A Carnival cruise ship is sitting right out in front of us in the bay, waiting for the go ahead. Wonder if it is the only one in today. Will make traffic easier this p.m. when I pick Steve up from work if it is. I am exhausted this a.m. Been packing boxes and cleaning out files, etc. for the last 3 days. It is amazing how much paper "junk" one can acquire in a couple of years. I cleaned out files when we moved down here. Have packed boxes all over the living room to be shipped out. The worst part is having to write out the customs form for each box. Yesterday the power went out at noon time - right before I was ready to make myself something for lunch. It did not come back on until about 10 minutes before Steve got home from work at almost 5:30. I was not a happy camper - I was both hungry and hot. Our downstairs neighbor called a few minutes later and said WAPA (our electricity company) had just come out and turned the power back on. The guy asked Kim if she had finally paid the bill! Apparently our landlord had forgotten to pay the bill again. This is the second time in the last year. For his sake - he might want to stay away from me for a couple of days or I will have a few choice words for him. I am sure he heard it from Kim last night. This is ridiculous. Too bad it didn't go out during his party Sunday night - maybe he would make sure he didn't forget from now on.

I did take some time out to read - mainly because my back and hip get so sore from all the bending and lifting. Underworld by Catherine MacPhail is set in Scotland so the terminology this group of teens uses is fun to read - no profanity at all - at least from American English standards! :-) Four teens - the school's bad boy Axel, his "not as stupid as he acts" sidekick Liam, snotty uptight Zesh, the teased and torment fat girl Angie who is so upbeat and clueless she doesn't realize how much people dislike her, and Fionna the fag smoking sharp tongued bad girl - are trapped in a cave with their teacher who has been badly injured in a landslide. The entrance has been blocked and they are on their own to find their way out. They hardly take to heart the teacher's pre-spelunking lecture on the importance of teamwork. They are at each other throats immediately. It doesn't help any that they are all thinking about the Worm - the huge creature that is said to live in the caves. Some say it is just a legend but the noises they hear and the tunnel with soft sided walls make them think differently. Axel wants to leave the teacher behind and not look for Angie when she falls down a hole. He just wants out, and control of the group. He gets it when he takes Zesh's inhaler so that he can't breathe. Adding to the mystery and terror of the caves is the italicized short story line of a WWII German soldier caught in the caves with his insane commander and the Worm. Give this one to the guy who love horror and suspense. The group dynamics are fascinating to read about - reminds me of Joyce Sweeney's Free Fall, which is about a group of 4 teens trapped in a Florida cave.

Okay - need to haul boxes of books out to the car so I can mail them today. Only 3 days left. We leave here Friday afternoon. I am not ready!