Wherever your random thought came from, thanks for sharing it. Whenever I find myself thinking about something completely out of the loop, I try to follow my "train of thought" back to the beginning, but by then, the train has left the station --or I'm on the wrong track! :>) I, too, enjoy kind, human interactions. It's good to know that lots of us have a sense of humor, don't you think?

Mitch, I kind of like "goose pimples". I also like "O Canada", we ARE good neighbors and good friends, and my Grandfather came to Michigan from Canada in 1905, and I still have family in Ontario. As for the National Anthem, like many others, I don't want "The Star Spangled Banner" turned into whatever currently fashionable pop singers "stylize" it into. Just sing it, darn it, generations of drunks have done it successfully, sheesh. As for being difficult, I can sing it and I'm no singer. Ashley can sing it, she has a lovely voice and can hit every note without hestitation. Maybe the "professionals" should practice a bit more and not chance screwing it up in front of millions. Ashley sang it once in 6th grade on a tour bus in Washington DC and made the bus driver cry. I can get "misty" hearing it sung too and my girls knew that if we were (or still are) at any function where we are asked to stand for the anthem, they'd better be prepared to sing or they get "the look" and maybe a small reminder tap on the back of their heads! Annie

Lots of thoughts today. Speaking of rain, we were planning to go to Bar Harbor, ME, this weekend, but since our main purpose was to explore Acadia and it's closed, we just cancelled our hotel and instead are going to NYC. Now I checked the weather forecast for NY and it looks pretty lousy...well, 30% chance of rain, better than 100%. DH wonders if someone is telling us something and we should just stay home? But I know he'd be mopey all weekend if we did. He was more excited about Acadia than the rest of us were, because he is obsessed with his camera. Meanwhile, DS surprised me last night by saying a local university has moved into the "favorites" on his college list (he is a senior, working on early action apps this month). So he now has 3 favorites, one 5 hours away and 2 very close to home. I suspect he is setting himself up to stay close to home, because he is that kind of kid, but he won't ever admit it out loud! DH and I would be thrilled if he stayed close, but we're playing it very cool and actually have been almost pushing the far-away school. For anyone wondering: Syracuse, Northeastern, and Boston University. Unfortunately only NU has early action, so he'll have to wait quite a while to find out about the others. (He's applying EA to 3 others, too.) Finally, I have been working very part time as a decorator for several years. I don't advertise and all work has been via word of mouth, or from people who read my monthly column in our local newspaper. Business has been very erratic but that's fine with me. I enjoy being busy but also enjoy down time. Over the summer I thought gee, maybe I should pack it in and get a "regular" job with stable hours. OTOH, I like making my own schedule, taking most of the summer off, and being my own boss. So I was in a quandary. Well, as of the end of August, I have been CRAZY busy. Like never before. I have been laughing, thinking as the third new client called me within a week, am I being punked or what? I guess word has just gotten around. Who knows, but even though it's been a bit overwhelming, I'm loving it. It sounds silly, but I've noticed I have a bit of a spring in my step and in general just feeling more productive feels good. My kids need me less than ever (and one moved out over the summer) so the timing is good, too. At the moment, I think I have 6 or 7 projects at various stages. Finally. The whole wheat bread I made in my bread machine last night tastes like cardboard.

One thing I would change if I could, is once a person buys house/condo/land etc, it would stay with that bank/mortage company. It could not be sold. But the buyer could refinance with another company, no penalities, and that could not be sold either. The other thing, is the paperwork would be kept in the company that manages the loan and avaiable for the buyer if needed, and the loan officers would do the work, not someome who does not have a clue what is going on. It is NOT rocket science to finance a loan.