I have really appreciated everybody's recent comments ( I'm such a comment hound anyway!) especially regarding what to do if I ever think anyone is in the house again. Looking back on it, I'm amazed at how much I "revert to type" - that is introvert - and try to handle everything by myself. On one level I was really afraid that someone had come in and gotten by Winston ( though they'd have to be darn crazy....there are some pretty crazy people in the world. Still, I don't think Winston would bite someone if they just came into the house, though I'm starting to become convinced he would bite someone if he was sure they were going to do me harm), but when I read very sensible comments like Rob's and Molly's which suggested that I call 911 and /or get help from the neighbors I was like "Wow! What a smart thing to do! Yeah, I guess there is help in our society and you don't have to go mano y mano with some crazy guy just because he happens to be in your house. What a concept!" Clark's suggestion about learning some self defense moves is also very practical, especially given that I've had my "I'll do it myself" type personality since I was about 2 and am unlikely to change now.

The only reason I haven't taken a self defense course, or indeed any kind of course, since I married The Hub is that his first wife met her boyfriend while she was taking a maritial arts class. Every time I would say to the The Hub "I'm thinking of taking a course...." his head would shoot up like an alert deer and all the color would drain out of his face until he was a pale shade of olive green. I'm sure he never even heard what kind of class I was considering taking, and half of the time I just stopped talking since I didn't want to see him throw up on his shoes.

Still, though, we've been married 8 years and I'm the "record holder" for amount of time in a realtionship with The Hub. So I think he's getting the idea that I plan to stick around....

I'm so excited, because today I got a sewing machine! I did some organizing work for Theresa ( thanks Theresa!) and I bartered my time for a working portable sewing machine, which she showed me how to thread and use. She even gave me tons of useful pointers on needle and fabric types, modern vs. antique patterns....I learned more from her in an hour than I learned about sewing up until this point. I can't wait to give some of my other hare brained ideas a try!

Best of all, I'll be able to sew up all the dog toys that Winston routinely tears apart at the seams. If anyone could manufacture a mastiff-proof dog toy they could make a fortune....maybe I ought to try to develop one. And he looks so sad after he has chewed them to bits! He sometimes stays very attached to the bits of fabric and carries those around in his massive jowls from room to room, begging to have them thrown and used for tug-a-war.

"What are all these damn dog toys doing all over the house?! Can't you put anything away?!" The Hub asked Winston on Sunday, as if he really expected Winston to answer him. Sometimes I think the The Hub actually forgets that Winston is, in fact, a dog.

But even I was waiting for Winston to answer, "Well, you know, I haven't got opposable thumbs and, also, I ate my toy box" It was a great big plastic one, but when we put the toys inside Winston thought the goal was to chew them out. He was quite capable of flipping open the top with his nose. Hmm, there's something with best seller potential, if I could ever figure out Overcoming Communication Problems with Your Dog

And I can make myself some simple, decent skirts for summer. I don't wear shorts. I almost never did, even when I was a teenager. I have the ugliest set of knees on the planet to say nothing about them being scarred all to heck from my falls and other injuries. Then, lately cellulite has become a real issue. An entire tube of cellulite reducing cream came with my beauty advisor training. Let me tell you, if that stuff works I would be one heck of a testimonial!

But, who knows? Now that my balance is back I'll be able to ride my bicycle. It'll no longer be a completely irresponsible idea for me to go out for a hike by myself ( well, maybe it would be, given the "flypaper for freaks" situation - but faith! not fear!)

The future looks very bright to me now, even if the cyrillic alphabet match up job does loom in the future.