I wrote some stuff out this week with my very own hand, and I figured I'd get it up here, but I never did. Other things got in the way. Seems this is a terrible week for many in our family. Our problems aren't near those of everyone else. Always a good thing. But it's not so good that others are having their problems.

When last here, I had cats scheduled to go to the vet, a pipe to fix, and a car battery to buy. Now, I still have cats scheduled to go to the vet and a pipe to fix. We delayed both of those, because we are next to broke from all the other stuff we got and did. That will happen when you buy an armoire, a chest of drawers, and a nightstand for your daughter. It also happens when you take your dog to the vet and decide to go ahead with the heartworm testing and medicine after feeling very very guilty over the summer when your dog ate feral cat poop, and you thought she might have worms which could have been prevented had you been giving her the heartworm medicine already. Even if she didn't ever get worms, the guilt is enough to make you spend the extra $70 at the vet that you probably shouldn't have spent right then after spending your whole paycheck on furniture. Better to not have to worry about worms than to have a broken pipe fixed. A girl has to have priorities.

It is an outside pipe that doesn't do anything but run to the only hose on the outside of the house, which we won't be using until, oh, May? I found the shut-off after all, so it's not like it's urgent anymore. In fact, maybe I could fix it myself, though we all know how that goes. It's been two years since I broke the tile out of the dining room table intending to redo it.

Speaking of tile, that was another expense. I spent $80 on tiling and supplies. No wonder we're poor! Now I'm trying to decide how I want to arrange the tile. Nothing is appealing to me. I think I had my heart set on the other tile that just isn't going to work out, so I'm not liking anything I do with this new stupid tile. I've been taking pictures of all the arrangements I do to lay them out side by side and choose what I like best. John confuses matters by liking arrangements I don't think are so wonderful. I thought I might confuse matters more by asking opinions here if I'm feeling ambitious. I've been so lazy and not posting pictures at all for ages. It's that whole one-at-a-time uploading process Diaryland uses that bugs and deters me.

We did finally go get a truck battery today after having it die completely Thursday night. That meant I had to ride the bus for the second time this week. It also meant that I ended up working late and missing the bus that would have taken me close to our house, so I had to get on another bus and walk two miles to get home. I certainly needed the walk, but I wasn't wearing very good shoes for walking that far, and it meant I didn't get home until after both kids were home from school, and I always feel guilty about that. That shouldn't happen anymore now that we have a shiny new battery in the truck.

It was on our ride to get the battery that we heard about the Space Shuttle. My stomach sunk. John pointed out that plane crashes are much more tragic in terms of lives lost, and I don't get so upset about those. I still get upset. All such things make me sad. Accidents in the space program are rare though, so it hits in those tender areas that aren't toughened up by repetition like plane disasters.

We went to do all the birthday present shopping I couldn't do earlier in the week after the battery was replaced. More money flying out the wallet. I was glad I had the sense to reschedule the cats' vet appointments, else we would have been subsisting on macaroni and cheese for the next week.

I can't think anymore as John is hovering over me waiting to use the computer. That is why I rarely update on weekends. He hogs the computer or waits to hog the computer. I become so annoyed that I can't think of anything but lodging my shoe in his ass. I have presents to wrap anyway and another book to read.

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