I did it, I did it! Finished the story for the 3-Day Novel Writing Contest on Labour(sic) Day Weekend. I'll never be the same (good lord, everything I say turns out to be the title of some old song from childhood...never be the same in this world...) If there is more I've forgotten it.

I was ruthless...used everyone I know, and some rather badly, in the story. Poor K got beaten up and J wound up in a bar, being stalked by a killer. I had a nice call from Gail to wish me happy birthday, so I threw her in as a therapist. Well, I told her I would and she said it was OK. I was up until dawn on Sunday night...when stationary things began to move around, I figured I'd better get some sleep and set my alarm and conked out. I lived on the fried chicken and potato salad Ana went and got for me, plus the lovely cherry pie...I am having another piece right now. She also got me some white zinfandel to have to salute the end, which I am doing, having sent Anastasia off to the Post Office today with the printed copy of "Obsessions, Passions, Fixations, Oh My..." and I was certainly happy to see it go in its little blue and white jacket from the P.O. It's gotten quite expensive to send anything to Canada...that little package cost me $10.95. I guess it's gone up in the US also though...I didn't bother to find out. It's only going up over the border to BC, so that seems like a lot.

Elvira will be back tomorrow and Sylvia and I will be happy to see her. We had a strange substitute Tuesday. She reminded me of nothing so much as a tiny Uncle Miltie. She came in, did the phone bit, went out to the kitchen and put on her plastic gloves, which were too large for her, and raced around, throwing stuff into the waste basket and folding and rearranging everything in the bedroom. She cleaned out all the big cardboard things I had stuffed under the cabinet in the bathroom and the place looks magnificent. Luckily she was too busy in the other rooms to come in and toss all my stuff in here, or I would never again see my 'important' papers. God knows what's gone, but right now I don't know so I don't care. Every time she came and did something for me I expected some of the Uncle Miltie schtik and sometimes got it. She even had dyed black hair...fabulous. Good thing she left at five...having to push the phone buttons a million times with those funny long plastic gloves...wonderful.

My crazy French phone in the bedroom fell and did something terrible to itself...half the time people can't get me, as it slides off. I may have to abandon it, but I hate to. And crazy Ms.Katt has taken to resting on top of my Dover bag, which is on top of my briefcase and my new gorgeous Levenger messenger bag (half-price sale!!) I'm afraid I have a thing for Levenger products. I cannot resist red leather accessories! Or the 'bomber jacket' leather series. Now I need somewhere to go to carry the lovely things. I got some new cards...purple, of course, and I had to have a new case for them. It is red and holds a little pad for writing also. One of these days I'll try to get more of my lovely fold-over cards that I used to write information on. Have to map them all out again and that is a chore. My new cards list me as Poet, writer, eccentric. That's me!