Prison Break

es·cap·ism (-skpzm) n.

The tendency to escape from daily reality or routine by indulging in daydreaming, fantasy, or entertainment.

Today was that kind of day.  I was able to put my guilt aside for a few hours and do a few things for me.  After a morning of doing some things around the house, I went to the Strip District here in Pittsburgh (the area where all the produce, etc. comes into the city) and enjoyed a nice afternoon breakfast at my favorite diner... then stopped and got my favorite almond macaroons at Enrico's (made famous by the movie Wedding for Bella (The Bread, My Sweet) starring the rapidly aging Scott Baio about the actual Enrico's bakery)... then stopped at the coffee store and got my Torani syrups for my iced coffee that I make (toasted marshmallow, cupcake and almond flavors).  I then hit the mall for a bit and then headed home to do some laundry, etc.

My nephew stopped by and we were able to call two of the three school loans that my Dad co-signed for that are in default.  One that was almost $17k, they settled on $4k, so we are waiting for the release papers before I write a check, of which we are having papers drawn up to document the loan that he'll be paying back.  We made another offer of $3.5k on a $14k loan and we're waiting to hear.  The big one ($24k), they're not budging on, so he'll just be making the payments.  I can't believe that my Dad was so stupid to do all of that.

Tomorrow, once it gets warmer in the afternoon, I am heading to my Uncle's to paint his foundation.  Little by little, I'm whittling away at my list... hopefully, at a rate faster than my sanity is being chipped away.