The day is quiet. I�m thinking I might be able to squeeze in an entry while no one is looking. We�ll see how it goes.

It seems like nothing much is going on in my life, but when I look at my calendar, I see lots of writing. Many events coming up that require I bring paper and scissors and glue. I�m having dinner tonight with an old friend that I rarely make time to see. Grandma is (more than likely) coming home from the �home� this weekend, which will require much hand-holding in the first few weeks. There�s the Superbowl this weekend, which doesn�t require me to leave the house, but it does mean that Hubband is off to a party downriver. Hopefully, all this activity will combat the blues that hound me this time of year. We shall see.

I saw �Hotel*Rwanda� this weekend. I had plans to go alone, knowing it was a political drama that would require my actually being able to pay attention. Nana was feeling especially needy, however, and invited herself along. Then, when we got to the theatre, a couple of biddies happened into the seat next to me and proceeded to talk through the entire movie! When I asked them to please be quiet, I was told to �mind [my] own damned business�. Nice. The movie was very good and Don Cheadle was his usual outstanding self. I was surprised by the number of well-known supporting actors that I hadn�t been aware of previously. I�ll probably rent it again some time in the future so I can get the full gist of the politics in case I missed something. (Don�t even get me started on what horrible acts are committed while we stand and watch. If you don�t get the meaning of �Land of the Free� after watching this, you never will.)

The viewing of this movie makes me only short �The*Aviator� in terms of movies I need to see before Oscar night. I might be skipping it. Not a big DiCaprio fan. Not a huge Scorsese (sp) fan either. (Although I respect his work, Martin�s movies are always too long. They make better rentals.) I have a month, though, and might just want to make it an educated viewing.

We had a �Ground*Hog*Day� party this weekend. The Hubband is freakish for the big rodents. We had friends over to view the movie, then the video of our trip to where the movie was filmed. There were decorations and chili made with sausage (ground hog � ahem). It was fun and I was kind of glad it was a small group.

Taxes were done last night. We�re getting a good buttload of money back due to my cutting my income in half over the last two years. I think we bumped ourselves back more than one tax bracket. It also helped our refund to have the huge property tax increase, even as it crippled our monthly budget. I know you�re shaking your head, wondering why we loan the government our money for the year at 0%, but the truth is we suck at saving money and this is the only way we can guarantee ourselves a windfall. I�m working on creating our own cushion this year. So far, I�m sticking to my plan of putting away x amount each payday (the Hubband�s, not mine, because x amount is almost my total check!). I want this to be our trip money, so that when I want to go to scrap camp or we want to take an anniversary trip, the money will be there. The tax refund, however, will be going directly to our creditors in an effort to stop the monthly bloodletting and get us back on a more comfortable track. I have high hopes.

I am loving the pace here at work this week. I�ve finally had a chance to catch up and the feeling of calm is allowing me to be a kinder, gentler, Caribou with the customers. Today, I�ve been called a �gem� and invited to lunch. I do not miss the pressure cooker environment, but I feel more equipped to handle it if it should come about. Putting in an hour of off-the-clock last week was a good choice.

I forced myself to spend some time in the craft room this weekend. I made a few little folding books and a scrapbook. The scrapbook is a pain because I can�t find my Dremel* recharger to drill the holes. Big Boy let me use his, but the thing is so much faster that it actually set the paper on fire! (Now my craft room has a nice smokey smell!) His drill bit was also too small � and I broke it on the first hole � so the ribbon I want to use won�t fit through the holes for the Japanese binding. Grrr. The little books turned out nice, though, and I sent one off to a friend in Arizona whose birthday I forgot last week. The other one is on the video cabinet. It opens to say, �Bring on Spring�, which is my mantra these days.

I�m feeling the wanderlust lately. I desire to go somewhere warmer, or at the very least, more interesting. The bank account, however, is not big enough, yet.

I should wrap this up. Not that work is that busy, but you must have stopped reading this a paragraph or two back. I can hear you snoring. Roll Over! Jeez.