Breaking News!!!

I know it's been a while since I updated the Confessions blog and I could tell you that it's because I have been so immersed in writing, carriage driving, the Sundance Film Festival, and all the other aspects of my totally glamorous and exciting life that I have been too busy to blog, but here is the shameful and dirty truth:

Nothing has been going on. Nada. Zip. Zero. Bupkiss.

Why? Because I haven't worked since December 27, except for going into the barn and stripping my carriage of Christmas decorations. Sundance doesn't start until this Friday, and I lead a relatively quiet and boring life.

But I'm okay with that. Exciting is no good. Boring is fine. If I want exciting I'll watch TMZ, thanks.

Now that I've brought you to the edge of comatose, I will shove you into pure vegetative state with what I have been doing:

I watch a lot of movies in January. In the last 48 hours I have seen

Hamlet 2

Ghost Town

Burn After Reading

The Shining, which was on HBO Monday evening

Mad Dog Johnny, which was a Sundance Volunteer screening last night

Appaloosa. We saw this in the theaters when it came out because it was a Western and The Husband enjoys Westerns. Unfortunately, it was not a good Western. A good Western is a movie like "Jack the Bull" with John Cusack .

I totally forgot that 1) we had seen Appaloosa in the theaters, and 2) it sucked much, so 3) I rented it at Blockbuster by accident. Because it was a Western.

Too bad for me they don't give you a do over because you are an idiot.

This week I also went shopping for new ski goggles. Now, let me explain something to you about me. I am the most frugal person who ever walked the earth. Cheapness so ingrained in my psyche that I squeak when I walk. So, after having a minor heart attack looking at the prices of ski goggles (I cracked mine, and although still useable they are not exactly good, and I have a birthday coming up…) I took my helmet and descended upon the sporting good stores like a locust, trying on every pair they had until I found just the perfect fit.

Then I came home and bought them on eBay for a savings of $50. Happiness abounds.

Have you fallen asleep yet? If not read on, you will.

The heater in my jeep died last week. I agonized about where I would take it for repair. Luckily for me, everyone was too busy to fit me in. I tore down the dash, diagnosed a bad switch (partial melting on one of the prongs) and walked around the local Pick & Pull junk yard for two hours on Sunday. It cost me a dollar to get in there, and I was pissed because there were no jeep Wranglers to be found. On the upside it was 2 for 1 Sunday so The Husband got in for free, and I let him to carry my tool box while I perused the selection of dead cars. This makes him feel like he's helping. He isn't into fixing stuff like I am. He'd rather go buy a new one. The cheap gene, it ends up, is really a nature vs. nurture thing.

I checked for the part on, you guessed it, eBay, and I could have gotten it for $35 and $10 bucks shipping. Instead I called the local Chrysler and got it from the parts department for $24. Drove the nine miles and picked it up. Installed it and re-assembled the dash in about 20 minutes. I even found all of the screws. YAY! Now I won't have to scrape the windshield on the inside when it's cold out, and I saved myself about $150, if I'd taken it to a mechanic. I'll let the Pick & Pull dollar slide. If you ever need to reinforce to someone the importance of wearing their seat belt, take them for a stroll around a junk car yard. Best dollar you will ever spend.

Also this week I got a call from Ro, carriage barn manager extraordinaire, and listened while she threatened to kill drivers because she can't get any of them to work in January.( It's too cold and you don't make any money.) I reminded her that I am on sabbatical, thus dodging any of her wrath. But I do sympathize with her, and knowing that she has a birthday coming up also I figure I will get her a gift. She is a jewelry hound, and I'm thinking about one of those rings with the compartment you can put powder in to poison someone's drink while their attention is elsewhere because you've said, "Hey, look! There goes Elvis!" (Which, by the way, we do say because we, in fact, have a driver named Elvis.)

Now, I have no idea where one might purchase that type of ring. But I think I'll start with eBay.