The last two days have been phenomenally slow. No new projects and no calls coming in at all, except for the occasional news item from monster. Went to yoga last night with the boy next door, whose car isn't running at all now and had a good workout.

Going to class tonight.

Meanwhile, monster is planning the trip to NYC and NewHaven to move Daniel to his new job in the Big City.

A pretty good day.

I spent the first half of the day picking Joy up and taking her to pick up her truck from one shop and drop it off with another mechanic. Afterwards she bought me lunch and tried to buy gas. I told her the lunch, as well as the breakfast she made for me before we left her house, was an equal trade for the gasoline I used. It's good be able to help friends - makes me feel useful.

John was able to pick up my new computer for me before he went into work today, so getting acquainted with it is how I plan to spend this evening and most of this week.

You are one of the few out there whose wings are
truly ANGELIC. Selfless, powerful, and
divine, you are one blessed with a certain
cosmic grace. You are unequalled in
peacefulness, love, and beauty. As a Being of
Light your wings are massive and a soft white
or silver. Countless feathers grace them and
radiate the light within you for all the world
to see. You are a defender, protector, and
caretaker. Comforter of the weak and forgiver
of the wrong, chances are you are taken
advantage of once in awhile, maybe quite often.
But your innocence and wisdom sees the good in
everyone and so this mistreatment does not make
you colder. Merciful to the extreme, you will
try to help misguided souls find themselves and
peace. However not all Angelics allow
themselves to be gotten the better of - the
Seraphim for example will be driven to fighting
for the sake of Justice and protection of those
less powerful. Congratulations - and don't ever
change - the world needs more people like you.


*~*~*Claim Your Wings - Pics and Long Answers*~*~*
brought to you by Quizilla

All I seem to do lately is spend money without making any. Saturday, my afternoon was spent in the customer lounge at Toyota waiting to find out why my check engine light was still coming on after two previous visits on the same thing. I leave with the light off and it comes back on the following morning when I start the car. $450 dollars later, I have my car again. So far, I'm spent over $750 on what is probably a very minor problem. I think if it comes on again, a wide piece of black electrical tape over the light will be my fix.

What started out as a lousy first week of the year is now growing into a bad month. Today my new boss of one week (actually half a week if you count the days I was out at the funeral home and the cemetery) says he's disappointed with my inability to catch on fast enough at work - but wait: he's not firing me... yet. He wants me to come in on a flat salary of much less than what my living expenses are now - a fraction of what I was hired for. And he wants me to take on more responsibilities. Like running the shop for a month when he's out of the country for a family visit.

My parents are in Houston all this week for my father's cancer treatments.

My car's check engine light is staying on constantly. This means eventually taking it in for even more expense that they can't guarantee will solve the mystery. I thought this was all computerized to the point there being no guess work. ehh.... I just hope I'm not being intentionally taken advantage of.

We buried my grandmother Thursday at West End Cemetary. A very small ceremony with just immediate family - my parents, my brother's family, and myself as well one friend of my brother's who played a couple of hymns and spoke a few words over her grave. The hardest part was for my father. It was his mother and only relative we were burying. Despite the surrounding area being rough and downtrodden, the cemetary park was very well kept and beautiful. Forty years ago it was the one of the most desirable memorial parks in Atlanta. There is an older section that has marble markers and a few stone sculptures and beautiful ancient oak trees mixed with the magnolias. Jessie and Rufus Hardy are in their final resting place side by side now.

Not a good day.
This is my first week at a new job. I am trying to learn my way around a new office while dealing with the family business of death.
Tomorrow is the visitation hours (wake) for my grandmother and the family wants me there. I have nothing to wear and no time to shop for anything proper. I will have to tell my new boss, just two days into my job there, that I need to take most of Thursday off and I need to get out of there as early as possible tomorrow to make it to the funeral home.

I came by my old work place tonight to handle just a few odds and ends before finally going home. I already miss Debbie and Burton terribly but I can't afford to work there any more. Partime maybe if I can balance it with a full time job that pays a liveable income but not full-time as my sole livelyhood.

I really must start buying lotto tickets to at least have self-justification of fantasizing keeping my fun job just because I don't need the money.

My grandmother Hardy (my father's mother) passed on from this life yesterday.


Both of my parents have been taking turns sitting with her at the hospital. My father could only be with her part of the time. She and my mother always had an intense dislike of eachother, to say the least. I was talking to Monster yesterday morning, about how ironic it would be if she died in my mother's arms. As things happened, my father had to go home to prepare to fly out to Texas today and my mother was at her bedside. Mom took five minutes - maybe less - to walk down the hall for a soda or break and when she got back they told her Mrs. Hardy was dead. Mom turned her head for a few minutes and my grandmother slipped out when she wasn't looking. That, to me, seems just like her.

Today my grandmother in the hospital in Smyrna, with her body shutting down apparently from a stroke, according to her doctors. Dad still must make his trip to Houston tomorrow for his treatment at the Anderson Cancer Center. She's expected to make it at least two more days, which should give him time to return to Atlanta to handle the family arrangements when she passes on. No one is expecting a turnaround really and, at nearly 97 years of age, she seems beyond ready to leave if she's allowed to.


Personally, it's not death I fear at all but ending up in this world well beyond when life as I know it has ceased.

Today's weather: Milky White Skies and Soupy Air.


I went to see Big Fish with Monster today. Great movie. Tearfully quite appropriate for the two of us and our families these days. Beautiful imagery without being too sweet.


Tomorrow I start my new job and I'm quite anxious tonight. I'll have no real lunch break at the new place but I've been promised that I'll be out of there by 5 PM most days. My plan tomorrow is, rather than trying to bring a desk-lunch, I'll eat a good breakfast and bring some juice with me for the day.

Happy New Year

It's been a pretty good New Years holiday so far. As we toasted the coming year at midnight around the fire at Joy & Cam's house, I felt like this year will be much better than last. All of us have had a horrible 2003 and we're all quite ready to put all that behind us and look forward to the future now.

Monster and I went to my parent's house together on New Year's Day for the tradtional blackeyed peas and greens dinner. Late in the afternoon I went to Aud and Nick's place spent the rest of the evening with them and Sandy and a couple of neighbors with an appearance by Chaz celebrating Aud's birthday.