And I think the bitchy woman who kept accusing us of taking her seats was his mother.

well, are you surprised?

awww - you noticed. It's a skill I've been working on since elementary school when my teachers would write in "Bossy" on my report cards

I had trouble getting in line. I remember finding a report card where the teacher wrote "sometimes she must be first"

OK, I need a brief back-pat, as I just emailed an assignment that's not due until 6. And I don't think it totally sucks!

OK, I need a brief back-pat, as I just emailed an assignment that's not due until 6. And I don't think it totally sucks!

Excellent. I think you should put on your eyeliner and go dancing now.

Instead, I will put on my sneakers and go to class. Almost as much fun!!!!!

Pitchers and catchers reported today for some teams!

The Jays are finally under 4 days away. 14 days until the first spring training game.

I go tomorrow to whack people with sticks in the desert for a week. Surely this must be a sign of spring, or at least a sign that I will spend 6 days away from winter.

The Adventures of Pete and Pete on DVD!

Yay!

Yay, Jesse! You totally have my envy and admiration.

Dancing would be fun. My dance class was cancelled last night, due to my teacher's sickness. Which stunk. We were supposed to begin learning to swing dance. And there's no school on Monday, so we'll miss that lesson, too.

Can't get links because the site has mysteriously gone down after I bought the shoes.

bon bon bought ALL the shoes.

Swing dance!

The last of my current swing dance classes is tonight. I made cookies.

The best bit is that the tribe has decided to continue on to another 5 week set. Which both surprises and delights me. Our fellas have been game but starting from less than zero, rythmn and suavity-wise. Another 5 weeks ought to bring them up to near Astairian quality.

Okay no. But hey, they're game.

I need to ask our dance instructor VICtor! to teach us some defensive dancing. Last week, we ventured out to Glen Echo for our first public stepping. And I got stepped ON. Took a stiletto to the instep. Lamed me up good and proper with a violent bruise and a...I kid you not...heel mark on my foot.

My partner came over all guilt ridden because he'd 'steered' me into the killer zapato. He ran outside and gathered up a bag of snow to ice my wound. Bless him.

The solution? I'm looking for a pair of cowboy boots to dance in. Next best thing to steel-toed Capezios.

eta: Go ita and the self-closing tag. You rock like a rocket.

Jesse, I apply shadow first and then liner--liquid or pencil.

It's good if the loan is a lower interest rate and there are no early payoff fees (if you intend to pay off early) and you don't ring up anymore credit card debt. If you are needing to quailify for a home loan, or auto loan or somthing you might want to hold off (or close the credit card account(s)) to limit the number of liabilities on your credit report.

Just a small addendum to this. You don't want to close all of your credit card accounts, because then you have no history. For example, you have 3 cards--one opened in 3/00, the second in 3/02, and the third in 3/04--and you close the first two. This would actually lower your credit score because you only have a trade line dating to 3/04 instead of 3/00. The length of your credit history is important, along with your payment history, and has a greater effect on your score than the amount of credit available.

Closing a lot of accounts at the same time also sends a red flag to the credit bureaus. They look for the ability to manage different types of accounts (bank loans, mortgages, credit cards), and eliminating a significant portion or all of one type says that you don't have a handle on things.

So, follow Gud's advice for the consolidation loan, but don't close all of your accounts. Cut the cards up or freeze them in water if you want to make sure they can't be used. The amount of available credit does not weigh as heavily on your credit score as once thought. It's the utilization (debt ratio) that's important.