There was a murder, right across the street from my house. Not across the street and down the block. Right across from my house. I woke up at 1:00 am. I heard the sound of a car crashing into something. At the time, I didn't know what it hit. Then, I heard several gun shots, in rapid succession. I looked outside and saw what looked like an abandoned car in the parking lot of the convenience store. The hood was crumpled. I went back to sleep and woke up again at 3:00 am. This time, when I looked out the window, I saw four police cruisers, an ambulance, and a car belonging to a private security company. I still didn't know that there had been a killing. This afternoon, when I got home from work, it was on the news: a nineteen year old male had an argument with two other men, he rammed his car into their car, and they shot him multiple times, killing him.

Today, I bought two pair of Rockport "Halton" shoes: one pair of black and one pair of "sport white," i. e., light gray. Thanks to my Mom! I used the money that she gave me on my birthday.

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As a follow on to yesterday: I prepared my Mom's lunch and supper and washed the dishes after each meal. My brother telephoned her from Georgia. I think that she had a nice day.

Today, for Mothers' Day, I am waiting on my Mother "hand and foot." I prepared her breakfast-of-choice: brown sugar and maple syrup flavored oatmeal, orange juice, and coffee. Then, I washed the dishes and put out the special, blue "Celebrate . . . Today is Your Day" plate, for lunch.

Pakistan reluctant to pursue al Qaeda

Today is my Mom's eighty-first birthday. I gave her a card and an eighty-one dollar gift certificate to a department store where she likes to shop. My son came over to my Mother's house at 6:00 pm. The three of us went to the Piccadilly Cafeteria on I-55 North in the Mercury. My son picked up the tab. He also gave Mother a birthday card and a fifty dollar Piccadilly gift certificate. After, we went back to Mother's house for Twinkie and vanilla ice cream. My son and I sang "Happy Birthday" while Mother blew out the candle on her Twinkie. He left at 8:00 pm. He is to call me tomorrow with his departure time. He and I will meet at Mother's, and I'll drive him out to the airport for his trip back to California.