Well, I am NOT painting this weekend!!! Actually, I'm going to have a somewhat bizarre weekend. Due to a long story I won't bore people with here, I ended up with premium tickets to a show downtown. It's a rather girlie show and BF didn't really want to go but it's something his DD7 would enjoy. The glitch is that it's her mother's weekend. Anyway, he said he didn't mind if I asked her - I hummed and hawed for a while and finally I did. I actually called up his X on the phone and asked if DD could come. She thought DD would love it and agreed to let me take her overnight (the show will end late then I have to drive home). So I've got a date with a 7 yo Saturday night and we're going to watch a show downtown!!! It should be a blast!

For those who think it's weird to be talking to a BF or GF's EX, it is but there are mitigating circumstances here. We all knew each other when we were all married. I've known their DD since birth and have been a trusted adult in her life since she was able to speak. BF and his X broke up a year before Wstbx and I. X actually likes me - probably is also somewhat reassured that her DD's father is hanging around me and not some axe-murderer or something. I think BF is a little weirded out about her and I talking to each other when he's not around, but I called her on his encouragement.

Go ahead and bore me!

As they say in literature, the plot thickens. Tonight I am unsure of, there is a B-day party for a friend's wife at The Dog and I would like to put in an appearance there. I made a suggestion to Susan that me meet up for drinks tonight, will know more on that later.

Tomorrow is a very significant, in this are, college football game between arch-rivals (pun intended if you know St. Louis) Mizzou (University of Missouri at Columbia) and Nebraska. My best friend Chris has suggested a boy's night out to watch the game at a sports-bar. Susan has dropped hints about a date but made no firm commitment. Mary, whom I have yet to meet, just texted me asking me out to the new hot bar to watch the football game. Mary is a big fan and has a son that went to college on a football scholarship. I'm not really torn on this one, I have accepted Mary's offer with glee.

The weather is supposed to be absolutely awesome this weekend, lows in the mid to upper-50's and highs in the mid to upper-70's. If things go well, I'll ask Mary to do something sunday.

I have plenty to do around the house and yard as well.

If I don't check in later, I hope that you all have a great weekend and Tabby1, what's the show? Wicked?

Dutch

Ha ha, it truly is a boring story. Bought the tickets for my mom for her birthday and found out she already had a trip booked and would be away. I couldn't exchange them so I had to buy her new ones. I don't generally like going to these - love the shows but hate driving downtown. But it's going to be fun anyway. It's the Sound of Music BTW.

I like "The Sound of Music", crusty old guy that I am!

Strictly out of curiosity, where do you live?

I am about 35-miles WNW of St. Louis.

I'm in southern Ontario - about 350 miles NNE of SL. The show is downtown Toronto. It's actually quite a drive for me and a PIA since it is downtown.

Went to Ladies Breakfast at church. Going to get massage. TTFN!

I picked up a fantastic professional DSLR camera Saturday for $200! The people were selling everything that wasn't nailed down in their house because of making bad life decisions like being a mortgage broker with no back-up plan.

http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd335/R_Tison/Roxy1.jpg

http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd335/R_Tison/PA040014.jpg

http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd335/R_Tison/PA040022.jpg

Anyways, I took Friday off to take GF to the Dr's office as her back has hurt for 3 weeks and she has to go see an Ortho this Wednesday as they think she needs surgery to repair a degenerated disk.

She's pretty miserable for now. I 've been taking care of her the best that I can, but my hearing is limited so I can't hear her the first or so time when she calls me, but we figured out to ring my cell and she can get my attention that way.

Pariah, has your girlfriend seen a chiropractor? Mine is keeping me out of the neurosurgeon's office for 2 herniated discs in my neck. I would think that the orthopaedist would refer her to a neurosurgeon for work on her spine.

(The latest news is that I have a bulging disc and and extruding disc in my low back.)

Hers has degenerated to bone rubbing bone, no chiropractor will even touch her.

We are going Wednesday for her to discuss options, we don't know what will be able to do since she has a brain injury and general anesthetic may not be an option.

She's in alot of pain and has just got her promotion at work, needless to say this is a disappointment to her.

Oooooh! Hm....yeah, that makes things different.

I know about hurting all the time. It's not fun.

I went home Friday night and made a frozen pizza and then went to The Dog for the birthday party and had a great time socializing with many people. It was packed for a Friday night and a lot of interesting stuff went on. I ended up talking to this redhead, I think her name was Kayleah, and we had quite the conversation. We have mutual friends and I’m going to follow-up with my friend about her. I finished talking to her and went behind the bar and dance with Jo Ellen and my friend Eddie made sure he caught my attention and told me that Kayleah had divorced one of his friends and that she was bad news. Interesting. I left around midnight and slept in.

Oh, I had a long chat with friend Danielle. I have this a lot where people just spill their whole life stories to me and it was her turn to do so. She did ask about me and what brought me to St. Paul. She then paid me a most interesting compliment in that she respected how accepted I was by the community.

I was Mr. Domestic both Saturday and Sunday and did a lot of laundry, housecleaning, etc. Mary texted late afternoon that she had some issue with her DD and couldn’t make it and apologized for not being able to make it. I texted Susan inquiring about her availability and she said that she had plans, so I did a rare things and stayed home Saturday, just didn’t feel like going out, so did the usual and watched a movie and went to bed early.

I got up early Sunday and read the papers and then decided it was planting time, so planted 16-plants and cleaned everything up, did a bunch of watering, soaked up some sun, called my brother to send birthday wishes and he said that they were only without power for 2-days after the hurricane. Practically the whole conversation with him involved him complaining about his wife and DDs. My brother is something of a character and I actually credit the women in his life for staying around him! I then talked to Herb and got the latest news on the fire/homicides and the investigation is still going on and the state police are involved which I felt was a good sign. I wandered in late afternoon and finished my movie and then was tired out and decided to take a nap. I forgot that I had left the hose on in front and missed multiple phone calls from multiple neighbors calling me about it. Jim ended up coming over with Tim and C1 to check up on me. The house was open, etc., so I guess they were concerned about me and there I was sawing logs. I thanked Jim, closed the garage door, and went back to sleep!

Not a terribly exciting weekend by my usual standards, but Friday night was great and that alone was enough entertainment for the weekend. I never left the neighborhood Saturday or Sunday and actually thought about buying some more plants after I was done planting Sunday! So it was a pretty cheap weekend as well. I had the usual texts from the usual suspects and enjoyed the awesome weather that we had. That’s about it!

While there are always 3 sides to every story, that kind of intel for a bar-meet is priceless. I'm glad that someone sent the flag up.

Still... Redhead, huh? That would be especially tempting despite your friend's dire warning...

With all the planting you do, do you have any actually yard left? I picture a national forest as your front yard by now Dutch.

I did appreciate Eddie's advice in that regard, but having been through the fire myself, I understand that divorce brings out different things in different people and that it's an impossibility to fully grasp as an outsider the nature, dimension, and dysfunction of someone's relationship.

I'm not interested in marrying her but might be interested in dating her. We seemed to have a pretty good rapport. I have made an inquiry about her with a mutual acquaintance. I know where she works as well and could track her down through that.

That's an example of small-town life to be sure, you meet a woman one moment and get the marriage/divorce report on her the next!

I have yet to date a red-head and she was attractive.

I'll have to snap some photos of the year. I've run out of room in the front to do anything without starting a new bed, so a lot of my efforts this year have been on the backyard and I've been very pleased with my herb-bed in particular, the lavender and rosemary have really taken off in their first season. I mainly planted shrubs and my neighbors call my back-yard Dutch's nursery. To top it off, last year I had mainly oats in the backyard, this year is full of grass due to a bit of fall planning last year and the most incredible grass-growing spring that we've ever had.

booka,



What fire?

Dawn

I'd have to search back to see if I mentioned here. In the context of how it went down last week, probably not.

Here's the latest, start at the Monday September 19th article and work your way up:

Grand Rapids Press

I had a long conversation with Herb on Sunday the 28th, our usual catch-up on each other's news. Herb is one of my dearest friends and a dairy farmer in Western Michigan. His wife is my XW's best friend from HS, and I was very worried to how things would sort out during the divorce and should have had no fears because Herb is one of the most steadfast and trusty people I know and he is my friend first and foremost. His wife and I get along just fine PD (Post Divorce).

Herb called me on Monday the 29th, which was odd to me, and he left a message and I caught up with him later in the day. $ people had died in a house fire. I din't quite put it together at the time, but when I saw the photos of the victims I about fell over. Tyler, the 17-year old, worked at Herb's farm and I had met him multiple times and in fact saw him multiple times this year.
His mother served Herb and I many a beer and lunch in the day at the Wright Tavern.

So this past week I was first very sad about the fire, I knew some things I couldn't talk about and every one of them has come true, and it looks like all 4 were killed prior to the fire. At this point I'm very angry at the people who did this and I strongly suspect that there's more than one. There is no death penalty in Michigan which in the context of this crime seems a shame.

I called Herb yesterday and he caught me up on the news. Wright, where the crimes occurred, is out in the middle of nowhere and probably had never had a murder before ever. They have a fairly close-knit community up there that has been recently rocked by some other tragedies and I feel for those involved.

Often when things are going so well for us they are not for others and we are reminded of just how well our lives are.

I suspect that there will be a big break in the case this week. Here's to justice!

booka, thank you for sharing. My heart goes out to that community and to your friend, I am sure he felt much like a father to that young man!

Dawn

Dawn,

Thanks for caring. These were salt of the earth people and I can't imagine a scenario where they deserved any of this. There is some news about the case posted on the website the I linked to from this morning.

Herb said early last week that he saw Tyler's boots and it only hit him then that Tyler wasn't coming back. He said they had a huge turn-out, biggest ever for that particular church, for the memorial service which I believe was last Friday.

Dutch

No big news on the fire as of late and I'm getting a bit worried. Herb told me Sunday that no one had been to his farm to interview anyone there, which either speaks of incompetence on the part of the investigators and confidence in s suspect(s). There is a post on the website I linked from Tuesday with news for some but I already knew what they were going to say. I'm a bit frustrated at the lack of results and hope that they have things so close that they're just being tight-lipped about it.

But I'll return back to the subject at hand and we'll return to the land of being single and trying to navigate the crazy waters of dating. I have pitched to Mary, who canceled last Saturday, that we meet up for drinks Friday. I'm on the bubble for Saturday, I'm going to a birthday dinner out at McGurk's for neighbor Tim's birthday (mine as well on the 14th) and I'm debating whether I want to bring a date and if so, whom? If things went well with Mary I could ask her, I could also ask Susan, and I could always go as the single-guy and really enjoy myself! I guess it's good to have choices, but it certainly complicates things. I have tentatively scheduled a date with Kris for next Saturday or next Sunday, with my preference for Saturday. I'll have the usual things around the house (I run a tight ship) and we're supposed to have gorgeous weather all weekend, a super-fine October so far. Sunday is a Fall Festival at The Dog plus I have to put in an appearance at work to install a new server.

That's the plans for the moment and who knows what else will turn up!

Booka we can always count on you to have an adventerous and fun filled weekend. As for myself, DS is coming home Saturday and we're going to do an all out blitz on the house. I've set it up with the real estate guy and the sign goes on the lawn on Wed next week so I have to be ready. Sunday my mom is coming for Thanksgiving dinner (naturally it doesn't matter that I'm trying to sell my house it is my obligation to clean, feed and house everyone regardless of my circumstances :RollieEyes: ). Anyway, that still leaves me Monday to clean up THAT particular mess and take some photos for the RE guy.

So, not much fun but at least I'm done painting!!!!

Tabby1,

Good luck with the house for the very obvious reasons. I live in a new subdivision and can remember last year dodging bobcats and cement trucks and this year only a few houses have been built and then close soon on the only two under construction at this point.

It will be a cold winter for a lot of people this year and in the bigger scope of things, I have it pretty good, better than a lot.

I am fortunate that I achieved some sort of momentum in my single life and even when I stay home I'm entertained in some fashion. And after planting 16 plants and shrubs last weekend, I have 2 Russian Sage plants waiting to so into the ground and like them so much for my blue/purple themed bed that I think I'll get a couple more. Plus its clearance time as well and I cleaned-up last year. Plus the weather is utterly awesome here. That and I've been trying to bank-up some sleep all week in preparation for the weekend!