So do you see the glass as half empty or half full? With me, it depends. I’m sometimes an optimist and sometimes a pessimist. Mercurial swings in outlook, depending on how things are going in general, I suppose.

Had a good day yesterday - talked to DD30 at @ 9:30 in the AM; their flight came in at 6:30, her in-laws picked them up and they went out for breakfast, and were just laying about working up the strength to drive back home to Massachusetts. I went over and fed their cats and then went and did the grocery shopping - $175 for a week’s worth of groceries; just about buying the same stuff that cost $150 a few weeks back. I also heard on the radio when I was driving home from work on Friday that they’re starting to limit how much RICE you can buy at BJ’s and the other food warehouses. Hmmmm. Awfully evocative of people in third world countries lining up to get a bowlful of rice for the day. I think I heard something about how these blogs were supposed to focus on weight loss and not get political or religious or anything like that. NO, I mean, I would be the last person to point out how Bush is lining his own nest and those of his cronies at our expense - not only monetary expense, either, but in thousands of lives lost fighting (and just plain trying to live) in Iraq because of non-existent weapons of mass destruction when it was really (and still is) about control of oil and gouging the masses in order to profit the few robber barons that are running things. See? I would never say that kind of stuff. Not me. Nuh-uh. Nope, I’m just focusing on weight loss here, because the cost of rice is rising exponentially, and seeing as how I have incorporated brown rice into my diet, I just have to try and figure out how I’m going to pay for it, seeing as how it’s now costing me $3.70 a gallon for the gas I need in my car to get back & forth to work to pay for that rice, if you see where I’m going with this, which in all honesty, I’m not entirely sure of myself except to say that I am feeling increasing angry, as are many other people, over the widening gap between the upper and lower classes. The middle class doesn’t really stand a chance anymore.

Okay, so I did my grocery shopping, came home, DH helped bring it in and get everything put away, and then we went by DD30’s house just to grab a few quick hugs, and we were heading up to Moore State Park to walk. (We changed our minds about the Cascades; we’ll go there another time). Moore    http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/more.htm       is lovely, and has some historical interest for me, as I used to take DD30 and DS26 there when they were children. It’s about a 20 minute drive from where we live now. I once drove the kids and I down a very rocky and narrow old cart path up at Moore State Park - I had a Plymouth Voyager at the time, and thought I was driving an all-terrain vehicle, I swear. This cart path had heavy bushes and undergrowth on each side, and some pretty impressive rocks that I had to negotiate over and around….it went way uphill and then way downhill, and and the very bottom, there was a RIVER across the road! There was no place to turn around, and I had to BACK all the way back up that hill and down the other side to get us back to paved road. The kids still talk about the adventures “Momma” used to take them on “in the olden days”. Anyway, my granddaughter (who had just flown a red eye back from California, had nothing more than cat-naps, and should have been exhausted, asked to come along, and she did, and we walked about four miles, and had a great time! Found a crow feather and some pretty mica rocks.

We stopped at Dunkin Doughnuts for coffee - DGD got a cold drink and a cinnamon bun - and then we headed back to her house and DD30 pulled up a slide show of pictures from their Cali trip for us to look at. My DS is letting his hair grow, and it looks boffo!!!! Imagine! He’ll be home in less than two weeks from now!

Then DH & I took ourselves out for supper - I got a chicken stir fry in a low fat wrap - stopped at the market where we like to get our fruit, bought oranges, apples, pears and bananas (on TOP of what I spent earlier in the day) and then we headed on home. Watched a completely stupid movie called “The Fountain” - had ordered it from Netflix, because we got “Pan’s Labyrinth”, LOVED it, and it said people who like “Pan’s Labyrinth” would like “The Fountain”. Not. It was pretty disjointed and while we certainly understood the general theme, there was a bunch of things thrown in arbitrarily that went nowhere. Tsk. So much for that.

Another good night’s sleep - had my whey/soy/frozen strawberries shake, have been cleaning my house since I got up, and the kiddos are coming for dinner. I have a nice roast beef in the oven and am going to roast a combination of quartered sweet and white potatoes with some garlic, black pepper, and maybe rosemary seasoning. I’ll spray them with my zer0-calorie pretend butter. And some steamed green beans, a nice salad - the kids are bringing some fresh bread from the bakery which I shall not touch - and we’ll be all set.

Now I have to get dressed, brush my hair, and I’m good to go.

Oh, and Rubes? Being pure of heart has nothing to do with always thinking pure thoughts, or thinking and being reverent and perfect all the time. But you know that. Will it feel more right to you if I just say we love who you are in whatever way, shape or form you choose to present yourself? (God, how I hate the way life manages to make us all feel so imperfect all the time!)

Hugs to all my beautiful blog-mates,

Z