Of note:

- My little brother has a blog and for some reason it freaks me out. I can't let go to the fact that he's not a saintly naive innocent little 8 year old anymore. He's 19. He's away at college. He kisses girls. I need to get over this.

- I took yesterday off work to go to doctor's appointments, run errands and rest. I think I worked harder yesterday doing laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, going to the dentist, doctor, vet, and shopping than I ever do at my painfully busy job.

- *Thank you Discover Cashback Bonus!* I had a $100 shopping spree compliments of my Discover card at Bed Bath and Beyond yesterday. I am still in shock at how quickly I can spend a hundred bucks. My new favorite toys: oven thermometer (I found that my oven is about 10 degrees off), meat probe thermometer and timer (I can't wait to roast my next chicken!), a silicone muffin pan (I can bake, Ma!), and a microplane zester (fresh nutmeg. Yumm.)

- Speaking of my new amazing silicone muffin pan, I have occasional mentioned that I am baking challenged, but have recently discovered (as of yesterday) that it is the hardware as much as the ingredients that make delicious baked goods. I now have a large silicone bakeware (red, please) wishlist, in case anyone is planning on buying me something for my birthday later this month...

- Speaking of my birthday, it has been confirmed that I will be working my entire birthday/Halloween weekend because the people I work with can't get their acts together. This will leave me with less than a week to do a month's worth of work, with a deadline of November 01. Perfect timing.

- In the past few weeks I've become an ebay junkie. I need something less costly to distract me from working. On the upside, I've recently acquired new flare, both for myself and my house. Yay for vintage brooches and chatchkas.