Luther and Waldo caught a mouse last night. Well, Luther did. He was so bored for so long, I bet that mouse was just the ticket to perk up his spirits. He had brought it upstairs to play with, and then it apparently escaped behind a large wood cabinet in the dining room. Eventually, he got hold of it again, and as soon as I saw him carrying it upstairs, I got him back in the basement and blocked access through the cat door so he wouldn't bring it back up again.

I knew it would keep him busy for a while and then when he was ready, he'd be scratching at the door. Yeah, that's just what happened, so at 1 a.m. I had to get out of my warm bed and go downstairs to let him up from the basement.

Between that and a much stronger than expected rainstorm, I didn't sleep much at all last night. The wind was so gusty, it always makes me a nervous wreck about trees coming down on the house or taking power out again.

This morning dawned bright and sunny, but much colder than it's been. I don't know what happened to the mouse. I looked around for a carcass, but saw none. It either escaped, probably to die, poor thing, or it's somewhere dead where I can't see it. Sigh.

I've been remiss in failing to set any mousetraps in the garage this season.

Did about 5 hours worth of work on the contract job, and plan to do another hour or 2 tonight. I am getting positive feedback from them, mostly based on my usual speedy work habits. She also gave me another 25 listings to do, so right now I've got work to keep me busy probably into Saturday.

I got my first paycheck from them today. Not a ton of money, but it's something.

My mother sent me an email that said, this is for real, do you want to go with me if i get tickets. I read the email and it was from "Mrs. Michelle Obama" and asked for $3 to attend some dinner. Scam!!

I was really perturbed with my mother for being so gullible and i have to admit I let her know that. Mom, do you really think the president's wife would send you a blank email and ask you for $3 to go to dinner with her? Well, I didn't take the time to read the bottom of the email. It appeared to be a clever fundraising thing. $3 i guess wins you a CHANCE to have dinner with the Obamas. It's for his re-election campaign.

I haven't barely given a thought to Christmas,and I'm not sure when I will. I'm just so focused on earning income. There's nary a holiday decoration out. I did already buy just 1 small gift each for my mother and sister; that's what we agreed on. Maybe I'll try to do some cards this weekend.

There's also a local pottery show I want to go to. I've always had a soft spot for pottery, though much of it doesn't appeal to me because they fire with such boring colors. Dark browns and that kind of thing. I have a small collection of very turquoise nice pottery, purchased some 25 years ago at the Woodstock Crafts Festival in Vermont. I still love those little pots.

So, OK, here's my things to do this weekend list.

1. Put out a few selected Xmas decorations that make me happy.
2. Address some Christmas cards using up existing stock from last 5 years.
3. Continue contract job and bill them on Saturday.
4. Check out the pottery show at the library.
5. Set mousetraps.