Day 3 and so far so good

It's so early to be patting myself on the back, but so far I've managed to keep my middle finger in it's holster whilst driving to and from work. We'll see how long that lasts. I predict till tomorrow. lol Of course I haven't stopped running my mouth, out loud in the car, swearing like a stevedore about the morons who cannot drive, but at least I haven't been flipping people off. Yet. Give it time.

Which reminds me, I've been seeing a commercial for a new car that has voice activated controls. You can say, "Play artist Grateful Dead" or "Call home" and the car will do it. OK, I do not need my car responding to verbal commands. I didn't even watch "Knight Rider". But Brian and I were in hysterics last night b/c we saw the commercial and I said, "The way I talk to myself, the last thing I need is a car that responds to what I say!" Then Brian started saying, "Yeah, you yell out 'you stupid fucking asshole' and the windshield wipers fly off, windows start going up and down, antifreeze is spurting out of the hood, doors are opening and closing, smoke's pouring out of the radio..." Oh well, guess you had to be there. But we were laughing.

I had a dentist appointment today....I need a goddamn filling in one of my molars. There's no cavity, but he wants to nip it in the bud and seal it before it becomes a cavity. And I was gently chastised for not going to see the periodontist to whom I was referred for a receding gum on one tooth. This recession has looked exactly the same since high school....it hasn't changed one bit. My childhood dentist pointed it out and told me to always keep an eye on it. But as I've mentioned before, my dentist is really into being a dentist to the point of practically stalking you till you make an appointment, so of course he wants me to go ASAP. Nevermind the fact that my teeth are rock solid thanks to the well water I grew up drinking, nevermind the fact that I've only had 2 fillings in my entire life....I swear no matter how religious you are about dentifrice, it's never good enough for Dr. Rhodes! So the filling will be done on St. Patricks Day. I guess I better call the periodontist before he has a freakin coronary too.


On the way home, I stopped at the gym and made an appt. w/ a personal trainer for Tuesday at 5 pm. Thankfully, the young lady who made the appt. is also the person with whom I will be working and she seems like a nice girl. I took Pepper for a walk on New Years Day and my foot, although a bit painful, was pretty good overall, so I think I'll be able to work out w/o too much trouble.

I was a bit crestfallen when I attempted to make reservations at The Anchorage Cottages in Long Beach for President's Day weekend, because they are totally full. We stayed there in 2005 and it was such a cozy place, so I was disappointed. I started to look around and ended up finding this place http://www.discoverycoastonline.com/ (can anyone tell me how to do a hyperlink?) instead. I love their play on words, "Where Lewis & Clark Schlepped". hahaha Get it? Instead of "slept" they put "schlepped"? If only L&C could see the fun filled vacation resort that southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon have become. A far cry from that miserable, wind swept, cold, wet winter they spent on the banks of the Columbia River in 1807'ish.


Discovery Coast Cottage Inn is right in downtown Long Beach, unlike the Anchorage. I'm sure it's noisy in the summertime, being right on the main drag, but this time of year it'll be dead. I was able to book the super delux "Atlantis" cottage which has a full kitchen, 2 bedrooms, a private covered back porch, fireplace, cable TV w/ VCR/DVD, WiFi, in-suite massages if you want, AND A PRIVATE HOT TUB!!! Could I be more stoked? It's also pet-friendly, as most Washington lodging is, so Pepper can come along. And how much cashola is this super delux cottage? A steal at $129 a night ($119 for us plus $10 for Da Beandog). Don't care how bad the weather is either. That's what Gore-Tex & boots are for.

Now, my next goal for this weekend, after I get back from doing errands at the hell that is Costco on South Hill, Puyallup, is to attack that "way back room". It's so bad right now that I took photos of it, to do a before and after thing. It'll still be cluttered with bric-a-brac when I'm done and all....I mean, that will never change. We have a million knick-knacks, what can I say?! But at least it'll be dusted and tidy. I can finally use that sticky stuff that adheres breakables to shelves, which is something you have to think about living in earthquake country. I'll get some large storage tubs and put the scrapbooks in it and move those to the garage for now, and I need to get plastic cases for all of the autographed baseballs too.

It's only January 3 and I'm already sick and tired of hearing about the Iowa caucus and politics. It's only gonna get worse between now and November. Thank god for the mute button.

So, I think I've gotten the first 3 days of the year off to a good start. Keeping it up for the next 11 months? Well, one day at a time, eh?