A couple of nights ago I was wakeful and it was after 1 a.m. I couldn’t sleep so I tuned around the cable networks and happened upon a porn channel where two really great looking young girls were making love to each other. I watched in wild surmise for a few minutes, felt nothing except maybe I wanted to draw them, and wondered how they could be so “into” it. But … different strokes. In case you are wondering, it was pretty straightforward -- just your pure romantic kissing and manipulation with attendant moans and sighs. I am guessing more men watch these than women.

I am physically still not back to normal after my medical test and am struggling to maintain my workout routine.

I have persuaded Ed into giving a party the night of the Christmas boat parade (the 19th). He is feeling rather tired these days but I told him he wouldn't have to do anything. My friend, Terry, who is great with hors d’oeuvres is going to make them and I have to decide how many people to ask. She and I have to go shop together.

The boats will sail by around 7 p.m. and the sailors will holler at us and we’ll holler back. Every year there are fewer boat owners who go to the trouble and expense of decorating their boats. I am hoping there will be a decent number.

There aren’t as many decorated houses this year either and many homes are empty because of foreclosures and sales. I am inviting an acquaintance who is now renting in Cape Coral (also known as Cape Coma). Her son had bought her the house on the bay, now in foreclosure, and couldn’t keep the payments up. I learned today that it was more than the economic downturn that did him in. It appears he gambled away at least $100,000.

Nothing is selling either. There is one manufactured home behind a locked cyclone fence at the end of a canal street. You can hardly see it because of thick foliage. I couldn’t get past the gate but squirreled my way down the side to get a better look, doing the spider dance when I ran into a huge web. The location is a recluse’s dream. It has water on two sides. The house itself looks like Appalachia gone poor, but the inside might be better. Appraisal according to a website, Leepa.org, where you type in an address and get all kinds of info on it, is between $100,00 and $150,000. That is, of course, because of the water frontage. It’s just sitting there and no one is trying to sell or rent it. I love secluded places. Wish I could buy it and fix it up and use it for getaways.

xx, Teal