I'm all alone in my house. No kids, no blaring TV, even the dogs are quiet. Grover and Ollie have been spirited away to spend the weekend with Nana & Grampa. Normally, I'd be ecstatic to have a moment of quiet to put two thoughts together. Normally. The reason the munchkins are at my parents is because my husband and I are heading to Alabama tomorrow. My grandmother's house has been sold, the estate sale has been scheduled and it's time for me to go get my stuff. My grandmother kept a list of who was to get what when she died and she had me down for her dining room furniture. I remember the conversation that we had years ago when she put it on The List.

Mema: If there's anything of mine you want when I die, you make sure and tell me so I can write it down. If I write it down, they have to give it to you.
Me: Uh, okay.
Mema: I mean it. I need to write it down. Tell me what you want.
Me: Um, I don't have any dining room furniture.
Mema: You want my dining room furniture? Okay.

And so, along with the pearl necklace she wanted me to have, my name went on The List for a dining room table, about 12 chairs, a china cabinet and a sideboard. It's all beautiful antique mahogany, in excellent condition and would cost a fortune to buy new or even at an antique store and each time I look at it, I will think of the many delicious meals we enjoyed with my grandparents. My grandma - as most Southern women and grandmothers the world over are - was a superb cook. She could make anything taste good. In fact, I have her to thank for my love of okra, beets and turnip greens. It makes me sad to think of the avenue by which I came to own this fine furniture and just a little intimidated to think of the footsteps in which I am to follow when serving my own meals at this table. But time will lessen the hurt and maybe one day Grover will like my cooking as much as she likes Chili's. Meanwhile, I can keep it polished and adorned with a beautiful centerpiece and proudly proclaim to all who visit "This was my grandmother's".

Well, the Fuzzbucket seems to have healed from the big-dog attack. She's now extremely interested in trying to get Wondermutt to play with her, while at the same time trying to stay away from Ollie who picks her up and hugs her every chance she gets. It's actually quite amusing to watch. In fact, that's pretty much all I've done today. I can't seem to get motivated to do anything useful so I've browsed eBay for useless crap I don't need and watched the dogs. Good thing I'm not employed - I'd get fired!

Last Saturday, we had Grover's birthday party. I always over-invite, knowing that only about half the invitees will actually attend. I invited 17 kids - 15 showed up. I was ready to pull my hair out by the end of it. Never will I do that again! Birthday parties are about to go the way of the dinosaurs...

As if that wasn't enough excitement, Monday we got a puppy. She's a 6-week-old Siberian Husky mix and is absolutely adorable. Wondermutt is not as pleased with the acquisition - she required a trip to the vet for persistent vomiting. Actually, I was worried about the dog food recall and if that could explain her problem. Fortunately, I'm not kind enough to buy her the "cuts & gravy" food that contained the rat poison.

Tuesday, the girls decided to take the puppy next door where the neighbor's dog promptly tried to eat her. New puppy spent the night at the emergency vet with 3 fractured ribs and pulmonary contusions.

Wednesday, Grover closed her hand in the automatic door on the Mom Taxi.

Thursday - Lab results on Wondermutt show nothing, vet wants to do an ultrasound. Have I mentioned how much money I've spent on veterinary care this week?

Last night I stayed up to watch Carolina piss away 33 minutes of a basketball game before they decided to become active participants and come back to win.

Today, I have done absolutely nothing. And I like it.

As if Spring allergy season is not bad enough, the idiotic government in their attempt to boost our economy... oh, I'm sorry, in their attempt to conserve energy (HAH!) has foisted Daylight Savings Time upon us 3 weeks early. I don't remember having this much trouble adjusting last year. Not only do I have to deal with the stupid flowering trees, shrubs and plants that - while beautiful - wreak havoc on my eyes, nose & throat and force me to spend the better part of my days indoors for 2 weeks, now I have to drag my ass out of bed in complete darkness (again). Those of you who know me know full well that I am so NOT a morning person anyway, so this really sucks.

On the upside, there's basketball so at least I'll be entertained while I'm trapped inside.

The Tar Heels won the ACC Tournament, as well as the #1 seed in the East Regional bracket of the NCAA tourney. I would have liked to see them get an extra day of rest and play the Friday/Sunday games, but at least they're at home (Winston-Salem).

Even better, as I logged on to AOL I was greeted with this headline from the Sports section: They're Spoiled Whiny & Rich - Duke's Snottiness Reaches New Height.

Ah yes, it's a good day in the ACC.

P.S. Get yer L's ready, boys - you're going DOWN!!!