Lasagna

Vacation was great. Everyone had a relaxing time. Wednesday morning I did my six mile run. It was ok. I and the boys then had lunch with another friend from high school. She too- like another friend who was part of the group Tuesday night- is a sheriff. She is actually a sergeant. It was great seeing her.

Thursday we hit the state fair. It was a blast. We spent a good two and a half hours there walking around checking out the sights. We even met the llama that won second place in one of the judgings. We also saw two of the biggest sows I have ever seen and they had piglets. I also got my picture taken with a great tractor too.

The best part though was when the boys looked at me and said they were tired and could we go home? I looked over to my dad and he said he was tired and would like to go home too. I said I guess we are going home.

Friday morning we were on the road by 9 AM. I dropped the boys off at their mom's house and went to the cottage. The husband was at the gym so I went across the street to PJ and ST's place and hung out by the pool.

Saturday the husband told me it was time to work and we went over to the cottage. My main job was to remove the three layers of wallpaper from the foyer. I decided against all the new fangled stuff and went with mom's suggestion of nearly scalding water and white vinegar. Quelle surprise- it worked really well.

My secondary job was to check the mouse trap that I set. Apparently we had a mouse setting off the alarm. It seemed to be getting through a small hole in the kitchen ceiling that was created during the beam installation. Well, the glue trap worked. It caught a mouse. the poor bugger was still alive. The husband was freaked out by the whole thing so of course I walked toward him with it, lol. We threw it out in PJ and ST's dumpster.

We took a small break when JD and JW stopped by to visit the cottage. They had their pooch with them which made finding a place for a late lunch a bit of a challenge.

Sunday morning we did our long run- eleven and a quarter miles. I did a pretty good steady pace. I made the run in a hour and thirty three minutes. The weird part was when we finished our run along the canal we ran into the ex' best friend. Apparently she too is training for a half marathon but one in Philadelphia.

Then it was back to the cottage. I had to patch the mouse hole in the ceiling. Then I had to wash off all the remaining paste from the foyer wall. Next up was the fireplace. It had this hideous faux brass door thingy. I pried it off and threw the thing out. The husband then painted the brick white.

Monday morning was tough. The run from Sunday was hitting me. I was exhausted. No run yesterday morning. Work was ok, thankfully not that busy and it was actually the slowest day of the year and was even slower than the half day after Thanksgiving last year.

The best part of yesterday though was dinner. With the husband's recently realized gluten intolerance we really can't have pasta unless it is the less than appealing gluten free kind of pasta. Last night though I took advantage of the husband staying down at the cottage and ordered lasagna for dinner. It was pure bliss.

The month of August ended and now we get to September which is historically the worst month for the markets. We shall see and I am firmly in the double dip/we never left the recession camp.

Today's action was unusual. First off the much hyped Consumer confidence number is a joke. The much better gauge to follow is the ABC News U.S. Weekly Comfort Index. The thing is it comes out around 5 PM and does not get much air play. Well that index is still in the shitter and was lower than expected today. If you look at a longer term chart of it it is not a pretty sight.

The Nivea ad on tv for their Active 3 product- holy shit the guy is hot. I think he may have to go on the list.