Last night we had a strong rainstorm that knocked out my power from about 7 pm, just around the time I was cleaning up after dinner, and midnight, when a CL&P truck rumbled down the street to replace a blown transformer.

It was just about this time last year (October, to be specific) when we had a freak snowstorm that dumped about a foot of early snow on the ground and knocked out power for a full seven days.

At least I didn't have to throw out bad food this time. Electricity is NOT something I take for granted these days, and I can only pray that we have a mild winter.

This morning, I turned in a draft of a case study I've been writing for a real estate executive who wants a certain certification. I've put in 12.75 hours so far, so that's $637, a nice piece of change and quite a bit more than the usual brochures or press releases I do for this client. I know there is still quite a bit of work to do on the case study. I feel squeamish about sending them a bill that will probably be in the neighborhood of $1,000 or more.

I know getting the certification is very important to him; he's tried a few times before to do it and procrastinated and it never got done becus he's just too busy. Just hope he's not shocked by my bill. I'm putting in the time and certainly earned it, but they're just not used to seeing dollar amounts that high from me. Oh well. I'm sure my bill will be very small potatoes when compared to other fees they pay, and receive.

Any day now the client of the PR firm should be setting a meeting time during which to discuss the draft we sent to them over a week ago. Once that meeting takes place, I'll surely be spending considerable time making revisions to the brochure I wrote, so I'm trying to do as much as possible on the real estate case study as I can before I have to switch gears and think energy efficiency initiatives.

It's good to be busy, although since both projects are ongoing, I haven't been paid anything and there will be a long delay in getting payment. Usually 6 weeks for the real estate client.

I went to the doctor yesterday and am nearly positive I have Lyme Disease again. I've already started on the antibiotics although I won't have the results from the blood test for another few days. I'm also taking 3 herbs recommended by an herbalist in a book written about curing Lyme Disease. It worked for me once before when the 3-week course of meds failed to stop the daily headaches. So I am doing both the meds and the herbs, PLUS plenty of acidopholus to avoid a subsequent UTI.

Ha! Just got an email from another client (guardian ad litem) asking if I have time to edit a report. Work actually comes to ME. I love it.

I discovered today that I could pay a $180 bill for a much-needed furnace tune-up with my Amex card, so with that charge, I've attained the magical $2,000 spending mark, earning myself the $250 in gift cards. I'll have to wait for that final charge to show up on my account online, and then I can redeem. Whoeeeeee.

I still have $64 in Amazon gift cards burning a hole in my pocket and I have yet to figure out how to use them. Anything I might like to get, like clothing (I'ld like some comfy sweatpants) or shoes, is something I've learned thru experience is better to try on to ensure a good fit rather than winging it on Amazon. There have been other things I've thought to buy, but they don't qualify for free shipping and so I refuse to waste gift cards on shipping charges. Other things, well, they cost more than $64.

I am still driving J. daily to work, but am really sort of looking forward to a break from the 2 hours plus driving I've been doing when this person he mentioned will start driving him (for free) 2 days a week. When I started driving him in late July, gas prices were at about $3.50 a gallon, and now they're up to $4.05 a gallon, a more than .50 a gallon increase. So I'm making less money doing this than before, and it's also been somewhat disruptive in my freelance work schedule. When I have big projects like the two mentioned above, I can't settle into doing them until after I get back from driving J. in the morning, usually around 8:45 am, and then I have to break from it at 4:40 pm to pick him up.

My freezer is packed with frozen tomatoes from my garden, and until I start using them in soups and stews, I can't fit a single thing in there! I realized this when I was going to take advantage of a sale on Lean Cuisine and had to pass on it becus there's simply no place to put it.

Luther and Waldo have already caught a few mice in the basement trying to escape the cold. Then they end up in the maws of my felines, who are fond of carrying them upstairs to show me their find.