Mixed Bag

Just when Fio thinks everything is hunky-dory, her baby car refuses to turn over when she comes come back from delivering boxes to her INR nurse for a future move, her new computer decides not to let Fio "save," and her body decides to come down sick. On the other hand, friend Patricia has set up an electronic route which allows her and Fio to send story ideas back and forth, friend Jane/Juana has sent Fio a pack of Spanish cards that she can carry in her purse for odd moments, and she's recovered from whatever bug had her down. Guess it evens out, but Fiorella sure would like to get ahead of the curve.

Thanks to All

Fiorella is very fortunate to have good friends, like Jason, who is restoring her baby car for her.  And like Lisa, who told her about two tax deductions she needed to take advantage of.  Like Janece, who regularly gives her sympathy and wise council.  Like Suzy and Ellen, who support her across the miles.  Like Pat, whom she's never met in person.  Like Paula and Sharon, who've stood by her through the years.  Like Jamie and Patricia and Claire, who've helped her with electronics.  Like Jane and Jan, who make her laugh.

And if this reads like an acknowledgment page, it is.

Ins and Outs and All Abouts

Everywhere Fio went yesterday, she got herself into trouble.  She missed the turn to Mimi's Cafe and drove round and round Premium Outlets, stopping to get guidance from everyone she saw.  Later on, she couldn't find her credit card in HEB and had to leave her cart with the front desk while she went back to the car to search for it.  And when she got home,  she lost the new roll of Scotch tape she'd bought to affix her paper snowflakes to the window.  To top it off, that evening, her computer froze, and she had to turn to pen and paper to work on her Christmas poem.  But the words just wouldn't come.

However, she did finally reach Mimi's and had an enjoyable lunch with Friend Jane, she eventually found her credit card in her purse and reclaimed her groceries, and, after a thorough search, she found the tape and decorated the windows.  Then, this morning, as she was waking up, the key lines of her poem came to her, and when she came downstairs and pulled her laptop out from under the couch, Sonia Dog's nemesis worked.

All's well that ends well.

Fiorella Thanks You!

This is amazing!  I'd noticed a while ago that I wasn't getting any comments about my blogs, which was sorta okay because I write for myself (I'm the Pepys of my time), but sorta not okay--had I driven away my faithful readers?  Then I noticed the word "comments" was in the list of options in the "new" (translation--at least a year old) set-up of Blogspot.  Opening it up, I was flooded by a cornucopia of clever comments, precious pearls of wisdom, and--well--a few sleazy ads.

So thank you to Janece and Gary and Pat and Jane and Suzy and Lynn and Janet and Kit F. and Older Son, and Anonymous (who invited me to coffee--who are you?) and everyone else who's commented.   I am not alone in the world after all!

Eclectic Snippets

Like Dolly, Fiorella's back in town.  Not that she was actually gone, just knocked off the internet till about noon today, which drove her crazy.  No Google news, no e-mail, no blogging.  For someone who calls herself a Luddite, Fio is mighty computer-dependent.
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Looking at the pictures Son took of her, Fio realizes she doesn't really look as good as she thinks she does.  But then, she never did.
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Between the elections and the Longhorns, Fio's going to retreat into her snail shell for the duration.
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What would Fio do without friends?  Tomorrow she's going to have lunch with Joan, and last week she lunched with Sharon.  Last night she wrote a long email to Suzy in England to bring her up to date.  Paula has stood by her for years.  Katie, Janece, and Jane have cheered on her literary aspirations, and Marion even read an early copy of P of BB.  Fio's sure to have left someone important out so please forgive her because she loves you all.