Blue Moon

Happy New Year! Larry and I have had a nice day celebrating. As planned, we went to a movie and saw Avatar. The special effects and 3-D make this movie. The story was predictable and it dragged a bit, but we still were glad that we saw it. We also went for a blue moonlit walk to Zona 78 to get pizza for dinner. After dinner we drank champagne while we watched a better movie--the new Star Trek. It's a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing the characters I know so well portrayed in their youth. It's hard to believe that Star Trek has been in my life for over 40 years. All-in-all, we had a special day and night full of simple pleasures.

Lazy Wednesday

We didn't do anything special today, but had a relaxing day puttering around. The weather is a little warmer now, so we went on a walk to the store. I started reading a novel that Wendy sent me for a present--Lover's Knot. It's a quilting mystery. It's a fun read--probably more appealing for quilters than the general public. The author is a quilter and speaks about the fellowship of quilters. I have found a wonderful sense of fellowship among my sewing friends. We provide the same kind of support for each other in good times and bad that the characters in the novel give each other. Larry and I also enjoyed the Monty Python special on public TV. MP remains one of my favorite series of all time. I'm glad that we have the entire collection on DVD. Tomorrow we have bigger plans. We're going to the movies and then out to dinner. Perhaps we'll also go on a hike to celebrate the sunnier skies. It's nice not to feel pressure to do lots of things during (Larry's) vacation time. We know that Tucson is our second home and will have many more opportunities to sight-see.

Tuesday without Movies

Today is Dollar Day at the movie multiplex. We didn't manage to go, though, in spite of our good intentions. First thing in the morning, we needed to wait for the cable guy, who did come on time and gave great service. Then Larry went shoe shopping. Then we waited for Phil to call from the car service department. Then we went to Costco. We got a lot of things done today, we just didn't make it to the movies. We have plans for tomorrow to go hiking. The past few days have been cooler, so we haven't felt like doing outdoor things. It's going to warm up, so I'm sure we'll be out again. Larry is on vacation, so does want to do some things he usually doesn't have time for.

Empty Nest

We're back to just the two of us now. Cliff flew off to San Francisco last night and Phil just left for SeaTac this afternoon. We had 4 good days of family togetherness. That seems about right. We miss our sons, but know that we have grown independent of each other and longer visits are not necessarily better visits. Cliff is hosting a New Year's Eve party in his new apartment. He's excited about that. He may not have enough furniture for his crowd, but I'm sure he has a plan. As he reminded us, he was an event planner at Stanford for a few years and knows how to put on a party. Phil will get organized to get started back to school. He's having new tires put on his car tomorrow so I'll stop worrying about him driving in bad weather. He'll pick up Tally the cat and go back to Bellingham and his cozy apartment. He also has new books and DVD's to watch. He, like
Cliff, is interested in more intellectual books now, but still turns to escapist activities such as video games.

Larry has a week of vacation left. We want to do some hiking. The weather here turned colder and cloudy, so we'll probably wait a couple of days to do that. We have new books to read and DVD's to watch, so I'm sure we'll have a nice, relaxing time.

Merry Christmas

Cliff and Phil both arrived on Christmas Eve. I was so busy doing things with them that I didn't take time out to blog. I took many pictures over the past two days. I'll let them speak for themselves. On Christmas Day we began by going to the movies and saw "Up in the Air" with George Clooney. We all liked it pretty well. We then went to Saguaro E National Park (a 20 minute drive from our house). Cliff ran the 8 mile loop. Larry and I drove it, hiked awhile ourselves, then picked Cliff up. We saw beautiful colors at sunset. I always like it there. I cooked dinner when we got back while Larry, Phil, and Cliff played Fluxx. We watched a documentary movie that Cliff got me for a present, "Man on Wire." It was good, too.

Today we got up early and headed off to Chiricahua National Monument--a 2 hour drive. It has beautiful rock formations. There was snow, so the main road was closed to cars. We hiked it instead and spent a pleasant couple of hours walking, talking, and looking at nature. Tonight we are going to Cliff's favorite Mexican dive, El Taco Tote. Afterward, he will get together with a friend from Stanford (Emily) who visits relatives here at Christmastime. Here are some pictures from our events.

Goodbye to More Neighbors

Today I went out to do some grocery shopping and came back to find that the neighbors on the W side of us were moving out. Their house has been on the market for a few months. Other neighbors were standing outside watching the van. I heard from them that these neighbors had bought another house in town and were moving to it. I'm glad their mortgage wasn't foreclosed like Sylvia's. Now both houses on either side of us are vacant and up for sale. Fortunately,in our development that is quite unusual. I don't think that more than 10% of the houses are for sale. I'm guessing about 20% are currently rentals. There seems to be stability in our neighborhood as far as I can tell.

It has turned fairly cold. The highs will be around 59 in mid afternoon with lows near freezing at night. The sunshine, though, is bright and cheerful. I really do notice the difference in light here. I went out for a couple of walks just to enjoy the light. We are ready for tomorrow when Cliff and Phil are due to arrive. The weather should be OK for travel. Yesterday there was quite a spell of bad wind. I'm glad that has past. Air travel would have been rough then.

John

This morning, before the wind and rain storm came, I went on an organized hike at Saguaro National Park East. Volunteers lead hikes there twice weekly. I read about the one today and decided I'd give it a try. I wasn't disappointed. About 12 of us participated in the hike led by John. John is a bright, articulate, and knowledgeable volunteer who is pushing 80. He had a wealth of information to share with us as we walked along. I learned an incredible amount about desert flora and fauna and about Saguaro East. John is a retired criptographer who wanted to find something outside to do for a change. He took classes on desert archeology at Pima College, although he didn't take a paying job in that field afterward. He pointed out that there are job opportunities in that field because no new buildings or roads can be constructed now in AZ without being inspected by an archeological firm. There are so many ruins around that laws have been passed. I didn't know that. At any rate, as we walked along on the 3 mile loop, he stopped to point out how different cacti grow, what feeds on them, what happens to them in draught conditions (like now), what animals and insects may live in them, etc. We found pack rat habitats, several kinds of birds' nests, and holes for squirrels. We also found scat (droppings) from bob cats, coyotes, and jack rabbits. John shared all this information with such joy that the 3 hour hike went by fast. We are all glad to know that he leads different hikes in the park each week. I think he's found the secret to joyful retirement--do something you love each week and share it with others. He reminds me of the San Francisco Library sponsored walking tour guides.

The timing for our morning hike was perfect--the winds picked up when I made it home. By sunset the rain had started. It tends to rain hard here when it comes. We can't complain because the area really needs the rain.

Getting Ready

As I said before, we are fairly ready for Christmas already this year. All the presents are accounted for. We are trying to figure out menus and food to have on hand for the weekend when Cliff and Phil are here. Although we have a big Safeway close by, it will be closed on Christmas, so we want to have food figured out ahead of time. Cliff gave some suggestions. We are waiting for Phil to give input.

Our little tree has some presents round it now, thanks to relatives who have sent us things. I hear a few more packages are coming. Surprises are always fun!

Today I went to an ASG neighborhood group meeting--the Eastside Day Group. I'm getting to know the members and have been impressed. They had a great turn out especially considering that Christmas is only a few days away. A sewing teacher gave a detailed lesson on using stabilizers. I think I'd use my embroidery machine (in Bellevue) more if I had the right stabilizers on hand. I've wanted to embroider t-shirts, but have avoided that because the stabilizers are scratchy. This teacher told me about two products to iron on over the stabilizer to solve that problem. Maybe I'll give it a try. I'm getting on the group's e-mail list so I can participate in extra curricular field trips. There is a big expo type event in Phoenix next month, for example, and many people will be carpooling to that. I probably can't attend because we'll be packing to leave here about then. I have the real Expo in Puyallup to look forward to, though, so don't feel too bad about missing the Phoenix one.

Sunday

Today Larry and I enjoyed being ready for Christmas. We have done all of our shopping, sent all the presents we can, and have sent out our Christmas cards. It's nice to be able to just relax and sew (in my case) or watch football (in Larry's case) instead of rushing around frantically getting ready. I finished an apron from fabric leftover from my "Boots All Around" wallhanging and made some potholders with additional scraps. If I continue depleting my quilting fabric supply as much as possible, I may make another apron and some coasters. I'm beginning to think ahead about how to store things when we are gone and our renters are here.

We washed quite a few things today, now that we have soft water. I notice a big difference in our sheets. I'll need a few days to figure out if my skin will itch less. I also went out and picked grapefruits from our tree. Larry decided to check the internet again about grapefruit and Lipitor. Unfortunately, the research is bad for that combination. He isn't supposed to have any grapefruit at all, according to what we read. Although I hate to take out a healthy tree, I sure am tempted to remove the grapefruit tree and put in a lime tree. We'd use the limes a lot more than the grapefruit. I'll let it go awhile. Mid-March is the time to plant citrus trees anyway. If we are here in April, I may go ahead and make the change.

RO

Today a fellow came to install our new water systems. We now have a reverse osmosis filter system for our drinking water. I notice an improvement in taste over the filter we've been using. Our water now tastes as good as bottled water in my opinion. Larry says we should have done a blind tasting like we did for our tequila. Too late! Tomorrow we will get our new water softener hooked up and also a new water heater. We should be all set for water. There is local interest in gray water systems (using waste water for irrigation), but it requires a second set of plumbing and we don't use that much water outside to make that practical. There is also a push for solar water heaters. We decided that the payback would take to long. As a local pointed out, the water here isn't cold to begin with, especially in summer. It doesn't take as much energy to heat it as in WA. Our new energy star gas heater should be an improvement.

Larry and I both went on an organization kick today. It wasn't planned or discussed. He went through our bills and paperwork and set up a system for keeping the paperwork in order. I organized our garage while waiting for the installer to come. I have our tools in order now, all our paints labeled and in one place, and our gardening tools together. We don't have a lot, so it didn't take too long. I just don't want things to get out of hand like what happened to our garage in Bellevue. I enjoyed myself while working--I had a lecture by my favorite music historian to listen to. Work goes by fast when I have something fun to listen to.

31st Anniversary

Today is our 31st wedding anniversary. Larry took the afternoon off to celebrate. To show that I care about him, I took him to a pharmacy to get an H1N1 shot. He survived. We also watched my present to him, The Mikado on DVD with Erik Idle. It's a good production. I played my present from Larry--the digital piano. I still like it. It's fun having a harpsicord and pipe organ at my fingertips. Cliff called to wish us a happy anniversary. We have plans to round out the day by going to Zona 78, a nice Italian restaurant which is just a short walk away. If we hurry, we can make it to happy hour for inexpensive drinks. We don't have to worry about a designated driver either.


Yesterday my college roommate, Cherie, came over for dinner. She lives here in Tucson and works in the field of transportation planning. We had a nice time catching up on events in our lives. Our sons are about the same age and are coping with looking for work and finishing school. She figures she has about 2 more years on the job before she can retire. She is a good source for what is going on about town.

Poor Kitty!

Only in Arizona! The front page of the local paper featured these photos of a bob cat "treed" by another one.

The bobcat looks so harmless! At our neighborhood meeting a couple of weeks ago someone said that bobcats often get into back yards and eat dogs. That isn't just a wild rumor. It happened to a neighbor just a block away from us, but on the perimeter of the development by a wash (dry river bed). I'll be on the look-out for different fauna and flora around here as I walk about.

Domination

This morning it rained. I couldn't decide if I should go run some errands or not. When it's rained here before, it tends to be in a downpour. I was surprised that the rain was gentle this time. It cleared up early in the afternoon, then the sun came out and the temperature was in the mid 60's. Larry and I went on a little excursion to the post office and Target. We are doing pretty well with our Christmas obligations. In past years we have gotten a little tense about presents for friends and family. We both have mellowed out recently, especially since cousin Joanne said it was best just to write checks for presents for most of my relatives. That takes the indecision away about what gift card to get for whom. That is what my mother did when my generation was older. I still enjoy getting real live presents, though. What happens to me more often than I like to admit, is that I'll order something on e-bay, forget about it, then be surprised when the item arrives in the mail. That is almost as good as someone else giving me a surprise.

Tonight Larry's nephew David came over with his girlfriend, Catherine, who is from Seattle. We played their favorite board game, Domination. I'm slowly figuring out the rules. I tend to prefer simpler games with rules that don't change. Games with flexible rules such as the card game Fluxx seem to be popular now with the younger generation. We won't be seeing David and Catherine for some time because of their upcoming travels. I'm glad that we're getting to know Catherine. She and David seem happy together.

Tucson Events

Yesterday I went to a Tucson ASG meeting and was so inspired to go sew something when I got home that I didn't have the energy to blog yesterday. The Tucson group had a holiday luncheon at the Reid Park golf course. The setting was festive and the company a joy. I saw many of the people I met earlier at the neighborhood group meeting. They promised to keep me in the loop about what they are doing. I enjoyed seeing Yolanda, the chapter president again. Their chapter is facing many of the same issues as the Seattle Chapter. They are trying to save money and are faced with a slight decline in enrollment due to the economy. They have some good programs lined up for the coming year--Linda MacPhee is giving a workshop a couple of weeks before Expo, where she is speaking at the ASG banquet. I was pleased to hear that several Tucson ASG members are planning to come and will attend the banquet.

Today, Sunday, Larry and I went to the 4th Ave. Street Fair. It's held twice a year near the UA. It reminded me a lot of the University Street Fair in Seattle (although I haven't been to that one in over 20 years). It was fun to take in the local character. The weather was perfect for walking around. Larry had a good barbecue sandwich. I bought a few things. I noticed that tie dye was popular in several booths. I hope that means it's coming back. I haven't noticed much black and blue colors here, like in San Francisco. I prefer more vibrant colors. I bought a tie dyed rayon dress that was made locally and a t-shirt from the street fair organizers. All in all, it was a pleasant afternoon. I may want to return to 4th Ave. to look in more shops and check out some restaurants.

A Simplified Christmas

This year our Christmas, like Thanksgiving, will be a little simpler. Phil and Cliff are coming. There will be 4 of us, not a larger family gathering like in the years before Tucson. We won't be stressing about snow storms like last year, thank goodness. We have the potential to worry about Phil having some weather issues getting here, though. Decorating for Christmas was a snap. I just brought a few decorations we had on hand in Bellevue and could pack easily. It didn't take long to put them out on display. We will miss seeing the rest of our family and friends at Christmas, but we know we will see them again in early February, so can wait. I did buy a book of Christmas sheet music to help get us in the holiday mood. We are paring down our Christmas card list a little, are sending gift cards and checks for presents, and I'm making a few presents from my fabric stash. That should just about cover Christmas.

Sylvia

My next door neighbor, Sylvia, has to move in a week. Her mortgage was foreclosed and her house sold out from under her. I have been helping her and her family members pack up her household. It's quite an undertaking. By touching some of her possessions and packing them away, I have come to learn more about her remarkable life. She was a talented nurse who enjoyed her job very much until her knee problem forced her into retirement. She still likes to subscribe to nursing magazines and cherishes some of her technical books. She has been devoted to her family and it shows. Her daughter Pam is a gem, who took off work for a week to help her mother pack. Her other relatives in town are going to let her stay at their mobile home that they no longer use very much. She still has family that cares.

That being said, her situation is making me think about my own possessions. Her 3 bedroom 2 bath home is comfortably stuffed with things that help her remember her life. She has wonderful photos of her departed husband and other family members. I wouldn't exactly call her a hoarder, but she definitely does not like throwing out anything that might be useful someday. I get that mentality. But I'm seeing how hard her relatives, especially Pam, are working to help her with the move. I sense their frustration with all of her stuff, and love for her at the same time. How can they give her too bad a time about decluttering when her heart is breaking because of the foreclosure?

I have been in the mood to downsize for a long time, especially since we put our house in Bellevue up for sale. Sylvia's situation makes me want to be extra thorough in decluttering when we do move out of that house. I need to examine why I want to keep certain things and also ask if I would want to burden my family with disposing of what I keep if something happened to me. Someone recommended making DVD's of things around the house that have been important to you, describing the history, then just keep the DVD's. That could work for me. As a side note, my sewing stash(es) will almost take care of themselves. All my survivors would need to do is contact my friends in ASG and have them haul it away! Certain friends know what I have and which members favor my colors and fabric types. I think they'd have fun.

Massage Day

I have started paying attention to at least two days of the week: Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Tuesday is dollar day at the multiplex nearby. Wednesday is my day for a massage at the Cortiva student clinic, which is also fairly close to us. I started going there a couple of years ago. I've been pretty happy with the quality of massages I get there and they give a senior rate. If they need more bodies to work on the next hour after my appointment, they ask me to stay for a second hour. I was lucky today and had a blissful two hours of treatment. I felt like jelly afterward. It's too bad I had to rush home--the supervisor wanted me to stay for a third hour. Maybe next week...

Larry and I had someone come for a consultation on a water treatment system for our house. One of the disadvantages to desert life is the hard water. My skin has been dry and itches. My neighbor said that the hard water here was probably causing my problems. She has been happy with her water softener and purification system for drinking water and recommended the company she does business with. The fellow came to explain how it works. We'll probably go ahead with it. I'll be interested to see if the softer water helps my skin or if the humidity is also contributing. At any rate, I will continue to use a lot of moisturizers.

Cold Tuesday

Winter has hit Arizona. The high was only 60 today. There were many reports on the weather on the local news, though. There was a blizzard at near-by Mt. Lemmon and high winds blew through the area. Some houses were without power. Larry and I were reminded of what happened when we had mild earth quakes in Bellevue. The news would be totally focused on those minor events. We can see snow in the Catalina Mountains when we walk around our neighborhood. It's pretty.

We also felt cold when we went to dollar day at the movies. We saw a fun movie, Pirate Radio, which was set in the North Sea. The movie theater was freezing and the characters acted like they were freezing at the end. Brrrr. We figured that they don't heat the theater on dollar day. We still enjoyed ourselves. Next time we'll bring along our fleece throws and maybe choose a movie set in the tropics!

Pearl Harbor Day

Today is Pearl Harbor Day. This is the first time in many years (at least 10) that we haven't been in Hawaii for Pearl Harbor Day. We didn't go there to commemorate that event--we went there to get sunshine and celebrate our wedding anniversary. We have met several survivors of Pearl Harbor, though, over the years and have done the tour of the USS Arizona Memorial 3 times. We talked with several veterans 8 years ago when there was a big reunion celebration. I remember talking to a woman who worked at the hospital near Pearl and said the bombing was the most devastating experience in her life. She lost many friends and saw some horrible things. I also talked to a fellow who must have been in the USS Oklahoma when the attack started. He said it turned out to be one of the best things that happened to him. He was sleeping below deck after a night out. His ship capsized after being bombed and he was stuck upside down for 2 days. He could hear workers trying to rescue him. I talked to him about how he felt and how he spent the time waiting to be rescued. He thought of his family, of course, and wanted to tell his mother that he loved her. I asked what happened afterward, once he was pulled out. He said that he went on to serve in another theater in the Pacific, then returned home safely. This fellow was one of the most cheerful persons I've met. He was thankful for what he had and for his family and friends. He went on to have a successful career in sales and was still going strong at age 82. Same event, different framing!

I might go on to say that how we frame events influences how we remember them. Why do some people react to trauma so differently than others? Today I discovered that a neighbor here in Tucson is going through a rough time. We just found out that her mortgage was foreclosed and her house was sold, even though she contested the sale. She is about our age, worked as a nurse until her knee bothered her too much, and has been waiting for her knee operation in January. Her daughter took time off work to help her sort through her things and pack. I bumped into the daughter--otherwise I don't know if our neighbor would have let word get out around our street. Her daughter was upset, but our neighbor was remarkably calm. I wonder if she is framing it in a positive light. I'm going to help her pack tomorrow and will be a good listener. I'll miss her!

Borders

I've been working on a quilted wallhanging with cowboy boots and Ohio stars. It's cute! I started it last spring when I was here in Tucson, didn't have my serger along, and had to sew something. This Saturday there is an ASG meeting where people are supposed to bring something they sewed that included a home dec item. I decided that I should finish my wallhanging and put rope from a home dec dept. around the edge. That means I've got to finish it within a few days. The challenge is finding suitable fabric for the border. That isn't so hard. Except I got to thinking about borders and frames and ended up distracting myself around the house. A week or so ago I started repositioning our art prints, which our decorator hung way too high for my tastes. This left holes in the walls. I decided to spackle and patch the holes and paint over the patches. I pulled out all of our touch up paint from our garage. It wasn't labeled. I had to experiment until I figured out what paint went in each room. The light changes so much during the day that it was a challenge in a couple of rooms. I managed to label the paint cans correctly and went to work. However, I looked at the baseboards and saw how scuffed up they were. I found myself repainting all of them. I had to have my beautiful walls and newly hung pictures framed nicely by the baseboards! There went the weekend...The newly painted baseboards look great and make me happy.

I think the quilting/piecing I did reinforced some need I had for precision and order. Quilting is all about being exact--matching points and sewing seams the same width. Plus, I had just watched a Monk marathon on TV and his character is obsessive about order, precision, and cleanliness. On my digital piano, I'm working on a Bach invention with a metronome that requires precision. How much longer is this going to last? Yikes! I predict I'll take a break from precision when I finish my wallhanging. I'll switch to sewing my fleece jacket project that is very forgiving in seaming and is "easy fitting" and I'll leave Bach for Christmas songs, with easy going rhythms. Precision has it's place, but so does flexibility.

Farewell to Monk

Yesterday Larry and I stayed up late saying farewell to the TV show Monk. It has been our favorite, right up there with Seinfeld. For years we have had a routine of watching it together on Friday nights. We even quote Monk to each other. The show has come to an end now. The characters in the show were treated kindly--they found love and happiness as the show ended. People's reactions to the show ending got me thinking about the importance of stories in our lives. We idolize TV and movie stars and enjoy reading about their lives. We often spend more time involved emotionally with imaginary stories than people in our own lives. It can be good to experience various adventures vicariously and learn lessons in life. For example, the movie Schindler's List had a big impact on me when I saw that good can happen even in horrific situations. Think of the movie The Ten Commandments (which was Phil's favorite very briefly when he was a boy). It helped teach him a little about the Bible and the Exodus. Movies and books that are pure trash (I saw The Hangover recently, which is cleaverly crafted trash) also have value if they get you to laugh and forget your troubles for awhile. I suppose all things in moderation is the point I should be making. We shouldn't rely on reading or movies or TV to the extent that we avoid interacting with real people and real situations.

That being said (Seinfeld on Curb Your Enthusiasm did a bit about people who prefaced their comments with "that being said") after Monk was over last night, I visited the websites of a few favorite authors to make sure that they had some new books coming. Elizabeth Peters has a new Amelia Peabody book coming out in March, Dana Stabenow also has a Kate Shugak one in the works, and new Monk novel has just been released. After I found out that my imaginary friends were going to visit me soon, I could go to sleep.

Joy in Ordinary Things

Today I realized that I haven't thought about vacation or travel for a long time. While I was employed, I always had two trips planned in advance. That was so I would always have another vacation to look forward to even when I was on vacation. Here in Tucson I am living without a schedule and with few commitments. Maybe that's why I feel different. I enjoy the present without wishing that I could be other places. I don't even mind working on projects around the house. They are smaller than what I'm used to taking on in Bellevue, so they seem much easier. Today, for example, I decided to do some touch up painting. I found cans of paint in the garage. Unfortunately, the cans were not labeled according to rooms. It's hard to tell what color goes where. I have to test patches, wait for them to dry, then view when the light is at it's brightest. We've been in Tucson for 5 weeks and I always find something that I want to do.

Community Meeting

Tonight Larry and I attended the annual meeting of our home owners' association. It was held in the community center across the road from us. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but wanted to attend to get to know our neighbors and the issues people think are important. It turned out to be a pleasant experience. Most of the people who attended were older than we are. Most people also seemed to know each other, which is a good thing. There seems to be stability in our development. People care about safety, keeping up the landscape, and helping each other. The chairman of the board of directors appeared sharp and knows how to run a meeting. The finances appeared in order. Problems that come up are addressed, such as with landscape maintenance. All-in-all, I left thinking we are lucky to have chosen a house in our development. I like the people here!

Tuesday

Today the sun came out again, but it's been cooler--in the 60's. It's still pleasant weather for walking, though. What I notice most is the brightness of the sun. The quality of light is really different than in WA. Larry has been cold inside the house. He was motivated to clean the furnace filter and reset the thermostat for heating, not cooling. I continue to love being in a smaller house. The maintenance projects all seem to be on a smaller scale and don't overwhelm me like in Bellevue.

I have a new sewing goal. I decided to finish my cowboy boot wallhanging for the local ASG contest at the annual meeting in 10 days. It's really cute. This group of ASG'ers seems to include more quilting than the groups in WA. The requirement is to use something from the home dec department in the project. I can buy some rope or cording to put around the outside of it. I'm about 2/3 of the way done.

Today, being Tuesday, we went to the movies and saw The Invention of Lying. It was cute. I seem to enjoy movies more on dollar day. I'm much more critical when I pay $10 or more to see a movie.