Diaries I Read:
I�m throwing a birthday party for my mom tonight. I�m trying to keep it low key. I�m trying to figure out how to entertain without getting stressed out. I�m not sure yet if it�s possible. But whenever I go to other people�s houses, they seem to throw parties and entertain without breaking a sweat. I, on the other hand, find myself going crazy for the two hours leading up to the party, stress during the party, and then worry afterwards that nobody had a good time. Maybe I should find a Web site or a book about entertaining. Maybe they�d have some tips.
Anyways, like I said, I�m trying to keep this fairly simple. We�re having burgers, corn on the cob, and whatever else people bring over. I�m making margaritas, and we have lots of soft drinks and beer. I raced home during lunch to make a cake, and I just have to frost it when I get home.
Of course, while I�m trying to make it seem like no big deal, it is a big deal because there are a lot of people who are seeing the house for the first time and, like I discussed yesterday, I care about making a good impression. Maybe that�s stupid, but it�s true: I care. I want everyone to ooh and ah and tell me how wonderful everything looks.
So that�s the plan for tonight. I�m sure I�m still going to be stressing out before people arrive. I can�t help it. I cleaned and cleaned last night. That�s one thing that still amazes me: how is it that when people are coming over, all of a sudden you feel like everything�s a mess? Because my house is, generally speaking, not a mess. We keep everything fairly neat. I guess your standards go up when you bring other people into the picture.
And I know I�m going to get home and B won�t have done all the things I�m hoping he�ll do. I don�t want to give him orders, so I�ve just been hinting around about some things, like taking the dining room table leaves (they�re heavy!) upstairs, and straightening out the back yard (it�s a real mess). Even though B is generally pretty good about helping out, I can tell this party just isn�t the big event in his mind that it is in mine. Of course, these are all of our best and oldest family friends who are coming tonight. I�m sure they�re not going to be a tough crowd. Still, I just want it to look good. (Have I made that point clearly yet?)
On another subject altogether, I�m getting totally paranoid about coyotes. I�ve been reading all these stories that people post on our neighborhood Web site about coyote sightings, and people see them wandering the neighborhood all the time! Our neighbor even came over the other day to tell us that his sons were playing in the street around 5:45 one night and there was a coyote lurking on the slope behind them. Everyone who�s let their cat outside has had their cat disappear. So I�m totally freaking out! I usually take D out for a walk around 10 at night, so I�m looking around every corner expecting one to pop out at me. (D is pretty small � 13 pounds � so she�s just as vulnerable as a cat.) Even during the day I�m scared. I don�t even want to let her outside in the back yard by herself because I�m afraid they�ll come in and get her. (This has happened; I�m not just being stupid.) And it�s such a shame because D really loves the back yard � she�ll play out there by herself for hours � and that�s one of the things we liked most about this house, and now we don�t feel like we can let her out there by herself, especially at night. Dumb coyotes.
While we�re on the subject, I�m ashamed to say that D is still not completely potty trained! When we first moved, it was really bad. She went on the floor at least once a day. So then we started keeping her in her crate when we were gone, and that seemed to help quite a bit. We had a couple of really good weeks when she didn�t have any accidents (as far as we could tell), and I was thinking we�d finally made a breakthrough. Then B said that she went all over the house the other day (maybe it was over a couple of days, but for some reason he found all the spots at one time), and last night she pooped on the floor (I cleaned it up before B saw it). It�s really becoming a problem. I don�t know what to do about it. She just doesn�t understand how to ask to be let outside. I think it stems from being in the condo where we didn�t really have a yard, so almost every time she went to the bathroom it was when we had her on her leash on a walk. We took her out quite a bit at the beginning, so maybe she never needed to ask to go outside. (Or she just went on the living room rug, as we were to find out later.) I really just don�t know what to do. I guess I�m holding on to the hope that once we get her into puppy school, all of these problems will magically disappear. But I�m afraid it probably won�t be that easy.
Something you don�t know about me: I am the best baker in the world. I�m sorry; I just have to toot my own horn here. It�s not like I bake anything from scratch. Nope, it�s all out of boxes. And I use the pre-made frosting, too. But I really am the best baker. I make the best cakes, cupcakes, and brownies in the world. Ask anyone in my family. I believe the secret to making good cakes and cupcakes is to follow the instructions on the box very carefully when it comes to how long you blend the mix. If it says 2 minutes, do it for 2 minutes. And bake it the minimum amount of time suggested. Sometimes you might have to go a bit longer, but not usually. Believe me, I know. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Working at home - Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004
Toronto - Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004
On the way to Toronto... - Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2004
A Good Day - Monday, Nov. 08, 2004
Another letter - Thursday, Nov. 04, 2004