It was a real Friday. Chelsea and I went for another brisk chilly walk. I wore sweatshirt and was still not very warm. She likes it though.

Then I cleaned the kitchen and watched Regis and Kelly. I had heard that this was Regis's 20th anniversary show and that Kathy Lee was coming back and I was interested in that. It was a nice show. They showed all their kids then and now which was really kind of fun.

I left early for lunch with the bank people and did some errands. I stopped at 52 Stafford and made reservations for a table on October 17 for our next Celtic Women Club meeting. Had a nice visit with Ann there. They still remember me from when I would always take off St. Patrick's Day and then Dick and I would go to the Stafford on March 16th. Blarney always comes to play on March 16. We would spend the night and be there to attend Mass in the Inn (which is not done anymore) and walk in the Irishman's Walk, which still is occurring every March 17th.

I picked up some fabric to finish the baby quilts at The Sewing Basket, picked up the corn from Capelle's and got gas. I had a half tank which is usually really enough but I am driving to Wauwatosa to meet Gail Mc Aleese and hitch a ride with her, Rosemary Bauman, and Sheila Isaacson and Eileen Niehouse to Chicago for the CWI annual meeting. We are just going for the meeting and lunch so I will be back that evening, probably not too late.

This afternoon was a nap, and getting Dick's legs ready for his shower and then doctored afterwards. We can't neglect them. I hope Dr. Siddique has good news when we see him on Wednesday.

At lunch we were talking about misbehaving appliances and I remembered the first dryer I ever had. We bought it for $20 from Steve Hansen, a really good friend. He even hooked it up for me and all. Believe it or not this was in California and I had it out on the patio outside the garage. It worked just fine, but lint did gather underneath and one had to keep checking it. One day Bret came running in the house, he was about 4 and I thought he said "A spider! A spider!" So I told him to step on it. He repeated and I again told him to step on it. Finally he just glared at me and said "The dryer is burning." Sure enough the dryer lint had gotten too hot and was smoldering.

For some reason or other this reminded me of California. I experienced a couple of earthquakes when I lived out there. The most impressive, of course, was the Sylmar Quake. But there is a rather funny story that a friend had to tell. Earthquakes cause the ground to move in several different patterns. One is a rolling and one is a jerking and one is an actual fissure. The rolling quake causes water to seiche. This means that it starts moving back and forth, each movement causing the water to rise higher than the last until the movement stops or the water overflows its container.

This friend was in his kitchen enjoying an early morning cup of coffee looking out over his back yard and swimming pool when the quake hit. As he watched the water in the pool started seicheing. Back and forth it went getting higher and higher until it rose up over the edge of the pool and flowed right over the deck and into his kitchen as he stood there totally helpless.

I have to get up REALLY early tomorrow. But it will be worth it. I have a day away, for me. We will have a meeting at 10:30AM and then lunch at Grace O'Malley's, then home.

A funny from the Reader's Digest


My husband, and auto mechanic, was on the kidney transplant list, and as you can imagine, it was a tense time for our family. But one day, the phone rang and our teenage son answered. It was the hospital with good news. "Dad," he yelled excitedly. "Your parts are in!" Bette Larsen.

Have a great weekend.

Mary