So we made a depressingly avoidable bank account blunder. It's kind of complicated, but it basically boils down to $200 going in, then $200 coming out, and screwing our account up to the tune of $450.

It's put a lot of stress in my last couple of days. I've had a headache off and on. I've got chills. And of course the whole sex thing gets screwed up - or not, as the case may be - when Corey's stressed out.

You know what's really amazing? He doesn't worry about how much money HE spends, until things get scary with the money, and then he watches ME like a hawk. It's really kind of irritating. And things aren't as bad as he's making them out to be. A week from tomorrow, and it'll be like it never happened. And he'll be back to thinking that spending $150 a week at the bar is no big deal. Actually, he'll probably not even be THINKING about how much we're spending at the bar. Bah.

I'm going to cancel our membership at the fitness club. I can't use it much because half of the machines make me wet myself, and Corey hasn't set foot in there since his shoulder injury, even though his shoulder is better now.

Corey also has something going on with his right hand. I'm willing to bet that it's carpal tunnel. Maybe if I start cutting into it myself, he'll take over and get something done about it. I don't mean to be mean. It's just that when his hand isn't going numb, it's causing him serious pain. He's taking prescription strength naproxin just so it stops hurting enough that he can sleep. And has he called to make an appointment?

I'm not even going to grace that with a FAKE laugh.

I got to go with Mercedes to the Arizona Science Center and the state capitol (capital? Why does that word give me such fits?!?) yesterday. We had to get up at 3 in the bloody freezing morning. I dropped Alex off with Penny, Samantha and Angel's grandmother. Corey and my dad both had to work, and I like Penny.

Anyway, after 4 hours spent shifting between my butt cramping and my legs falling asleep, we arrived at the Science Center. We got to enjoy a show about the solar system in the planetarium. It was well done, and the gentleman narrating kept it fun and interesting. Afterwards, we were turned loose with our charges - not loose enough, I wanted DESPERATELY to see Body Worlds 3 - and got to explore all the fascinating hands-on exhibits. I'd love to go back with both of the kids.

We hopped back on the bus and headed to the capitol (capital? ARGH!) building. The original main building has been turned into a museum, and there's an exhibit dedicated to the USS Arizona. I was on the brink of tears through the whole exhibit. It brought back all of the emotion that I experienced when Corey and I went to the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. The exhibit at the state capitol (oh, the hell with it!) has an actual piece of the ships hull. They also have the ship's original silver service, which is a beautiful testament to it's namesake. The bowl of the service is made of copper, in honor of one of our major resources, and the furniture (the decorations and such) are saguaros fashioned of silver. They didn't have to retrieve them from the ship. Because it had been such tumultuous times, and it was understood that we'd be entering the war, the silver service had been put away for safekeeping. What a treasure!

We got to go into the Senate building. It was interesting, even though we had to listen to Ron Gould prattle on (definitely not changing my opinion about him after meeting him, what a weenie). There are 30 senators for Arizona, and most of them had either an elephant or a donkey on their desks. Others had other items indicating their pet issues (a piggy bank, for instance, on the desk of a senator that felt that the government was doing too much spending). All in all, it was very interesting. After we were done in there, I took Mercedes, her friend Samantha, and Samantha's mom to the plaza where there are at least a couple dozen memorials to various wars and public servants. It was very touching.

We had another 4 hour trip back home, and by the time we got here, I was WIPED out. It's amazing how that much time on the road just drains you. Especially coupled with the cramping ass and pins and needles in my legs. And the headache. And the cold wind creeping in through the rattling bus windows.

Oddly enough, the person with sleep issues was Corey. For the first time in almost 6 years, he was late for work, by 3 hours. They didn't even call him. That floors me. Anyway, that adds to the stress that Corey's been under, because now there's more financial strain. Because of the lateness, he loses his perfect attendance bonus. So that's about $1000 over the course of three months, until he earns the bonus back. The worst part is that it was an overtime day - he volunteered to work it.

I jokingly reminded him that I'd told him NOT to sign up for that day of overtime, because I thought it would be a good idea to get his head together a little bit, and give his hand a rest so the pain could ease up.

He didn't take it very well. Oops.

---

Wow. It seems I've written a novellette. Or something. And stuff.

the last trail...the next path