I actually have two days off in a row. I could have more, but thanks to spectacular bad planning on my part, that's all I get. I decided that it would be perfect to work three 12-hour shifts in a row, plus on call for an additional eight hours the following day, right before we leave for Vegas.

The odds are good that my house will not be clean before going to Vegas.

But everything else is falling into place. Our fancy-pants lunch reservations are made, I'm going to buy new shoes today (sexy black pumps), and David seems to have the whole wedding aspect under control.

Today I'm going with MariClaire and Sybil (and I'm not sure I spelled either name correctly) to the Holiday Craft and Food Festival at the Tacoma Dome. So excited. I love Christmas, and I love that the festival is in October before Halloween. So this should be a kick. And there is supposed to be free samples. That's almost as good as Costco.

Tomorrow I'm buzzing down to Portland to hang with the brothers and Uncle Stan! Uncle Stan lives in the middle of the Wasteland (Texas). The last time I saw him was at Dad's funeral in the middle of nowhere (Princeton, Illinois). I hope he can handle the stress of the big city.

He called me "Jennybud" in an email. I loved that.