I had pizza today. I feel very naughty for that. Caron is playing classical music in the background (while he studies) and occasionally, when the music gets really intense, he starts singing, "Yo-ho TOW, HO!" It makes me laugh every time. (If you don't understand the music/humor reference, you're going to have a tough time understanding my and Caron's humor. If you do understand the reference, you need no explanation.)

Where was I? Oh, yes, pizza...naughty me. As you know, the perpetual dieting thing is all the rage here in America. Actually, I'm just trying to eat more reasonably, for long-term results as in: fit body, healthy innards (ewwwww, innards!) and happy blood (ewwwww, blood!). Yes, folks, there's just LOADS of maturity here. Can't you just smell the maturity? I sure can.

Caron just said, "If children had a 'Fast Forward' button, I'd consider having kids. Kids need a 'Next Track' button." He visited his friend Nanette recently (a high-school friend who's now married with two little kids). During his visit, the two kids were playing outside in a mud puddle. Nanette made them undress in the kitchen and get hosed down on the back porch before they tracked their muddy selves throughout the house. Apparently, she's been trying to teach them "privacy," as in "close the bathroom door while you're peeing" and "put some pants on and cover up your 'privates'." Well, they weren't feeling very "private" that day and decided to do a naked dance on the back porch. Caron (who's never had children, and probably never will) said it was pretty funny.

I, however, have had a child, and have had much contact with other relatives' and friend's children, and have seen many a youthful, naked dance. And I can attest to the fact that each and every one was, and is, quite funny.

Hey, did I tell you about the time that I climbed up a two-story, outdoor porch structure when I locked myself out of the house? Yeah, it was a bit hairy for a couple of moments there, but I made it. The worst part about it was that I scared the dickens out of my poor son, who was 4 years old at the time. Over the years though, he got accustomed to seeing me do strange things such as that. So by the time that he was 15, and I climbed through a tiny window that was 9-feet off the ground to retrieve his baseball uniform (which was locked inside his father's house, and once again, I was being naughty, I shouldn't have been entering his father's locked house, but that idiot should never have forgotten that his son had a baseball game that day and needed his uniform), Leo just laughed and called me "Spidermom."

Speaking of spider-type people, I just saw Spiderman 2 yesterday. I wasn't too enamored with it, though. As far as the morals/ideas/themes of the story, I thought they were a bit all over the map.

I had this long talk with Caron last night about praying. I told him that when he was praying with his mother and me on Friday night (we were praying for his grandfather who was in the hospital because his pacemaker kept shocking the heck out of him) that I felt this extended surge of energy being drawn out of me, out of the "center" of me. It stopped just before he stopped praying. Then immediately after he stopped praying, his mother said that she felt this huge burden lift from her soul and I thought, "Oh, so that's why that happened." But I didn't say anything at the time. I told him last night that that is a familiar thing for me. I've felt it before when I've prayed with people before. Not every time that I've prayed with other folks, but sometimes. And sometimes, not during prayer, but other times, I feel the energy being replaced.

He's always skeptical of anything "quasi-spiritual" now, because of his screwed up background with the crazy charismatic church. But he knows that I am simply telling him the truth as I know it, and I'm not out to impress him or fool him. He said that that I have a "gift." I didn't really say anything about that, but I'm skeptical of that myself. So if that is my "gift," what am I supposed to do with it?

I've been on vacation recently. Here's the highlights:

Recounting the trip - 2004

First day (Thurs.) -

Drove to South Maryland, south of Washington, D.C.

8 hour drive, stopping frequently for pee breaks

Have three meals during the drive, all fast food

Arrive at 8 pm, have yet another sandwich-type meal

Talk to relatives (boyfriend's brother and sister-in-law)

Second day (Fri.) -

Drive to Washington, D.C. (20 min. drive)

Drove through very questionable neighborhoods, we were the only white folk for miles

Saw teenagers selling water bottles at traffic lights

Lock car doors

See the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (no fee)

See lots of cool dinosaur stuff

See the Hope Diamond

Watch an IMAX 3D-video on bugs (really cool/disgusting close-up video sequence of 70-foot tall praying mantis eating the head off of a 20-foot tall housefly) ($8 tickets)

Eat early dinner in museum cafe

Walk on the National Mall

See the Washington Monument at a small distance, 100 yards

Walk the other way down the mall toward the Capital Building

See some type of gathering of people on the steps of the capital

Don't get any closer to capital building than a 1/2 mile

Go back to car

Drive back to relatives house, see Lincoln and Jefferson memorials from car

See black man washing windows at traffic light leading to interstate

Lock car doors

Watch "Along Came Polly" on DVD (gross, never watching that again), hated it

Third day (Sat.) -

Drive to inner harbor in Baltimore (40 min. drive)

Walk around inner harbor area, very touristy, lots to see, shop and eat

Try to see really cool Aquarium

Line too long (3 hours long), not an option to stay long that day because boyfriend wants to get back to relatives house at fairly early hour to get some studying done

Walk to other side of harbour, go to National Science Museum instead ($18 tickets)

See two planetarium shows (Cassini voyage to Saturn and "The Night Sky in the Northern Hemisphere")

See an IMAX video "The Sacred Planet" that emphasized religions that held the earth sacred (this really impacted boyfriend, who talked about this video on the way home)

Saw a bunch of "kid-focused" science exhibits, not enough real science explanations for me, interesting while at the same time boring

Had dinner at Food Mall, Italian restaurant, pretty good food

Walked around shopping plaza, bought cool T-Shirt for son (Drink Your Beer, There Are Sober Kids in India), bought MD and D.C. refrigerator magnets

Drove back to relatives house, got slightly lost near inner harbour area ("Wait a minute, wait a minute...(arms outstretched in front of boyfriend) I know where I am now, take four!" (arms come together in slapping motion, laughs all around, anxious mood broken))

Have ice cream/cookies upon return to relative's house

Fourth day (Sun.) -

Want this to be a "lazy day"

Go to beach near relative's house

Sit under umbrella to avoid sun

I read book, boyfriend reads text book, relatives read magazines/books

BIIIG black cloud travels over us (this cloud had been sending repeated strikes of lightening down to the ground when it was 3-4 miles away from us)

I get ansy and say, "Time to leave."

All else agree and we pack up

Begins to rain slightly as we are done packing up

We return to relatives house, take showers and go to early dinner at Red Hot & Blues

Have EXCELLENT chicken nachos and BBQ ribs

Return to relative's house, have ice cream/cookies

Watch "The Matrix" DVD (first movie in trilogy), awesome, large-screen TV with surround sound, holy crap!

Fifth day (Mon.) -

Pack up

Say good-bye to relatives

Drive home

Have lots of discussions about trip and boyfriend's state of mind (he was a bit depressed about leaving his brother)

Arrive home to boyfriend's house, have sex (thank God!), from this point on have lots of sex (thank God!)

Go home, do laundry, talk to son

Return to boyfriend's house

Sixth day (Tue.) -

Pack car, drive to parent's townhouse in Warrensburg

Unpack

Breakfast/lunch at Suzie Q's Sunshine Cafe

Drive to Keene Valley

Noonmark Diner for early dinner - Maple Walnut pie (to die for!)

Drive to Lake Placid

See John Brown's farm, have mixed feelings, he wasn't a hero, but they're making him out to be one, he was an activist whose cause was later justified through history, essentially he was just a national terrorist who was hanged for his efforts (no fee)

Visit cemetery on Military Rd., see grave stones of relatives of boyfriend's grandfather, he takes some digital pictures of gravestones

Go to Lake Placid town

Walk main street and stroll through shops

Drove back to townhouse

Boyfriend studied, I spent long time online looking for other things to do in Adirondacks

Seventh day (Thurs.) -

Boyfriend studied

Drive to Inlet (nearly 2 hours away)

Anticipated shopping at several little craft/antique/artisan shops, was disappointed

Walked into candy store, it smelled like fart

Dinner at Casey's North restaurant, had awesome prime rib steak

Drove back to townhouse

Boyfriend studied, I read/screwed around

Eighth day (Fri.) -

Boyfriend studied

Drove to Pottersville (15 min. away)

Natural Stone Bridge and Caves, very interesting, trails and waterfalls, neat rocks ($10 tickets)

Drove to Crown Point (1 hour away, got slightly lost on Rt. 9N)

Had early dessert at Crown Point Bakery (pecan tart, yummy)

Visited Crown Point Historic Site (no parking fee during week), two 1720-1780s French and British forts, went to small museum ($3 tickets), walked around the ruins of the British fort, began to rain, we left

Drove to Vergennes, Vermont (30 min. drive)

Walked main street looked for restaurant for dinner

Eat at The Hungry Bear

Drove back to townhouse

Boyfriend studied, I read/screwed around

Watched "Matrix Reloaded" second movie in the trilogy, problems with the DVD

Ninth day (Sat.) -

Boyfriend studied

Drove to Keene (1 hour), walked through small shops

Drove back toward Keene Valley (15 min.)

Keene Valley Art Show, mostly lame, some interesting stuff, boyfriend smashed head on large door hinge on way into art show, he nearly passed out

Walked through Keene Valley main street, walked through small shops

Noonmark Diner for early dinner - Maple Walnut pie (to die for!)

Drove back to townhouse

Boyfriend studied, I wrote beginning of Crazy Grandma

Tried to watch "Matrix Revolutions" third movie in the trilogy, major problems with first copied DVD, couldn't watch movie

Watched lame-ass TV instead, ended up watching Science Channel documentary on finding/moving freeze-dried Wooly Mammoth

Tenth day (Sun.) -

Breakfast at Suzie Q's

Boyfriend studied, I wrote up trip

Packed

Drove home