Don't forget to put "Make list" right up top.

A friend of my sister's would always put "go to bathroom" on any list she was making. Instant cross-off!

In Los Angeles, this is what $1195 per month in rent gets you

...you can get a 2-br apartment in LA for under $1200/month???

I was waiting for a New Yorker to chime in! This is when I'm glad GF and I bought when we did. We have a 1300 sq foot 2 bedroom condo with laundry, parking, security bldg, and pool/spa and our mortgage is less than $1200/mo. Excellent timing.

PS: Even so, we are talking more and more about leaving LA.

Would you want to remain in So Cal, Gloomcookie?

For $1295 up here you could probably get two four-bedroom houses. But no one wants to live here for good reason.

I can no longer see the surface of the street from my bedroom window -- the snow piled up at the curb is too high. Only the basin of the bird bath in the backyard is visible now. And the snow in front is now level with the topfront step (we use the side door).

Yes, I *am* going to bitch about the snow forEVER.

Winters like that get so oppressive, Amy. I don't blame you one bit. Our nearly snowless winter has had its own weird, oppressive feel, too. I also think the lack of snow and mild temperatures that we had until we were well into January are to blame for a lot of the illnesses floating around. I for one, welcome our new snowy overlords.

Chris had a headache this morning, but he had no fever, so I gave him Tylenol and packed his little tush off to school. Julia's still feverish, but we medicated her at midnight, and I gave her an extra pillow to sleep on. I don't know if either thing worked, or her virus just settled a little, but she didn't throw up in the middle of the night, and I'm glad to take that victory, however we got it. I am starting to understand how athletes get caught up in ritual when they're on a winning streak. Smelly socks, here I come.

I don't want to be at work today. Want to get on the road. I finished most of my stuff yesterday anyway. There are no bosses here and only one other coworker. I guess I'll watch tv on the pod and get stuff done for Monday.

Here's what you can get in Dallas for $1150 [link]

In my neighborhood, in a building pretty similar to mine (except that mine doesn't have a pool), $1400 will get you a studio: [link]

It should go without saying, I feel, that $1200/mo in Cincinnati can get you a whole whole WHOLE lotta house, in a nice part of town.

(I remember once freaking some NYC-istas out when I mentioned that my rent on my 1-bedroom apartment, which is a decent size, is $535. To quell the freakout, I had to remind them that this is *Cincinnati.*)