There are probably lots of things to write about if I really buckled down and thought about it, but everything is coming to me in dribs and drabs. Nothing coherent; nothing cohesive. This would be a very good place to introduce my brand new weblog that would work hand in hand with my recent disjointed way of thinking. Hey, it�s difficult enough keeping this thing going, I'm not about to add to my guilt load, er, workload.

The heat over the past two or three weeks has been absolutely brutal. I can�t think, I don�t want to go outside unless it�s the wee hours of the morning. That�s when I�ll putter around the property in my jammies, pulling suckers off the cherry tomato plants and watering my poor, heat-shocked wegelia. I sucked it up Monday after work and tore into five huge bags of mulch, dumping and spreading them around the wegelia and my favorite maple tree in the front yard. I thought I would die I was wheezing so much from the smog which does not, by the way, play nicely with my bronchial asthma. Inhaler? No, thanks. My last one expired the year I was 30, and I just never got another. It rarely gets like this in my neck of the woods, and the damn medicine gives me a whopping headache along with some respiratory relief. It�s best if I just quietly suffer along for the most part. So, to get back on topic, I�m assuming the heat is what�s melting the part of my brain that comes up with journal entries.

Incidences of note: Melesse of SkyWorks fame is coming to visit this weekend. In anticipation, I�m actually cleaning! The tiny nooks and crannies in the outer edges of the washroom and everything! Be impressed. The menu is nothing to sneeze at, either. I�ll wait to regale you with tales of her second and third helpings until after the event, just in case I�m possibly suffering from a slightly inflated epicurious ego.

Lately, everyone is taking holidays except The Boy and myself. It doesn�t normally bother me, as we usually have reservations to look forward to up north that have been in place for months. This year, sadly, that is not the case. I was hoping we could manage a trip to Ireland, and that may still happen if a house we�re looking at doesn�t pan out. If only I could manage to save more from each pay than I do. It doesn�t help when I go on the sort of shopping spree last night saw. Before you think clothing or shoes, think Vollrath 12� frying pan and 42cm Paderno roasting pan instead. What a nutter I am. The local restaurant wholesaler just loves to see me waltz through their doors.

Journal Con in San Francisco may also be a no go for me. I was planning on getting my first ever Passport with the crappy picture and everything! This decision was due in part to the myriad rumors I�ve heard about your birth certificate not always being enough to get you over the border into the States anymore. I had a possible roommate lined up to help defray my considerable costs, but family issues have caused her to take a pass on this year�s festivities. The search for a replacement has netted me another possible buddy, but it�ll be a while before I hear anything one way or the other. I�m so glad I hadn�t already plopped down the pricey registration fee. (Everything�s pricey if you�re a Canadian paying in US dollars, just so you know). Another nasty rumor is that a few of the Austin journallers are not bothering with this year�s conference because of sour grapes over their bid being unsuccessful. *sigh* Maybe I�ll just wait until it comes north again.

I did so want to see Alcatraz again, too�

Posted at 12:49 p.m.