Last night I finally finished rewatching The Dark is Rising: The Seeker, and I have come to the conclusion that it’s not bad as a movie. There is just the unfortunate coincidence of some of the names being similar to the names in the book. That’s about it. I also watched Ballet Shoes, and loved it. When I was a little girl, I obsessively read books by Noel Streatfeild, and wondered why her name was spelled like that, and wished I could dance like Posy Fossil. The movie was just charming, with all the flavour of the book.
Joe took me to dinner last night to Logan’s, home of the really yummy chopped steak smothered with gravy & onions & mushrooms. And while we were at the restaurant, he suggested sending me to a Marriott for a couple of nights, so I could get a break. I thought that was sweet, but said it wasn’t necessary. But the thought was in my head, and it kept burbling around. So when we got home I looked it up, and the Towne Suites right by my office, the library, and not far from home only cost 14,000 of his nearly 200,00 Marriott points. So I decided to take him up on his kind offer. I’m SO excited! I couldn’t tell you the last time I had two nights all to myself, no dogs, no housework, no responsibilities. I’m beyond thrilled. I get to read without a little buttboy dog jumping on the book and demanding that I pet him right that instant. I get to sleep all by myself without a little buttboy dog or a beautiful Molly dog waking me up 2 or 3 times a night to let them out to go tinkle. I can take nice long luxurious baths. I can watch Season 5 of Angel on my computer. I can do whatever I want to do! Mmmmm. Sounds loverly.
Joe’s been busy mending/replacing drywall, covering holes, trying to find all the places that the rodents use to enter the house and getting them blocked up. The other night I was cleaning the little bathroom, and when I opened the door to the cupboard below the sink, I saw a tail vanishing into the hole around the pipe that led into the wall. I slammed the door and screamed, and Joe came running. He used steel wool to fill in the area around the pipe and cover up the hole. I really hate rodents. I hate them when they’re alive, and I hate them when they’re dead and decomposing in the walls of my house. Which they are right now, which is another reason I’m excited about going to the hotel for a few nights.
He also replaced the drywall from a hole I kicked in the hall wall months and months ago. I promised that I’d get the hall and living room painted next weekend (provided the air in the house is breathable–if not, I’ll wait until it is). I’m hoping Izzy will feel like helping me paint (hint hint), but if she can’t it’s not a big deal. It’s not like painting the bathroom–the walls are nice and large and there aren’t any odd little corners to deal with. I’ll probably take the dogs to the groomers that Saturday, since I really don’t need them underfoot while the painting is going on. I just have this visual image of Scout-shaped splotches along the walls near the baseboards, and Scout covered in paint.
In the first movie I watched last night, there was a snake scene. Lots of snakes. Lots and lots and lots of snakes. I am as phobic about snakes as I am about rodents, so I covered my eyes during that scene. Apparently it wasn’t good enough, because in the dream I had just before I woke up, there were snakes. Lots of snakes. Lots and lots and lots of snakes. That means I woke up with a bad headache. And then when I put pantyhose on my head to hold my hair out of the way of my wig, and put on the wig, all that pressure on my head is making the headache worse. Yet another reason to enjoy the hotel room tonight. I’ll go and immediately take off the wig and the pantyhose, and the clothes, and loll in the bathtub with a good book. And I won’t watch any snake movies. Because enough is enough! I have had it with these motherf&$!ing snakes in my motherf&$!ing dreams! (Sorry. I excel in lameness.)
Enjoy your Halloween. Give out lots of candy, and make sure to enjoy some yourselves. Me, I’ll be in a hotel room, all by myself. Maybe eating candy. Definitely taking a long bubble bath, and reading a good book. Joe gets to give out candy at the house, and he has to have the dog gate up to keep the dogs in the back part of the house, because they both go crazy when people come to the door and we don’t want them to scare the kids or run off down the street. (And I told him we shouldn’t buy candy on Tuesday, ’cause he’d eat it all, which he practically has.) Yeah. Anyway, Happy Halloween. Or, you know, have a very bad, very sad, disgusting Halloween. (Click on that link, if you’ve never seen Radiskull. Thank me later.)
(I still have to mail you a cookbook–it’ll be there in time) 
