and he understood.  I think it’s helped me somewhat, but not enough for me to pay out-of-pocket.

So, I have to really work hard the rest of the week every night, so I can be ready for the weekend.  I still have to print out my price tags and tag everything, finish my tablecloth, and gather all the materials I’m going to need for the shows.  The CRAFT MAFIA gave us a list of things to bring, which is so helpful, so I’m going to use that to pack a box, so I won’t be without anything at the show.

I’m really looking forward to the shows, I’m just not looking forward to all the work it’s going to take to get there!

I’ll never understand how the scale can fluctuate two pounds on two days.  I know that it can fluctuate from morning to night, but usually if you weigh yourself every single morning it will be close to the same.  So, yesterday morning I was 127.2 and this morning I was 125.4.  I ate my regular NUTRISYSTEM meals yesterday, but I didn’t exercise or anything.  So, how did it go down almost 2 pounds in one day?  I’m stymied!  Anyway, I’m happy, too.  I’m going back in the right direction!

I forgot to mention how hot it was yesterday in the apartment.  We have no air conditioning and it was really warm out – almost 90 degrees!  They said on the news that it was a record for the day in March!  We had the bathroom and bedroom windows wide open and the front door open, to get some cross ventilation.  We also put the ceiling fan on in the dining room.  Still, it was hot and stuffy in the apartment.  I was schvitzing while I was decoupaging!

So, this morning it was definitely cooler, in fact Eric got up at around 5:00am to turn on the heat, so I wouldn’t be cold when I got up to go to work.  Isn’t he the sweetest?  It kind of reminds me of mountain weather -- where it's cold in the morning, warms up a lot during the day, and then gets cold again when the sun goes down.

So, work was great today.  My boss was in and kept me pretty busy today, which really made the day fly by.  I also got to work on my “special project” which I am definitely going to finish this week. 

I also started my newest book, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES.  I only read about 40 pages, but I’m already engrossed.  Isn’t reading the BEST?  I was so tempted to bring the book home, but – like I said – I have too much to do and would be distracted by the book and would want to read and do nothing else!

When I got home from work I just changed and went back out to Hillcrest for my acupuncture appointment.  It was, as usual, a completely pleasant experience.  Carl said he’s coming to my craft show on Saturday, because he likes the THE WHISTLE STOP BAR and will have a beer!  He asked if I sell anything for guys, and I mentioned my latest – the series of three mirrors with map and travel themes, but I told him 99% of my work is purely for the diva!

After my session I ran across the street to get gelato for my darling.  I got our usual – espresso bean and chocolate hazelnut – and went home.  I had prepared dinner last night and all Eric had to do was put it in the oven.  I made Ahi Tuna with asparagus and mushrooms.  I used a wasabi mayonnaise on the tuna.  He preheated the oven and put the asparagus and mushrooms in and then put the tuna in when I got home.  It was delish!

After dinner I worked on my tablecloth for the CRAFT SHOW on Sunday.  I sewed color blow-up pictures of my business card all along the bottom with a whip stitch, so it forms a colorful, fun border.  It came out great, and adds length to the tablecloth, which I needed.  It will also attract the eye.  I just need to bedazzle a little more and I’ll be set!  The show on Sunday is going to be held at a Masonic Hall on Utah Street in North Park.  It's a beautiful, old Art Deco building.  I've never been there, but I'm excited to see it in person!

After I finished the red satin tablecloth, Eric and I had gelato and watched DANCING WITH THE STARS.  It’s so cute that he enjoys watching that with me.  I just love it.  We watch that and AMERICAN IDOL together.  When HELL’S KITCHEN starts, we’ll watch that one, too.

Eric varnished my three “map and travel” mirrors and the Victorian File Box.  They look SO gorgeous!  Tomorrow I have a silver metal pail that I want to decoupage and that will probably be all I can get done before the show.  I still have a lot of other things to get finished before Saturday.

Today all the girls at work were asking me about the show this weekend.  They are being very supportive and excited for me, and I think a lot of them may come.  It will be so great to get to show another side of me – the creative, fun side!

Well, it had to happen.  I actually had to work my butt off today at work!  How DARE they!  It started out fine.  I got to enjoy THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES while I was eating my NUTRISYSTEM breakfast cereal.  Then, I went to an empty conference room and was on the phone for a half hour completing an application for AETNA benefits through my employment agency.  They’re not the best benefits in the world, but they’re pretty cheap and at least we’ll be covered!  The COBRA we were offered through Eric’s union was just too expensive.  I’m hoping to be working in a permanent job by fall, so it’s only for a few months.

When I got back to my desk my boss was there and he started throwing stuff at me right away.  I don’t mean literally.  He’s actually very polite.  He just gives me so many instructions and I’m writing as fast as I can, but I get confused and flustered sometimes.  Today, I was PMS’ing (sorry if that’s TMI for some of you guys out there!) and at one point I just had to have a conversation with myself to “stay calm, don’t worry, and just get through it!”

I had to pull together about 15 documents into two separate folders for two different clients in two different meetings.  One client required 5 copies of everything; the other needed 8.  Some of the documents went into the folders for both clients, but some were just for one; some just for the other.  Then, I had to pull together folders for a meeting another guy was going to in China and had to add and delete slides from two PowerPoint presentations.  Sound confusing?  Welcome to my day!

I finally got it all together and gave the "international package" for the China meeting to a guy on the other side of the floor, and shipped all the stuff for the 2 meetings my boss has on Friday to a hotel in NY where my he will be staying this week.  Now, I just have to worry about the package getting there on time.  I sent a package last THURSDAY for MONDAY delivery in Milwaukee and it didn’t arrive until TUESDAY!  Thank goodness it was UPS’s mistake and not mine!

One other thing that happened this morning at work: My boss came out and said he was SO sad.  He took me into his office and told me that the woman I’ve been sitting in for is now in Colorado with her parents.  She’s been very ill, and he said she’s dying.  She’s only 40 and it is very, very sad.  He was almost crying and I felt really bad for him.  He explained that he had to call her and tell her that they’re posting her job, because by law you have to hold someone’s job for 3 months, and they held it for 4 months, but now they have to replace her.

He didn’t say anything about ME taking the job, or offering me the job, or applying for the job or anything, and I have to admit I was a little insulted, although I was relieved.  I definitely wouldn’t take the job, even if we were staying, because I don’t like working for him very much and I think that there’s not enough for me to do and I really would go crazy if it was a full-time, long-term job.  Also, I promised myself I would NEVER work for a boring company again and I’m determined to REALLY try to avoid doing that.  That means no accounting firms, no investment firms, no banks.

So, even though I don’t WANT the job, I still want them to WANT me for the job!  I know the woman who was training me (who has become my mentor) wanted me for the job, because she told me weeks ago that the woman probably wasn’t coming back and asked me if I wanted the job.  When I said no, she immediately assumed that it was because of my boss and told me there were other jobs available in the office.  She likes me.  She really, really likes me!

I decided to tell her the absolute truth and told her our situation.  Turns out she and her husband are thinking of retiring in 3 years and THEY want to move to Asheville!  She already lived in Charlotte for many years, about 20 years ago!  I thought that was a big coincidence!

So, the bottom line is, I told my boss that I would be willing to come back to work and keep temping until they hired someone, when I got back from vacation, but they may hire someone by then.  So, I may only be at this job for another 2 weeks.  It was a sweet gig, and was nice while it lasted!

When I got home this afternoon I was so exhausted that I fell asleep watching Dr. Phil.  Eric was working on his bicycles all afternoon.  There were three laying around the living and dining rooms without their wheels.  He was doing “maintenance.”

He woke me up at 8:00pm and I made us salads and NUTRISYSTEM entrées.  Then, we each had a little serving of gelato (you don’t need much!) and watched AMERICAN IDOL.  I thought there were some stellar performances tonight!

After that, I went into the bedroom to watch the DANCING WITH THE STARS elimination show and Eric watched “cage fighting.”  I don’t know how such a sweet, gentle boy could love boxing and cage fighting so much, but he really enjoys it.  I find it very upsetting!

I DO have some great news!  Eric and I actually have people to visit in Asheville and Charlotte!  My sister, Audrey, has a friend, Judy, who lives right outside Asheville.  She invited us to visit her while we’re there and we made plans to see her on Friday.

Then, I was emailing with a friend, Ted, who lives in NJ with his partner, Ricky.  Eric and I have been friends with them since the early ‘90s when I met them when I was performing in cabarets and nightclubs in Manhattan.  Ted is an amazing performer, writer, and director.  Ricky is an amazing singer, pianist, accompanist, musical director, arranger, and all-around performer!

Ted told me that his niece and her husband recently moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, because they love MOUNTAIN BIKING!  I couldn’t believe it!  I asked him if I could contact her and he sent me her email.  I wrote to her immediately and told her we were looking to do the same thing and that we were looking at Asheville, but would love to meet her and her husband and see Charlotte, too.

She wrote back and was so sweet and helpful.  She sent me an email with about 10 links to places to go, things to see, mountain biking trails, clubs, etc., etc.  It was fantastic!  I also found out she’s a YOGA INSTRUCTOR!!!  I love these people already!

Her name is Steffie and his is Dave.  They invited us to come to Charlotte and Dave is going to take Eric out for a mountain bike ride on Saturday morning and I’m going to take one of Steffie’s yoga classes.

I can’t wait!  It will be SO nice to meet new people and hear what they have to say about Asheville and Charlotte.

I realized something this morning.  I was sitting at my vanity, putting on my make-up, and I was thinking about our upcoming trip to NC.  I was thinking about Steffie and Dave, whom we haven’t met yet, but who picked up their lives in NY and moved down to Charlotte just so they could mountain bike year round.  I was thinking about living in Asheville and all it has to offer, and I realized that I don’t miss the city.  I mean, I miss NEW YORK, because that’s what I know.  I miss Broadway, mostly, and access to anything and everything – all hours of the day and night.  But, I don’t miss THE CITY. 

When Eric and I were traveling the country, we didn’t see much of the “big city” of most towns.  We saw Chicago and San Francisco, which are very much like NY with the towering skyscrapers and the hustle and bustle.  I realize that I don’t miss that at all.  I don’t feel the need to be around a million people a day, fighting for a seat on a bus, or trying to walk down a busy street at lunchtime.

The place I’m working at now is the complete opposite.  It’s positively boring, because there’s NOTHING around but other office buildings and hotels, but they’re spread out and there are no stores or museums or theaters or anything else to amuse you on a nice lunchtime walk.  Some of the girls go out walking at lunch and I know it’s purely for exercise or to get away from their desks, because there’s NOTHING TO SEE.

So, anyway, I realized that I don’t miss the big city.  I could be perfectly happy living and working in a cute little town, as long as there was someplace to go and something to look at!  I realize that I have only been to downtown San Diego FOUR TIMES since we got here.  Once, we went to the GASLAMP DISTRICT to go out to eat, but we were still in the RV and we couldn’t get a spot, so we left.

The second time was when we went downtown on Thanksgiving, because we had nothing else to do.  It was perfect, because the city was pretty deserted, but a lot of stores and restaurants were still open.

The third and fourth time was when I was applying at ON CALL, the temp agency that’s located downtown.

I haven’t been back since, and it’s not because I’ve wanted to go and haven’t been able.  I haven’t thought about it at all.  I guess I SHOULD go down and walk around more and see the city before we’re gone, but every time I want to go someplace, I want to hit HILLCREST, or PACIFIC BEACH, or LA JOLLA.

The main point is that I don’t need a big city.  I always thought of myself as a “city girl,” but I think it was because I always worked in the city and performed in the city and a lot of my friends lived in the city and I loved the theatre, and everything else Manhattan had to offer.  But since I’ve been out of Manhattan, I don’t feel the need to be in any other city.  I just love New York!

This was a kind of epiphany for me, because I realize that if we live in a small town, as long as it provides art and theatre, yoga and at least one Starbucks, I’ll be content.  And that’s all we can ask, isn’t it?   I’m just trying to find contentment for me and Eric.

So, work today was pretty boring.  I did a few things for my boss (who was on a plane to New York until 1:00pm my time) and I worked on my “special project” for an hour or two.  The rest of the day I read my book (which is SO great), wrote some emails, and read YAHOO NEWS.  The bad news is, I’m almost done with my book and I don’t want it to end!

On the way home from work I spoke to the woman who drives me about the job I’m covering.  She works in HR, so she knows that they are going to post the job.  She explained to me that they try to hire internally and then, if no one wants the job or is qualified for the job they hire externally.  I told her that I didn’t think anyone would want this job, because it’s SO boring, but she told me that they are changing it and adding more responsibility and making it more professional.  I think that’s great, although I don’t know WHAT the other woman did all day!  Honestly, at first I thought they weren’t giving me anything to do because I was a temp, but after 9 weeks I realize there’s just not that much to do!

Anyway, she told me if they decided to hire externally I should apply and I told her in no uncertain terms that I was NOT interested and that I would be willing to temp as long as they wanted me, but I wouldn’t come on staff.  I told her that I was not going to go on staff working for another company like PwC in which I had no interest.  I explained that I was determined that the next full time job I have will be in an environment that I find more interesting and stimulating than finance or accounting!  Anyway, I didn’t tell her we’re hoping we won’t be here much longer!

When I got home I really wanted to work on another project (one last one before the shows this weekend), but I had NO energy.  I was just so lazy and tired.  Instead I watched Dr. Phil and then GIRLICIOUS.  I felt like I was going to fall asleep and didn’t want to, so I came out to the living room to hang out with Eric.

I made us NUTRISYSTEM flat bread pizzas at 7:30pm and then worked on my price tags.  I figure I’m getting something accomplished without getting glue all over my hands!  I wanted to attach the price tags to the items (I made them using sheets from a really cute pink perfume bottle-shaped note pad and I printed out labels to put on each one), but I need a hole punch to attach the price tags with a string.  I can’t find my hole punch anywhere, so Eric said he would buy me one tomorrow at MICHAEL’S. 

I have to figure out the price for each item, mark them accordingly, and then put the price tags on.  Then I can pack everything up and get it all ready for Saturday!

I watched MEDIUM, which now has Angelica Houston in a recurring role.  She’s such a great actress and she’s aging gracefully – no plastic surgery for her!

Tomorrow should be another boring day at work, and I don’t even have enough book left to last me all day.  Oh, woe is me.  Boredom is a very bad thing!  I can keep myself amused forever if I can do whatever I want, but when you’re in a business atmosphere and all you can do is read or play on the computer, it’s just hard to stay busy!

So, yesterday I weighed a surprising 124.2 – my new all-time low; today, 124.8.  Yesterday I was SO good on my diet.  I had my NUTRISYSTEM cereal with soy milk and a nice salad with cottage cheese for lunch (no NUTRISYSTEM entrée).  When I got home I had a green apple and some all natural, no sugar added peanut butter as a snack.  All we had for dinner was a NUTRISYSTEM FLAT BREAD PIZZA.  I didn’t have any gelato.  Instead, I had a WEIGHT WATCHERS ice cream bar.  So, somewhere in there I managed to gain 6 ounces.  I just don’t get it!

Anyway, I went to bed VERY early last night – I think it was before 10:00pm!  I really needed it and it was a lot easier to get out of bed this morning!  It’s never really hard for me – I mean, I do it without ever being late, but sometimes it hurts.  Know what I mean?  It’s just the 20 steps from the bed to the bathroom.  Once I’m in the shower, it’s all good!

So, I've been thinking non-stop about the two shows this weekend.  The show on Saturday will be a lot more casual.  I’m not going to dress up, I’m not bringing my high-end or large items, I’m only bringing our card table (which is our dining room table!), and I’m not using my beautiful tablecloth.  I’ll just use one that fits that table and looks nice.  They’re providing us with a 6-foot table on Sunday AND a chair.  I’m saving my high-end items, including the pearl lamp and the 3-panel screen, for Sunday.  I’m just bringing the smaller items and the decoupaged items on Saturday.  If I sell out, I’ll still have enough to fill up my table on Sunday (ever the optimist).

On Sunday I’m planning to dress up.  I’m going to wear a vintage dress and get all glitzed up in vintage jewels.  I figure I might as well sparkle as much as my merchandise!  I just have to see which vintage dress I can fit into.  Oy!

I did wear a skirt the other day to work that I had to stop wearing mid-way through our trip, because it got too tight.  I’m happy to say it not only fit, it was comfortable!  Yeah!

So, work started out fine.  My boss called me once and gave me a few things to do, I worked a lot on my “special project” and I finished THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, which I recommend SO highly.  I’ve read some of the BEST books in the last 8 weeks.  This was another beautiful, sweet, lovely story.  I read tonight that they’re making a movie of this book, which will come out next year, starring Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning.  I’m not thrilled with Dakota in the role of the young girl, as she is not what I pictured AT ALL, but I guess the author thought she was right, as she co-wrote the screenplay.

I finished the book by 1:00pm and had NO idea what I was going to do for the next four hours.  I decided to go downstairs to the coffee cart and get myself a latte, because I really felt like I was going to fall asleep from boredom.  I figured some caffeine would help me stay awake, and help me to get things done tonight, as well, because I usually fall asleep watching DR. PHIL after work.

I went downstairs and saw that they were having a book sale in the lobby.  I completely forgot about it!  They had sent an email earlier in the week, but didn’t send out a reminder today.  I had money with me and decided to buy a book, since I finished my book today and didn't have another one waiting for me.  What good timing!  I found a book that was a bunch of inspirational stories by people who had overcome great obstacles.  I can’t think of the name, but it’s something with “Pearls.”  I started reading the first story and the phone rang.

I had been wishing for something to do and you know how they say, “Be careful what you wish for!”  The next thing you know this guy called from Dallas.  I had done some work for him Tuesday (my boss volunteered me, because I guess he knows I don’t have anything to do).  I had no problem with helping him, but the work he was giving me was very complicated and it’s difficult to explain over the phone and I was having a hard time.

I was working with two different PowerPoint documents and I started to get very flustered and confused.  I think the caffeine was definitely working against me.  I got so nervous, but I think I figured it all out and sent an email with the documents to Fulfillment, so they could make 8 bound color copies of each.

I started to get really nervous that I sent the wrong version, so I sent it back to the guy in Dallas and told him to confirm that these were the right ones.  He probably thinks I’m an idiot, but I don’t care.  I’m just a temp and I don’t want the responsibility of making copies of the wrong version and sending it to CHINA!!!!

I left at 5:00pm and was speeding when I got home.  Eric went on his bicycle to MICHAEL'S and picked up a hole punch for me.  I started working on my price tags.  I got everything tagged and the price tags look so cute.  I think I mentioned that they’re shaped like pink perfume bottles!  On the front is a mini version of my business card with the price and on the back is a description of the item.  Eric helped me with pricing.  Sometimes he thought it should be more than I suggested; sometimes a little less.  I’m including sales tax in my prices, so it will be easier for me (I don’t need change, or singles).  Also, I made my prices a little higher than I usually would, so I can be flexible if someone asks “Can you do a little better.”

After I finished the pricing I made us NUTRISYSTEM entrées and I watched THE BIGGEST LOSER: COUPLES.  It’s down to the final 6 and the girls are kicking butt!

I finally got everything done with our taxes and will be mailing the signed forms back to the accountant tomorrow.  What a weight off!   I’m happy to report that we’ll be getting money back, which is a great relief.  I had no idea how it would turn out, what with the sale of the house, the fact that neither of us worked much, etc.  Since Eric’s not working and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be working, it’s reassuring to know that some money will be coming in within a month or two, to help defray the cost of rent, or moving!

Tomorrow night the only thing I have to do is pack everything into boxes and my little pink suitcase on wheels.  I figure it’s an easy way to transport my goods!  Eric will help me with the pearl lamp and the 3-panel screen.  I was hoping he’d want to stay with me for a while, to see the show and hear the bands, etc., but he is really not interested and of course I don’t want him to be there if he’s not into it.  He’ll just drop me off and pick me up, which is fine with me, because they said parking around there is very hard and at least I don’t have to worry about that!

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring at work, because I do have to get 8 folders together to ship to China for this guy in Dallas and that means coordinating a lot more printing jobs.  I don’t really mind.  I guess it will help the day to pass, but what bothers me is having the responsibility for something so big.  I mean, I’m just a temp.  What if I make a mistake?  This stuff is going to CHINA!  It’s not like they can fix anything, if I send the wrong stuff, or replace them, if it gets lost in transit.  It’s a lot of responsibility for me and I don’t like it one bit!

Well, it’s just one more day and I just have to get through it and then I can do what I REALLY love – all weekend long!

Today wasn’t too bad at work.  I was busy all morning, getting together all the materials for this guy in Dallas who has a meeting in China next week.  It took me a few hours, but I got it all together and gave it to another guy to ship to Beijing.  For those of you who know what the hell I'm talking about, I had to prepare materials and a PowerPoint presentation on Fixed Income, and another on Equities.  Huh?  Wha?  Heh?  It's all Greek to me!

When that was done I read a few of the inspirational stories in my new book, A STRING OF PEARLS.  It’s really a very sweet book and each story is just about 10 pages, so I can read one, then do some work, read another, read some emails, etc.

Since my boss told me that the woman I’m sitting in for isn’t coming back, and they’re posting her job, I thought it would be a good idea to clean out her desk and send her all her personal items.  I wrote to my “mentor” who is good friends with the woman, and told her I thought I should do that, and she thought it was a great idea, too.  So, I spent an hour or two this afternoon packing up toys, books, CDs, clothes, and other personal items into three boxes and a shopping bag.  There were lots of things to throw away (like cans of COKE from 2004) and now the desk is ready for the person who will have this job.  It's so sad that this woman is dying, and it makes me appreciate every single day of my life, because she's only 40 and it's too soon.  Much too soon.

I thought it would be easier for me to do now, when I can actually send the stuff to her, than for someone to do it afterwards, when she’s gone and they have to just get rid of it all.  I would have sent it to her months ago, but they were really hoping she was coming back.  The desk definitely looks emptier now, without her little penguin collection, her cute mugs, and a few personal photos, but I think it will make her happy to get these boxes and get to look through all the stuff and even use some of it.

I couldn’t wait for the day to end, because I’m so excited about the two craft shows this weekend.  When I got home I just relaxed and watched TV, knowing I would fall asleep.  Eric woke me at 8:00pm and I made us both NUTRISYSTEM ravioli.  Eric’s is in a meat sauce, mine in plain tomato sauce.  Then, we had the last of the gelato for dessert.  You can see how small our portions are, because we made it last from Monday to Friday (and I’m pretty sure Eric sneaks some in during the day, too!).

I packed up all the stuff I was going to sell tomorrow and even a few things I might hold back.  I only had 7 items left in the apartment after I packed everything.  “What if you sell it all tomorrow?” he asked.  That really scared me, because then I’d look pretty stupid on Sunday with 7 things and a 6 foot table, but I don’t REALLY think I have to worry about it, and I won’t put everything out unless all the items sell.  The table is relatively small, so I’ll just put out about 10 items and then, if they all sell, I can keep adding and adding.

Eric got me some singles, $5s and $10s, so I can make change.  All my merchandise fit into one box and one shopping bag, and I have another shopping bag full of bags, and other supplies.  I also have to bring the card table, the tablecloth, and one chair. 

Sunday I don’t have to bring the table or chair, but I do have to bring the 3-panel screen, the pearl lamp (which is in a tall lamp box from the movers), the lampshade, the Victorian File Box, and the big round mirror with all the clip-on and screw-on earrings,so I have more big things to bring.

It’s kind of great that I have the show tomorrow, because it’s like a “dress rehearsal” before the big day on Sunday.  This show is a much smaller event, and probably won’t get as many people as the one on Sunday, considering there will be things going on for blocks and blocks.  Sunday, there’s just one big room, but there will be 60 vendors, bands, coffee, food, beer and wine, a fashion show, and craft demos.  There will definitely be a lot of foot traffic.  The bad thing is, it’s supposed to rain on Sunday.  It hasn’t rained for weeks, and now it’s going to rain on Sunday and that’s not good.

I’ll be bringing my camera to both events, so you can be sure I will document everything!

I recorded GODSPELL the other day on TV.  It was unedited with no commercial interruption and I haven’t seen that movie in so many years.  I watched a little bit of it tonight, and it brought back SO many memories.  First of all, Victor Garber, who played Jesus, is now starring on one of my new favorite shows – Eli Stone.  It’s amazing how long and varied his career has been.  He was just a kid when he starred in this movie in 1973.  The beautiful thing is that he's still singing!  There are a few musical numbers in every episode of the show (which are Eli's hallucinations) and Victor sings as beautifully as he did back in 1973!

GODSPELL takes place in all different locations in New York, including the World Trade Center, which was still under construction when the film was made. 

Eric and I watched the first half hour and I got to see DAY BY DAY and TURN BACK, the two numbers I sang when I did the show.  I first did GODSPELL at QUEENS COLLEGE in 1976, so it was just a few years after the movie of the play came out.  I sang DAY BY DAY.  Then, I did it again a year or two later with a community theatre group and sang TURN BACK, which is SUCH a great song.  GODSPELL is one of those plays with a small cast that really becomes a family, because everyone is in every scene.  You really never leave the stage, once the play starts.  There is a lot of improvisation involved in rehearsing and bringing the stories to life, and the skits are updated every time it’s done, so that it’s very timely.

I don’t know how often the show is done anymore, and whether it still has the same impact it did 30 years ago, but it’s always been a favorite of mine.  Sometimes it’s hard to believe I had this whole other life.  Things have changed so much for me -- my focus, my passion, my direction in life.  If you had told me when I was 25 that I would have my own shop and that I would be an artist, I would have thought you were insane.  It just shows that you NEVER know where your life will lead you, and you have to just go with the flow and see what happens.

I thought I would be singing and dancing until the day I died, and I would still love to do it, but it’s not that important to me anymore.  I always say, if someone walked up to me and said they wanted me to star in a show, I’d drop everything and do it.  But I’m not willing to go to auditions, or do all the work necessary to build a show, like I did in the ‘90s when I was performing in nightclubs and cabarets.

Singing and dancing is something I was born to do, I really believe that, and I always wished that I could have made a living doing it (and never really did – I usually had another job).  Still, I did it – successfully, I think – for many years, and don’t regret a moment of it.  There’s something about being up there in front of an audience, making them laugh, feeling the energy coming from the crowd, performing with your friends – the timing of a joke, the beauty of great choreography, hearing the applause.  There’s nothing like it in the whole, wide world.

Crafting is so different.  When you’re in a show, it’s temporary (even if it’s recorded).  The only people who experience it are the people who are there – live and in person.  When it’s over, it’s over.  You can do the same show 100 times and there will be 100 different performances.  It’s never exactly the same twice.  It’s a temporary thing.  My art is forever.  I feel like when someone buys one of my pieces, they’ll look at it every day, enjoy it, and other people may admire it, and it will (I hope) bring pleasure and happiness for years to come.  It’s much longer lasting, but I don’t get to be there for any of it.  No one ever claps when they see my work (that would be nice, wouldn’t it?).  They show their appreciation in a very different way – they buy it!

It amazed me when people first started paying for my work.  I never thought it would happen and, when it did, I was surprised and thrilled.  I usually made a few pieces a month, so they would be spread out among the thousands of items I had on consignment in my shop.  Tomorrow and Sunday will be the first time that I will have a big display of JUST my work – only the things I’ve created.  It will be exciting to see the reaction.  Very exciting.

Well, I must get a good night’s sleep.  I have all morning to relax tomorrow, since I don’t have to be at the WHISTLE STOP BAR until 2:30pm.  Eric will drop me off, so I don’t have to worry about parking the car (parking is miserable in South Park AND North Park, so he’ll be dropping me off on Sunday, too!).  I know it will be a really fun day and I can’t wait!

I woke up at 7:30am, which was much too early, considering I went to bed at 1:00pm.  So, I just made myself fall back to sleep.  Every time I thought about anything (like the sale today, and everything I needed to do today), I tried to make my mind blank.  I eventually fell back to sleep and woke up again at 10:30am.  Eric woke up, too.  I made him breakfast – scrambled egg whites with a wedge of avocado on the slice, and a slice of toast.  I had a NUTRISYSTEM bar. 

We relaxed and watched an episode of PSYCH, and then I went into the shower and got dressed.  Eric showered and got dressed, too.  Then, he helped me pack up the car and we left at 2:00pm.  First, I deposited my check in Citibank, and then we went to STARBUCKS where I got a decaf venti Frappucino.  We got to the WHISTLE STOP BAR at around 3:00pm and Eric helped me unload everything, then left.  I waited for the woman in charge of the event to show up and a few other girls were there to set up, too.  When she came she told us where our tables should go.  I thought there would be lots of vendors, but there were just 7 inside and 5 outside.

We were all set up and ready to go by 3:30pm, but I was a little disappointed.  The place was pretty dark and there were no windows in the area where we were.  There were some spotlights around, but none of them were shining on my table!  Thank goodness Svea, from the CRAFT MAFIA had little battery-operated lights and she gave me one for my table.  It was perfect, because it made all the jewelry sparkle, but my decoupaged items were in shadow and you could hardly see them!

It didn’t really matter much, because no one even walked into our area until after 6:30pm!  We were just sitting around, talking, eating, and drinking.  It was really fun and I got to know some of the other vendors, but we were all disappointed by the lack of foot traffic.  Someone mentioned that the WALKABOUT really didn’t begin until 6:00pm, so we all wondered why we set up at 3:30pm, but it was too late to worry about it.

At around 7:00pm a lot of people started coming into the bar, but it seemed they were there to drink, or to meet their friends.  Hardly anybody came over to our area.  I noticed a few of the girls sold something, but most didn’t sell a thing – including me!  A few women came by and looked, and a few touched, but the music and talking was so loud, you could hardly communicate with customers.  Also, it was so dark in there that my stuff really wasn’t shown to its best advantage.  I was disappointed, but kept telling myself that this was just the “dress rehearsal” and tomorrow was the “big event.”

I just hope that tomorrow’s crowd is more into shopping, and less into drinking!

At 8:00pm, Eric came to pick me up.  I was almost completely packed and he brought the car around and I put everything in the back.  We found a spot right down the block, and Eric was hungry and I was starving, so we went across the street to a little Mexican restaurant, had a fast dinner, and then walked down the block to THE DAILY SCOOP, a fabulous home-made ice cream shop.  I had taken Jessica and April there when we visited South Park while they were on vacation here.

The woman who owns the place remembered me – after 10 weeks – and asked us how we were doing.  She asked how life in Clairemont was going, and I couldn’t believe that she even remembered where I lived!  Eric got a Brownie Sundae and I got a small scoop of Chocolate Peanut Butter (what else) and we drove home.

I was going to leave everything in the car, but Eric was afraid to do that, so we brought everything upstairs.  I only have a few things to pack for tomorrow, but I’m too tired to do it tonight, so I’ll do it tomorrow morning.  I have to be in North Park at 10:45am, so it’s a much earlier day!

I am glad that I did this event today.  It didn’t cost anything, I made some new acquaintances, and did some networking.  I just wish I had sold something!  I will be putting a lot of pictures on my CRAFTS BLOG, but I’m just too tired to do it tonight, so I’ll let you know on this blog, when I’ve put the entry on the other blog!  This is confusing, eh?

Well, I woke up at 8:00am to the sun shining brightly.  It’s 9:00am now, and I haven’t even gotten dressed yet, but I thought I’d write the first part of today’s blog BEFORE the show, and then continue AFTER.

They had predicted rain for today, which would be bad – very bad – so I was glad to see the sun.  At least for now, one less thing to worry about!  It was raining last night, when we went to dinner and drove home, so maybe that 1/10th of an inch was all we’re getting for the weekend.  I really hope so, because I am sure that rain would put a damper on our attendance.  Get it?  Damper?  That’s a pun, folks!

So, I got all my stuff together.  There’s really a lot to pack into the car, including the screen.  I may have to ride in the back seat, behind Eric, because I’m pretty sure he’s going to have to put the front passenger seat down in order to fit the screen in.  I’m so undecided about the screen.  I really want to sell it, because I have more perfume cards (but only white) and could make another one, but it’s SO useful to hide anything you don’t want company to see (in our case, a couple of tall boxes holding lamps and posters), so I wouldn’t mind bringing it home again.  I just figured it would be a fabulous backdrop for my booth!

I kept thinking about how badly the “Craftabout” when yesterday.  I think the main reason is that it was held in a bar.  I talked to the bartender about the lighting, because I was the first one there, and he said, “Well, it’s a bar!”  I knew that, but I figured maybe they’d have some extra lighting brought in.  Wrong.  It was so dark in there, it was really hard to see the crafts!

Then, I thought about how loud the music was.  I mean, it was BAR loud.  So, people couldn’t really talk to me.  They would just smile and move on.  A few talked, but one commented on how loud the music was, so I knew it was making it hard for people to shop.

Then, there was the fact that we were in the back of the bar, so people were coming in and sitting down at tables, or buying drinks and hanging by the bar, so they didn’t even come near us!  The good thing was, there was a back door, and my table was right inside the back door, so some people DID come through the back door and walk to the front.  Those people actually got to walk by my table!  Wheee!

I know there are going to be bands there today, and I already mentioned my worries to Teresa, the woman in charge of the CRAFT SHOW.  She said they have a sound guy, so they can make the music lower if they want to.  At the bar, I guess they didn’t feel they had the right to tell the DJ to lower the music.  Also, the bands won’t be playing all day.  They will be taking breaks and only doing ½ hour sets.  I told her if she could put me as far from the bands as possible, I’d be happy.  I’m like the old lady at the wedding who complains to the bride that she doesn’t want to be near the band. Oy!

Eric’s in the shower and I just had a NUTRISYSTEM bar.  I don’t have to stop at STARBUCKS today, because THE OTHER SIDE COFFEE HOUSE will have a coffee bar at the show and I had their coffee when I visited their lovely shop to see the Craft Mafia Debutante Coming Out Craft Show a few weeks ago.  The guy makes a mean mocha latte!

North Park is only about 10 minutes away, and we’re supposed to be there at 10:45am, but we’ll probably leave here at 10:00am, because we have to pack the car first.

Well, I better go get dressed and “put on my face.”  I hope I have LOVELY news to report later.  If I don’t sell anything, will you all still love me?

I’m back!  It’s 8:00pm and we just got home.  I had a fabulous day, but I only sold five items!  That’s less than one an hour (the show was six hours – noon to 6:00pm).

We got there early – 10:30am, and there were lots of vendors outside waiting to go inside, but they didn’t let anyone in until 10:45am.  Eric helped me unload the PT and then he helped me set up my whole table.  He’s SO good.   I was lucky, because they put me way in the back, against a wall, so I was away from the bands and was able to display my screen up against the wall.  I had a great spot and was very happy.

When I was all set, and everything was on display, Eric left.  The tablecloth worked out beautifully.  It sparkled, the border with the large version of my business card looked cute, and I had room for everything. 

It was early, so I walked around and took a lot of pictures of other vendors whose tables were all set up.  I was lucky, it only took me about 20 minutes to set (and to strike).  There are some who have so much merchandise, or such elaborate displays, that it takes them over an hour!  I was very impressed with the beautiful displays, and all the wonderful merchandise people were selling.  Everything was gorgeous, so I knew I had a lot of competition!

At a little after noon they opened the doors.  They had done LOTS of advertising, and there were free swag bags for the first 100 people, so there was a huge line outside!  The minute the doors opened, the place was PACKED!  It turned out to be a gorgeous day, and there were big windows lining both walls and there was great overhead lighting, so the place was nice and bright.  They had fans on the walls in-between each window, so there was a nice breeze.

There was so much foot traffic that people were actually forced to stand in front of your table for a few minutes, which gave them a chance to look – whether they wanted to or not!

I sold a decoupaged mirror in the first ten minutes and thought, “This is going to be great!”  Unfortunately it was another hour before I sold another piece.  I ended up selling two of my travel-themed decoupaged mirrors, a small silver frame that was bejeweled, a small bejeweled compact and my seashell and pearl mirror.  Five pieces in all.  The higher-end items didn’t sell, although people really admired them and spent a lot of time looking.  A lot of people took my business cards, so I guess I’ll be getting a lot of visitors to my website!

I spoke to some of the other vendors and they said they didn’t sell much either.  Eric told me not to be surprised if I didn’t sell a lot, because money is tight for a lot of people these days, what with gas prices, people getting laid off from their jobs, etc.  I think if I had more inexpensive items I might have done better, but a lot of my stuff is over $50.

A woman across from me was selling home made soaps (which smelled SO good) and she seemed to do very well.  The woman next to me was selling paper-doll fairies that you cut out yourself and attach the knees and elbows and waist with fasteners that allow them to bend and dance.  They were absolutely beautiful, and a sheet cost $4.50, so she sold a LOT of them.  She also had bookmarks and coloring books, so they were pretty popular, and had a low price-point, too.

I took a lot of pictures, but my camera died right after I photographed some sushi dessert that our friend, David, made for us at HAIKU SUSHI, where we went for a quick bite after the craft show.  He created these masterpieces with mango, kiwi, rice and made a little belt of seaweed.  It looked SO cute!

I am charging the battery, so I’ll try to upload all the pictures tomorrow (but it will be on my CRAFTS BLOG, not here!).

At 6:00pm sharp I started packing all my stuff up.  When I went outside with as much as I could carry, Eric was there, waiting for me.  We loaded up the car and drove to HAIKU and then came home and unloaded the car.  I’m SO exhausted.  I told Eric it’s amazing how tired you can get sitting and standing around all afternoon!

One of the highlights of the afternoon was that I got to hold Stella, a gorgeous 8-week-old baby whose aunt is one of the other vendors – Lisa, a fabulous artist whose work I have shown on my CRAFTS BLOG before.  I love this baby.  The first time I ever saw her she was just 3 weeks old, and she’s already gotten so much bigger.  I held her for like 15 minutes and we made eye contact almost the entire time.  Her mom, Laura, said she really liked me!  I told her if she ever needs a babysitter, she should call on me.  I told her that the first time we met, but I think after meeting me three times now, she may take me up on it!

I know it’s going to be VERY hard to get out of bed tomorrow, so I’m going to get undressed, washed up, into my PJs and get into bed!  Today was a great day.  I wouldn’t say it was a huge success, but I met a lot of great, creative, crafty, artistic people, saw some great bellydancing, heard some great bands, and saw some beautiful artwork, so even though I didn’t make much money, I still had a lot of fun!

Last night I went to bed at 9:30pm.  Eric couldn’t believe it when he came in the bedroom and found me out like a light.  Unfortunately, I woke up before the alarm and couldn’t fall back to sleep.  Then, when the alarm went off I had to snooze, snooze, and snooze before I could drag myself out of bed.  Of course, as I always say, by the time I hit the bathroom I was wide awake, but those first few feet…

My boss was still in NY today, so it was pretty quiet, but one of the other guys gave me a project cleaning out two file drawers in his office.  He’s very sweet, very appreciative of everything I do, and he likes that I’m so organized.  I got everything neat and arranged in box-bottom pendaflex folders.  If you don’t know what that is, it’s a hanging file system with an extra-wide bottom to hold lots and lots of papers!

Then, I continued to work on my “special project” which he also assigned to me.  I’m almost done with that.  I was determined to have it finished by Friday, since I may not be back.

I didn’t get to go food shopping this weekend, so I bought soup and salad for lunch ($4.85) and had a nice lunch while reading my book.  It’s nothing thrilling, this book, just little 5-10 page stories of inspiration.  I’m enjoying it, but I’d rather be reading something that I can really get into!

I was so happy that the three girls from the office who came to the craft show on Sunday were talking to the other girls about how much fun they had, what a great show it was, and how much they liked my work.  One girl bought a piece from me (a small compact with a faux coral brooch on top) and brought it to work to show all the girls!  They said they wanted me to bring my stuff to work, so we made plans for me to drive on Friday and set up in the back of the PT.  They will all come down at lunchtime to see my stuff and perhaps buy something, too.

They spread the word and when I drove home with my co-worker, she said that she heard I was bringing my crafts to work on Friday.  She works on the 3rd floor and I work on the 6th, so news travels fast!

I was supposed to see the acupuncturist today, and I got right in the car to drive to HILLCREST as soon as I got dropped off.  I turned my phone on and saw I had a message, so I decided to listen before I drove off.  It was him telling me he had to cancel.  Good thing I listened first!  We rescheduled for Wednesday at 6:00pm.

Eric went food shopping for me today, which I REALLY appreciated, but he’s not very good at it.  He doesn’t read labels like I do, so he bought juice that’s loaded with sugar, and couldn’t find some of the veggies I like to buy to put in our salads or soups.  I do appreciate not having to go after work, so it’s no big deal.  I told him not to buy too much anyway, since we don’t want to leave any food in the fridge when we leave in a week.  Everything must go, because we’ll be gone almost 2 weeks.

I can’t believe we’re finally leaving for Florida and North Carolina a week from today!  We’re both very excited.  When I came home tonight, Eric was packing his big duffel bag with all his bicycle stuff.  He went through and organized it and figured out what he should take and what he shouldn’t take.  He’s contacted a bicycle shop in Asheville about renting a bike for a week, and he’s excited about riding in Charlotte, too.  He’s just a happy boy, my Eric, and that’s what I like to see!

Tomorrow my boss will be back, but I’ve only got 4 days left in this office until vacation (and maybe forever!), so nothing will bother me.  I can deal with ANYTHING for four days!

Tonight I downloaded all the pictures from Saturday and Sunday onto my computer and resized and rotated all the pictures, so they’re ready for my CRAFTS BLOG, but I may not get to it tonight.  I’ll write here to let you know when you can go to my CRAFTS BLOG to check it all out!

I spoke to my sister, Audrey, tonight.  She's so sweet.  We talked about our trip and she's very excited and supportive of us.  I told her I was very nervous, because there have been so many delays and cancellations with all the flights lately.  She said we shouldn't worry, because it's not like we're going to Florida or North Carolina for a specific event (like a wedding).  So, if we get delayed or cancelled, we won't miss anything.  We'll eventually get where we're going and shouldn't stress about it.  She's so smart!  I love her.

I must go, because Eric and I are going to watch DANCING WITH THE STARS together.  We love that show!