Where there's Smoke there's F I R E

My neighbor had been cutting tree branches all day yesterday, which is what he was burning, but last night I guess he cut down some of his big trees completely. I had the windows open at around 7:30pm when I heard a crack and falling tree sound and a thud with a crack. I went outside with Princess to see what was up but it was too dark to see. He had a huge bonfire that night though that got so high he had to hose it down a bit because the ashes were spraying into a nearby tree and falling on his roof. Turns out this morning I see a huge tree fallen onto his wooden fence, totally smashed and he'd built it himself. His poor doggies spent all day tied up to his porch. If I knew them better I'd have offered to let them run around my yard with Princess. She'd have loved the company.

Went to bed around 11, woke up at 7:45am. Chatted with Reina for awhile while I fed Princess and sat with her outside. It smelled like a nice smokey fire all morning, and it was nice, cool and crisp out too. Then I went to the Post Office and to the Grocery store. My last shopping trip was $65 a little more than the $50 I budget per week but it lasted 11 days. This trip was $75 and I'm so pissed I forgot my coupons :/ Hopefully it'll last as long or longer.

Downloaded some music from my very very long list. I wanted 1 or 2 songs per album but had to download the whole thing. Things like Lady Gaga - Paparazzi (stuck in my head right now, especially after watching the video OMG ERIC) Rob Thomas – Diamonds, Kristinia DeBarge – Goodbye, Kelly Clarkson – I do not hookup & Already Gone (also stuck in head), Jordin Sparks – Battlefield, Keri Hilson – Knock you down, The Fray – Never Say Never.. Nice to have some new music finally, I've been playing it all day when I'm not watching a show.

Watched some Law & Order: Criminal Intent, these last few episodes have been better. The finale was pretty darn good. I'm really starting to like & hate Jeff Goldblum in it. His character is so odd, I can't really relate to him, but he's funny so it sort of saves him from outright hatred.

Made Lunch: Ham, Pepperoni, Cheese, Lettuce and Mustard
80 - 2 Slices of Bread
25 - 1 Slice of Cheese
75 - 3 Slices of Pepperoni
70 - 6 Thin Slices of Honey Ham
5 - Dollop of Spicy Brown Mustard
5 - Few bits of Lettuce
----
260

Started looking at Tub & Shower styles. Mom wants to replace the tub, shower and tiles in both bathrooms to prepare for selling. Maybe the cabinets and sinks too, with some paint. It'll look nice :) Gotta get measurements then really narrow down the options and call in a guy my dad knows who installed the windows.

Took Princess for her walk, a little girl was following us on her bike a ways. We stopped so Princess could sniff it. Again same route as yesterday so .8 mile.

Got the beads in for the necklace mom commissioned, I had parts of it done so I put most of it together but I need to make a few more of the clover links. Maybe tomorrow, don't want to push my thumb too much. It already looks so elegant, I think she'll love it, I do!

Dinner is Lean Cuisine Swedish Meatballs, 300 calories. The microwave instructions are hard if you don't know how to set your microwave at half power, like me. Hand-me-down's don't come with instructions. Still it's got a good gravy and the meatballs are a nice change from mostly veggie stuff.

I was outside watching Princess play while on the phone with AR when Princess dashed to the fence and stood statue still staring at something. I walked over and the neighbors outdoor cat was laying there staring back at Princess. They did that for about 10 minutes then I grabbed onto Princess' collar and tried to shoo the cat away, it just slinked into the bushes. Princess stood there staring and sniffing for awhile longer then kept trying to crawl into the bushes. I walked over again and held Princess and the cat dashed under the barn. After 20 minutes though I decided that Princess wasn't going to go to the bathroom as long as the cat was there so I brought her inside. I hope the cat doesn't make trespassing a habit! Princess doesn't growl or seem aggressive at all, just really really curious and stiff but when the cat runs, she chases.

The neighbor behind my house, K, has a gorgeous wolf-dog and he was walking her around the block so I waved. Then he came by again with his retriever so I walked over and said hi, and he came down to the fence so I could pet him. The wolf-dog is a girl and she and Princess probably wouldn't get a long, but she happily sniffed at the retriever through the fence. K told me some disappointing news for wolf-dog lovers in California though, they've apparently decided to ban them and if a county worker says your dog is a wolf-dog (wolf looking dogs like Husky, Malamute, Akita are especially vulnerable) you either have to give it up or spend $3000 to get a DNA test to prove it's not. Breed banning is so stupid :( Ban bad OWNERS and get tough on puppy mills and abusers!!

Watched a few episodes of Blood+, I'd never heard of it at all so I didn't know what it was about but I like it. The first few episodes are cheerful & gruesome. I'll probably watch up to episode 10 tonight and then try to get some sleep. Good luck, self.