CHEERIER DAYS . . .

SHE'S ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mucho congratulations to Wonger and Shadow!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so thrilled. I can't think of anyone who deserves happiness and love and stability and devoted care more than my Wonger, and now she'll have it for-EVAH. Shadow is sooooo good to her -- and even to us, her crazy-ass friends. I am thrilled. SO thrilled. Another fun wedding -- and I know Wonger's gonna throw a truly fun bash -- I can't wait.

And another excuse to browse the shelves at Crate & Barrel . . .

***

WOULD I, OR WOULDN'T I? . . .

If I were psychic, would I use my powers for good or for evil? Would it be cool to have a super-natural power, or utterly misery-inducing (see: Buffy's torment in "Earshot," Season Three)?

I ask because in the past two months, I have been abnormally astute and had one creepy vision. OK, don't freak out on me, because I'm telling the truth. And I'm normally pretty skeptical about psychics and palm-readings and other such nonsense, so if you're freaked out, imagine how I feel . . .

Late June: three days before JKA's wedding, I'm lying on mom's bed chatting with mom about the upcoming nuptials. All of a sudden, my heart starts racing and I actually have a "vision" -- as in, I can see this in front of my eyes -- that JKA has been in a car accident. Two shaky seconds later, the "vision" goes away and I resume my conversation. The next night, while helping JKA and JAhn tidy up the last licks before the big event, I learn that JKA was in a minor vehicle scrape in her driveway, accidentally driving up against her cousin's car and causing some damage to both automobiles. Weird.

Three Days Ago: Wonger calls my cell phone and leaves a message. "Hey, it's me. You wanna meet for a drink tonight? Gimme a call." Just as I sit down to return her call, mom comes to drag me out of my room -- many errands to run, major family gathering to prepare for. To my chagrin, Wonger's message flies out of my memory as I rush out the door. But I knew. Was it the tone of her voice? Was it the unusual nature of the invitation -- we rarely meet just for drinks? Was it -- gasp! -- me? Whatever it was, I knew. My Wonger was ENGAGED!!!! Sure enough, this morning, I get an email: "You didn't call! I wanted to tell you I got engaged . . . during the blackout!" Like I said, I'm THRILLED . . . and psychic. Hee, hee.

Two Days Ago: After post-NHF softball, we receive an invitation to go to Camp C for a mini-BBQ. J2 and I volunteer to pick up extraneous food products, so I drive to the local Stop & Shop, with J2 trailing right behind me. We pull into the parking lot, park our cars, and as I'm strolling towards the store to meet them, J2 come towards me with grins on their faces. "You wanna hear something funny?" JAhn asks. In an instant, I know exactly what they're getting at. "One of my tail lights is out, isn't it?" I reply. The stunned look on their faces = priceless. Heebie-jeebies all around.

Last Night: I'm chatting on-line with sleepy M and naughty C. After the requisite round of teasing and snapping back and forth, C says "Hey, guess what I just found out?" In an instant, I typed in reply: "Caleigh." Caleigh is the name of their daughter. It is also the name of the woman after whom baby Caleigh is named . . . kind of. Eh, long story. Anyway, C was freaked out that he and I were having similar thought processes. I was freaked out at my fourth bizarre mental incident in two months. Whoooooooo . . . goosebumps, please.

Now, the thing that most displeases me about my abnormal astuteness -- please, let's not call it psychic ability -- is that for the past month or so, I have been feeling a very heavy, over-arching sense of dread. As if something horrible is going to happen, as if something is going to go wretchedly awry, as if people close to me are going to be hurt -- emotionally or physically, as if my life -- our lives -- are going to change but not necessarily for the better. The scary weekend blackout came and went -- the feeling is still there. What could it be? I hate waiting . . .

Anyway. I don't really think I'm psychic. And in response to M & C's question, the answer is NO, I don't think I would want to be psychic. I've concluded that super-natural powers, in the hands of mere mortals like me = bad. But it's still fun to freak people out . . . and be freaked out.