Monday, September 01, 2014

Good News On Labor Day

Happy Labor Day! I hope most of you didn't actually have to work. I did, but I cheered myself up this morning with some more My Little Pony. The last Friendship Is Magic episode was "Rainbow Falls." Rainbow wants her team to make it to the Pony Olympics this year, but her other two teammates are flying-phobic Fluttershy and an enormous, hulking male pony who can barely fly. When another team that's filled with genuinely good flyers wants her to join, she has to decide whether to go with the team that may win, or with her friends.

Continued with My Little Pony as I got ready for work. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a throwback to the original two My Little Pony specials, which were actually quite dark for the early 80s. The first one, Firefly's Adventure (aka Rescue At Midnight Castle) introduces Meghan, the spunky human girl who befriends the ponies (though ironically none of the ponies from this first special would reappear in subsequent cartoons). Firefly brings Meghan to Ponyland to help them defeat the evil Tirak, who has been stealing ponies to turn into dragons. If he can unleash the Rainbow of Darkness, it'll begin a night that never ends! A magician friend of the ponies gives them a magic light rainbow to help, but can they get it to Nightmare Castle in time?

Work was such a pain, I almost would have rather been in Nightmare Castle. It's the beginning of the month, and we were overwhelmed with people using their government money or buying things for back to school. People were not in the best moods despite the holiday, probably thanks to the hot, sticky, humid weather. People screamed at their kids and each other all day. I was so happy that it slowed down enough by 5 for me to leave quickly without a relief.

I went home and changed into my bathing suit, then went straight to Dad's. Jodie came by at work and told me she and Dad were having a small barbecue. And it was small. It was just me, Dad, Jodie, Rose and her family, Jodie's sons, and a couple of their friends. We had Jodie's delicious, oh-so-tender pork ribs and chicken legs, macaroni salad, Caesar salad with sliced ham, roasted asparagus with garlic, and s'mores brownies for dessert. It was yummy; I had a little bit of everything.

Rose and her family went home shortly after dinner. Khai's local friends had left, and he needed sleep. I swam in the pool with some of the college-age kids for a while, but the pool was a little on the chilly side. I ended up chatting with Dad, Jodie, and her sons and their friends.

There's been a lot going on in the past month! First of all, Jodie finally landed a job. She's working for a marketing corporation, searching for companies to be their clients. Other than the company is dealing with a lawsuit, she says she loves her job and is very happy there.

Second, the kindly older woman who lived in the small apartment attached to Dad's house moved out. Jodie's son Jesse, his girlfriend Dana, and their dog Heilio will be moving in. Sounds like they're going to sell Jodie's house and give away or sell any furniture they can't use. It won't be for a while, as the apartment needs to be painted and cleaned, but they should be in within a few weeks.

Third, my poor Dad has a slipped disc and is in pain. He'll be going into surgery in the next few weeks...but will be out in time to do another job on the 10th.

But the biggest news of all is, my landlord Andrew told Dad that he finally sold the house I live in...to my next-door neighbor Richard! And not only that, but Richard wouldn't buy the house unless I stayed put! Not only do they want me to stay, but Richard is a big guy with a large, strapping family. He's the one who often helps me with my bike and shovels the snow for me in the winter. He and his family will probably be able to take far better care of the house than Andrew or Miss Ellie ever could. I knew something was going on downstairs. I've heard lots of moving around in the bottom apartment, and the junk that's cluttered up the porch for as long as I can remember is slowly disappearing.

I hope everyone else had an equally surprising and fun Labor Day and end of their summer!

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