Net Crimes & Misdemeanors

It's funny how quickly life can change. Something has recently happened to me that I want to see where it goes before posting. But so far, it's wonderful. I got home from Connecticut in record time, V2 came over and my mom and I had a wonderful BBQ with her - chicken and turkey tips marinated in sauces, roasted potatoes and grilled corn on the cob. V2 and I got silly and drank wine. We played Ninento Wii and my mom couldn't make heads or tails out of it, but it was a blast. Got up on Monday morning with a headache. I am so glad I don't have too many nights like that. Took my mom to Robert's for lunch, then took her to my sister's to drop her off there. Got home and was exhausted from all the driving. Went to bed early. Got up Tuesday, caught up with email, unpacked, did laundry and other things, then went to V2's for dinner. Rob was doing work on the house when I left. When I came back home at 8:30 pm, he was still here, so I sat on the stairs and we talked ...

Wednesday picked up my mom to dogsit. By the time we got to my house, it was almost time for me to leave to be on an author panel at Lucius Beebe library. Kate Flora was on the panel with me, as well as Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, author of Girls of Tender Age . We had a really good crowd, about 50 people, and new friend Jane (from the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando in May) showed up. It was a blast, sold a few books. Got home, crashed, then got up Thursday morning to take mom grocery shopping, packed and headed down to Norwich, CT. It was raining, but the drive went well. I listened to The Good Guy by Dean Koontz. A great book, BTW. Checked into the Comfort Suites, checked email, then went to the Saxton B. Little Library . Rain was coming down in buckets. I didn't know until I got to the library that there had been a tornado warning in effect while I was driving. About 10 people showed up, plus a reporter and photographer from The Chronicle , a local paper. Guess it was a slow news day, ...

Remember you are not at home and are in a hotel room when you have to get up to go pee in the middle of night. Or you'll hit the coffee table next to the bed and get two lovely bruises on your knees. No shorts for a while. Ouch.

Was there a time in your life when you felt weak and you weren't sure how you could make it through a particular struggle? Help other women by sharing your story... We are looking for stories in the following categories: Divorce/Separation Lost Love Victimization Abuse Sickness Death of Spouse/Child/Parent Marriage Problems Relationship Struggles Financial Problems Emotional Career The book and blog, Strong Tea is a resource for woman to find healing, strength, hope, and inspiration from other women. Based on the quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: "A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water." We are looking for stories 1-5 pages in length. Material may be edited for publishing purposes. By submitting your stories, you give us permission to use them for the Strong Tea book and blog. You do not need to disclose your full name. Please feel free to forward this on to all your inspirational women friends. You can email your stori...

I ended up doing some grocery shopping and hanging out at home yesterday, then took the dogs for a ride by the beach to laugh at the tourists, then got some fried clams for dinner. I had an excellent wine called Lolonis Ladybug White . I highly recommend it. I am going to have to try their red next time. Got up this morning, put on my workout clothes and since it was so nice out, got Guin ready to go for a walk. Chippy was chipping outside the front door, so I went to put some sunflower seeds in his dish. As I began to walk back inside, I saw something in my parking area out front. I frowned. It was big and black. I walked towards it and realized it was a black duffel type bag, zipped up and sitting plop in my parking area. It was an expensive looking leather. Why would someone leave something that expensive in front of my house? Wonderful. I called the police, told the dispatcher a bag that didn't belong to me was in front of my house and could they send someone to come get it. Sh...

I got this in my email. Please pass it along and do take part in the surveys: realname: PSU Capstone class email: david.inmanjr@gmail.com comments: To Whom It May Concern: We are a Portland State University multimedia senior capstone class in Portland, Oregon. This class is the last class in a series of university required courses designed, in the form of a community based project, to broaden students minds and make them more critical thinkers. The class for this summer term, as a group, have decided to design online material in the form of a website and a blog dealing with the topic of online predators. We have decided to gear the material toward children (12 and under), teens, and their parents. We have put together a quick survey pertaining to each group and would ask that you use and forward these surveys on to those in your group to assist us in gathering data for our project. You can cut and paste the following links for the appropriate survey into your browser's naviation ...

I had a wonderful Monday, then Tuesday was okay, but went downhill quickly and Wednesday and yesterday I was in a total funk. I couldn't eat, sleeping was bad and I just couldn't shake it. I did my treadmill, yoga, V2 came to get me yesterday for lunch and shopping and I was just feeling blue as heck. I admit I cried - I was very emotional. And no, it's not "that time of the month." I haven't had one of those since my hysterectomy over 10 years ago. Then, for whatever reason, I woke up this morning with a smile on my face and feeling very, very happy, a complete 360 from the last few days. I don't know what happened. The only dream I remember having I am actually thinking about writing as a short story (my dreams tend to have a beginning, middle and end), but it was a horror story dream (does that make sense?). So it wasn't any dream I had last night. And I have a happy, anticipatory feeling in my stomach. I get these feelings sometimes - good and bad,...

V2 called me yesterday after lunch to check in on me. I know she worries about me. She came over to pick up her cigs, which she left at my place the other night. She went through the events section of the Sunday paper, then said, "How about miniature golf?" I figured, what the heck? I needed a break. I had been doing updates on my web sites and needed some fun. So off we went to a local miniature golf place. A lot of people were there, so it took us a while to get through the 18 holes. I thought for sure she'd kick my butt. Even though she won, it was 61-63, so I didn't do so bad after all! We were thirsty, so she drove to Capn Simeon's, where they used to have an outside deck bar. No longer. She asked if I'd ever been to someplace called Muddy River. Nope. I guess they're noted for their pulled pork and beef brisket. Again, what they heck? She was driving! We got there, walked in and wouldn't you know, V2 knew the bartender. This happened when we went...

Yesterday morning I took a runner (rug) to the local laundromat to wash in one of those triple loader machines. The reason is that Guin's new meds means she has "accidents" and chooses this rug to pee on. Oy. It took me *three* washes to get the pee smell out of it. While it was washing, I ran errands and checked out the flea market next to the shopping plaza the laundromat is in. What a bunch of junk. And a lot of these people have tables there every week. I said hello to one woman at her table and asked how she was doing. She replied, "I'm poor" and glared at me. Well, excuuuuuse me. I walked away from her table. If you're going to sell things at a flea market, don't snap at potential customers. I got home and V2 called to see if I wanted to go out with her for a few hours. Sure. We went looking for a croquet set for her friend's kids to play with (no luck), then went to The Lobster Barn's Lobster in the Rough, which sits behind the main r...

Rob came early to work on the new office, so I "did my time" on the treadmill and told him if I was laughing, it wasn't at him. I've got NPRs Wait wait. . .don't tell me! on my iPod (they're free downloads on iTunes) and it sometimes is truly hilarious. Afterwards, finished cleaning up in Chris' old office to get the desk ready to move downstairs later. Rob and I went to the old Home Depot to see what was left - everything there was at 70% and I found some new tile for the bathroom floor which ended up costing me just $7/box (9 square feet per box) because it wouldn't come up on the computer. The guy checking us out offered it at $7 and I jumped at it. Got some recessed lights and flourescent light tubes for my new office. We then went to the new Home Depot, which is pretty much around the corner from the old one. Got the trim wood Rob needs to finish off the doors and such, some electrical stuff and other odds and ends he needed. When we got back, he...

V2 and I left with the dogs on Sunday at around noon. We raced to the store to get some shrimp to marinade on our drive up. We stopped off at a Dunkin' Donuts so that I could walk the dogs and V2 got us some coffees. Some cute guys on motorcycles were in the parking lot and waved at us when they left. We got to my sister's after a trek to a store for cigs for V2 and my sister. My brother, his wife and one of my nieces were there, along with my sister, her husband and kids. The margaritas started flowing the minute we walked in, but surprisingly, I just wasn't in the mood for too much and couldn't figure out how to work the margarita blender right - I kept getting foam. We had a blast. V2 read everyone's tarot cards, my mom loved all the attention and when it came to present time: Then she got a cell phone from my sister and my brother did an impersonation of mom trying to use it and yelling "Can you hear me now?" More presents for the mom! She loved the ti...