Both my dad and my brother left to go back to California this morning. So I now have my place all back to myself
again. Well, at least untill March 27. My dad will be coming back from CA then, and staying with me until he finds his own place. We are talking about the possibility of finding a place for the two of us to share. He'll be gone every night (long story) so I won't have to worry about being kept up by the television. But, there still wouldn't be very much privacy (you know, like if I start dating someone, but am not ready yet to tell my parents, that may be a bit difficult if I'm living with one of them.)

Tuesday and Wednesday I was staying at my mom's house. My brother was also there - he had found another source to get a plane ticket to come down here, and still came even though there was no trial (thank God!). It was a strange couple of days to say the least. A lot of time was spent playing games such as Rook, and Racko, and Texas Hold'em (with my mom's change stash). Tuesday night both of my parents were trying to get us to order pizza, but I told them, why don't we have grilled PB&J and grilled cheese sandwiches, with tomato soup for dipping? They really wanted pizza, but I talked them into the sandwiches.

They still ended up spending money though. My mom decided that she needed a couple of items from the store. So while we were out on a few other errands, dad and I stopped in at Albertsons. I was trying to stick to the list, but he kept adding more things to it. He said he'd pay for it all, so finally I was like, whatever, it's your money (actually it's money that Grandma and my Aunt have loaned him until he has enough income to live on -for what its worth.)

One of the other errands we did was at the ABC (a bookstore). Ryan (my brother) and dad dropped me off while they went to look for the burial site of a friend of my brother's who died a couple years ago. I had my $25 gift certificate from my ex-bf (birthdyay present) to spend. I had planned on getting the cookbook "An Apple A Day" but they didn't have any in stock. SO I looked around some and found a whole table and a endcase filled with books for $5 or less. I ended up getting 6 books and paying only $7.xx They are all books that I'll have no trouble reading, and then selling to Half-Price bookstore.

Yesterday we went out to Ci Ci's Pizza for lunch because Ryan said he really really missed it and that there wasn't anything comprable to it in CA. I was full the rest of the day. Charles and Annette (family friends) ate with us. For the six of us it was $29.00. After we were done eating, my dad, Ryan, Charles and I were standing outside talking. Mom had gone to her car because she was too cold (it was chilly). The trio were being all male for sure and dandy. Trading stories about ladies they'd seen who didn't have much sense in dressing appropriately (i.e. short skirt + steep staircase =bad idea). Then one of them clicked on their car's horn thingy and a contest ensued. What was REALLY funny though was that a guy coming out of Ci Ci's joined in with their little contest! It was really quite funny to watch.

After that dad took mom to her doctor's appointment so he could have her car checked out. She had been told by a mechanic that her wheels were being torn to shreds and that there were a number of things that needed to be replaced and it would cost about $800. Of course she didn't have anywhere that kind of money. Dad took it to the place where he'd bought the tires for her car, and had them rotated and balanced for free. Then asked them for their opinon. They told him that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the car!

While mom and dad were doing their running around, Ryan and I were doing our own running around. First we thought about going to a movie, but there wasn't anything that appealed to both him and I. So then we went to the mall to just walk around. Wow! That mall is really dead and quiet. Not much there at all. Then we went to the Goodwill store. I found two dresses that I just loved, but unfortunately they didn't even come close to fitting me. ( Then I mentioned something to him about if he needed any shampoo etc (from my stockpile) and that somehow reminded him that he wanted to bring back all his poker buddies and housemates Texas keyrings. Thus began the great Texas Keyring search. Two hours later, and 15 stores, he finally found what he was looking for in Wal-Mart. I have to say I could have thought of more enjoyable ways to spend my afternoon.

When we all got back to the house, I let mom know that I wanted to leave by such and such a time. She wanted to know why. I *felt* like saying "Cause I want to!" but what I told her is that there were some things I wanted to get done that evening and didn't want to have another late evening. It would be really nice if when a person says that they need to leave by such and such a time, that it could just plain be accepted without needing an explanation. ARghh!! I think this is just one more reason why it won't work out for her and I to live together.

Alright, I'm going to get started on today - Thursday. I think I will try to email my ex-bf and let him know that I finally spent that gift certificate and thank him again for it.

Getting a late start to the day.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura