Monday morning: Up with the chickens . . .

1. Wow, I almost forgot to check on new friends. I should know I oughta check after events. Welcome to beckishadow and catelineb!  

2. Went to bed early last night and slept well, but woke up at 5:30 a.m. Hung out in bed for a bit, then got up. I will actually leave for work on time today. Maybe early. ;) Coffee always helps.

3. Epiphany: I wasn't overly enthused about driving three-plus hours to King's and Queen's Fencing next weekend, and I also eeded to check on crash space. So I asked about crash space in St. Johnsbury, Vt. I got offers, but people wanted to know why I wasn't staying in White River Junction, which is where the event is! Ummm, yeah. Right. And it's two hours away. ;)

4. Roll call: So who all is going to be there next week in White River Junction?

5. I get too much spam: So this morning, Boston.com (not spam) tells me that one of the big stories in the Globe is "Firemen getting enhanced pen..." That was the subject line. I will tell you that "pensions" was *not* the first thing I thought of.

6. I gotta say, one of the things we miss the most about the Boston area is stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. There's a good co-op in Albany, but that's about it. This explains our time at Trader Joe's yesterday on the way home from 12th Night. I even had a healthy dinner, with salad and everything.

7. I will be wearing my Pelican medallion to work today. It is completely wound in with my Celtic Cross, and alethea_eastrid is not up to help me untangle it. If I "untangle it," there will be metal rings everywhere! Good thing I wear a tie. ;)

Have a great day!

Monday evening: Hitting to all field . . .

1. A lot of the work was done by Duchess Christence, and Master Ernst was the auctioneer, and we made $1,200 for the royal funds from the 12th Night auction.

2. Second call: Roll call for King's and Queen's Fencing?

3. All of a sudden, we're going to be down to two candidates. OK, maybe it will last a little longer, but man, they are dropping like flies, and Sen. Clinton had to say today that she will stay in the race at least until Super Tuesday. I cannot understand why Dodd, etc., didn't at least stay in through New Hampshire and South Carolina. I mean, maybe you lose again, but give it a week. The other question is: Will Rudy Giuliani be out of the race before he comes in.

3. Am I too cynical? I was not impressed with Sen. Clinton's emotional response to a self-identified "housewife" aske her "How do you do it?" I felt like she was playing the "woman" card.

5. Guy murders his stepdaughters, then lights the house on fire, then claims it was a spell gone bad.

As the police chief said:

"You can tell by the nature of this news release that this is not a normal, straightforward investigation," Frisbie said. "You're talking about people casting spells, spells gone bad. Obviously there is a lot more going on here than a straightforward homicide."