Well, I managed to add another 500 words to Vote Phyllis last night. It's not 1,000 but neither is it zero, which is all too common a count these days.

I'd be more pleased if this was the beginning of October instead of coming on the end of it.

Had an odd conversation with my mother a couple nights ago. I can do this here because I haven't told her, or anyone else, about this journal. Normally a phone call to my mom is ten minutes of "no, not all that much going on here either," and then she's gone.

This time she was in a weird state.

So what did you finally do with the downstairs bathroom, she asks. What the hell do you say to that? We decided to keep it? I have no idea where this is going.

Turns out she wants to know what color scheme we have in there because, some months ago, she splurged on a sewing machine that's smarter than God. Among the things it does is embroidery and she's decided it's time she learned how to use that part of the feature set. So she's going to make us monogrammed towels.

Well, it's just a bathroom. Yes, we've gone nuts with the kitchen and now we're replacing the living room carpet, but you better damn sure believe that's the end of it. The bathroom's pretty much neutral. Although Elisa has blue towels in there now and a basket of various blue-themed personal care products we picked up somehow.

So, I say, I guess it's blue.

Well, what color would you like?

Uh, blue's nice.

So it's at this point that she explains the whole learning to embroider thing, followed by, so what color towels would you like?

Gosh, I don't know. How about blue?

I just thought I'd get some towels and do the embroidery with the machine and learn how it works. What color would you like?

Clearly there is a right answer here, and I'm not guessing it. I don't know, Mom. Why don't you tell me?

Well it's your bathroom. You just tell me what you want.

A couple more digressions and then, out of nowhere, well how about gold towels with a blue monogram?

That sounds great, Mom.