Been hauling dirt over to my new garden space, in fact if you want to get technical about it, I am hauling shit. Good shit, though. One more session and I will be ready to put a number of root-bound, dying veggies in the nice warm sh–I mean, dirt. I wonder how long it will be before all the aphids and cabbage worms realize their meal tickets have moved down the street?

Also been looking for a job–sort of. Officially, I am not supposed to be on the market until fall of next year when the girls start school and I have a little bit of that thing called TIME, but you know, since I’ve taken over paying the bills, and seeing a lot of little red numbers in Quicken, well let’s just say it’s been motivating.

Me: I don’t suppose you have any openings over there? (pointing to the pathetically small little “tech repair” corner of a local Staples)
Cute Manager of Staples: Eh, no, sorry.
Me: I see.
Cute Manager: All the students that usually leave for the summer didn’t. We don’t really have any openings for anything, actually.
Me: So it’s pretty much a case of unless someone dies…
Cute Manager: (Laughing) Yeah, pretty much.
Me: Well. Here’s my card (after much furious digging in the black hole that is my purse)…do call me if someone dies.
Cute Manager: I’ll do that.

Speaking of dying, the last person I expect to ever get a phone call from is my grandfather, because he can’t hear a single word I say. But he called tonight to inform me that one of my two aunts died. It was very unexpected. Breast cancer. Apparently, she only found out herself maybe a week ago, and died last night. Opinion is divided about whether she was too poor or too stubborn to visit doctors, but it’s hard to know since she essentially cut off 99% of all contact with the family about 20 years ago for unknown reasons. My other aunt gets regular exams and nabbed her own case of breast cancer early. She’s fine. Grandmother had it also, but eventually died of a different cancer. My father, the eldest, died of oat cell cancer at 50.

I could name half a dozen other people on my dad’s side of the family that were felled by cancer and I gotta say, it’s a little disconcerting feeling like I’m walking around with a target on my back. At least from that side of the family.

The other thing that’s been keeping me busy…a new project:

The husband says it’s just an excuse to be even more obsessed with Colbert. Who, me?