Thursday Night Update

The pouring rain of early this morning gave way to blue, sunny skies and it warmed up to over 80 degrees. Which is a 'cold snap' here for this part of the year.

The cats were happy... by this afternoon, the screen-porch was warm enough for ShadowBaby and the backyard grass was dry enough for Rusty and AngelBoy. Rusty just plopped himself down in a sunny spot. AngelBoy caught a baby frog for me. Before I get eMails from frog-lovers, AngelBoy never hurts the frogs-- he just catches them in his mouth and sits there till he sees me, then opens his mouth so the frog can pop out. I swear, I think that little cat just likes to hear me say "Yuck, AngelBoy, that is so gross."

The contractor for the bathroom work told me that he will be here tomorrow morning between 9:00 - 10:00. He was pretty definite about that, and he was here on time for the estimate the other day, so I'm not doubting his word. I've emptied out the closet that backs up against the shower that needs the work, so that's all ready. I think I'm handling this pretty well, considering they have to remove half a wall to get to the plumbing for the shower. When all of that is done, they will install a little 'trap-door' in that closet so they can get to the fixtures easily if there is ever another such problem. Why that wasn't done when the house was built is beyond me, considering how much thought went into the rest of this house.

I spent a couple of hours driving around to a few stores this afternoon, in search of just two more things I needed to complete the placecard gifts for Christmas dinner. That is so typical of me-- I'm not able to fix the problem with the shower, so I have to concentrate on fixing something I'm good at. And I am very good at setting a beautiful table for a holiday dinner. Today is the 14th of October, and I have the design for our Christmas table in my mind's eye. All is right with my little corner of the world. Except for the corner where the master bathroom shower sits, that is.

This weekend at Reliant Center in downtown Houston, there is a three-day International Jewelry Show. I had planned to go there tomorrow, along with my friends A and K. Because of this plumbing problem, I had to cancel. Instead of looking at jewelry tomorrow morning, I'll be looking at the inside of the wall between the master shower and my husband's closet. No comparison. Not even close. And the work to be done on that shower will be more than I would've spent at the jewelry show.

So that's been the day. Tomorrow and Saturday, while the contractor and plumber do the work on the shower, I will be wrapping up Christmas gifts for our friends who will be here for dinner on Christmas Day. I look for gifts all year long and put them into shopping bags in one of my storage closets. I always tell my husband that if I should get hit by a truck, he needs to make sure that everyone gets the goodies that are in those shopping bags. And I've made it easy for him-- every shopping bag has someone's name on it.

When my husband sees me adding a gift to one of those holiday bags, he asks me: "Which millennium are you shopping for now?" I tell him that he can laugh all he wants, but I've never had to rush around between Thanksgiving and December 24th in a mindless search for Christmas gifts.

Anyway... that's about the story for tonight. It's almost time for The Apprentice. Which means it's time for me to let the cats out on the screen-porch so I can watch that show in peace.