First Entry of 2010

It was a quiet New Years Eve for me and the cats. As I expected, we were in bed early and the fireworks woke us up shortly after midnight. I think back to the frenzied New Years Eves parties at Joe’s house in past years. I like to think I’ve accepted the fact: those party days are gone. I’m glad to have enjoyed myself as I did and realized when it was time to move on and not dwell on the past.

I FINALLY got the last vestiges of the holidays taken care of. My house is pretty much back to normal. I finished up the last of the correspondence I never got out before Christmas. I used the note cards made by my rowing coach showing college rowers…. Forget about even trying to sneak a holiday card in!!

In organizing my cards I found an old picture of Billy me and Chloe from 1996. We were standing on the deck I built off my Lockport house in 1995. That was the last project before I decided to move. I remember that project well….

A deck off my dining room was a project I had envisioned from the time I bought my house in 1978. I opened the solid wall for the doorway in the early 1980’s. Gary was building a deck off his house in Buffalo. I have to admit he was my inspiration to finally tackle that project. The summer of 1995 was brutally hot. I had stopped my journaling at that point in time. But, I remember how Gary tried to belittle me because I arranged for Chase Pitkin to build the basic deck and stairs for $400.00. I did the rest of the finish work myself. Gary was building his deck on his own.

The contractors had my deck built in about two days. That really pissed Gary off as my deck was done long before his! Of course I had to rub in how that $400.00 was some of the best money I ever spent!

Where the flowers and crushed stone are is where I had my patio of patterned brick. It had been moved to Tuscaloosa by the time this picture was taken.

I’ve been so itchy to really get away. This is a dangerous mood for me to be in. I went to the Southwest site and played around with fares and destinations. There were some dirt cheap fares to San Francisco. I’ll be flying out for five days in early February for $322.00 total airfare cost! Louis is not going to MacWorld, so I can’t use that for an excuse!

Now I’m in the process of contacting friends and checking out cheap accommodations. The Best Western I normally stay at has been remodeled and the price has really increased. There is a place right down the street that is a lot cheaper. I’ll turn something up!!

We were not able to get enough people to row this afternoon. It was in the low 30’s so I’m thinking it was just as well. This cold weather is getting me down. Usually we get a few warm days to offset the cold. That has not really happened much this winter. I guess it goes with last year being the 3^rd wettest on record. The good news was it was a clear day with brilliant sunshine. Stumpy spent much of his day out in the back following the sun which warmed his black coat. Once it began to set, he let me know he wanted back into the house. He is sacked out on the bed enjoying a nap as only a contented cat can……