Peace and quiet...ahhhh

Eureka!!  No jack hammering and no bulldozing noise.  I finally figured out where it was coming from after pining on my PI badge.  My neighbors a few houses down are remodeling their back yard and putting in a new pool.  The surface of the one they put in ten years ago was cracking, so that's been all the jack hammering.  Oy, vey.  And here I thought pool's were supposed to last longer than that.  Silly me.  Ours lasted forever before our old house was torn town.  I think they probably had to blow that baby out of the ground.

Coffee with my buds yesterday was the absolute best.  Two hours of gab, biscotti, cookies, and coffee in front of a fire.  The fire part was almost a problem when the smoke came seeping out the front of the fireplace... and, yes, the damper was open.  I think it was the position of the logs and our ohhhh, so elderly fireplace.  I poked and prodded a little and voila'--up the chimney it flew.  I must mention that a certain fat black girl enjoyed herself enormously and managed to almost snag Adre's biscotti out of her lap, while acting all friendly and welcoming.  Never trust Sis.  It's always about the food and never about being glad to see you.  Sad but true.  Sis even stole  Betsy's chair when she got up to take a phone call.  By the time Betsy returned, Sis was almost asleep, all snuggled in Betsy's spot.  Like I said, never.. trust.. Sis.

I want to give a shout out to Nicole, mother of the smalls, who has the shingles.  Luckily, for her, this is the kind that is not painful--just something you'd rather not deal with.  Here I am a nurse and I didn't know there was a type of shingles that didn't hurt.  Glad to know that.  If you've never had shingles (the painful kind), you don't want that kind either.  Hugs to you, Nic! 

Fred and Brian may make a quick trip to the Ranch in West Texas this weekend.  They haven't decided yet.  Those two crack me up.  You'd think they were trying to decide whether to fire Scud missiles.  They will not decide until about an hour before they leave.  That's just how they roll.
Lastly, today is Friday the 13th.  Don't step on any cracks, walk under any ladders, and avoid black cats.  Not that I buy all that....I'm just sayin'.