This is my 3rd post of the day, so I guess I'm feeling chatty.

Food meme from 

chantix_dreams

10 Favorite Foods (In Random Order)

1.  Filet Mignon
2.  Crabcakes (preferably those from Arties/Sweetwater Tavern/Coastal Flats)
3.  Ice Cream (cookies & cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate chip; generally vanilla based flavors with chocolate stuff in them are my favorite)
4.  French Fries (from Five Guys)
5.  Cinnamon Rolls
6.  real Parmigano Reggiano cheese
7.  Pineapple
8.  Bacon
9.  Chicken Taquitos (from Baja Fresh)
10. Potatoes (au gratin or baked)

10 Least Favorite Foods (in random order)
1.  Shrimp
2.  Indian Food (I've tried several different restaurants and several different items and just don't like it.)
3.  McDonalds hamburgers
4.  Twinkies
5.  Veal
6.  Avocado
7.  anything mint
8.  Mustard (unless it's used as a seasoning, like in salad dressing or a marinade)
9.  Raspberries
10.  Mayonnaise (unless it's very light and disguised well, like in tuna salad or something like that)

It was hard to think of 10 foods I don't like. 

With all of the travel, I've had a lot of reading time.  Here are 4 books I've recently read:

My mom headed home this morning, so I'm back in business as far as LJ Is concerned.  I find that when she's here, it's very hard to sit down and have quiet time on the computer like I'm used to doing.  She ended up staying 5 nights, an extra night than she intended because she didn't feel well yesterday and didn't feel that she could drive home.  

I got really annoyed with her yesterday because she supposedly got lost going to the mall.  We live about 2.5 miles from Fair Oaks Mall where my mom has been many many times.  It's basically a left and a right out of my neighborhood and a straight shot down Route 50.  It doesn't get much easier than that.  She ended up in Fairfax City about 20 minutes away.  What the hell was she thinking.  She called me and she was still going in the wrong direction, so I said, "well, if you know you're going the wrong way, then you need to stop and turn around."  I she knows it only takes about 5 minutes to get to the mall, so after that time, if you're not there, don't you think you'd stop and turn around?  She claimed that she knew she passed the mall and was trying to get back to a point where she knew where she was.  

I think she probably shouldn't be driving.  She has problems with her eyes in addition to all of her physical/mental issues.  The other part of me thinks that she's doing some of this on purpose.  Yesterday after I talked her home, she said to me that she knew she was going to get lost so she supposed it was a self fulfilling prophecy.  It gives me a headache thinking about it.  As I've said before, I truly pity my stepdad having to live with her all of the time.  He's got to get tired of it.  During the time she was here, he only called once and that was to give her a telephone message.  

My mom's also been freaking out about who will take care of her if something happens to her husband.  He's 60 and is a heavy smoker/drinker, so he's a ticking time bomb.  I didn't really say anything and the only thing my mom said was that maybe my cousin Jason, who's 30 and about to get married, would take care of her.  Somehow I doubt that.  I guess it's something I should think about because with all of my mom's health problems it's probably going to come sooner rather than later. 

We went to Joe's new office today.  He has an office now with a window and it's very nice.  The workstations where his staff sit are really ugly and awful.  They look like they're made of plastic and they have these glass partition things in them that slide to open, so you can either close off your workspace or have it opened.  Some of them even have metal lockers where you can put your coat/bags, etc.  It's weird.  It's nice because it's new, but that's about it.

I'm getting ready for my trip.  I leave on Saturday and fly via Chicago to Minneapolis.  I'll have all day Sunday to shop and then head home on Monday.  This reminds me of another annoying thing about my mom.  I told her about the trip and she jokingly said, "now I'm really mad.  I really want to go there. Why couldn't Joe have gotten me a ticket too?"  She tried to make it seem like a joke, but really, I don't think it was.  She's jealous of me.  She never said anything at all positive about it like, "I hope you have fun" or "how nice of Joe to arrange that for you," or "wow, I really wish I could go, but I know you'll have fun."  

That's all for now.  Off to catch up with everyone.

I did a little friends cut.  I want to do a better job keeping up with my FL, so I cut those that don't update/never comment or those that I just haven't clicked with.  

I had mixed feelings about even announcing my cut, but I decided to do it because I know some people appreciate knowing when they're cut. 

I've been lazy about updating and even lazier about commenting and responding to comments, so please forgive me.  I've been reading everything.  

I did in fact go to book club Tuesday night.  It was fine.  It was at my friend Ly's house and she announced to the group that she's 8 weeks pregnant.  It sounded like it was sort of a suprise to her.  It will be her 3rd child.  I have to admit that I was a little jealous.  In theory, I would love to have a 3rd child.  For me, for now, dealing with Joe's stuff has pretty much erased that desire, but I guess I'm sort of mourning that loss.  I'm not sure I could really handle a 3rd anyway, but I like the idea of having a slightly larger family. 

I didn't write about this earlier in the week, but on Monday, we had our weekly session with the marriage therapist.  We discussed the issue with the IM and how I responded to it along with my anger issues that seemed to escalate last week.  I feel better about everything, and Joe and I are having a better week.  The therapist commented that Joe and I have a good marriage with a solid base, but that we're still in a fragile state.  I always appreciate when she makes comments like that because I like to know how she thinks we're doing since I'm not exactly an objective judge of things, plus I value her judgment since she has worked with lots of couples in similar situations. 

I did a small friends cut.   Since I've been writing a bit about my marriage issues, I want to be certain I know who's reading what I'm writing.  I have a bunch of people on my list that don't update or don't update regularly, so I've removed them.