Fred. (I couldn't think of what to name this one.)

I do not know if I can begin to tell you how much I love our cat Winston. I mean really. I am thinking that our fish Smoothie is not so crazy about him, though.

Anyway, we cheated today. I know, we are slipping, dog. I do not know why I just turned into Randy Jackson.

We happen to live close to a Baskin-Robbins drive-thru. This used to be quite a problem. I would sometimes drive through there and have a banana split for dinner. Again, why so chubby?

We also live in a part of town called the Equestrian District, which is a fancy way of saying there are horses here. So it is fun to get your ice cream and walk around and look at horses in people's yards. (Actually, I think this area has a fancier name than that, like Rancho Horso or something. Cause everything has to be Spanish here. It is crucial.)

(I have an uncle who is like 1/100th Mexican or something. Oh, is he ever gonna write in and yell when he sees that I made it such a teeny amount. Anyway, his whole life he has lived and worked and SPOKEN in Michigan. Yet whenever there is an opportunity for him to say a word with a Latin inflection, OH! is he ever happy. "Let's all go to Thaco Bell! So I can get a burrrrritho!" Again, born, lived in, speaks in MICHIGAN his whole life. But give him a Spanish word and he is Speedy Gonzales. So you can imagine how he gets his knickers in a twist when he comes here. "Oh! Is that Olllverrrra Street? Let's shop there before my siesssta!")

Goodness, how I digress. What I am tying to say is that today I got me a little ice cream hankerin'. I am on Weight Watchers, AND we are not spending, so this was not a good hankering in any way, shape or form. But I blame Marvin Gardens, cause I said, "Doesn't ice cream sound good?" and he said, "Si!" and the next thing you know, old Jed's a millionaire. And there we were at Baskin-Robbins.

I am afraid I got me some chocolate lavender blueberry ice cream, which I know sounds totally gross, but it wasn't. It had little purple peanut butter cup-looking things in it, and those were made out of blueberry lavender and inside each cup was more chocolate.

Marvin had vanilla.

Marvin Gardens always gets vanilla ice cream. When he gets donuts? Plain. What can I tell you? He lives on the edge, that one. A regular Indiana Jones.

So I would imagine we spent like five bucks, all told, and also we walked there and so now I am incredibly allergic feeling, which is God's punishment.

Oh, speaking of God, my pal over at Musings of a Housewife has posted some interesting thoughts on Christianity and tolerance and acceptance and all that. I really like me the Musings of a Housewife (aka dcrmom). Our beliefs are so different, yet we are so alike. It's cool, this blog world.

dcrmom also sent me some interview questions, as part of a little chain that bloggers are sending each other. So if you have a blog, write in and tell me, and I will send YOU five questions that I guess I get to make up! Here they are:

1) As an East Coaster my whole life, the West Coast fascinates me. What do you like most about living in California? And the least?
Well, first of all, I have always felt like I should be living in New York City. It's where I always thought I'd end up. I even applied and got into NYU, but chickened out on going. I wonder how my life would have turned out? Would I have met Marvin Gardens anyway? Cause he went to school in Boston.

But in answer to your question, I think there is no beating the weather. Seriously. People often ask, "Don't you miss the change of seasons?" but I lived in Michigan for 27 years, and you know what seasons I liked that it was changing into? Spring and summer! Which it basically always is here! Also, I like the attitude of the people here and in Seattle, which also counts as the West Coast (see? See my good geography?). In Michigan, it seemed like the prevailing attitude was, "Do not be in any way different. Do not call attention to yourself. Different = bad." Here, it is just the opposite. There is even a movement now in Oregon called "Keep Portland Weird." I love that.

I do not like how when you are 35 in California, you are older than most of the buildings. There seems to be an obsession with money, success and screw history if it means making a profit. There is nothing old here. Including the women.

2) In which reality TV show would you most like to participate, and why? Oh, dear. Certainly not any show where I might vomit or die or get lost. Not The Bachelor, seeing as I have a husband. I do not need Nanny 911. Oh! How about The Biggest Loser? Is it okay that I am not technically overweight but just a little muffin top-y?

3) What is the one beauty product you absolutely cannot live without? I love me all beauty products. But I get antsy when I haven't combed my eyebrows. Am I odd? So, yeah, my eyebrow brush. But a close second is my Shiseido eyelash curler. Do not waste your money on any other eyelash curler, women and drag queens.

4) What has been the hardest thing to live without during your spending freeze? It used to be McDonald's, and now I am really starting to miss pedicures. There is no doing your own pedicure once you start getting them professionally.

But I think the number one thing is that I miss spending to entertain myself. I have come to realize how often I spent money just to keep myself amused. "I'm bored. Maybe I'll go shopping at Ollllvera Street!" Weekends are kind of this looooong stretch of nothingness now.

5) If you were given the opportunity to interview one current world leader, with the exception of President Bush, who would it be? And why? Okay, there is no one, NO ONE, who has less knowledge of world events. I know that this is something that I am supposed to be ashamed of. Once my friend and I were poring over Victoria's Secret catalog, and speaking in great detail about the lives of each model, and my mother said, "You guys, who is the Secretary of State?" We were all, "If it were Stephanie Seymore, we'd know!" That said, does Queen Elizabeth count as a world leader? Or is she kind of the pastel knickknack on the shelf of life? If she counts, I would pick her because she is so STUFFY and HUMORLESS and I would love to see if I could find a personality there. If not Queen Elizabeth, I do like Eleanor Roosevelt. Does she count? Every single thing that woman said was brilliant. Even more brilliant than, "If it were Stephanie Seymore, we'd know!"