I much prefer bruschetta to BLT, especially if the bread is grilled. Did you brush the bread with olive oil before grilling? I usually use a mixture of butter, olive oil, and garlic. I finally have a tomato plant that is growing well ( as well as a few basil plants), and so I should be able to make this with home-grown ingredients in another month or two. I get tomatoes late in the season, but I get a long season. We have a cherry tomato plant growing in the ground, and it is doing a lot better than the tomatoes I have started from seed in pots. One seedling is doing fairly well, but I am afraid to transplant it yet. The cherry tomatoes do very well in my soil here, and the last plant I had growing next to the grape vine lived for over a year and produced lots of tomatoes throughout January, although they were fairly small. I should check the Farmers' Market in Playa Vista tomorrow for tomatoes! Lars

Lunch was Firehouse subs, I noticed they sell their 5 gallon pickle buckets with lids for $2 each. Proceeds go to charity. Might go back and get one for my KT laundry soap. Right now I use a square kitty litter bucket.

hgl gaylemarie and georgysmom - too funny.....and sad. :) but it will be worth it. I ate at the local Fortune Buffet, Chinese food, a friend's treat after we had shopped all morning. I ate way too much, buffets are dangerous.

The cancers on my forehead and nose were squamous cell, and the one near my eye was basal cell. For several years, I had what appeared to be a slim oval-shaped freckle on my forehead. Totally flat and smooth. Then I noticed that it had gained some "depth" to it, and was slightly "textured." Not rough, exactly, but no longer completely smooth. It didn't itch or hurt. But, I've always had long nails, and I began to notice that if I scratched my forehead for any reason, a fingernail would seem to "catch" on that spot so I went to the dermatologist to have it removed. In looking at it, the doctor didn't think it was anything to be concerned about, but I said I wanted it gone, so he removed it. In California (I don't know about other states/countries), if something is removed from someone's body it must be sent to pathology for analysis. The report came back that it was squamous cell carcinoma. So, I had to go back to have surrounding tissue removed to ensure that all of the cancer cells had been removed. The cancer on the side of my nose started out as a bump. Didn't look at all like a pimple. Didn't hurt or itch. No odd color to it -- it matched the rest of my skin. But it was "in my line of sight." That is, I always noticed it there unless I had my eyes closed. It bugged me. I was in a lot of meetings (for my job) with a lot of high-level folks, and I became really self-conscious about it. So, I went to the dermatologist to have it removed. Again, the pathology report showed it was a squamous cell carcinoma. Related side story -- I first started wearing glasses when I was in the 5th grade. I am extremely nearsighted. Seems my prescription would get stronger and stronger every year. My nose has a very small (narrow) bridge, and the weight of my glasses (even with very lightweight frames and lenses) caused the skin on both sides of my nose to become very raw. My medical doctor told me that I should switch to contacts, saying that if I didn't, I would end up with skin cancer on my nose. I didn't want contacts. I had several close friends who wore contacts and they were always having one problem or another with them. So, I continued to wear glasses for several more years. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer and switched to contacts. And I ended up with skin cancer on my nose. The cancer near my right eye was, again, a bump, but smaller than the one I'd had on my nose. Again, it was in my line of sight and bugged me. It was about halfway between the inner corner of my eye and the tear duct. Because of the proximity to the tear duct, my dermatologist sent me to a specialist in Moh's surgery. The pathology report on that one was basal cell carcinoma. I've looked at lots and lots of photos of skin cancers, but I've never seen one that looked anything at all like any of the three I had. Therefore, my advice to folks would be that if you have an existing spot or mole and it suddenly changes, get to a dermatologist to have it removed and analyzed. If you suddenly have a growth where you didn't have one before, get to a dermatologist to have it removed and analyzed.