Despite the horrid (and way early, with not enough sleep) start, today turned out pretty darn awesome.

- We have running water. We have a new well pump (and a bill for said pump... owwwwwwww... not as much as we feared, though), one that will hopefully last much, much longer than the barrel-scraping piece of (*#^$ that was originally down in the ground. I am going to take a nice, long shower soon (if the power stays on... just got a flap... interesting...)

- It was 70 degrees today. Still technically winter. I was outside, tagging shrubs, in short sleeves, and almost too warm at times. Fantastic. Even my boss was in a good mood. We got little baby plants, including our herb shipment.

- I got to play in the dirt with a bunch of second-graders this morning. Surprisingly fun, and I am pretty sure that's what put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. We planted beans and tomato seeds in little peat pots for their classroom greenhouse. I hope they all come up.

- We got the official word that one of the guys that was hired to work this summer will not, in fact, be coming to work for us. This is a good thing. I and the other ladies in the office can't figure out why, but we really, really don't want to spend any time with this guy. At all. Especially alone. Just a feeling, nothing we can put a solid reason on, but we're all glad he's gone... should really have talked to the boss, I suppose, but it seemed stupid to say "I don't want to work with this guy. No, I don't really have a reason. He just creeps me out." Bah.

- Wonderful M, who worked for us 5 years ago, then moved to Florida (hated every minute, he says), is back, and will be working for us again this summer. SO HAPPY. Gave him a running, flying hug when he pulled into the driveway and I figured out who he was.

- There was singing practice and Rock Band tonight. It's been months. Everybody missed it, and it was good to be back.

- I am going to Mudthaw next week. Should be fun. Supposed to be a darned good fencing event. It's all good, I think.

- I get to rake the yard this weekend!! Right now, I'm excited about this... the excitement will wear off, I'm sure, but I am anxious to see what sorts of plants I've got out there!

- I am going to paint the upstairs a nice medium blue, and the bathroom turquoise. I have paint colors picked out, I think. Will possibly pick them up on Sunday, since it's supposed to be rainy. EEEEE.

Oh, and I have Lancelot purring in my lap as I am typing this. :) Should go check on Galahad, since I think he's managed to jump the barrier to the (still unfinished) master bedroom again, and got himself stuck... ah, kitties.

(11:55 PM, March 17: OK. One cranky point. The power flapped, and now I have no internet connection. No amount of rebooting or kicking the router will fix this, apparently, and J is asleep, so I am going to take that as a sign that I should take a shower and go to bed. GRR.)
(12:12 AM, March 18: Figured out the problem... we really need a new UPS for the router/cable modem/stuff. Irritating to have to turn on the interrupted uninterruptable power supply...)

Maybe even Christmas Eve... J is working from home today, so once we get the car cleaned out, we can re-load it with gifts, and clothes for the weekend, and us, and away we go to New Hampshire. Going to call the boss as a courtesy before we go, probably against my better judgment, but better than him calling an empty house and me coming back to no job.

Lunch and catchup with Hoobiewan was wonderful yesterday. We must, my friend, try to do this again before next Christmas. A year between visits is far too long. :) Driving was not bad, weather-wise, but traffic was awful. I think I may have spent equal time in parking lot and in-town Portland as I did on the highway. My own fault, that last bit, for trying to save a few bucks in tolls... agh.

The little tickle in my throat has turned into a Christmas cold, as per my usual. Advil Cold & Sinus, do your stuff... please...

J and I had Christmas here last night, after watching The World's Fastest Indian. Good film. Lots of lovely gifts, including a TomTom GPS from his parents... oi. Wow. No more getting lost for J now. :)

Merry Christmas to all, and a (slightly belated, but I still have 6 more days... ;) ) Happy Hanukkah to sprirtwolf. :)

A good weekend. My work schedule has shifted for the season again, so goodbye to normality... Friday/Saturday off for the moment, which means that I can have lunch with friends on Friday again!

Headed to my parents' Friday morning, met anna_mickel and Max for lunch at a Chinese place in Stratham, since it was on the way. Simply delightful. Food was et, puns were made, and kayak trips were planned.

Got to mom & dad's around 2:00, earlier than usual, surprised mom. Hee. :) Had tea, relaxed, played Guitar Hero (with 2 guitars! In the same room! Woo!) with my brother for a while, generally did nothing important. He and I noodled on recorder for a while after dinner. He'd never played before (was sick that day in 5th grade when we all made horrible squeaking sounds, apparently), and I brought along the extra loaner Soprano I have for the moment. Quite fun! Wonderful to have harmonies on the soprano line. As a trumpet player, using both hands at the same time was quite a novelty, but he picked it up incredibly quickly. (you played piano for a while... same thing had to happen there, kinda...)

The main point of my trip home was to have my dress fitted/hemmed for Sarah's wedding in May. Popped into the bridal shop in time for my appointment, and was reminded again why dressmakers love me, and normal people hate me. A perfect size 6, just needed a 1/2" hem, and all done! The look on the seamstress's face was priceless... "I... I don't need to do a thing to this... just a hem..." heh... All set! Pickup on April 19, and we're good to go!