The good news is that it only really rained a little bit. It didn't affect my mid-day fresh-air breaks at all, and though it poured in the middle of Saturday, I was for the most part in the car during the worst of it. I really shouldn't complain, except for the sensationalism of it in the news. Or should I say "news". It's really unfortunate that we don't have some crazy mad-scientist/weather-chaser-family-man here who staged a missing child scenario as a means to extend his 15 minutes of fame to detract from the fact that nothing much is going on around here. I mean besides the murders, break-ins, car-jacking and lottery parlour hold ups, apparently the only thing newsworthy is the fact that it MIGHT rain. In Portland. Like it has for ever. And ever. That's just not news.

We had a bye week, so I experienced a relatively stress-free Saturday, as much as everyone else in the Winco would have liked to have made that not possible (Is it paranoid to think everyone is out to get me? Or is that just me being realistic?). I guess a relatively stress-free Saturday is in order, because today starts my "Mom week" and, though I know we (meaning the four of us... well, 3 1/2) all have to do our part, it still doesn't make me any happier. I can barely have one civil conversation with the woman, let alone four or five. I know some of you (most of you) out there must think I am a horrible person for this but trust me when I tell you you don't know the whole story, and anyway, not everyone is going to like their parent. For what it's worth, Barbie told me yesterday that her week wasn't that bad. She said she kept the conversations limited to basic, light topics, like abortion, the war in Iraq, and national healthcare reform. So long as she kept away from topics like family, the past, and nurturing relationships, it was fine. I'll have to keep that in mind.

We go back to eastern Oregon in a couple of weeks, Barbie and I, so that will be fun. We had to postpone our last trip at the last minute, and now I'm convinced there will be snow and ice over Cabbage Hill, though Barbie alleges it will be fine. She says nothing happens til after Thanksgiving, and I say things have been changing weather-wise around here. So how does the weather that kept me trapped in my home for four days last December know to not ice up I-84 prior to the end of November? It doesn't. We'll see. And you'll read about it.

Right now I am putting off the inevitable. Seriously I have let this whole cleaning thing go far too long and something needs to be done about it. TODAY. I have a 10:45 wax appointment and then I'm thinking maybe I'll go over to the mother's and borrow her way-better-than-mine vacuum cleaner. That way I can bring it back later and start this whole sham of a week.

All right, you're caught up. I'm pretty much a lot like the city I live in - news-less. But at least I am not sensationlizing things.