Not as planned

WednesdayAfter a night of Halloween-like dreams that woke me up three times, I wasn’t in a great mood at work. It didn’t help that within an hour of arriving at my office I had a headache and felt off in that way you sometimes do when you’re about to come down with something. I took a couple of Tylenol and set aside a newly poured glass of Diet Coke for a glass of ice water. Turning off the overhead...

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Costumes

TuesdayI went by Blaine’s after work. We made spaghetti then went for a short walk through his neighborhood and looked at the Halloween decorations.He is planning to hand out candy tomorrow. I’m planning to do something with Mica so I won’t be there when Allison brings Eli by. When I was at Allison’s helping with the tree, Eli told me he was going to be a giraffe, which I thought was an awesome idea....

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Whisperer

Paul stopped in at the office this afternoon. Instead of turning into Eve’s office, he came to mine. “You’re just the person I need to see.” Hearing his voice, Eve looked across the hall where her husband was standing in my doorway. “Whaaaat?” He gave me a smile before he turned toward her. “I need to get a hold of Henry.” “Well, I know Henry too,” she reminded.“Do you want to ask him to call me if...

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Good luck

Sophie, Mica and I took a road trip to do some shopping and have a nice lunch to celebrate Sophie’s birthday. I looked for a dress appropriate for one of the Christmas parties. After looking through a couple of racks, I said to Sophie, “What is with the sequins?”I didn’t realize the salesperson was lurking behind me until she said, “Don’t you want to stand out when you walk into the room?” “I really...

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Any mud hole

Today was the perfect fall day--sunny, warm, a breeze only heavy enough to encourage leaves to fall. To take advantage, Blaine and I skipped the tailgate, blew off the football game and went to the state park for a hike. Finally! It couldn't have been lovelier. We went for broke and chose the longest, most challenging trail. Once we were on it, we didn't see another person until we were off the bluff...

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How do I look?

Parking was nearly gone by the time I arrived at the place Eve selected for our Friday night gathering. I snagged the last space in an adjacent parking lot. As I walked toward the building I passed Blaine’s SUV and saw Paul and Eve’s so I knew who to look for once inside. It was busy. I checked the high-top tables near the bar for familiar faces and stepped carefully through the maze of seated and...

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Downgrade

I went to Mica's after work. Needed to visit the little white dog (who has front paws, I assure). She and I grabbed takeout and watched an episode of "Poldark." We talked about Greg a little bit. She's not as interested as she was at first. Still, she likes him and thinks she'll give it a bit of time, maybe gradually downgrade to a friendship. She asked if Blaine and I wanted to go out to dinner...

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Seriously irritated

"I talked to Cody today," my brother told me when he called tonight, his third call this week. "He asked me about that guy you brought to April's birthday party. What's his name?" "Blaine," I answered flatly. "Yeah. Is he your boyfriend or something?" Good Lord. "Yes." "Oh. Well, Cody asked me about him and I didn't know." Not because I've never told him. Not because he's never met him, for...

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Feels like Monday

TuesdayIt isn’t Monday. I thought it was until I was on my way to work and noticed when a DJ said it was Tuesday. This matters because I didn’t put the garbage out this morning and will have to wait another week. While I was gone--probably the day it snowed--the electricity went out. I don’t know how long it was out so I have to toss everything that was in the refrigerator. Since it isn’t cold enough...

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Impulse control

MondayToday, my last day of vacation, is the first day I’ve accomplished anything. I bought toothpaste and took my car to the mechanic. I'll pause until the oohs and ahhs quiet. During my week at Eve’s the engine light in my car came on. I made an appointment to have it checked out and to have the oil changed. I dropped it off this morning, and Mica picked me up so I wouldn’t have to spend hours...

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Limbs

SundayLast Sunday it snowed. A few inches of heavy fluff stuck to the leaves on the trees, weighing down the branches and breaking some. Neither Eve and Paul nor Mica had any significant breaks, but a tree in Allison and Ty’s back yard took a hit. One large limb ripped off and dropped into the yard. It didn’t damage any property but the canopy fell across part of Eli’s playset, making it off limits....

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The win

SaturdayBlaine and I went to the tailgate. The atmosphere all over Tailgate Village (as I now think of downtown on game days) was optimistic and enthusiastic in spite of the team having lost every game so far. As we were walking from the parking lot, we were behind some of our fans and some of the opposing team’s fans. One of the visitors tried to stir up something with a comment about our team’s...

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Come by

Thursday My laptop has been offline several days. Sunday night I moved from Paul and Eve’s house to Mica’s, and I didn’t realize I had never connected the laptop to her Wi-Fi. I had to wait until she could give me the password. I’m on vacation this week and haven’t done much until today when I went downtown to have lunch with Blaine. We walked from his office to a place that makes good gyros and...

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Getting lost

SaturdayAfter the football game ended, Blaine and I took Izzy for a walk. A long walk. And perhaps, yes, it was such a long walk because we got lost and it took a while to backtrack until we knew where we were. We could have consulted Google maps but agreed it was a perfect day for getting lost – sunny, warm, bright blue sky and leaves of every shade of fall on the trees. So we kept wandering until...

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Make like a slug

Yesterday: Today: Every day, rain or shine:  Izzy and I have had a good week overall. Rainy and chilly every day but yesterday, but what can be done about the weather? I've been exhausted by the change in routine--up and out the door by 5:30 a.m. for the first walk of the day, then getting myself ready for work and Izzy ready to face the day. It takes longer to drive to work, and...

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Symphony channel

When I stay at Eve’s, I come and go through the garage. This morning I used the remote to raise the garage door. When I stepped onto the driveway I pressed the button to lower the door and...nothing. For 10 minutes nothing and then for no reason the button worked again. Rather than risk a repeat, I went inside and picked up the key for the front door that they left for me. At noon I came to take...

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Collie sprawl

My legs are under there somewhere. The battle for territory begi...

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Back at college

“Look how nice you two look! Go stand on the stairs so I can take a picture.” Allison had a bit of fun treating us like we were headed to prom. Thankfully no dancing would be required; we were going to the alumni banquet at my college.We did look nice. I wore the navy dress I wore on our date to the symphony, and Blaine went with a classic navy suit, white shirt and paisley tie in blues and grays...

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Back with Izzy

Hello from Izzy’s! I’ve missed this silly girl. Blaine and I met Maggie and Terry for drinks after work. As Friday gatherings go this wasn’t a long one. Blaine wanted to get home to finish preparing something for work, and I had a collie to pet and squeeze and kiss on her furry head. Blaine called a bit ago. He would like me to proofread what he's working on. I’m waiting for the email and for Izzy...

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Every day this week

Since I last wrote... 1. The Cubs lost their spot in the playoffs. I have to hand it to them for achieving all of the end-of-season losses that made that happen. I mean they led the division the entire last half of the season. The division title was theirs to lose, and they really pulled it off! As I told Blaine after the game (watched at his house because he has ESPN), it was easier being a Cubs...

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Guess what!

It rained all day today...

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