Doing laundry today, I was assaulted with a variety of added fragrances. The detergent has a fragrance. The bleach has a fragrance. The fabric softener has a fragrance and the dryer sheets have a fragrance. My poor clothes are just bombarded by perfumes.

The funny thing is, when they come out of the dryer they have a faint fragrance in them, but by the time they are fluffed and folded and put in the closet, they don’t smell like anything at all any longer.

Something new for me this year will be a formal table with a centerpiece of fresh flowers. That is the nice thing about having just adults for dinner. You can dress up a little more, and we can splurge on a nice bottle of wine and fresh flowers. I’m really looking forward to this being the first of many more nice dinners.

My favorite magazine was always McCall’s Magazine. I know they stopped publishing it many years ago. I miss that one.

Although I am a “dog person” as opposed to a “cat person,” I do love the way cats are companions and inspiration for a lot of Halloween symbols. I am not superstitious and worried about black cats. I found this pumpkin design and thought it was really cute. I might try it on mine. Heading for the pumpkin patch this weekend.

Even if you do not have a sweetheart in your life right now, you can still celebrate Valentine’s Day by having a nice treat for yourself. You can buy yourself some pretty flowers, or buy some gourmet chocolates for yourself – and the good thing is that you will buy your favorite brand and not have to pretend to be happy with that box of cheap stuff that he misguidedly – or cheaply – bought at the drug store as an afterthought.

Me? I bought a big slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. That’s my special treat!

Without the kids, its is much more somber and even depressing. I still went through the motions of decorating the tree and we will have a nice dinner. But it’s not so much fun this year.

We don’t know who is the right repair company to call – I can’t tell who installed it in the first place and I don’t have a phone book. So I’m going to check the internet Superpages and see if any company names sound good.

Back home, we buy little rectangular white on black plastic signs from Wal-Mart or the Ace hardware store that say “POSTED” and just tack or nail them to trees along the property lines and roadsides.

But I guess the old tires are something the farmers don’t have to buy and are a fine example of recycling and resourcefulness. Besides, the closest Wal-Mart is an hour and 10 minutes away in Kingfisher, and with the price of gasoline, you can’t just run over to the Wal-Mart every time you need something. This is a small Wal-Mart – they don’t even sell gas at this one, but it is the birthplace of Sam Walton, so they had to have one, even if it’s just a small one.

Out in the country you make shopping lists and save up for one big shopping trip, maybe once a month or so. The whole family goes and makes a day trip of it.

Another option for her is to order as much as she can over the internet and let Big Brown bring it all to her doorstep. One of her big personal needs is support hose, which she has to wear every day – even in the heat of summer. So I was delighted to come across an internet source for the ones that she likes.

Just to be nice, I’m going to order her a couple pair from the website and have them delivered as a little surprise. Then she can order her future pairs from the same place.

Well, I had a though that the web site for police and military gear, www.lapolicegear.com, might have something so I checked it out. I think I found the perfect solution – a “bail out” tactical gear bag. It has pockets and compartments for all different sizes and types of gear.

We have a great tent, sleeping bags, cooler and plenty of fishing gear. Yesterday we stopped by Wal-Mart to see if we needed anything else to pick up and found a few things. I bought a couple flashlights and a can of bug spray. We’ll wait to buy the groceries until we get closer to the weekend and know for sure that we’re going.

So cross your fingers for us that we have a good weekend!

Like the “experts” who every year predict that this coming year will have lots of terrible hurricanes. Well, duh. Every year does have the chance that there will be terrible hurricanes, and if a hurricane happens to rip through your own neighborhood then you most likely will be calling that hurricane terrible and a few other choice names. But the fact is that not every year has terrible hurricanes, some years are worse than others.

I like flip flops. I have been wearing them since a little kid and they are my footwear of choice during the hot summer months and certainly better than going barefoot. There is not much difference between a pair of cheap flip flops and expensive designer thongs sandals other than the “design” and the price tag. I really don’t see how flip flops can be bad for my feet when I’ve been wearing them every summer for over 50 years.

Being on the coast, the house has suffered a lot of weather damage and actually needs a lot more work than just spit and polish. She met with a contractor while she was out there settling the estate and he went through the house to give her a detailed estimate for repairs.

Rhonda is going out to Pacifica again next month to get some of the work started. I have a funny feeling that she is going to like it out there so much that she decides to move there permanently, or at least for a few years until the housing market improves and she can get a good price on the property.

The delivery was the father’s day gift I ordered just a couple days ago – a way cool flashlight from a website I came across that specializes in hobby and tactical optical products. Those are big words for some really cool guy stuff, like binoculars, rifle scopes, flashlights, etc.