until you came along, now there's one less thing wrong

I have nothing of interest to report -- I rolled out of bed around eleven a.m., and by 12:30 p.m., the family was settled in for a game of Rail Baron that lasted until seven. I should have read my horoscope earlier today, as it said it all:

"Feelings of jealousy or envy can fuel an emotionally exhausting melodrama that has you playing a leading role. You are clear about what you want now and have a sensible plan to get it. But love doesn't always play by the rules, so parts of your well-constructed strategy might not work as well as you expect. Don't push to get something for nothing. Paradoxically, living in the present moment only works if you can also keep an eye toward the future."

I do play a leading role in Rail Baron, as I am always the banker, which ensures that I'm pretty much stuck paying attention to everything rather than wandering about the kitchen like the rest of the family. And while I did have a strategy, and acted more Carnegie-like than I usually do, I'm quite annoyed that my brother won again. I ended up without a rail presence in the northeast, which for reasons that I won't explain to you is typically a game killer, and so I limped around without ever being seriously in contention. Boo.

But, at least supper was good; my dad has a deli-style meat slicer, and so sliced up the leftover prime rib from last night for sandwiches. Needless to say, they were awesome, and I enjoyed eating a variety of leftover casseroles and some five-cup salad (a v. midwestern concoction of canned apricots, canned pineapple, coconut flakes, marshmallows, and sour cream that is way way tastier than it sounds). After Rail Baron reached its unsatisfying conclusion, we watched an episode of a multi-episode public television documentary series about a woman who has watched the lives of several wild horses out in Montana, which was quite amusing; then, we switched back to CBS, and I watched an even-more-ridiculous-than-usual episode of "CSI: Miami" (with a particularly good intro in which Horatio said, "It's a wrap" right before the opening squeal) and a good episode of "The Mentalist."

After all that television, I spent some quality time getting reacquainted with my novel, as the characters are calling to me in increasingly desperate tones in the hopes of getting some resolution. So rather than staying up until three a.m., I swear that I'm going to bed as soon as I end this -- hopefully I'll get some writing done tomorrow before doing whatever fun things we choose to do. Goodnight!