That great big glass building in the upper left, in case you didn’t know, is the Prudential or “Pru” Tower. The very top is a restaurant with a revolving floor that allows diners to look out in every direction. The view is downright astonishing. I only go up there a few times a year, and not on my own - only for business functions. The prices are pretty astonishing, too.  I DO, however, drive through the “Pru Tunnel” every day coming into and leaving Boston. Imagine all those floors on top of where I’m driving! That’s why I have accidental life insurance along with my regular insurance. If it all comes tumbling down some day, might as well leave my kids well-off, eh? Oh, and DH, too, of course. Anyway, once I’ve exited the tunnel, my building is about three minutes down one street and up another. I manage to avoid most of the Boston traffic tangles, actually. And free parking, so I can’t <really> complain. I know a lot of folks who are paying astronomical parking fees to come into Boston to work every day. I have no idea why I felt compelled to share this with you - after all, it’s not like it’s anything terribly interesting, but I WAS thinking about where I spend my life, who I spend it with, etc., etc., and realized that my surroundings - at least at work - are (sort of) interesting in a maybe uninteresting sort of way. (LOL!) Okay, this is admittedly rather self-indulgent and probably of no interest to anyone but myself. But that’s okay. I know you-all will humor me, right? Omigawd! A couple of years ago, I was Ooohing and ahhhhing over the prices of real estate down in the Charlotte, NC area. DH and I had discussed buying a good-sized house down there - 4 or so bedrooms and 3 or so baths, two car garage, etc. - because they could be had for as little as $150,000. We were talking about having it to retire to, and in the meantime for us - and the kids - to use as a vacation home. I can tell you that comparable properties in the Boston area were costing a million dollars and up - and 40 miles west, in the Worcester area, comparable houses were selling in the $700,000+ range. So, I mean, the North Carolina prices were crazy low back then. We ended up not doing it - there just never seemed to be a right time to get down there and look at properties, and then, of course, as most of you know, DH got fired from his job and we downsized considerably here on the home front. But, good grief! I recently was reading an AOL article about the real estate downturn and just out of curiosity, thought I’d check in on the Charlotte market. These SAME houses that were going for $150,000 a few years back are now listed in the $75,000 range! I mean, how crazy is this? Now you know that there will eventually be an upturn, so buying now could end up being an incredible investment over the long term. We like Charlotte because they have quite an up and coming art community, and it’s only an hour’s drive from my sister in Hendersonville. There USED to be $99 round trip airfare specials from Boston to Charlotte three or four times a year, too, so we were thinking (back when we were talking about buying a place) that it would be nothing to just pay for the kids and their families to fly in for a visit every few months. NOW, of course $99 would just about cover your bags! Anyway, I thought we should at least consider taking another look, you know? I actually saw some 3 bedroom, 3 bath condos listed in the $50,000 range, and that would be perfectly do-able for us. Of course I don’t think we could do it while DH is collecting unemployment - probably have to wait until he’s officially retired. I’m not sure how that would work credit-wise.

George Carlin died!!!!! He was 71 !!!!!! Omigawd, does that stink or what? I know sooooo many people who lived (and are living) WAY longer than that, and they aren’t half as funny as him!

My weekend eating was by no means stellar. In fact, I broke my own (new) rule and didn’t bother weighing myself. I knew I’d be depressed if I did. I’m already depressed because we’ve had nothing but thunderstorms and threats of thunderstorms and gray, overcast days for over a week, now. Okay, Saturday wasn’t bad. DH & I went walking at the same place that we walked last weekend, and enjoyed soaking up some vitamin D for a change. Also staked our tomato and pepper plants when we got back from walking. Then had really yummy faux chicken strips on caesar-ish salads with chopped cucumbers, diced plum tomatoes, avocado chunks, red onion and sliced black olives with low-cal, low-fat bleu cheese dressing. Sprinkled some almonds on top. It was delish! I was thinking, though, that it would really be good with some SMART (low carb/low calorie/high fiber) rotini pasta mixed in. Yeah, so that, after some exercise, etc., wasn’t in and of itself a bad choice at all. My bad choices were eating peanut butter sandwiches for both breakfast AND lunch, AND a dark chocolate (MUFA, right?) candy bar, AND a WW ice cream sandwich. Maybe other things, too. I tried not to look. Sunday was more of the same. I mean, nothing totally outrageous, but definitely “too much of a good thing”.

So, today for lunch I brought a box of frozen spinach, two Morningstar veggie burgers, and TWO SLICES OF LOW-FAT, 30 CALORIE-PER-SLICE CHEESE!!!!!! I just recently looked in the refrig in the employee lunchroom, and MY CHEESE IS GONE!!! Can you believe it? George Carlin died, we’re having weeks and weeks of thunderstorms and rain (DH just called to tell me that the electricity is off at home) AND MY CHEESE HAS BEEN STOLEN. Is there no justice - no fairness at all - in the world? Who would take my cheese? I feel a sinus headache coming on. Just for the record, my breakfast was a  cup of fresh strawberries (Oh, alright. A cup and a half), a fresh pear and a cup and a half of oatmeal squares. I am RIGHT back on the wagon this morning, and someone has made off with my cheese. I can hardly believe it. Such blatant disregard for the needs of fellow employees! There is a thief in our midst! I am appalled and angered! Like the people who work here couldn’t afford to buy their OWN cheese, for pity sake!

Ah, well. Just a part of that network of events that comprises my life, doncha know? Keeps things interesting, y’might say. (Or, y’might NOT say. I’d still rather have my cheese than an interesting mystery to solve).

The sun is coming out through the clouds around here. I hope the electricity gets restored at home before all the food in my fridge rots. I just did my weekly grocery shopping on Saturday morning, and it wasn’t cheap by a long shot.

Well, that’s all for now, dear folk -

Hugs,

Z