And Then There Were Two

Wow, the train took forever last night to get me home, but no matter, Kim and Victoria didn't start until late (although they never did tell me if the Bryan Brother's pulled it out, darn).  Kim looked great!  Azarenka looked better.  There were nerves on both sides.  Any time one was down, just look away and they'd pull themselves out and be on top.  Three sets of a roller coaster and Azarenka has made it into her first final (can that possibly be right--she is an awesome player) and it is time for Kim to say good-bye to Australia.  This is bittersweet, since Kim (a long time ago) dated Australian tennis superstar, Lleyton Hewitt and she was known as Aussie Kim (even though she's Belgium).  Now she's a mom and she wants to have another child, so this is her last season in tennis--heartbreak for us--she will be missed.

And then before you can get your breath, Petra and Maria take the stage.  I looked at the clock and it was already 9:30--I couldn't believe it was so late and yet their match was just starting.  Kvitova came out fighting hard--making Maria look a lot older than she is (she's only 24--I think Serena has already had her 30th).  Maria fought for every point, but Petra just looked a lot better in the beginning.  And then the cracks began to show.  Kvitova was soooo nervous and Maria was soooo determined.  Another roller coaster ride--one minute I was sure that Kvitova had the match well in hand and I was sadly ready to say good-bye to Maria and then Maria had the match masterfully in hand and I was sadly ready to say good-bye to Petra--better luck next time.  And then Petra would not go away.  She found more weapons and then Maria made errors and then Petra made errors and then Maria hung on against terrible odds and then Petra held on against terrible odds.  It took three sets, but Maria did it (Petra's nerves were too much in the end).

So the finals will be Maria Sharapova looking for her second Australian Open Championship, but her first after shoulder surgery.  The commentators could not come up with a single athlete who had that serious surgery and came back from it to win a major.  Against Victoria Azarenka--a very solid, powerful, talented player who is in her first final in a major.  Maria will be the favorite, but Azarenka is the one to watch.  Even though it is her first final, I do not expect nerves from this one (of course, I didn't expect them from Kvitova either who had won the French--oh well, I love Maria's chances on this one).  The winner will be the new number one women's ranking which is usually not a good thing--past number one's crash and burn or never win majors--Maria, however, I am sure, will be happy to chance it.

And then I crashed.  It was almost midnight and the men's semifinal was going to start at 12:30.  I set up the DVR and prayed.  At 5:30 a.m. I was wide awake, hoping that I could watch the dream match--Men's semifinal, NADAL v. FEDERER!  The DVR worked, I was so happy.  I settled in to watch holding the remote, since if it went five sets, I was going to have to fast forward over some play in order to still make the train at 8:30.  The first set was an impossible nail biter--could Fed really beat my Nadal.  He seemed to have all the answers, but then so did Nadal.  Nadal made Fed look human and not so magic after all.  It was amazing.  No more elegant Fed--Nadal made him scrap and scramble and jump and miss and the net, oh the net was not Fed's friend at all.  But Nadal was no longer the king either.  He too did not get the impossible shot that he usually makes look routine.  Oh my, Fed won the first set and was up a break in the second.  How could this be?  Then Nadal took command, never say die, he broke right back.  This one went back and forth so much.  The commentators said that these two know each other's game so well that there are no surprises.  At 8:00 a.m. I was so nervous--would I miss my train.  I looked at the train schedule.  If they went to a fifth set, I was going to have to wait until 10:45 for the next train.  I could possibly drive in, but I'm staying in Glendale tonight and then I have the kids on Friday and I'd have two cars in Glendale and have to drive back on Monday night--it is just not going to work.  Please win in the fourth!! put an end to this.

I could pause the game--Did I?  I did made the train, but that is all I will say, because some people have not had the opportunity to watch it yet.

Hot, Hot, Hot

So that is the condition in Melbourne this week.  Maria is playing really excellent and then her serve goes and we hold our breath and then it comes back and we breath a sigh of relief.  Lisicki looked like she had the goods, but in the end Maria held on and she's still in the race.  Amazingly Zvonareva is out and a qualifyier, Makarova (whom I had never heard of) is through to face Sharapova in the quarters.  If Maria has a problem with a qualifier, then she deserves to lose, but I don't think she will have any problem at all.  Then she plays Kvitova--oh my.  She is a new up and commer who won a major last year and was in some finals the year before.  She has a great spirit, but I'll probably be rooting for Maria. 

On the other side, oh my, oh my.  When Kim Clijsters turned her ankle, I was heartbroken for her.  Then when Li Na self imploaded, I was heartbroken for her (thrilled times three for Kim, but heartbroken for her).  Next Kim faced Caroline.  I love Caroline.  I love Kim.  Kim had an injury and Caroline is really, really hungry for her first slam win.  She's a scraper.  But then so is Kim.  Kim Clijsters played so awesomely.  Everything was clicking.  Caroline doesn't give up--ever, but she just got out played by someone with a lot more weapons.  Kim next faces Azarenka.  Another commer, who's won some majors and been in the mix a lot in the past few years.  Kim will really have her work cut out for her, but with the momentum that she has, I like her chances.

On the men's side, we are getting used to this final four that is shaping up.  I thought that Del Po would put up a better fight against Federer, but Fed had it all the way.  I was not surprized that Berdych won one set off of Nadal, but I was also not surprized that Berdych is out and we have the famed Federer/Nadal match up next. 

Djokovic against Hewitt was not easy to watch.  Hewitt works sooo hard and Djokovic didn't need his A game.  And then on the other side--a new comer to the field, Kei Nishikori.  Again, if Murray can't beat this guy, this gift in the draw, then he doesn't deserve the next round.  Murray has been playing very well this tournament.  Djok better bring his A game in that match up. 

Honorable mention to Serena going out to a qualifier--it just was not her night.  And I expected Ivanovic to put up more of a match against Kvitova--That Petra has a great game.  Maria will really need to bring her best to beat her (if she gets there).  I didn't get to see Bartoli play this tournament and I was surprised and a little encouraged that Zheng Jie could take her.  It was so awful that Monfils was injured and didn't play 100%.  If you tuned in on my recomendation, try again when he's fit--he really is the most fun to watch of all of them.

So knock on wood that there won't be rain, but I'm sure they'd love a cloud or two, cause it is very hot at the Australian Open.

Tennis Anyone

It's the most wonderful time of the year--ok, the most wonderful time happens four times a year, but it's been a really long time since last Summer and the US Open--I can't even remember who won (except that I don't think it was my Nadal).

So a few years back, when I first discovered the Australian Open, Serena had been slipping out of the top 10, focusing on her fashion or some such stuff and all of a sudden she refocused at the Australian Open and won it all.  They were the first court to have retractable roofs so that they could play rain or shine--a very big deal.  The wonderful thing about the grand slams are the interesting match ups that come out of the draw.  It used to be that the same old, same old, always made it through.  Maybe it is just me, but the field is sooo sooo deep these days. 

On the women's side, as much as I love Serena and Kim Clijsters, and Jankovic (she is playing mixed doubles with Tomic--Wow,Wow,Wow) and Maria and Li Na and even Kvitova and Kuznetsova (and it is sooo sad that Sam Stosur went out in the first round--the first round in her own country), I want Caroline to win.  She is an awesome player.  This has to be some kind of a record to be number one in your sport, but to have never won a major.  She's going to have to beat ALL of my favorite players until the semi's and Serena is on the other side so the final won't be a picnic either.  We'll see.  Nadia is already out, heartbreak, but at least she is still in doubles.

On the men's side, there are no Americans left in the field.  When I saw the result of the Hewitt/Roddick match I was very surprised.  I was even more surprised when I realized that it was in three sets and then I saw those dreaded three letters "ret".  INJURY, oh no.  Roddick was injured and had to retire.  I couldn't wait to see the dvr, so I read the web story and the comments.  A hamstring injury, ouch.  Earlier in the game so he played with the injury for a while, double ouch.  The comments really slammed Hewitt.  I love Hewitt.  I love Roddick too, but I took offense at the negative treatment of Hewitt. 

Until I watched the match.  Oh my.  Hewitt took his "I hate the world" pills.  Roddick played well, but not great.  Hewitt played well, but not great.  In the third set, it was very clear that Roddick wasn't moving, but Hewitt didn't run away with the game or anything, Roddick was right in it.  Since I already knew that he retired, I expected him to do it at almost every turn.  Finally Patrick (McEnroe the commentator on ESPN2) said Andy had to be in a lot of pain, but he doesn't show it and he knows that everyone paid a lot of money to see this match and he wants to give them a match.  The camera was close up on Roddick at one point and he was tearing, but he used a towel on his face and was ready for the next serve.  It was agony waiting for him to retire.  I started to get very angry with Hewitt showing his angry guy fist pump for every point that he won.  He knew damn well that Roddick was hurt and not 100%.  I started to understand the comments.

I watched the first round match of Tomic v. Verdasco.  I felt bad for Tomic (an Australian--really young guy, very successful as a junior) to have to go up such a great veteran player in his first round.  It never occured to me that Tomic would win.  But oh, baby, he did.  An epic five set nail bitter.  And then Tomic beat Querry (an American with promise that has not been realized to date) and then he beat Dolgopolov, another fine player and another five set match.  Now he will face Federer.  Tomic you had a great run--you are tall with terrific skills, but don't even think about winning against my Roger Federer.

Roger played Ivo Karlovic in the last round, oh my.  The went to a tie break in the first set.  Ivo was up a mini break and I thought what the h*ll, does just anybody think they can beat Roger these days.  I mean Karlovic is a really good player, don't get me wrong, he's been around for a long time.  It is one thing for Safin (who had won a major) to think he stood a change against Roger (it's probably several years ago, but I still remember it from the period during which Roger could not be beat), but Ivo hasn't ever won a major.  The next three points were poetry in motion.

Let me just say here, that I've had a hard time liking Federer.  The guy doesn't smile and he was the only player to challenge my favorite Nadal.  Roger always has a non descript look on his face, sometimes a scowl, but usually no emotion at all.  And he appears to win so effortlessly that it is easy to miss the poetry of his movements, the shear gorgeousness of his form.  He makes tennis look like anyone could just pick up a racket and hit the ball exactly where they want to.  With Nadal and Roddick, you see force and power, with Roger, it is finess, a soft touch, magic.  I guess it is hard to call a magician a skilled athlete, because it really looks like magic, but I digress.

When Ivo went up the mini break, they showed a shot of Mirka, Roger's wife (I'm probably spelling her name wrong).  I don't like Mirka.  I didn't like her when she was the long time fiance and I didn't like her as the wife.  Roger is the premier athlete in the world, of all time and she looks like a sour puss.  She's always frowning.   She always looks mad or bored.  Uncle Tony (Nadal's coach and his Uncle) always looks serious too, but Mirka, well she looks kind of mean.  So Ivo goes up his mini break and his box goes crazy they are so happy.  Mirka frowns, wrings her hands a little and I think, I don't like you Mirka.

And then Roger wins the next point.  Ivo's box was perplexed.  How did Roger win that point?  It was over so fast--did they even see the ball?  And Wow, Roger has a beautiful serve.  How have I never noticed what a gorgeous serve Roger has.  His movement is so graceful and beautiful.  And when he won set point, they showed a shot of Mirka.  She had the most beautiful, wonderful smile on her face.  I have never seen that woman smile.  It gives me hope for mankind.  Roger is such an awesome player that I almost think he loses some points on purpose a little, so that when he pulls out the win, we will actually appreciate it and reward him with that big smile.

I still want Nadal to win the whole thing.

P.S.  If you get a change to see a Monfil's match, don't miss it.  Cahill said that when he comes back in his next life, he wants to come back as Gil Monfils--who wouldn't want to wake up every morning and be that happy, wonderful guy.  He has so much fun on the court and he is such an awesome player.  Me too.

Are You Ready for Some Fitness?

So weight watchers is still going good.  I've lost over 6 pounds (even after I went a week without tracking and felt like I was eating too much).  The gal who is leading the meetings that I attend is very funny and down to earth.  I like her a lot.  She told us that Charles Barkley is going to be a new spokes person for weight watchers--and that there is a new component to get us more active.

Well, curves is not working for me anymore.  I used to go early in the morning--walking there.  It was a nice habit, but now I take the train and that is not going to work.  The curves near my new place is dark and very, very crowded.  Not ideal.

Annie had a heartattack two years ago and she got a personal trainer who helped her lose weight and get fit.  Doesn't it sound really expensive to get a personal trainer.  Annie is perpetually unemployed and always broke, so when she said that she had a personal trainer, it started to sound doable.  I recently saw her and she told me that she couldn't afford the personal trainer any longer, but that she goes to the gym religiously.  She belongs to LA Fitness and the price was more reasonable than I thought it would be.  So I looked into locations.  There's one near weight watchers, but not my new place and not the office.  So then I looked at 24 hour fitness--there's one by the office, but not that close to my new place.  Then I looked at Ballys.  This is the place that I joined when I was twenty something and purchased a two year membership that I NEVER used.  I had the key chain that I used and called my $300 key chain, but I digress.  I poked my head into the Ballys and it was crowded and depressing.  I don't like gyms and I like that it was women only at curves.

So then I looked at Total Woman.  There is one by the new place and the office.  I forced myself to go inside and just look after the leader at weight watchers recommended it.  It was lovely.  Not crowded.  Actually rich looking because they also have a spa.  So in my head, I'm thinking, yea, this would be nice, but I can't afford this place.

You know how you are supposed to avoid three people in life:  used car salesman, time share salesperson and gym membership sales persons.  I broke my own carnal rule and sat down with the very nice (not disgustingly skinny or athletic) gym membership sales person.  She took me on a tour.  Very nice.  There's a hot tub.  I don't like hot tubs, but it was so warm in that room that I wanted to like hot tubs.  There was a zumba class going on.  I could do that.  That actually looks kindof fun.  Now the gym part had lots of treadmills and stationary bikes and stair things and funny looking machines, but it was also an optical illusion, because there were mirrors on all of the walls.  It looked a lot bigger than it was and I had to remind myself over and over--it is not crowded because everyone is in the zumba class and there are fewer machines than it appears.  But it was too late.  I was smiling approvingly from ear to ear.  It looked awesome.

When we sat down to talk brass tacks, I was astonished at the price.  It is less than curves.  How is that possible?  And there is no charge for the classes.  When I belonged to 24 hour fitness for a minute, the classes were extra.  The salesperson said that there was no charge for the babysitting (really cute room for the kids on Saturday when I have them), but later she gave me a gift card to cover a month of free babysitting.  The spa stuff is separate and costs, but the facial that I wanted was on special.  (You can see this starting to add up--but wait...)  So now I was feeling like maybe I should have a personal trainer to get me started.  There was a special:  4 half sessions for only $200.  It was pricey but maybe doable.  This is my health.  My life is toast if I can't walk and my knees are going in that direction.  I could amortize this cost over the year and then it is not so bad to spend a bit more. 

If you have guessed that very charming sales person did not recommend trying to get started with just four half sessions, you win.  She talked me into a bit more than that and I am amortizing in my head over more than just one year.  Also, the contract reminds me of the waste disposal contract that we had at the condo.  There was a one week period once a year that you were allowed to cancel the contract without being charged for an additional penalty of one years contract price.  This contract is not that bad, but it is harsh.  I can cancel anytime with 15 days notice before the monthly payment date.  I've paid for first and last month, so I have gym membership for another 45 days after I cancel.  I can save $24 per year, if I pay for a year in advance, but I'm not willing to pay for a year in advance until I know that I will go enough to make it worth it.

So my new personal trainer called me.  I set her straight right away--no diet advice.  [I have made dieticians cry--it is not pretty.]  To her credit, she agreed as long as I don't faint.  She won't tolerate anorexia.  I laughed for a long time at that one and assured her, there'd be no fainting.  She wants me to bring a towel, because she said that I will sweat.  I told her that she has me confused with an athlete, but that if she thinks she can get me to sweat enough to need a towel, she can try.  We'll see.  Healthy, sure; crazy; not so much.

Stay tuned.

The Land of Hap pee ness

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post.  The happiest place on earth has been peed upon and lost a bit of its luster. 

I took Caitlyn to Disneyland on Saturday. 

The Good:

It is Christmas time, so it was all decorated so wonderfully.  We went to the Princess show (they taught the girls to curtsy and Caity danced with Cinderella--the heartstopping wonderment of dancing with your favorite person on the planet).  Caitlyn was in another dimension of happiness that we mere mortals can only dream of.  Then we went to Minnie Mouse's house and Caitlyn got to hug Minnie Mouse--her favorite.  She played with everything--everything in Minnie's house and ran next door to Mickey's house.  Now she was getting overloaded, so we did not wait in line to see Mickey and like a drug addict her eyes darted around toon town to see what else there was to do.  We went to Donald Duck's house and waved at Goofy from the top.  We went on the little roller coaster that she hated, but when offered another ride, she didn't hestitate to say yes and then scream that she wanted off the entire time.  Then she forgot that she hated the roller coaster and was very upset that she couldn't go on the huge one in California Adventure because she wasn't tall enough. 

She was very grown up and wanted to go on the ferris wheel and then when we were at the top, she said she didn't like being so high up.  She had lots of fun in the toy story ride and was thrilled that she "beat" Aunt Kathy's score (which I figured out she couldn't really read the numbers, so I just had to tell her that she won and she was exstatic).  We had pizza and chicken nuggets and french fries and popcorn--the four major (junk) food groups.  And although the fireworks were cancelled due to high winds, Caitlyn was asleep by then anyway.  Before she fell asleep, she got the prize that she most wanted:  Princess, Minnie Mouse Ears with a crown and a veil.  [Do those disney merchandizers know their audience or what!]  The child had a magical day.

The Bad: 

It was so very crowded.  I had rented a stoller and that was really the only way to keep track of a six year old.  I kept running into people's feet and getting hit with people's large backpacks as they turned around.  Some of the lines had lanes that were so skinny, I felt like a sardine and that was even before I was reduced to picking up the pretty cranky "waiting-in-line" Caitlyn (as opposed to the excited "I want to do that again" Caitlyn) and holding her until my arms wanted to fall off.  At the end of the day, she still frantically wanted to see more attractions, so I took her up the stairs to the Tarzen house (it used to be the Swiss Family Robinson).  It was about 8 flights of stairs, then a wiggly bridge to the tree.  My knees were screaming going up, up, up all the stairs and then at the bridge, Caitlyn absolutely refused to cross it.  I dragged her in a way that I'm not proud of, but I couldn't face those stairs without an attaction payoff.  [She did absolutely love the attraction scenes from Tarzan, even if she had no idea about the story.] 

The Ugly:

A few years ago, I stood in line for two hours just to get the tickets to go into Disneyland.  The entire time in line, long as it was, I was struck by how happy everyone in the line was.  The excitement was palpable.  So for the most part, my experience up until now has been that the lines, while long, are ok--not horrible--sometimes almost pleasant.  For some reason, I have fond memories of the lines into the Haunted House and Pirates of the Caribian--perhaps because the lines are almost always twice or three or twenty times as long as the ride itself, but I digress. 

Caitlyn and I stood in line for the Dumbo ride.  The sun was just starting to dip.  The lanes were very skinny.  The lady in front of us had two children.  Then she let three adults and two more children cut into the line, as she was saving their place.  It had already been a long day and Caitlyn was pretty heavy.  I was leaning against a railing, but the lanes were so skinny, that I didn't always have space to lean, so maybe the expression on my face when all those people got in front of us was not happy. 

One of the ladies who cut was trying to convince two more adults to come in line with them, but they declined and waited outside the line.  So this group had an adult for each kid, plus two extra adults out of the line and they had no problem saving their place and cutting in and out.  YET, this horrible, horrible, nay I will even add, evil person (I hate to think that she is the mother--probably the drug addicted cousin with no children judging by the extrordinate amount of eyeshadow and glassy eyes) takes the youngest child--maybe three or four years old--pulls down his pants and gets him to pee on the grass in line.  He's crying--he doesn't want to.  Evil B***h is yelling at him to go.  I closed my eyes and tried to transport myself to another dimension and made sure that Caitlyn was facing the other direction.  We had another 30 minutes in line with these mutants.  The small child left the line before the ride--never did see where he went.

Caitlyn enjoyed the Dumbo ride and her "let's do that again" Caitlyn self was hard to resist, but I can never set foot in Fantasyland ever again.  The luster stinks.

When the fireworks were cancelled, the shear mass of people leaving did not give me any alternative, but to get pushed out with the flow--no easy task with a stroller and a sleeping child covered with every bit of clothing we had to keep warm, two drinks (no cupholders in the rented stroller) that had spilled all over the every bit of clothing that we had, so that we had to buy a new sweatshirt for bottem layer, a tub of popcorn (that spilled, of course) and all the actriments that come with spending over 12 hours at Disneyland.  Everything that was disposable, was disposed of upon returning the stroller and I carried all the keep pile stuff and the sleeping Caitlyn until my arms did actually give out.  Then I had to act like a drill sargent to make Caitlyn stay awake and walking until we got to our destination (by which time she was wide awake and asking for a movie that I had no way to provide, oye.  She fell asleep to Seinfeld.)

I keep trying to remember the wonderment part, but the pee part keeps stinking up the joint.  It might be a long time before I go there again. 

Teaser

My three favorite authors had books come out within the past couple of weeks.  I read the first one the first day it came out (in hardback prices on my ipad)--straight through.  The second was a large paperback version (higher price, but still on the ipad) and I held out three whole days before I read it in two.  The last, I held out for about five days and read it in one day (spilling over to this morning).  At the end of the book there was a teaser for this author's next book.  Not until June.  June!  It is not even Christmas and my three favorite authors are not only done for the year, but might not have another book out until June.  Actually, now that I think about it, the teaser for the second author was April--but that's next year--months and months away.

Kindle gives little blurbs about the books online, so I went back to old books by an author I like, but hadn't followed since the beginning of her career hoping to find a gem.  The book only had two stars (out of five, so not encouraging), but I was a little desperate for something to read, so I got it.  It turns out the blurb was not very descriptive, because I had read it before (must have been on my ireader on my iphone, because those got erased when I went to Borders and tried to sign onto their internet--it is all a grand conspiracy).  Anyhoo, this experience is making me more cautious about getting older books. 

It is inconceivable to me that there are millions and millions of books and that I can't find anything to read.  On the other hand, I'm semi addicted to books and reading and I would do nothing all day long but read if I had books I wanted to read to read, so purhaps in the larger sceme of things it is all for the best. 

April, April, April and then June, June, June.  Oye.  It is a good thing the card game spite and malice is endless.  [Of course, my ipad went dark on me again for about five minutes yesterday (in the middle of book number 3--imagine the horror), but it did come back on.  I might be a little too obsessed.]

Broken Window

The threashold on my front door is broken--the large rubber strip in the middle was off track, so it prevented the door from closing easily.  Sometimes if you didn't slam it all the way closed, it would just pop back open.  I showed it to Jo, the painter extraordinaire and he said he would fix it, but then he didn't.  I never used the front door if I could help it.  I was very careful closing it properly, but a lot of people come and go at my house, so I worried.

Adrienne called a week ago last friday and said, "Come home right now--we've been robbed."  She said that when she got home she noticed that the front door was open, but just thought that one of us had left without closing it properly.  It took her a little while to realize that her computer was missing and that we'd been robbed.

All the way driving home I was lamenting the fact that I am not handy.  A person who is not handy might have no business owning a home.  A person who is not handy, really ought to have a handyman on retainer so that little things like a threashold off its track will not escalate into a major problem.  We've been robbed--that's pretty major.  What is the point of having a door at all, if it won't close.  Lots of negative thoughts run through your mind when you are racing home at such a time.

So I got there and the police officer to take our report was there.  He said don't touch anything, because they will dust for fingerprints.  Really, I thought?  That's odd.  And yet, it was also soothing.  The police are actually going to try to solve this petty crime.  I am so lucky to live in such a nice City.  Of course several hours ago, I was so lucky to live in a City with no crime--I don't live there anymore.

As we went through the house assessing the damage and loss, there were only a few things missing (mostly Adrienne's stuff--sorry kid).  We just don't have very much to steal.  A yard sale soaking wet would have a hard time coming up with the matching money on Clean House.  They took Adam's computer which is a real bummer, but not nearly as bad as them taking Adrienne's laptop which she had lots of files and pictures on. 

So we are looking around and the police officer says, here's where they got in at the back window.  They actually broke the back window to get in.   The broken glass was on the windowsill which I thought was odd.  If they smashed the window, glass would have been on the floor.  My theory is that they had a small tap hammer or something to gently and maybe quietly break the glass right next to the lock to get it open.  I'm probably over romantizing it, but that's where my head went.

Now the front door--I can solve that problem.  We have a heavy duty screen door with a killer lock--no one can get through that way if we lock that lock.  And we have a dead bolt on the back doors--no pushovers there.  But I am not a handy person.  And now, I have a broken window on a Friday afternoon that needs to be fixed right now.  I called four places.  Three handymen services and one glass place.  The earliest appointment was the following wednesday.  The handymen services just said no.  The receptionist at my office heard me and offered to find someone.  I was sceptical, but I was getting no where anyway.  Adrienne offered to tape up some cardboard.  That seemed like a very weak response, but I didn't have any better ideas.

Ok, I take that back.  My idea was to go to home depot and buy a large piece of plywood and a nail gun.  I envisioned putting the plywood on the side of the house over the window and then (I would also have to buy a step ladder, because I don't want to put up my giant ladder that pinched my toe the last time I used it and the chairs that I stand on in the house are probably not tall enough to reach to the top of the plywood) shoot the nail gun all around the sides to hermedically seal the window.  And I was going to have to hurry, because I had to catch the train.  Wait, the plywood would not fit in my car, so I was going to have to rent a truck.  And I don't think that I can lift a piece of plywood by myself--this is getting complicated.  How do people own homes--it is insane.

Luckily, Christy was super successful.  The guys could come at 5:30 and would be done in time for me to catch the train.  Except that they wanted cash in an envelope and the cash machine would give me just enough and no more, so I couldn't tip the guys going into overtime to fix my window.  They were there and done in about four minutes.  They could have charged me twice what they did, since fixing the window perfectly, beat the crap out of my other idea.  [I don't think that I should be trusted with a nail gun.  Just a cautionary thought.]

The window has an extra lock that makes it impossible to open with the regular lock (so the theives would be reduced to breaking out all the glass to try to get in that way--hopefully theives are too lazy to go to all that trouble).  We never used the extra lock, because we usually left that window open all the time.  We're using it now.  I went through and locked all the rest of the windows.  I thought I would be nervous sleeping there, but I'm not.  Glendale still seems like a super safe City to me.  And if the thieves talk to each other, they'll know not to bother with my house anymore.  They must have been really frustrated to find so little to steal.  They seemed to have opened every drawer, probably looking for that secret stash of cash that I can't afford to keep there.  Lucky me.