--291 days (Dave, that would be to my wedding...May 6, 2006...I didn't send out an "announcement" or anything, so I assume that's news to you. Got engaged Jan. 15 this year...just fillin' you in...)

--Starting on Fourth of July weekend, Gina and I watched Season One of "24" and stormed through it pretty quickly (in terms of days actually watching, not calendar time), in like three sittings. We finished it this past weekend. She had only seen Season Four, and it was interesting to see the reactions of someone who hadn't seen it, with me fully knowing what was going to happen. It was also cool to see how differently the characters were developed in that first season than in the successive three. Now, fully hooked on the show, we went out yesterday to buy Season Two at full-freakin'-price just so we could plop down and watch it. She's really gotten into it, so at least when Season Five rolls around, if there is one, she'll be fully up to speed.

--Our aquarium is back to "normal." It took me 45 minutes (yes, but not the joke) to replant the plants just where I wanted them. I had to prune some, but that will create quite the forest in some areas. The plants performed quite well in the Rubbermaid container outside. I'm surprised, I admit. I wouldn't have thought you could leave them outside, despite the hindsight of "Duh, many are tropical plants" so the heat wouldn't bother them. And, since they were in the shade anyway, the water never got THAT warm. Most of them grew quite well and several have new plants growing off shoots. So I get more bang for the buck, if you will.

In other aquarium news, the baby danios are growing nicely. We'll have to wait until they get big enough to trade/sell to the pet shop for new fish. We have room for 4-5 in the tank, after all the deaths. We want to get 2 cories (we have only 3 right now), and the pet shop had these beautiful, beautiful Cardinal tetras on Saturday. The guy said he would hold a few new ones for me if they came in looking that good this week again. So that's cool. But until the baby danios are gone, we won't have a quarantine tank, so we can't get anything. I'm not pulling these plants again unless I have to, and a quarantine tank should prevent me from having to. :)

--Tonight is playoff time in softball. If we win at 6, we play at 7. If we win at 7, we play next week in the championship. We really do have a shot at winning this whole thing. We played every team except one very close in our losses and blew out a few of the worst teams quite easily. We just have to show up and hit our stride. So, here's to us. :)

--What else is new? My mom's birthday is Saturday, so I'm probably having them over and cooking for them. Sunday, I'll be at only my second White Sox game this year, but it should be a good one vs. the Red Sox. Other than that, I'm working for a livin'...you know how the song goes. I need say no more.