Don't pick on me about my lack of fix-it knowledge.  I've had maintenance men at my disposal for my entire adult life.  I was in the Navy for over 4 years, living in the barracks.  And then when I got out, I stayed at my parents for about a year before I got married and moved into my first apartment. 

Anyway, I made another step.  Minor, minor, minor step.  I changed a toilet seat.  Not the stool, mind you.  Just the seat.  Who ever thought to make a cushioned toilet seat was a genius.  Think about it.  The seams rip.  And become a disgusting breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria and fungus.  The cushioned seat can only last so long before a seam rips and requires replacement.  So people are potentially buying a new seat every couple of years or so.  When I bought my house, the stool on my main level had a cushioned seat.  And the other day, I noticed that the seam was ripping.  And simply thinking about what was breeding in the foam padding that was now exposed was disgusting me to no end.

After Grace got home last night, we ran to Burlington Coat Factory to get her some winter outer wear.  After that we stopped at Lowes to get a toilet seat.  I'm looking at all these seats, trying to figure out what to do.  Okay, I need a round seat.  I know that, because whoever put the cushioned seat on the stool, put the wrong one on.  They put an oval seat on a round stool.  Looks pretty stupid, if you ask me.  Back to Lowes...  So here I am staring at round toilet seats.  I have options you know.  They have more cushioned seats.  Avoid those like the plague.  Regular ones.  Then there are the ones that have locking mechanisms so that you can remove the seat for easy cleaning.  Then there are the ones that look like they are made of cheap plastic.  Don't forget the ones that have patterns designed in the lid.  Oh, and don't forget the ones that look like it's made of bubbled acrylic.  I know for a fact that I will not buy the cushioned ones.  And that acrylic one looks like shit.  Not literally, just looks terrible.  I'm looking at the ones with designs on the lid.  Then I notice that the lid has scratches on them.  So they must scratch easily.  I will not buy the cheap plastic looking ones.  So I am down to regular ones, and the ones that remove easily for cleaning.  I figure that the ones that remove for easy cleaning, must install a lot easier.  So that's the route I went.  And low and behold, the price is fantastic.  $10 for the seat and lid.  Brought it home and took 10 minutes to figure out how to remove the old seat.  And since I figured out how to remove the old seat, the new seat only took 5 minutes to install.  Then I realized that the other seats probably installed just as easy as the removable kind.  So I was scared for nothing.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to figure it out, and I would have a stool with no seat until I could find someone to help me.  I'm so silly.

For some reason, I am exhausted today. I did go out yesterday evening.  But I was home before 10:00.  So I was in bed by 11:00.  Only read a page or two from my book, before I had to put it down because I couldn't focus anymore.  I woke about 7:00.  So plenty of sleep.  But I was so tired that around 10:00 this morning, I had to take a nap. 

Anyway, about my evening out...  It was a lot of fun.  Back in May a friend got married.  And last night was when she planned a reception since that was when both her sons would be able to be there.  One son is in Japan as a Marine.  And the other son is Army, somewhere stateside.  As it turned out, the son in Japan had his leave pulled for some reason, so he wasn't able to make it.  The reception started at 5:30 and the dinner at 6:00.  The dinner started late because her son was bringing the scalloped potatoes and he went to the wrong VFW post.  There were buns, coldcuts, cheeses, meatballs, scalloped potatoes, various salads, raw vegetables and dip.  A nice meal.  Informal and comfortable.  We were able to sit with whomever we wanted.  So I started at one table talking with one group of people.  After dinner, I migrated to another table and mingled with them for a while.  And about an hour before I left, I joined a different group of people.  There was a live band, that played old music.  The only time they had dancers on the floor was when the band played songs that were current in the 80's.  I do have to say, they do a good John Mellencamp.  I danced once.  But of course, to John Mellencamp Hurts So Good.  And of course, someone had to take our picture of us dancing, making the comment that he didn't know "old people could dance".  I thought that was so funny.  I can understand the comment being made about my dance partner, as he is around 60.  But me, I'm only 38.  Ah well, the hazards of aging.  Regardless of age, the dance was fun.  Around 9:30, I decided it was time to leave.  After all, I had to get home in order to let the dog out.  I knew he had to go.  And since I was alone, I requested that someone walk me to my car.  When you live in the city, you don't play around.  You never walk out of an establishment alone at night.  Anyway, it was my dance partner that walked me out.  We talked about his retirement.  Lucky man is retiring in less than 20 days.  He told me that his 5th wheel will be delivered sometime this week.  He plans to do a lot of traveling when he retires.  His first stop is Texas.  He wishes that his girlfriend would go with him, but he doesn't think she will.  I asked him if things were serious between them.  He said that things are not serious with her.  She's just not that serious.  I would hope she's not serious.  I don't think she's even 20 years old.  I realize that he is in the middle of a divorce, but he really should have more interest in women closer to his own age.  Much closer to his own age.  I guess that I shouldn't have been surprised.  The wife he's divorcing is only 39 years old.  And he married her when she was barely 20.  So his preferences run young.  So I made it home, and took the dog for a quick walk down the block.  He did his business.  Boy was he happy.  I played around on the computer for a little bit and went to bed.  That's the extent of my evening.  To me it was great.  I never go out.  Most of the time Grace is with me, and I don't like to use sitters.  And on the weekends that Grace is with her dad, I stay home.  It's so much easier to not be dating anyone.  I don't have to make time for anyone besides Grace and me.  Besides, that guys that I have dated since Brad, just reinforce my desire to remain single.  But going out and hanging with friends was a lot of fun.  I should do that more often on the weekends that Grace is with her dad.

Brad got picked up.  At home.  Spent one night in his county.  The next day got transported to my county.  Spent another night.  Was arraigned this morning.  Was fined $1500.  Got told by the pick-up officer that he should never had more than one child since he couldn't even afford that first child.  She also told him that it only gets worse every time he screws with FOC.  Next time they will demand more in order for him to get out of jail.  The first time it was only $500.  This time it was $1500.  Who knows what it will be next time.  This time he was able to hide his employment status from FOC because they didn't have the employers federal id number.  But not anymore.  The pickup officer told me that if he stops paying again, to give her a call, and they will start to pick-up process all over again.  I'm just looking forward to that cash.  Most of it will go into my furnace fund.  My furnace works fine, but it's old and inefficient.  And I would like to have central air.  And that $1500 will make a nice dent in the cost of a new system.  The part I keep, maybe I will get a new camera.  I haven't decided if I will try digital again, or stick with 35mm.  I love 35mm.  I can see the advantage of digital, but since I can't stand my digital, I never use it.  And my 35mm camera is getting quite old.  It's a point 'n shoot camera that I bought when I was 19.  And I'm 38 now.  It still works, but the picture colors are starting to come out "not right".  So it's time to do something different.  Maybe, if I get a decent digital camera, I'll actually use it.  And now that I have a decent computer, maybe I'll actually have fun with it.

He emailed me yesterday to tell me that he couldn't pick up Grace for the weekend.  That he would pick her up in two weeks.  So I told Grace yesterday.  And she was happy to stay home.  We get home today and she is showing me her violin she brought home from school and the door knocks.  It's Grace's Grandma and Poppy.  They're here to pick her up for the weekend.  Brad never told me that they were going to come.  Of course, Grace is crying hard about it.  She does NOT want to go.  Grandma and Poppy are pissed at Brad for not telling them that he told me he wasn't going to get Grace for the weekend.  I'm pissed that Brad never called to let me know they are coming.  Grace is pissed that her plans were potentially spoiled.  It ended up that Grace is staying home.  Grandma and Poppy left.  And they said that Brad was going to catch it because of it.  He has to know that Grace can't be played like that.