My son is six weeks old today. He has been sleeping over 7 hours at night for about 2 weeks, now. He still likes to eat every two hours during the day, though. He will give you smiles and coo at you and will watch you and follow your face.

He has gained two pounds. He is bigger than E was at 6 weeks. He has already outgrown some newborn clothes. He is in the 75th percentile, while my munchkin daughter stayed around the 25th percentile.

He loves the vibrating bouncy seat. He likes to sleep on his side and usually looks to the right and sleeps with his head to the right. I get about a two - five second warning before the hungry cry is heard. The cry doesn't turn off until food is in his mouth. Although sometimes a binkie can hold him for a little while.

His cry is rather high pitched and squeal-like. I am hearing it right now, for it is eating time.

The other day my husband made the comment that I was no longer eating for two, so I shouldn't be having any more cravings. I shot back that I was still eating for two, since I am breastfeeding our son, and I could still have cravings if I wanted to.

We test drove a Chevy Venture today. My husband's boss is selling his. We have been contemplating buying a new car - one that we will all fit in and all our stuff. Right now we have a Honda Civic and Del sol. Obviously the two seater isn't a family friendly car. And we figure if we buy a new car, it should hold a family of five (since we plan on having at least one more child) and the stuff belonging to a family of five.

This car is a good deal. It isn't exactly what I want, but it does have many of the features we want and some perks, like a DVD player, 8 passenger seating, remote start-up, and a built-in child safety seat, which E used today.

And in honor of my best friend P, it has warning back up lights. When you are getting close to something behind you, one yellow light goes on, then two yellow lights, than a red light.

I have been a mother of two now for a little more than a month. Within the last week or two, I feel like I can hardly get anything accomplished during the day. I am usually up by 7:00am and by the time I get all three of us ready in the morning and breakfast on the table, it's nearly 9:00am. Then by the time I clean up the kitchen after breakfast, it's nearly lunch time on some days. E gets to her nap late, which means she wakes up late. She is still sleeping while I am preparing dinner.

And all the while J seems to be sleeping or demanding to eat. (As he is now.)

And when E is finally down for her nap, I just want to sit on the couch and not do anything. Two days this week that is what I did. And J took his nap on my chest. It was wonderful to be able to hold my sleeping boy and cuddle with him.

As I said, my little one wants to eat - RIGHT NOW!

Dell. The customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

I finally got somewhere with them. My best friend P got through to a very important person and passed on her name to me. This lady effectively and swiftly took care of both our problems.

I do have to say though, that my problem isn't completely solved, in that they are crediting the credit card with which we paid. It has been over a year since we bought our computer, and we have since canceled that credit card. We have to wait for the credit card company to let Dell know that we canceled it, then Dell is supposedly going to send us a check.

I am slightly skeptical that we will ever see a check. But, my friend P got what the lady promised her. So, we will see.

I spent over 30 minutes in line at Wal-Mart last night. I was just a bit perturbed over that. Especially when while waiting in one of the three long lines, a self checkout line light went on. I thought, no wait. But when I got to the check-out, there was a closed sign on the conveyer belt. So, back to the long lines I went, farther back and people with more stuff in front of me this time.

But then looking over at the self-check out lines again, there was one man checking out and another waiting. So back over I went. Halfway through checking out, a Wal-Mart employee tells me this lane is closed. I say the light is on and two people already went through. She was rather indignant as she handed me back my things that I already rang up. She canceled out my order, and told me that Customer Service could help me. Why I couldn't just finish my purchase, I don't know. Obviously if two people went through in front of me, I could have too.

So, then I went to Customer Service. But waiting in line there, I thought that I really shouldn't be in this line. I didn't have a return or a problem, save that Wal-Mart should have had more than three regular lines and one 12 items or less lines open. So, I went back over to a regular line to wait. And wait. And wait. And get this. While I was in line waiting, they closed one of the regular lines.

I guess that if you are a shopper after 10:00 pm, expect to wait a long time to check out. You'd think with 14 more shopping days until Christmas, they would have more lines open. On my way out I picked up a Customer Satisfaction paper to fill out.

Did I mention that I had a hungry infant with me?

Here are my daughter and my son on the day they were born.

I finally ripped out the carpet in the dining room. That nasty carpet had four cat urine spots. It stunk. During the end of my pregnancy, I could smell it the second I walked into the house.

In installing the wall to wall carpet, someone thought it a good idea to glue the padding down. The adhesive is still on the floor. It is rather unsightly. I have not tackled getting it off yet. I am hoping that it comes off without a major project ensuing. If it requires sanding and refinishing, than we will be living with it for a while.

If I want our cat, Patches, to come, I shake her food dish.

If I want our cat, Kalli, to come, I run the faucet in the bathtub.

If I want my daughter to come, I jiggle the lid on the candy dish.

They each come running with the appropriate stimulus. It's rather humorus.

I highly recommend that if you have an epidural to take away pain during labor, that you not let the catheter get stuck in your back.

Yes, lucky me had that happen. After my son was born, I was all cleaned up, and almost ready to head to my post-partum room, the anesthesiologist came in to remove the epidural catheter. Well, he pulled and tugged, had me sit this way and that, told me to lie down and curled up, then pulled and tugged some more. But he just couldn't get that thing out. So, I got to sleep with it still in my back.

I also recommend not sleeping with an epidural catheter in your back. Not a comfortable sleep you will have, especially if you have just given birth and still have your IV needle in your wrist, which the nurses won't take out because you might have to go to surgery in the morning. Never mind that they could just put it in again later or that it wasn't a good line anymore anyway, or that it was really hurting.

I am truly disappointed in the care I received with my stay this time. When I had my daughter, I enjoyed my stay in the hospital. The nurses were wonderful and caring. This time I expected the same treatment, but didn't find it. I was on hold to have my water broken, because of a mother having a Cesaerean for twins. It took forever to get my epidural, I guess because the anesthesiologist was busy with the Cesaerean.

Another recommendation is that if an epidural catheter gets stuck in your back, make sure that when they finally get it out, that they show you the end to ensure it all came back out, and that a piece wasn't left inside you. Saturday morning, the spinal surgeon came in to take a look see at my stuck catheter. He was able to do some pulling and tugging and get it out. He was also nice enough to show me the end, so I knew (not that I really knew, because I don't know what it looked like before it was inserted into my back, to verify that it was all still intact coming out) that nothing came off in my back.

I was also finally able to be rid of the IV needle. And now thanks to that being left in my arm overnight, I have a numb spot higher up on my arm and a shooting pain when I reach for things. It is slowly going away. The advice I got for it - apply heat several times a day.

So, now I am sure you are all pining to have an epidural.

Interestingly, my two experiences with pain blockage of epidurals was different. When I had E, I didn't feel the contractions once I had the epidural and I don't remember feeling so numb. Not so with J. The epidural took the pain away to begin with while giving me numbness, but after awhile I could feel the contractions again. I didn't like that so much. I was suppose to not feel them. With E I couldn't really feel her being born, but I sure could with J. I did push for a lot less time with J. I also think I am healing faster this time.

I find it very curious that I had completely different experiences at the same hospital, in the same room, two years apart. Different doctors too.

My friend P said I should pick a different hospital for my next child.

I held my son for the first time Friday night, November 17th at 7:50 pm.

He is a precious boy. I love him dearly.

My daughter is getting used to her bed. My husband is working to get her furniture ready to put in her room. I am hoping that I don't have to wait much longer to have my baby.

I had an OB appointment today. I am almost 2 cm dilated. That of course means nothing in the world of having babies. I could go into labor any minute or make my OB appointment next week. My friend P has it all planned out. I will go into labor approximately at 9:00 am this Saturday morning. This will give her time to sleep in before driving up to be here. Depending on how long I labor, it also will possibly give us time to play some games, maybe go shopping at Wal-Mart (we did this my last pregnancy.)

I just want to have my baby in the morning on an odd number day. Such as tomorrow morning or Saturday morning. I like odd numbers better than even, and I want to have as much time at the hospital after my son is born as possible. Earlier in the day gives you the most time. I know this from having E. She was born at 7:41 am. I had all day Sunday, Monday and half of Tuesday at the hospital. If she had been born at 7:41 pm, I would have missed out on 12 hours of recovery time. I am assuming that they don't discharge you in the late evening. Anyway, I had a very good hospital experience, so I want to get the most of it again.

I am still trying to decide on epidural or no epidural. I could go in and say give me drugs. Or wait and see like I did with E. I go back and forth. I know I won't get one right away, at least. I also know that generally when my body is in pain, I take something for it. Why should childbirth be any different? I am questioning this whole natural birth experience idea.

First, I think the term "natural birth" is incorrectly used. I had a natural birth, I just didn't feel all of it. What they should call it is a pain medication free birth. The only kind of not natural birth I can think of is a cesarean, because the baby is born through a cut in the abdomen, instead of the birth canal.

Second, do women who don't want pain medication during labor also not use anything for their entire pregnancy? Meaning if they had heartburn, no antacids? If they had back or head aches, no acetaminophen? If they had hemorrhoids, no witch hazel? Did they try to make themselves more comfortable during pregnancy, but not during labor? Just wondering.

Today's naptime was much the same as yesterday's naptime. Bed. Still awake - dirty diaper. Crib - still awake - dirty diaper. I may have tried the bed again, but I can't remember. I do remember that after I did get her up, and she kept keeping from getting things ready for my craft fair that evening, I stuck her back in her crib.

I had a table at a craft/vendor fair tonight. I was working diligently to get things ready for it. E kept getting into everything. I was already running late, so in the crib she went. She stayed there till my mom came to watch her for me. E wasn't happy about her situation.

My time at the fair was for naught - if you count the amount of business it brought me. None. Not a person signed up for my information or bought anything. I didn't even have that many people stop to look at what I had on the table. And maybe one person looked at one of the albums I spent time putting together. I did however get to work on two birthday presents. And it was a learning experience. An expensive learning experience.

I did get a bag of Entenmann's cookies out of the deal.

Oh yes, and did I mention that I am still very much ready to have my baby?

Today E's big girl bed came. G came home for lunch to set up her new bed. Let me tell you, the mattress is so thick, that the safety rail we got is almost ineffective. You can't just sit down on the bed, you have to hop on up. E was quite taken with it. She enjoyed laying on it. That is until naptime. The girl did not end up taking a nap. We tried, though. We went through the naptime routine, and I laid her in her new bed. An hour later, still wide awake, with a poopy diaper. I changed her and switched to the crib. Surely that would work, and she'd take a nap. Wrong. After another hour the girl was still not the least bit sleepy and had another dirty diaper. I just got her up at that point and even tried going for a drive. Still E's eyes stayed open.

Bedtime was different. My husband rocked her to sleep, then put her in her bed. She slept in it fine.

My daughter was adorable tonight. We dressed her up as Pebbles. She helped hand out candy and helped herself as well. We had almost 200 trick-or-treaters.

As the evening progressed, E was getting restless. So while my mother monitored the candy, G and I walked our girl down one side of our block and back the other side. She had a grand time.

I was surprised that we really didn't have any more kids come much after 8:00 pm. That was alright, since we were getting low on candy. It was such a nice night out that we sat on our porch to hand out the candy. One kid was quite brazen and thought he'd take three pieces of candy. I immediately informed him that one piece was enough. He reluctantly put the two back and kept looking at me as he walked away. I suppose I could have let him have all three since we really didn't have many kids after him. There were some other opportunists that came by, trying to sneak more than on piece of candy. Instead of actually handing out the candy, we let the kids pick which piece they wanted.

Anyway, it was quite interesting to see so many kids walking down the streets. And some had parents who dressed up, too.

I am ready to deliver my baby. But nothing is happening.

I had a Creative Memories Workshop today. Four people showed up. We had a good time organizing and creating. I was able to get through all the photos I brought and put them in chronological order by year. And then for each year, as best as I could remember, I put the photos in order by month. I have another box full to go through still. That might prove harder since some are photos of my husband's from we were married.

I was told by everyone who came that the enjoyed themselves and that I need to do it again. I plan on it, but I am going to wait until January. That will give my some time to get used to being a mother of two.

I have been getting a certain kind of spam email for a while now, and frankly I am tired of it. I don't know what to do about it, and interestingly, the email that comes is not always my address, yet there it is in my inbox.

I emailed Verizon today about email abuse. Fat lot of good that did. I got a canned email message saying that someone might look into it and get back to me it they need more information. I was not to count on anyone really helping me. They gave me some web sites to check out for email blocking and such. When I followed the instructions to do that, the menus they talked about were not available. So I called Verizon. After much ado, I was informed that the links I was looking for were being updated and would not be available to view until Nov. 5th. I wasn't about to keep getting these email spams at least 7 times a day until then. I decided to delete the email address they were attached to, and I created a new one.

My new email address now corresponds to my Creative Memory business.

What To Pack

My dad surprised my mom with a trip to Williamsburg for her birthday. I was in charge of packing for her. With not living in the house for six years and only seeing her clothes on her for short spots of time, I know I over packed. Three pairs of khakis in the hopes that one would be the right one. Two pairs of jeans. One pair of brown pants. Six long sleeve button-up shirts, all which I knew fit, but didn't know what her preference would be. A few short sleeve shirts and two snuggly warm shirts. The woman has way more jewelry than she wears, so I just guessed at that. And luckily her toiletries bag holds most of what is in the bathroom cabinet. I certainly don't know what she uses in preparing for the day and getting ready for bed. My dad couldn't even really help, and he lives with her, using the same bathroom.

Well, apparently I did rather well. My mom had all she needed. And she had a fabulous time and was totally surprised. My parents had gone to Williamsburg for their honeymoon, so it was a nostalgic time also.

My daughter is continuing to amaze me.

I just saw E take the rest of her banana peel off her banana and throw it away. Then she came and told me she threw out the yucky. Now having finished her banana, she went and got her cloth and wiped her hands and mouth (of course I had to do a supplemental wiping.) And while I was vacuuming, the vet called to verify an appointment for Monday, and I didn't hear the phone, but E did. She took it off the hook and brought it to me.

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A very important note. Watch out for FLYING PIGS! Dell Customer Care called (yes, they called me) about a $75.00 coupon (they upped it from $50.00 to $75.00 apparently - I wasn't going to correct them) I have yet to receive, but have been assured I would have by now. I told them to send it USPS, not email, since email has obviously NOT worked. So, now I have been assured that we should get it in 7- 10 business days. I am not holding my breath.

I don't remember if I have talked about my issues with Dell, so here is some background information. There was a rebate offer if you purchased a computer and signed up for Verizon DSL at the same time. So, we bought a refurbished Dell computer and signed up for Verizon DSL for a year. Filled out the rebate form. Received a post card saying that because we didn't include our order number (the form never asked for it,) the rebate was being denied. I called. Fast forward a year and about 1,000 calls later. NO rebates for refurbished computers, but I could have a $50.00 Dell coupon instead. Fast forward five months and, again, many calls and three emails later, I still have no coupon. Well, blow me over Dell called me today.

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I had a doctor's appointment today. I didn't get to see her. I left after waiting fifteen minutes in the office waiting room and fifteen minutes in the exam room. I could hear the doctor talking with other patients during my appointment time. Tell me how could she possibly be backed up by 8:50 in the morning? I made my appointment the earliest I could, and I still ended up waiting and then eventually leaving. I had my daughter with me, and her attention span does not afford waiting forever to see a doctor. She was done waiting, so we left. I have a new appointment with a different doctor. In fact, the one who was interested in Creative Memories products. Maybe I'll get a sale out of this.

Today marks 34 weeks of pregnancy for me. While I fully enjoy knowing there is life growing inside me, my precious son, I do not enjoy the relief map of veins down my legs, the pressure under my belly, the heartburn that has crept it's way into my evenings, exacerbated by my prenatal vitamins (don't ask me why they have become a catalyst for upper digestive tract gas - I am burping the most horrendous tastes and it hurts my throat.) And a cough I have recently developed causes a most embarrassing situation.

I find myself not enjoying this pregnancy like I did when I was pregnant with E, and I feel guilty. I want to enjoy being pregnant, but my body is making it very hard.

Tomorrow I am calling my OB to discuss either a different prenatal vitamin or something to take care of all the gas and heartburn it has started producing. I thought that part of the problem was that I was laying down right after taking it. I take it right before bed. So, I thought that I would take it earlier. But last night instead of just maybe 20 minutes of the gas heartburn issue, I had three hours of it. Tonight I am not taking my prenatal vitamin.

I had scheduled a Creative Memories workshop for today. No one signed up ahead of time and no one came. I also had a Get Together, sort of. Two women and the hostess. I didn't go through the normal presentation. Really all we did was talk about the hostess's trip to Alaska and look through her partially completed album, and the two guests looked through the catalogs and placed orders. Sales for the Get together were great, but I didn't get any new hostesses. I actually didn't even get a chance to ask them if they wanted to host. I have their numbers and will be giving them each a call. They are interested in coming to a future workshop.

My Get Together scheduled for last night was postponed until a week before my due date. I am optimistic even if E was born a week before her due date. I told the host if my son comes early than we can just have her Get Together in my hospital room.

I have been feeling lately that God has called me to be more involved in my own church's ministries. I had been attending a Bible study for women at my cousin's church, because their was none at my church. They met on the same day as MOPs did at my church. So, I was not attending MOPs. This year I felt God calling me to attend MOPs. I also felt that He wanted me to be involved in the leadership. So, I have decided to take on the responsibility of MOPPETs coordinator. I am in charge of the childcare ministry of MOPs.

I watched two DVDs about MOPPETs and leadership positions in MOPs yesterday. They helped a lot, and I am all excited for my new role. I have to get planning, though, so I am ready for our next meeting.

I am missing the Bible study with others that I had lsat year. But there are two women in my church who want to start something, so I am hopeful.

Save-a-penny

I forgot to mention in my weekend musings about an interesting find I had. While changing E's diaper on Sunday, I noticed something shiny. Yep, she apparently swallowed a penny, and we didn't even know it. And if not for my keen eye, we would not ever have known it. We witnessed her filling the diaper and didn't notice her having a harder time of it. I guess passing a penny isn't much different than normal functionality.

My what interesting things fill my day as the mother of a two year old.

We had our last family of three vacation this weekend. Since our second child will be joining us in the middle of November, we aren't planning on going on any trips during that month. We are planning a trip to the cabin in two weekends, but my parents will be joining us.

We headed off to the Jersey Shore Friday evening. And the trip that should have taken us maybe two hours, afforded us three and a half fun hours together in the car. On one of our detours G made the comment that he always wanted to know where the road we were on went. Surprisingly E didn't nap the entire trip. And also surprisingly neither did I.

We had a relaxing weekend of reading, watching TV, spending time together, playing on the beach, and walking on the boardwalk. Tragically we didn't get to play any games. We didn't think we would get to the beach, because we woke to rain on Sunday. But by the afternoon it was sunny and beautiful.

Saturday night we went out to dinner and quite possibly experienced our worst dinner night out with our daughter. She hadn't napped and was hungry, a rather lethal combination for a two year old. She felt that if she couldn't have something, it should get tossed somewhere. She also has recently begun to hit, kick, or head butt when she doesn't get her way. She had at least three time outs, which my dear husband administered. And to top it off, between the time we ordered and when our food came, there were several tables that we noticed where the patrons were seated, they ordered, their food was brought out, they finished eating, and they were wrapping up their time at the restaurant. And of course when our food finally came, after I mentioned to the hostess that we were still waiting for our food, it was luke warm and our waitress, who had gone missing, did not apologize for it taking so long. After she took our order, we didn't see her again until she brought our food. She didn't get a very good tip. E fell asleep on the way home, helping our sanity.

Lunch on Sunday was delicious pizza on the boardwalk and went a lot better then the previous eating out experience.

Our time on the beach was a fun experience. E didn't have a problem with the sand, as in her last two encounters with it. She happily frolicked along beside us. She did however feel that touching the water with her toes was unnecessary and only consented to stomping in a very shallow, nearly non-existent tide puddle. I did savor the small prints her feet left behind in the packed, wet sand. She also enjoyed digging in the sand, covering our feet with it, and smashing "castles" G built.

We left to travel home much later that we planned, because we forgot about washing our linens and towels, and because we just take forever to get ready to leave. But thankfully our ride home only took us an hour and forty minutes, much better time than going. E and I both fell asleep for a portion of the ride.

We have a new heater. We have central air on three floors. We have new pipes carrying untainted water to our faucets. We had our amp service changed from 100 to 200 and other miscellaneous electrical work done. We have removed the not so nice carpet in the living room and our bedroom. We are starting to replace window sash cords with chains. We have ripped out unruly plants that have overgrown our walk. We have purchased a new couch, dining room table, ceiling fans, and a dining room light. We are searching for rugs to grace our nice hardwood floors.

We are making progress.

I awoke this morning at around 7:00 am to the ridiculous report that there were fans already at the stadium for the Eagles home opener. The game didn't start for at least six hours. I am sure the stadium didn't open that early, so those fans would be sitting in the parking lot for most of that time. I find that absurd. (The Eagles didn't even win.)

My husband took me to an Eagles game once. I vowed never to go again. Football fans are not that nice of a group of people, when all together in one place. Especially when their team is losing. When my husband left to go get us food, I was actually scared being by myself in a sea of pumped up testosterone. I don't need that experience again. If I watch the game at all, the TV does just fine.

Baseball is what I like to watch - the Phillies. Even though the Phillies aren't always the best or even near the top. But I still would never show up for a game six hours before the first pitch.

I guess some people have nothing better to do.

G and I have tried to have yardsale twice in our married life. Both times it rained. Yes this morning dawned wet with precipitation. We thought we might try anyway, seeing how we have a covered porch. But really only the diehard yardsalers come out on rainy days. So, we have to live with our junk another week. And to rub it in, the weather thought it would actually get sunny and nice in the afternoon.

Although no yardsale occurred, I did get a few hours to myself. G went to pick up a cedar chest from his grandmother and took E with him. I was able to read my Bible and just have some time to myself.

Those hours were forgotten though, when later in the day our darling girl thought she might not take a nap. And her tiredness was compounded because she had gotten to bed after 10:00 last night and awoke early this morning. The girl was running on much less sleep than she requires. She was not a compliant child. And making matters worse, dinner was very late. We were at my parents and G was helping my dad put up dry wall on the kitchen ceiling. Since the kitchen was a mess, dinner was held up.

After we finally ate, I had the bright idea of giving her a bath. Normally I would have held off, but she needed one. Many screams and one clean girl later, we headed home glad to get our child to bed.

Tonight was our first choir practice. I am going to sing at least till my baby is born in November. Then I'll have to see how things go. For a year after E was born, I didn't sing in the choir. Inevitably she would be hungry right in the middle of the church service.

It is good to sing in a group again , though. I think I will try to make it work this time.
At least still sing the Christmas Cantata.

My legs were much better yesterday and today, though I have already ordered those stylish and trendy compression stockings.

We are having a yard sale this Saturday, and I still have to get organized for it. We also need some tables on which to put stuff. My sister (J) is raising money for a marathon she is participating in for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and much of what we earn is going to that. She has also been making jewelry to sell to raise money. If you'd like to donate, email me, and I'll give you her information.

Our kitten is very, very, very,very close to losing her claws.

My legs remind me of relief maps. I am 30 weeks pregnant, and my legs have looked quite blue for a while now. The veins are just popping to the surface to show their ugly selves.

Until this weekend they didn't hurt me. They pained me yesterday and today. I wore my sneakers, which helped immensely, although my feet much prefer flip-flops. I usually spend my summer in them. But I acquiesced to my aching legs and put on my sneakers.

Yesterday was a family reunion filled with people whom I don't much remember. But nonetheless, I feel it important to go to family reunions. Saturday evening was spent walking the main street of Lansdale for Bike Night. Motorcycles everywhere. Four times as many people. I would like to own a motorcycle. But I don't know how to drive one and being in the family way, it is not recommended for me to learn anytime soon. But just you wait until my son is born.

Today, we had my husband's (G) work picnic. We went to a golf recreation place. We received lunch, arcade tokens, batting cage tokens, a round of miniature golf, and two go cart rides. With me being pregnant, G made out pretty well. He got one of my batting tokens and both my go cart rides. We had our daughter (E) with us for lunch, but my mother (B) came to pick E up for us. Miss E really needed to get her nap in today, because yesterday she only got about 15 minutes while in the car. Naps are important things for two-year-olds.

Our plan was to go to Lowes between the picnic the covered dish dinner at church. We didn't make it to Lowes, and we were late for dinner. Though we were not late enough to miss out on the food. Following the dinner was a time when those who went on mission trips could tell us about their experience. E ate enough to get dessert, a rarity for her. Everything was very tasty. The program was too long for E's attention span, and we ended up listening over the speakers in the toddler room, while she played.

We had a very busy weekend and the next two months of weekends are all filled up as well. It is a busy Fall.

There was another article about the child getting hurt by the cat. I need to go back and read the other article, because my husband only skimmed it, which means he didn't quite get all the facts correct., which was evident when I read the second article.

The owner of the cat was actually the girl's mother's boyfriend, not her father. The girl wasn't hurt as badly as I thought, though she did require some staples for her scratch. The mother apparently suggested the cat be killed, to which the owner complied. I did find out how the cat was killed but will leave that detail out.

The man plead guilty to cruelty to animals, and the woman plead guilty to conspiracy to commit cruelty to animals. After having more facts, I now feel what happened to them fits what they did.

One thing did still make me shake my head in sadness. The Assistant District Attorney made this remark, "This kind of depraved act against a defenseless animal shows a level of cruelty which we hope wouldn't exist in a civilized society. We take these cases very seriously." Is he not aware of the depraved acts that occur everyday in a "civilized" society to unborn humans, which are far more defenseless than cats with claws? How serously does he take the ending of unborn human life?

After my last posting I decided to do a search on google for pro-life groups in my area to see what I could do.

I stumbled upon a quote by Mother Teresa. "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

I think she said it all.

My husband was telling me of a story he read in our local paper. I haven't read the article, so I am only going by what he told me.

The story told of a man who was arrested and now sits in jail for killing the family cat, because it had seriously hurt his young daughter. I don't know how he did it or any other details. When pets hurt people aren't they usually put to sleep? Personally, I think that he should have taken the cat to the vet to be put to sleep, instead of taking care of it himself. But I also think that jail time seems a bit steep with these circumstances. A fine seems more in order.

But it brings to mind one wrong I have always been against. Abortion. That man sits in jail for killing his cat, who seriously hurt his child, but his wife could have killed their child before she was born. Doesn't something seem wrong there?

Another wrong . . . there is a very high penalty for killing unborn eagles . . .

. . . but millions of mothers are killing their unborn children every day. How is it that animals are protected but a child is expendable?

Why is it that unborn children are not held as more important that animals? How can people fight for the rights of unborn eagles and not even blink an eye when a woman walks into a clinic pregnant and walks out not pregnant? Why does that child not have rights too? Than I wonder what am I doing about it? And I realized that I am not doing much at all, besides voting for pro-life advocates. This realization bothers me. I need to be doing something more.

Another thought I came across was from my pastor during a sermon awhile back. American pets have better health care than most children in the world. I never considered this, but I know it to be true. This is also troubling to me. Again, what am I doing about it? My husband and I sponsor two children, from Nigeria and Ethiopia, through World Vision. But again, is it enough?

How am I changing this world? What am I doing to right the wrongs I see?

I have a Get Together planned for tonight. I had two women say they were coming for sure. I had one maybe. Now I am guessing I have one coming and a maybe. I originally called, emailed, or sent a card to over fifteen women. There are several ladies who still have not gotten back to me. In fact I have not even made contact with some. I have left message after message after massage and still no word from them. I find it rather discouraging. I know that some people may be on vacation or something. But I have made my calls over a two month period. I am trying not to assume or judge was to why I haven't heard back.

On another note . . . my sister has my daughter, so I have a free morning. We did go to the ball game last night, and there was no rain. We went with my cousin and her family instead of our neighbors. Our neighbors were busy, but we will be going with them on Thursday night.

We had a good time. The Reading Phillies won the first game and we left before the second was over. They were winning when we left.

My sis and parents watched our girl for us. Trying to watch a game with a squirmy two year old ( and with no nap to boot) is not a fun time. You don't really get to watch the game.

What to do with my time . . .

Today's Sermon

Today's sermon was titled "There and Back Again: A Prodigal's Tale." I thought it quite clever to use a play on Tolkien's title for the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32.)

I have heard this parable more times than I can count. But I have never heard it preached on like this morning. Pastor B concluded that both sons were lost. That both sons had essentially abandoned the heart of their father, but where the younger son comes to his senses and returns home in humility for forgiveness, the older son refuses to accept his sinner brother. Pastor B also reminded us that the Pharisees were like that, refusing to accept sinners. They always held themselves in high regard.

I had never thought of the older son's behavior as akin to his brother's, but just in a different way. But he never repents, either. He is actually angry at his father's joy in the return of his brother.

The Bible always leaves us learning new things from the passages we have read many times before. It is an amazing thing!

To print or not to print . . .

After about 70 photos, our color ink cartridge was empty. I put a brand new full one in to start printing. I decided to upload photos to winkflash.com. I was sorely mistaken at the very economicalness of having them print my photos. Besides for it being my first order, my first 50 prints were free. I uploaded 170 photos and it cost, with my discount, $10.00 less than the ink cartridge of which I only got 70 photos.

I am on my way to York Photo to see what they have to offer.

We received our first digital camera for a baby shower gift. I was very excited to join the digital world. I liked the idea of being able to take pictures and not worry about if they were perfect, because I could just delete them if they weren't. I could also take as many more than I would if it was just film.

Well, I have been taking pictures with a digital camera for over two years now. If I had to make a guess, I'd say I have stored on my computer over 600 photos. I have printed several here and there, but I have not printed them as a whole. Which means I have a lot of work ahead of me. My goal is to print them by Christmas.

I have held back in printing, I think because I haven't taken the time to "fix" them yet. Fix the red eye, crop, or alter it in the way I want to. I think that I should not be worried about most of that at this point. I will take care of the red eye, and possible other facial flaws, but mostly print them as is. I am far too behind to be particular.

I also have been concerned with naming and saving them by date. And what about the ink and photo paper? - it all has to be just right. All are excuses that have put me behind where I should be. I could send them out to a place on the web. I have considered it. But I think I will do it myself.

Anyway, I am printing as I write. 120 photos of our vacation to Ocean Isle Beach. I figured I'd start with them. I had to do it in two printing lots, because the printer couldn't handle 120 at once. My printer doesn't make me the happiest person, either. I think I would have chosen a different one, if I could go back. But you don't always know until you start using it.

Anyway, this little photo printing session has taken me over three hours, with renaming photos, fixing them, selecting them for printing, reselecting some since the printer balked at 120 at once, and monitoring the printing. I am guessing that the printer will take over an two hours to print all the photos. It's been going for over twenty minutes and only 11 are printed. Actually if you do the math, 2 minutes to print a photo, it will take 4 hours to print 120 photos. Oh my, the last photo took 3 minutes, which averages to 6 hours of printing. I may have to go to bed, and let it finish while I sleep.

My daughter has three times now accurately predicted when she has to have a poopy. She pulls at her diaper and says "Yuchy." We whisk her away to her very own brand new potty. She however is much more interested in toilet paper. She always needs some and is wiping nothing. We try to convince her to put her poopy in the potty, and she has twice. The last time she wouldn't stay put, and my sister decided she wasn't going to chase after her. Or course, she did have to go but ended up going in her diaper.

My husband and I do not look forward to this potty training experience. My brother and sister-in-law have had a hard time with my niece. She knows when she has to go, but at times just chose to use her pants instead. She finally decided to do things in the potty. But now since vacation she has lapsed into old ways.

Things to look forward too?

Vacation - Is it time to go home?

At the end of every vacation, you are somewhat glad for it to end. Fighting the waves and being with so many people was taking it's toll. I was tired.

Although I was sad to see my family leave and know I had no idea when I would see some of them again, it was good to know I would be at my own house with my own stuff soon.

On our way home we stopped at my husband's cousin's house. We hadn't seen his cousin in almost a year. They had a baby girl in January, whom we also wanted to see. We had a very nice visit with them. We actually got to relax. We didn't have to prepare any meals. It was a good way to end our vacation.

We also got to play Rummikub all Sunday afternoon. They didn't have the game, so we stopped on the way home from church to buy it. They enjoyed the new game and were happy to add it to their game collection.

Our drive home was also relaxing because we tend to take the road less traveled. We usually avoid I-95 when possible. We also take a bit longer to get places, but feel it's worth it. We consider our drive to be part of our vacation, so we try to use scenic roads or smaller highways. Our drive is usually much better that way.

Vacation - Family Time

Although our beginning evening of vacation had its rocky moments, our time at the beach was time well spent.

Family from afar (four different states) was joined in one house. We all ate dinner together, which was a fun affair. The table only had chairs for six but had room for at least ten. By the time the end of the line got their food, seats were opening up. Remember we were a family of 23. The couches were kept busy at meal time, too. But don't worry if there was a spill, they were vinyl. Easy wipe up.

A typical day for us went like this - woke to the musical sound of our daughter chiming "Out. Mommy out. Daddy out." Or she just would babble on about things she had to say. And once she knew we were awake, she would be more fervent in her pleas to get out. And then she learned that if she positioned herself just so and grabbed the bed, she could climb out of her portable crib. She would crawl upon us in our waking slumber.

Once ready for the day, we would head up for breakfast (our room was downstairs.) Breakfast choices abounded. Once breakfast was consumed thoughts of the beach were upon us. Suits were donned, skin was slathered, towels and other beach gear was gathered. Our trek to the beach was short - just down our walkway and steps and across the cool dry sand to our spot at the edge of the never ceasing ocean.

After gear was set up and umbrellas positioned for ultimate shade coverage, the hard decision of relaxing in a chair, playing in the sand, or going in the ocean had to be made. For us we had to decide who would hold our daughter, for if her feet touched the sand, cries of alarm would sound. Yes, our child wouldn't walk in the sand willingly. She had to be stuck in it crying. She eventually realized that the sand posed no threat and enjoyed herself. She did not however, become enamored with the ocean. She did tolerate it from the safety of an inflatable boat. We also came to realize that if there was a bucket of water nearby to rinse off the offending sand, our girl would be more willing to touch feet and hands to sand.

Soon rumbles in our tummies told of our food needs and some things were gathered, and the trek back to house would occur. However, the once cool dry sand had transformed into a scorching hot expanse, and the walk across it was cut in half if no shoes were worn. The outside shower was very helpful in washing away some of the pesky sand that insisted on clinging to skin. Young children were stripped of suits and if present, diapers, rinsed thoroughly, rediapered if necessary, and clothed.

Another chaotic plentiful food time ensued.

Nap time for our girl was now upon us. Sleep my child, sleep. We could now relax. Sometimes we got to, sometimes not.

After nap, we sometimes followed the morning suit up routine, or we decided to just stay in the house for the afternoon. Dinner would follow, then sometime much later, bedtime.

That was a typical day. We did have some other interventions occur, though.

Vacation - Time with creation

We went to a turtle talk on Tuesday night. Ocean Isle Beach, NC is an important beach for female sea turtles. There are many nesting sites, and it is quite the penalty if the turtles are hurt or killed - from $10,000 to $100,000 fine and/or jail.

During the talk, we were informed that turtles were hatching from on of the nests. So, we went back to the house and gathered anyone else who wanted to go see the little babies make their way to the ocean.

It was quite the sight. The babies are smaller than my palm and are very cute. The waddle their way down the beach to the ocean. Since it was quite the trek, the volunteers let them walk a little while, put them in a Styrofoam cooler, take them to the water's edge and let them out. The stress repeatedly to be careful stay back and don't move your feet, when you are near the water. They tend to wash in and out with the tide a couple to times before they can get out to sea.

I tried to capture the experience using my camera, but I didn't really get any usable pictures. I wasn't allowed to use a flash. I haven't read up on my camera enough to use it in the dark with minimal light and get a clear photo.

Watching little turtles make their way to the ocean was a very cool experience.

Vacation - A time to get away

On Wednesday night, our parents watched our kids. All us cousins were able to get out for dinner and some walking without our children.

We decided on a Japanese restaurant. We sat around a hot grill and watched our food being cooked. Our chef felt himself funnier than I think he actually was. He also wasn't Japanese. Neither was our waiter. In fact I think I saw more employees who were not Japanese than who were. I didn't expect that.

As I watched him cook, I told my husband that there is something to be said for not seeing what happens to your food before you're served it. He didn't spare the butter or oil. Some things you just don't want to know. I did like the rice, because he added sesame seeds to it. He could have used more, even.

After dinner we walked around the shops of Barefoot Landing. I found two pieces of jewelry and candy and barrettes that change color in the sunlight.

We got back to the house late, but it was an enjoyable night with my siblings and cousins.

Vacation - A time to relax?

We left Friday morning for our family vacation to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.

We stopped for a long lunch at a business acquaintance's vacation house of my husband's in Maryland. They have a beautiful large house with a barn and stables for two horses and at least seven antique carriages. Plus a boat load of land all nestled on an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay.

We continued on and crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel for a mere $12.00. We stopped off at the pier and visitor's center for a slower look see at the Bay.

As we mosied on our way, we thought we might travel at least to Virginia and settled on Elizabeth City for our overnight destination. I have a few things to say about that town. The person who put up all the route signs needs to try to follow them first, before letting the general public try it. The managers of Wendy's need to get their act together and not let the drive-up window take twenty minutes when it is only five cars long and to give out spoons when people order chili. All the hotels and motels need to have more non-smoking rooms.

We finally just got out of that town. I think in all we tried probably eight motel/hotels before we rested at a Super Eight several towns down the road. It was a very nice place, and they had a continental breakfast that didn't consist of donuts and coffee.

The house we rented didn't bring up tons of warm fuzzies either. The owners opted not to have the realtor spring clean, so all the insects that climbed behind furniture and under beds than died were still there, dust was a little thick, it was not up to our expectations. The people who come into clean between renters did their jobs, since they are not expected and don't have time to spring clean each Saturday. It was the owners. And have you ever tried to relax, sit and enjoy yourself on vinyl furniture in varying degrees of disrepair? There were two chairs and three couches from which you could pick.

The house had seven bedrooms and four bathrooms and claimed to accommodate 20 people. The actual number of beds slept 19. They possibly were counting the roll away cot in the laundry area, but we didn't attempt to use it after seeing the condition of the place. Thy also advertised a sleeper sofa, but that was scary too. I can say that the price probably reflected the condition of the house.

There are other things I can go on about, but I will let it go.

Last night I had another Get Together. It was an encouragement. I received an order and had a request for a workshop. I have thought about holding a workshop but didn't think I was ready to do one. I don't really have the resources yet. I would need to spend money to purchase products. I haven't been doing this long enough to have inventory or a profit yet. But maybe I just need to spend the money, hold some workshops, and hope that I make a profit or at least get back what I spent. I think that it is possible, since some of what I would buy is reusable, unlike the paper and stickers.

Today is the second day of Vacation Bible School at church. The theme is Fiesta! I wear the same shirt each day (I will wash it.) It is a rather bright shade of yellow, with "Fiesta! Where kids are fired up about Jesus" printed across the front. After VBS yesterday, I sported it around while I grocery shopped. I am crew leader, and I have four 5 year olds in my charge. You think, hey, that's not bad. Well, maybe you should try it. They are four very active 5 year olds.

Yesterday we learned how some friends took their paralyzed friend to see Jesus. And not only did they take him to see Jesus, they lowered him through a roof to do it. And you know what? Jesus healed him. They were good friends. We also got to make a craft, sings fun songs, play cool games, and eat a tasty snack. And everything had the theme of being good friends. Our verse for yesterday is "Now you are my friends." John 15:15.

What fun things will we learn today?

For my hsuband's birthday, we went to see the Sammy Kaye Orchestra. After church, we dropped our daughter off at Grnadmom's house and went to have brunch at a very nice restaurant. Then since we had time, we strolled down Main Street until it was time to take our seats.

We had secod row seats to listen and "swing and sway with Sammy Kaye." I don't know if it was the heat, or the food, or the fact that I just haven't gotten enough sleep, but I was having a very hard time staying awake during the first half of the show. I bought a snake mix durning intermittion, hoping that I could munch during the second half if I needed to. I did need to, but it wasn't as bad.

I was rather disappointed with the show. There was a whole lot more swaying than swinging and maybe that's why I had trouble staying awake. I would have prefered it to be the other way around. It was good music, I just wanted more swing music.

But we did have a very nice afternoon together. After we got home and put our daughter to bed, we tackled the garage together. Isn't that sweet? I moved items from a gardening bin into the garage and then filled it with kindling for the winter months of fires in our fireplace. My husband did some organizing in the garage and trash detail. We are both satisfied with our work. It was needing to be done.

We finally got all our price quotes for which we have been waiting. Now we just have to decide on who will do what we want done.

The windows have been giving us trouble in deciding, because we want ones that look like what we already have. Well, today we went looking again. And low and behold we found them. They are Marvin windows and have the grids on the outside of the glass on the inside and the outside of the window, so even though it is one large pane of glass, it looks like eight separate panes. The inside of the window is still wood, and the outside is aluminum (maintenance free), but still resembles wood. The catch is they are not as economical as the regular replacement windows we have looked at. But we feel that they will maintain the look and charm of our 1938 house, with a much higher energy efficiency. If we replace all our windows it means no central air. We would just buy another window unit for the living room and next summer a unit for the back room.

We haven't quite decided which route we will take. Both routes are expensive.

When I log onto this site, I have to put my user name and password in. I also choose the "remember me" box, which is suppose to remember my information so I don't have to type it in each time I log on. Yet everytime I want to log on, I have to retype my user name and password, as though I did not choose that box. If they are going to bother having the "remember me" box, then it should actually remember me.

That reminds me of when I call a company and the automated person asks for information such as phone number, social security number, order number, and then twenty mintues later when you actually get to speak with a real live person, they ask for the information you already just put in. Why do they do that?

My daughter and I went to Costco today with my parents. We bought some food items for our trip to the beach. My entire family is very excited about our week at Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Doesn't 14 adults and 8 kids (ages 12 through 1) in one seven bedroom house sound like fun? That many people eat a lot. We end up going to the store several times in the week we are there. We thought we'd get a head start.

It is only six days until we leave, though we won't actually get to the beach until Saturday. We are stopping at my husband's business acquaintance's house for dinner Thursday evening, then driving on to my friend's house and staying with her until Saturday. We can't get into the house at the beach until after 4:00 pm, so we will have plenty of time to travel on Saturday.

Packing our Honda Civic will be a fun task. I am already trying to figure out how we are going to get everything in. My cousin called today and asked if we would bring our piano keyboard, so her girls can still practice. Hey if she wants it, I am more than willing to let her pack it. They have a minivan. Last time I took my sewing machine. We didn't have a daughter then. Children add quite a bit to one's packing needs.

I have been enjoying not having to bend over to look in my refrigerator. We got a bottom freezer style. It also has been nice to have a back up frig and freezer in the basement.

I am also enjoying my new dishwasher. If you know of anyone who could use one let me know. Right now I can't give it away. No thrift stores, charities or people that I have contacted want it. It works fine, but it has no home.

It is hot.

My sister has my daughter, so I was able to do some shopping without her. It is much easier and quicker without her.

Last night I had a training for Creative Memories, so now I am more excited and ready to go
than I was before to find me some hostesses. I also have some goals that I can work toward.

We are still waiting on a price quote from a heating/cooling place to make a decision about who to go with for heater replacement and air-conditioning. I think we decided to replace our windows, at least as many as we can with what funds we have, we just can't decide which windows and grids to choose, which will then determine which company we use. We want to still have the wood look as best we can, which isn't easy with vinyl windows. Though today we just may have found the best compromise. Vinyl outside, wood inside. And do we replace the gutters or not. Also the plumbing and electric are still yet to be determined.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

We finally turned on our window air-conditioners. Sleeping has been much better with them. We only have one downstairs, which doesn't adequately cool the entire space, but it does help with the humidity.

We went looking for cell phones. My friend whose phone we have been using needs to not pay for it right now due to financial reasons, so we thought we would get our own phone plan. We checked out Cingular, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint. We went to a Cingular kiosk, but looked at all the companies online. It is hard to pick. The cheapest would be Sprint, but their coverage leaves much to be desired. That is the company my friend has, and I am constantly loosing service, even when I am not moving. Cingular has the best coverage, but is most expensive. Verizon and T-Mobile are in the middle. I think I would go with Verizon if we decide to get a cell phone.

I have some new ideas for dealing with my daughter. First off, I need to spend more time with her without doing anything else. Repeating instructions calmly and touch were two suggestions by my cousin. I also know I need to redirect her when she is doing something she shouldn't be doing. We had a much better day today.

On another front, I was quite put out with the Sears delivery people, who were suppose to deliver our refrigerator and dishwasher between 10:00am and 12:00pm today. After calling the delivery number twice, they finally showed up at 1:45pm. I know that people run late. What I don't like and think is rude is that I wasn't called and informed that they would be late. What really was irritating was that there was food getting warm, sitting in coolers waiting to go back in the refrigerator. And I needed to make lunch. I didn't want to root through and let warm air in. I ended up having to anyway. My daughter and I needed to eat. Another contractor came today to give us pricing on a new heater and installing air conditioning. He was an hour late. No call. I don't necessarily have time or nothing going on that I can just sit around waiting for people to show up. My time is important too.

This is like what has happened to me at the Ob/Gyn prenatal visits. I am left sitting for way past my appointment time with nary a word as to why. And it isn't just me. I was talking to my cousin who goes to the same office. She also sat waiting for a doctor way too long. It didn't use to be like that. She did have a suggestion though: call before going to the appointment to find out how far behind they are running. I plan to check for my next appointment.

For the past several weeks, every day is a struggle for me. I get so frustrated with my daughter. She is constantly doing what I tell her not to do. Not often does she follow directions the first time and without threat of punishment. I know she is only two (almost), but it still seems that she should be able to follow simple directions. The times are definitely terrible.

I tell myself that I have to be patient and guide her through her tantrums. But I find that all I want to do is spank her severely and put her away in her crib. I am trying not to spank her, because I really don't want to hit her, but timeouts aren't all that effective right now. Nothing is.

I wonder, why can't she play with her own toys, she has enough of them. But no, she has to play with everything else, making a mess. Which of course I end up cleaning up. She helps because I tell her she needs to clean up after herself, but face it, a two year old just doesn't clean up as well as an adult. I end up doing the brunt of the work. Why can't she just obey?

And being pregnant doesn't help. I am extra tired, my back and legs ache much of the time, and I am more emotional, which is why I am probably so frustrated all the time. I am just plain tired of repeating myself and being ignored. I long for the time when she is asleep, or my husband or family member watches her. Caring for her is very draining.

But still I love her and can't imagine not having her here. I know it will get better, and she will be more obedient as she gets older. I continually pray for God's guidance.

Yet again our five year old cat is on our nerves. Before we moved she wouldn't stop biting and attacking our feet. Now in our new house, she's afraid of the basement, the best location for the cat box. We started her in our room (no place for a cat box.) Then the extra room (will be Joshua's room - still no place for a cat box.) Then right outside the basement door (we're getting closer.) Then the bottom of the basement steps. At that point there would be a long stretch of time when the box would go unused, and we didn't find presents anywhere. Eventually she would need to go and would cower down the steps to do her business.

Then we got the new kitty. We moved the cat boxes back to the spare room. After having them there for a few days we moved them back downstairs. There was an "accident" done on purpose in the spare room. Yesterday we put the box in the basement again. Another "accident" in our room. Kalli thought it was new location and started to relieve herself. I quickly changed her mind. The cats were band from all rooms upstairs. This morning another accident in the dining room. The box came back up from the basement and is sitting at the top of the stairs. We have to find a location that suits us both. The basement is apparently not an option if we don't want to be cleaning up messes. It's current location is not acceptable for us humans, though not two minutes after relocating it there, Patches used it and Kalli went investigating.

I have not found any new messes.

I just realized I completely forgot to report that during our ultrasound on the 28th of June, our son made his presence known. We weren't going to find out if we were having a boy or girl, but my husband spied that he was a he. Though the technician confirmed it, we still know that there is a possibly we could have another daughter. Which could mean she might go without a name for a bit. We were having difficulties deciding on a girl's name, but have since ceased with racking our brains. We already had a boy's name picked out - Joshua Edward.

He has also been making his presence known, by the moving I am feeling. I have felt him for several weeks now. It still amazes me that there is a little person inside me, that God is getting ready for us to meet.

We finally named the kitten Kalli.

My cousin and aunt are up from NC. I haven't seen my cousin in a coon's age. He is finished his stint in the Florida Keys and now is taking a vet job in Wilmington, NC. He and auntie came up before is new job starts.

And last night, we (my husband, sister, cousin and I) went to a Phillies game. We splurged on seating, in the $44.00 area, hoping for a foul ball. None came our way, but we did see the Phillie Phanatic upclose and personal. He was a seat away from us. My cousin got a few pieces of memorabilia. On our other trips to a game, we tend to get there after the first inning has already started. But not this time. We had time to eat our hoagies before the National Anthem. And see the first pitch.

I made what I thought was a grave error and forgot to go to the bathroom before we left. My husband spied a port-a-potty, and we made our way to it. I have never in my life seen one of those so full. It was disgusting. The liquid line was maybe five inches from overflowing. I thought I'd go anyway, but then noticed no toilet paper. I just headed right out of there at that point. My sister was headed over to use the facilities, but I turned her right around and brought her back to the car, explaining she did not want to go in there. I think the experience allowed my bladder to not need to be emptied like it thought it needed.

I am not sure when, but my sister bought my child a small pool. Despite her unhappy relationship with water, my daughter loves it. She sees it in the garage where we store it and points to it, saying "pool." We hardly fill it, and since it sits on a slight angle only half of the pool has water in it. It is great for a child who stands for her baths and cries half of the time. She has come so far as to kneel and lay on her belly, yet she won't sit on her bottom. She has toys, on e being a cup that she likes to fill and dump down her front. She even has a head first method of getting in the pool.

I am hoping that this will prepare her somewhat for our week at the beach. Although I do realize a placid two inch, half filled pool is quite different then a constantly moving, ever deepening, always pulling ocean. The sand alone may be a factor.

We will see. I was told that one trip to the beach while I was a youngster found me terrified of the water. My family tried and finally the last day or so, I found the water to be great fun. But I was sorely unhappy to have it end so soon. If only I had given it a chance sooner. I think my daughter will.

We finally got our chest freezer. Three weeks it has taken us to get it from a friend. The rain was a big hindrance, along with having to borrow a big enough vehicle, and someone to help move it. I think my husband planned to go pick it up at least four times, but it kept raining.

Well, this morning dawned clear, my parents' van was available, and my father was a willing mover. It is finally in place in our basement. It is plugged in getting cold. I needed to clean it out before it got too cold. I missed my opportunity. I had to unplug it, let it warm up, clean it, than plug it back in. But alas, it is now freezing inside, holding some of our food. Yeah, extra food storage space. I plan on shopping for extra food this coming week.

In my new house, there is ample room for extra food storage, and I am taking full advantage of it. Soon I will have an extra refrigerator in the basement as well. Then I can stock up on milk and yogurt and other refrigerated goodies. I have extra shelves in the basement as well for dry goods. They are full. I don't have a pantry in my kitchen, but I do have a Hoosier which has become my pantry. We are vacillating back and forth about redesigning our kitchen or leaving the cabinets as they are and just replacing the countertop. There is a big price difference in the two choices. I think we are leaning to redesigning but waiting a few years to save up for it.

Back to my day . . . In the afternoon we relaxed and napped. For dinner we went to my cousin's house, were we joined my aunt, parents and sister for a picnic of sloppy joes, tuna macaroni salad, tossed salad, lima bean casserole, and corn on the cob. Yes even though we were at my cousin's house, she and her family were not present. They were up in Maine. Their dog needed some visiting, plus they have a pool, so we went there.

Of course our child ate little. She likes to make like she eats more, though, but then spits it out. She can hold quite a bit in her little cheeks. She had fun running around though, getting dirty. We ended up giving her a bath. That was a fun endeavor, creating a water mess, since she thought it a good idea to have water on the outside of the tub using a small pitcher. Two towels later she is dried and ready for bed, along with her parents.

Our yesterday at the NJ shore was a nice change from boxes and unpacking. We got there around 10:30 and relaxed for a while. Napping for our daughter was concern since we forgot the portable crib. My husband took care of it by rocking her and letting her sleep on his chest. He also got a nap in. It was very precious seeing the two of them sleeping.

We headed to the beach then, were our daughter wanted nothing to do with the sand. She wouldn't een let us put her down on a blanket. But after a little cajoling she became quite fond of teh beach, so much so that we tired of chasing after her. She'd run up and down the beach, keeping sure of staying free and clear of the water. She never did warm up to the water, which was the boiling temperature of about 63 degrees. My toes could barely stand it. She would be standing where there was no water, and then all of a sudden the water was after her, and she'd run away with a shriek. She had a grand time.

We finally retreated to the beach chairs which we never really got to sit in, because we were playing in the sand with our daughter. We'd build towers and she knocked them down. I was able to make 8 towers before she smashed them to ruins. After playing in the sand she took to running around in the dry sand. She ended up with sand everywhere including her face. We were worn out from keeping her in check, so headed back early. We cleaned up and eventually headed to the boardwalk.

We wanted some yummy pizza from Mack and Manco's. It was so busy we decided on take out and still had to wait in a line. Their pizza is very tasty and worth waiting in a short line. She settled on a bench to munch our late dinner. Last year I witnessed a very brazen seagull steal a woman's pizza right from her plate. Your eyes have to be ever watchful with seagulls around. It was later at night and the seagulls were not around during our dinner.

I stopped and bought some fudge, my husband got some coffee, and I got a Henna tattoo. We got back to the house much later than we wanted to. We ended up leaving for home much later than we wanted to also. And there was traffic. Ridiculously long traffic. It took us almost an extra hour to get home.

It was a good, relaxing, long, tiring day.

We went shopping at the local hardware store. My husband mowed and edged. It looks great. I pulled weeds - still have more than halfway to go, but what is done looks good. We have a parking space that is stone and weeds. I am trying to get rid of the weeds. I pulled many and also sprayed weed killer on them.

We also have an overrun-by-weeds garden area. I am not even halfway done weeding that. I hope to plant something in it soon. I need to get weeding to do so. It is a tiring and hot task. I spent a long time pulling at weeds.

We ended the day with a trip to Applebee's with my parents. I do like not having to cook, especially with a non-air conditioned kitchen.

No puppy. They didn't pick us. We still have no name for our kitty.

My husband is off for four days. He was allowed to take off Monday without the usual two weeks notice.

Tomorrow is working on the house, and we are headed to Ocean City on Sunday. My mom's cousin invited us down for the day.

Yesterday and today were trying. Not the whole day, but enough of it. I was right about our daughter. She was a pip near lunch/naptime and dinner/bedtime. I am very fortunate that I am not a single parent. I look forward to the times when my daughter is sleeping (and my husband is home.) Naptime is a time when I relax and do something for myself, and after bedtime for our daughter, I look forward to spending time with my husband and not having to chase after and reprimand an almost two year old.

Last night I had a meeting. My husband had a meeting. Mine was rescheduled, his was canceled. It was nice to not have to go anywhere. Especially since my husband has two more nights this week where he will be gone. I don't look forward to having only a short break from the care of my daughter. She is very trying right now. When she gets tired, she is very cranky and not very cooperative. She does what you ask her not to do.

But my husband is very kind and has offered to come home for lunch on the days he will be gone at night and take care of our daughter's lunch and nap, to give me a break. Right now I told him it wouldn't really work, because his bosses have asked if he would work 50 hours a week for a while. The company is behind on work and can't seem to find help. The bosses and another worker are all going to be trying to work extra. He would get his time and a half, plus $50.00 in cash. The extra 10 hours is not mandatory. If he came home for lunch, it would make it even harder to get in an extra 10 hours a day, since he works while he eats.

I was very touched by his offer, though I turned it down. For now. There are days where he is out and about on work errands and has a chance to stop by. That is a nice change for our day.

We are progressing. The bathroom is unpacked, and several more boxes emptied. Blinds are up, and the shower head is changed.

We were suppose to get our chest freezer today, but the clouds have not stopped dumping rain on us all day, or for the past three days. So, the freezer is on hold until the rain has stopped falling. According to the weather reports, that will probably be this weekend.

We ordered a new computer armoire and entertainment center. Our previous ones just won't fit in the new house.

The biggest news of the day is that we adopted a kitty today. She is a gray tiger-stripe and unnamed as of yet. Our two top choices are Zoe and Tabitha, though my husband wants to name her Whiskers, I vote for Zoe. We'll see. I also put in an application for a Labrador mix named Caesar. He is 20 months old, housebroken (very important), and good with children.

My husband has nicknamed me Zookeeper.

We started slow this morning. Slept in. We had my husband's brother's graduation party in the afternoon. They planned on having it outside. The rain changed that. It was crowded inside, but it was a good time. We saw some family we don't see often.

My sister came over and we started to watch Syriana. It was getting late, so we stopped it. My husband and I lost interest in it. It was very hard to follow. It was long. We don't have a desire to finish watching it.

We are all moved in, yet not at all unpacked. Though, I am unpacking a little more each day.

We do like our new little abode. I have changed all but four of the knobs in the kitchen. Four are left because they didn't have enough. Our first plan was to redo the kitchen, but our neighbor is a carpenter, so we are planning on having him, if he wants the job, make us a custom cabinet to go on the wall where none currently exists. We'll buy a new refrigerator and put the current one in the basement. And I discovered I can't stand the dishwasher, so I get a new one of those. I will just live with the dishwasher and sink being 10 feet apart.

My husband bought and put together his first lawn mower, and I think he wants to mow tonight. I did laundry yesterday and got to hang it outside. I need to do something about the clothesline, though. I also need clothes props. My line was rather saggy. I do like my "new" washer and dryer. The previous owner left theirs. They are a bigger capacity than my old ones. So, maybe I can wait on a new set. I wanted a front loader washer.

We are having companies give us estimates to replace the heater, install AC, and replace galvanized pipe with copper. We had the locks changed. We also decided the windows need attention sooner rather than later. That was a project we didn't budget for. But the money we save on the kitchen will go into the windows.

Dinner now needs my attention. Oh, we were going to have grilled chicken salad. I thought that would be good. It's a hot day, cook outside and not heat up the kitchen. Well my plan was perfect until I went to start up the grill and realized my parents still have our propane tank. The movers don't move pressurized gas. So, the kitchen is hotter, and the chicken is cooking on the stove.

We went to the Phillies game today. It was rather warm and sticky. My legs were quite wet from touching those plastic seats. It was kind of gross. We were in the sun for a short time, then the shade came. There was also a breeze, which helped us stay slightly cooler. We also had our hats to shade our eyes from the sun glare off the field.

Our girl was with us and didn't really much care to watch baseball. She much more enjoyed going up and down the steps, playing in my purse, squirming, and making a general all around distraction of herself. We only got to see bits and pieces of the game.

We are still tired from our move.

Today is my husband's father's 60th birthday. He doesn't like a big fuss at all. Of course I told him the day of his birth is a day to be celebrated. He just gave me a look.

We went over for dinner and pie. We had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and strawberry rhubarb pie. It was a scrumptious meal. Gary's step-mom was able to take off of work and be home to cook. Usually her job takes her out of town, and she isn't always home to cook. She was glad to be able to do this meal for him.

We put our daughter to bed at their house and watched "It Could Happen to You." Our girl took an extra long time to fall asleep, because she was in unfamiliar territory.

We hadn't seen the folks in a while and thought we should get over there. We also wanted to see what they had done with the place, because they have their place up for sale. They had painted and done some other things. The house looked very nice. The have an agreement on a house to buy, so hopefully they sell their house soon.

Tonight, after choir, was a farewell time for our church's organist. She is retiring after 23 years of service at our church. She is retiring mainly because she is having hand surgery in July. Since her hands are rather important for playing an organ, she needs to take time off, and I guess decided it was time to take time off permanently. She plays beautifully and has been very faithful in her playing. She will be missed.

I sent out information cards about my being a consultant for Creative Memories. I have to follow up with them next week. I may get a get together out of it. There are incentives to have lots of get togethers and have high sales, but I don't think I am going to make it.

My daughter finally got another tooth, her ninth, on Sunday. She is 22 months old.

I am loving our new camera. It takes very nice photographs, it has a very short delay between photos, and I haven't had to recharge the battery yet. It holds two cards with the capability to store many a photo. I have also taken a few videos with it. I am liking our new camera.

As I write, my husband and daughter are napping. My husband didn't have good night sleep and was not feeling well this morning, so just my daughter and I went to church. He has been sleeping all morning. My daughter fell asleep on the way home. I have a chance to write.

I plan on maybe napping later, watching the Phillies, and doing some Creative Memories stuff.

We should go see my husband's dad, since they have done some work on their house to get it ready to sell. We also just haven't seen them in a while.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!, my dear friend.

On our anniversary weekend, our car's muffler started making some interesting noises. As it turned out when we had it looked at, that the muffler blew a hole. No rust, no apparent reason for a hole, just had a hole.

Today, my car felt left out. On our way to my husband's step-uncle's house, my car decided to have muffler trouble of it's own. The front muffler pipe fell down. We had to have the car towed to our repair shop. We will find out about what's wrong on Monday, after the guys have a chance to look at it. Needless to say, we never made it the uncle's house.

Just as soon as we got home, I went looking at cars on line.

Before all this fun happened, my little family went to Lansdale Day. The town closes main street and people set up their wares. There is food available and many manners of things one might need, from new gutters, to Avon, to jewelry, to pottery. We were foolish and didn't take the stroller, so we had to share caring our daughter and the stuff we purchased. We saw some acquaintances we had not seen in a while. It was a nice morning. We did have to dodge a few raindrops.

We ended the day with a movie. My parents watched our daughter and my husband and sister, and I went and saw "X-Men: The Last Stand." It was good. I might just have to buy it. I still want to see the second one.

I had my next prenatal visit today. I got there right on time and was taken into the exam room promptly. My sample, weight and blood pressure were all checked. I was told the doctor would be in shortly. I waited 15 minutes. I was clothed. I was half considering leaving and rescheduling, when the doctor came in. He wrote some things in my file and listened to my baby's heartbeat. He asked how things were going, wrote a prescription for my 20 week ultrasound, and sent me on my way. I think all that took roughly 7 minutes. I see another doctor on my next visit. We'll see what kind of "bedside manner" he has and how speedy he is to show up once the nurse leaves.

Note: If you remember at my last appointment, I had to wait 30 minutes in a paper gown before the doctor showed up. I am not going to be kept waiting that long again.

I decided to try my hand at Creative Memories. I am now a consultant. I am not sure exactly what all I have to do, but I do know that I have a certain amount of time in which to it. If I fail to follow through with the requirements in that time period, my consultant status is deactivated.

Tonight we have off from choir practice. I like having a break. We will soon have all summer off.

We had a baby shower for my cousin and his wife this weekend. This is their first child. They don't have anything yet. Well, now they do since we had the shower. Though they still need clothes. They have chosen to wait to find out if they are having a boy or a girl.

This weekend was also our anniversary. We got some cards and some "Happy Anniversary!"s. Our anniversary fell on Saturday, which is the day we got married. I thought it kind of neat. It happens every 6 years.

My daughter was being very challenging this morning. I am quite happy she is napping. I am tired of correcting her. She has had at least four time outs in three hours.

I think that because of this orneriness, she was extra tired. This was demonstrated by falling asleep during lunch. But stubborn as she is, she fought it. She fell asleep sitting in her chair, then startle awake and eat another bite. Then she'd fall asleep again, startle awake, and take another bite. I think on the third repetition, I told her we should go upstairs for a nap. She stubbornly said no, picked up a grape, and chewed on it as her eyes closed. Even as I was cleaning her up, she objected to her food being taken away and grabbed another bite.

And unfortunately, I can't let her go on sleeping for however long she would sleep, because I am picking up my aunt at the airport. I am mostly sure that once in the car, she will fall back to sleep.

The wonders of motherhood.

My husband had a very nice weekend, even with the rain of Cooperstown, NY. And as always we have stories to tell.

#1. I surprised my husband by going to a drive-in movie on Friday night to see Poseidon. After a drive of about an hour, we pulled in, paid, and found a place to park to watch the movie. Turning on the radio to tune to the station that carries the sound for the movie, we were reminded that the radio doesn't work. We decided to leave and drove back to the entrance where we paid. We were instructed to go to the concession stand. We drove back over to near where we were and spoke with the owner. She had a speaker that she faces out on of the doors for people like us who don't have their own sound. We thanked her, moved the car for a third time, and went back into the concession stand for our dinner of a hamburger, salt-challenged fries, and not-so-tasty mozzarella sticks. The speaker by the door did provide adequate sound. We had to switch seats, so that I didn't freeze too much with the passenger window open slightly. I also draped an army blanket over me. There was a double feature, but we only stayed for the first movie. We did have an hour's drive back to Cooperstown.

#2. We had a leisurely morning and a bountiful breakfast. As we strolled down Main street toward the National Baseball Hall of Fame, we heard a loud boom. Since it was misty, I thought it was thunder. As we climbed the steps of our destination, streams of people were coming out of the building. I thought it odd that that many people would be leaving at the same time. As we learned later, a squirrel gave its life to get a taste of the building's transformer. The National Baseball Hall of Fame was closed, with an undetermined re-opening. After a picture of everyone milling about, we decided to walk about town for the walking tour. After we enjoyed our tour, we headed back to the Hall of Fame. Still closed. We walked back to the bed and breakfast, for what turned into a two hour nap. Now it was five. The Hall of Fame was closed for the day. Surely it would be open by tomorrow. Other guests at the bed and breakfast did get in again and informed us that they let people in for free once they re-opened. We missed the free deal.

We had another bountiful breakfast on Sunday. We went to church with plans to visit the Hall of Fame afterwards. Just guess who we met at church, besides God. A couple visiting their daughter, who live 45 minutes from us and know our former pastor, and the man who was the former director of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and was now a Director Emeritus. The kind gentleman gave us his card with a personal note to allow us to enter as his guests.

#3. We were on our way home. The turnpike had two unmanned toll booths where you pay 50 cents. No problems with the first one. The second one, however did not like our money. We put in 4 dimes and 2 nickels (US currency), which to my counting equals 50 cents. The machine did not think so. It didn't raise the arm for us to pass. We threw in another nickel. Nothing. My husband pushed the Talk button. A man who must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed accused us of not paying the correct amount and putting in Canadian money. Never once did he think the machine made the mistake. He even sacrificed his own quarter for us. The machine still didn't let us pass. After throwing in the quarter, he went into the building. We guess he finally manually raised the arm for us to pass.

We did have a nice anniversary weekend. Anything to spice up life?

My child has been quite stubborn about saying "Down, please." Though as I listen to what she does say, I wonder if in fact she thinks she is saying, "Down, please." It doesn't sound like it to my ears, but maybe to her, it is. If this is the case, she believes that "please" said with up sounds different then when said with down. I just don't know. The past three evenings, she has sat in her highchair longer than normal, because she isn't using her manners.

I am looking forward to this weekend. My husband and I are going away (a week early) to celebrate our anniversary. We're headed to Cooperstown, NY. While there, we are going to tour the Baseball Hall of Fame and a brewing company. It should be a swell time. My parents are watching our daughter.

Note to self: Do not ever buy a house from someone I know.

I find it very interesting that my daughter has changed so much before our eyes, but yet I couldn't see it.

I just recently sent film to be developed, some rolls from 2003. Looking at my daughter just 7 months ago, there is a difference. I don't notice that her hair is growing, and her face is changing until I look at a younger picture of her.

I feel like I've missed part of my daughter growing up, yet I've been here the whole time.

Today was my shopping day. By the time my daughter and I finished eating, and I got my list organized, it was 11:30. That is usually the time I start working on lunch. But since we had a late breakfast, I decided to head out to do some shopping.

On our way out my daughter thought it would be nice to take her babies with her, a pink doll, and Dora. As she carried them around before we actually left, she kept saying, "Two." She knew she had two babies in her arms.

Her pink baby went on her first shopping experience with us at Wal-Mart. She wanted Dora too, but I said no. We took awhile at Wal-Mart, probably because I perused the $5.50 movie bin. I found some to buy. During our pit stop at McDonald's for nourishment, my daughter was a little perfect eater. She ate two nuggets, and her apples, and all her milk. She did have some problems with pointing and staring at other patrons. She doesn't quite understand that it isn't polite to point and stare, even when it is explained to her.

My girl is a friendly sort. She wiling tells all she meets, "Hi." And now she has started a new thing. She will say hi to someone, then point to me and say, "Mommy," several times. I think maybe every shopper at Redner's was greeted and informed that I was her Mommy. She also was bright enough to recognize the cheese in the deli display window and point to it, then ask for it by opening her mouth and pointing inside. She received some cheese, when reminded to ask more politely.

But all the cuteness came to an end at the conclusion of dinner. After a burnt pot of white chili stunk up the house, we ordered pizza. When our daughter had ended her food intake, she established that she wanted to get down. Without a please. We reminded her she needed to say please. She sat in her highchair asking to get down, without saying please for an hour. She went right to bed with no books or stories.

I didn't have to change a diaper today. My husband handled most of my daughter's care. He had a nasty headache in the middle of the day. He handled it well. It did finally go away.

We went to my husband's dad's house. We went to my cousin's house, where my side of the family gathered for dinner and dessert. Then we went to my husband's mother's house.

We saw our mothers. We got them each a plant. We found hydrangeas and a mum, which were all quite beautiful.

We had a Mother/Daughter Tea today. It was at a restaurant in stead of at our church as it usually is. There was a doll theme. My daughter brought her doll with her. My mom, grandmom, and my husband's mother, step-mother, grammy, and greataunt all attended. It was nice for my husband's side of the family to see our daughter, since they don't get to see her that often.

Every one had a nice time. It was reflective to hear stories of days gone by and about other ladies and their dolls.

The food wasn't all together unpalatable (the sandwich wraps were quite tasty), but they could have provided a few more nonsandwich options. They were also short on the desserts. There were not enough to go around. Actually they had plenty of scone/biscuit things (not very desert-like), but not enough cookies. My mom missed out on the chocolate chip cookies.

The information about the mortgage appraisal for the house we are trying to buy is very, very slow in coming. The appraisal was done last Friday, and over a week later, we still have not heard what the mortgage company's appraised value of the house is. If it is too low, we have some concerns about buying the house. We have heard some rumors that it will be close to what we need it to be, but nothing official, yet.

After dinner, we took some time tonight to look at some houses for sale in the area. No of them worth going into. We didn't like the looks of them at all. Nothing was better than the house we have agreed and want to buy.

We also went out to eat tonight. We tried a new restaurant near us, Bones Grille. It was very tasty food and good service. Our daughter actually ate her food. We had leftovers. It was an all around good food experience, one to be repeated.

I had a Creative Memories Get Together tonight. It was fun. My mom, aunt, and sister were here. My mother-in-law and a co-worker of hers were here. A friend of my mom and aunts was here. I made zucchini bread and peanutbutter cookies. I put out pretzels, peanuts, and carrots. My husband set up the coffee maker. Also available were water, milk, orange juice, apple juice, and iced tea.

If no one had fun with the creative memories part, they should have at least had a good time eating.

I don't understand it, but for some reason my husband felt that he should leave during our fun. He put our daughter to bed, then headed out. He went to a friend's house for a Bible study.

We had my egg casserole again for breakfast. Having it today was just as tasty as yesterday. My friend had never had an egg casserole before. She didn't know what she was missing.

Oh yes, my friend cut my hair yesterday. I forgot that in the morning before we went anywhere, we played outside a bit. Kashi romped after his ball, my daughter ran around, my husband kept Kashi romping by throwing his ball, my friend cut my hair.

Today, she cut it again. I decided to go a little shorter. She did a fabulous job. It is quite cute. It really brings out my curls. She always does a good job on my hair. She also thought her skin needed a trim. She forgets that it's my hair she's cutting and not her finger.

During our visit, I was able to find two things she lost. Her gel for poison ivy, and her exercise cords. Though, I couldn't find her missing keys for her new locks.

After we packed, we ate dinner at Austin Grill. They have great food, but our service was lacking. We had enough leftover for another meal. To let our food settle we walked around the block. During our stroll, we made room for coffee (my husband,) and ice cream (the rest of us.)

On our way home we found more traffic. The Bay Bridge was backed up for 4 miles, causing us an hour delay. We played the alphabet game using car makes and models. My husband won. I won the game we played using signs.

Our last bit of excitement this weekend was when we saw a taxi veering into the other lane. He did it over 7 times that we saw. I called 911. I was patched through to the state police. I reported the taxi, and where we were on I-476. I was asked for my name, and the number from which I was calling. The taxi was in the left lane, going no more than 60 MPH and sometimes slower. He continued to veer, and we continued to watch. No police. We stayed behind him for a while. Still no police. Eventually we had to pass him, because he slowed down to under 50 MPH, while still driving in the far left lane. By this point there were three lanes. He had passengers, too. It at least kept us awake.

We didn't get home until 10:15 pm. Far later than we would have liked, but not as late as other times. Our daughter had a surprise for us. Her diaper apparently holds more liquid when in the vertical position. Her entire bottom was wet. I had to wash her car seat cover. She hadn't even been asleep as long as over night, but yet she was completely wet along her entire backside. When she sleeps at night, she never leaks out the back. We figure it was because she was sitting instead of lying down.

We went Shopping.

At Target we bought our daughter two swimsuits. They are adorable and have a little skirt. And they're pink. I think most everything that girl wears has at least one spot of pink. We are gong to the beach this summer for a week, so she needs two swimsuits. Of course, if it was up to her, she'd probably be perfectly happy in just her diaper.

We also found my EZ slider plastic wrap made by Reynolds wrap. It's purple, too. My friend got green. I highly recommend the EZ slider to cut plastic wrap. It is better than sliced bread.

We also went to Home Depot for some things, namely drain cleaner, also highly recommend by my friend.

My husband tried getting Starbucks coffee at the gargantuan town-like shopping center where Home Depot was, but the line was nearly out the door. He doesn't like Starbucks enough to wait.
We then ate lunch at a favorite little diner - Taco Bell. I ordered my favorite - Chalupas. Since I discovered them, they're all I get. My daughter made a tasty mess with a burrito.

We then headed to a garden store for my friend to pick up a new bowl for her bird bath. Hers is cracked. They didn't have the green that matches the base she has. So, we actually didn't purchase anything there. She ended up using tar to pitch the inside of the bird bath. It looks quite fetching and will act as a target for the birds to find it easier.

Then my friend did something wonderful. She dropped my husband and I off at Mount Vernon and took our daughter home for a nap. We had a few hours to ourselves. We had a very nice stroll around the lower grounds of mount Vernon. George was quite the innovative farmer.

The next stop was, I think, quite remarkable. It felt like stepping back in time. We found a variety store. And "penny" candy. The candy was more than a penny, but it was the same kind you used to be able to buy for a penny. I hadn't seen some since I was a little girl. We of course piled quite a bit of the sugary sweetness into a basket. Than we wandered around the store for a while. My husband found the toy isle with Matchbox cars and other trinkets he liked as a boy, reminding him of the Five and Dime store from our youth. It was a fun store, and we will be back next time we visit.

Our final stop was for pizza and soda. By this time our stomachs were saying things. It was very tasty pizza. We ate while watching a movie. Then my friend and I played Phase Ten. I won.