AW Jen - too bad I didn't get to read your post pre-editing. Noticed you had to come on in and edit at 8 am. Hmmmmmm...... wonder what it said prior to that??????
Pat - I totaly know. I have no idea what they would gain - my sister said, maybe it was a gang thing - I said, well that is one pansy type of gang then because it takes no cohanas to run up to a car and stick a knife into its tire and run off again in the middle of the night. I grew up in a smallish town and getting tires slashed in a neighborhood would have been all over the newspaper and the kids would have been caught - I think. It freaks me out that someone was that close to my house with a knife in hand, though.
It's OK for us because we needed to replace the tires that got hit, but I tell you, if they had hit my new car I would have been BS to the point of craziness. As it was, I was crazy yesterday - I caught some kids stashing something under the bushes of my neighbors in the afternoon - I came running out of my house screaming that I saw them do that and they had best go and pick that stuff up. The kids looked sick scared and started crying that they were only taking their jacket off that their mother made them wear as it was too hot and they would be back to pick it up - swear it. Man, I felt like a raving lunatic - felt like I needed a sign that said, "I am not a freak, I just had my tires slashed so look out anyone acting suspicious in my neighborhood".
My neighbor said it was good that I did that, though, because she finds beer stashed in that little nook in her bushes all the time - so if those kids knew about that hiding place, then they may be the ones stashing beer and pinging out her street light too. Now they know someone watches.
Sounds like we live in a scary neighborhood, but we actually just live in a middle class neighborhood on a very good side of the city - but it's a big city with big city issues.
Most of our friends have moved to the burbs - but I like living in the city because of the convenience of everything and the community atmosphere - plus it's the one area that I am fairly green about. I like that we don't add to the sprawl issues taking place in our state by living in the city (said by the woman who works for a big box retailer in real estate

).
Well, that was an awfully long post about nothing cruise related.
P.S. Pat - I LOVE the Rolling Stones - but man, halfway through "Satisfaction" I was like, "enough already" They were soooo off key and the jam session was a little ridiculous and discordant. But it was good to see them again as I missed this last tour.
We also just steamed our rugs last Sunday night. My husband does it after I do the pickup. It's pretty OK. Our friends think we are nuts to do it ourselves as they hire Stanley Steamer or something like that but we find it to be fine and a little fun to do - plus you know you are doing the spots you really need to do really well.
Suzie - take care of her - I think she is just entering that stage when she just needs a little more help, not dire stage of life, just a little more help. See if you guys should start discussing something like visiting nurses. No matter how much you love someone or want to be there for them, you really can't do the round the clock vigil stuff for an extended peroid of time - just think about maybe getting someone like a nurse to check on her often during the day or stay with her through the night.