TGIF

Wow, another week has come and gone. Why is it that the older you get, the faster time goes by? Just when you start appreciating the things that life has to offer, life goes by at warp speed. How do you convey this phenomenon to your kids so that they learn to cherish every waking moment and not take life for granted?

This is a birthday weekend, for both my daughter and myself. She was born 19 years ago, the day before I turned 30. You do the math. I don't celebrate my birthday anymore. It's a lot easier to celebrate hers instead. It's less depressing that way......

Let's review the past week:

• The price of gas has remained steady at $4.45 a gallon in my neck of the woods. It's frightening to think that at some point in the future this price is going to seem incredibly cheap.

• The temperature is going down, down, down from the incredible highs of 102' for the past week. "Normal" summertime weather patterns are settling in which means for those who don't live in No. Calif., fog in the morning (cold), warm in the afternoon, fog in the evening (cold).

• I spent a wonderful weekend in San Francisco with a good friend, celebrating the 4th of July. We never saw the fireworks; the fog rolled in thick and cold before nightfall and I didn't want to freeze my ass off watching fireworks shrouded by wet, damp air. For what is fog but clouds close to the ground.

• The Bachelorette chose the wrong guy. The loser, Jason I think was his name, was so darn cute and gushy and all the things that make a woman swoon. Let's see how long the "engagement" lasts with the winner. I can't even remember his name. I didn't tune into the show at all during the season, but lacking anything else on tv, my daughter and I decided to watch the season finale. I think these reality shows impart some sick voyeuristic tendencies in otherwise normal people.

• The fires in California continue to burn, threatening more houses and unoccupied areas. I don't know how or when the firefighters will get the fires under control. It seems like a daunting task and one for which I applaud their efforts and bravery. Personally, I think I'd run the other way. Fire scares me.

• I got phone call from another attorney representing my husband's ex-wife. Seems she was a little miffed I canceled her son's health insurance benefits. The attorney thought that COBRA rights were not offered (it wasn't a COBRA event) and should have been. Well, long story short, she misrepresented herself to my insurance carrier as me and got information that was in violation of my HIPAA rights. The son wasn't eligible for continuation of coverage but was told incorrectly by the carrier that he was and so it goes.... I just want these people out of my hair. It's been very hard to deal with all the legal issues surrounding my husband's death (more on this later, very later) and this woman has made my life nothing short of miserable for the past 10 months.