after a stop in belmont to drop off my stuff, i went to belmont center to deposit my check at one of the few citizens bank within the vicinity. i'm beginning to have my doubts about citizens bank. i freaked out a few weeks ago when i heard they were getting rid of their fee-free green checking accounts. after a bit more research, i found out they'd forgo a $5 monthly fee if i either 1) keep an average daily balance of $1500+ (worst thank bank of america, which only has a $700 minimum the last time i checked) *or* 2) make 5+ transactions a month with my account. my balance fluctuates, but i do have busy monthly banking actions, including at least 5 automatic bill payments. i think the reason they're doing this is to get rid of account squatters who have money in the bank but never do anything with it (is that so bad?). if it wasn't such a hassle to switch banks, i'd jump to sovereign instead. at the very least there are sovereign ATM's in NYC.

there was nobody home in belmont for the time being. i still found some things to do in the backyard despite cleaning up the garden yesterday. i collected a jar's worth of chinese chive seeds; i'm thinking about growing them in my community garden. they don't seem to require too much care (hardy perennials), they just about grow anywhere, and they have some pretty white fragrant flowers late in the season. that reminds me: i also have milkweed seeds i need to plant as well, hopefully attracting some monarch butterflies next summer, or at least have leaves available for hungry caterpillars. hailey kept me company when she wasn't chasing squirrels and occasional we'd throw a squeaker ball around.

when my parents came home from chinatown in the mid-afternoon, they were outside raking the leaves in the backyard. i uprooted the rosemaries (a total of 4) and moved them indoors into the sun room where they'll be protected for the winter. a few of them need to be pruned which will leave us with a rosemary surplus. while my parents continued to work, i went back inside the house, figuring i had enough of weekend yard work.

prior to dinner, i did some online shopping: i bought a bicycle tire foot pump (walmart, $10) and 2 pairs of jeans (gap, $80).

i rode home after dinner, eagerly anticipating the start of sunday night football between the patriots and the steelers. pittsburgh is a tough opponent, and i was kind of nervous about the outcome. even when patriots got a 23-3 lead over the steelers into the 4th quarter, i still couldn't relax. there was just still too much time left for pittsburgh to stage a comeback, although their lackluster performance on the field was evidence enough that they weren't going to win this one. it wasn't until the sanders patriots interception for a touchdown that i breathed a sigh of relief (even after new england's 15 yards group demonstration penalty and failing the 2 point conversion).