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.

We drove to Alexandria, VA today. We were later leaving than we thought, but it wasn't mostly our fault. My husband had an emergency at work and needed to take care of some things before we left. The plan was to watch my friends furry and feathery friends for her while she went to helped her Mother in Texas. Instead her Mother turned tables on her and canceled her flight. So, we plan to visit with the animals and her all weekend.

We also hit traffic in Delaware. I am not sure how long it set us back, since I woke up once we were in it.

We stopped at Wawa for some dinner. The plan was to eat at my friend's house, but the work emergency and traffic set us back, so we got some sustenance. I highly do NOT recommend Wawa's new chicken cheese steak with Cheddar cheese on it. They have to improve that one before I pass it past my lips again. They also have to learn how to melt cheese.

Back on the road again, there were no more stops or issues.

I was standing at the kitchen sink this morning measuring the amount of liquid our glasses hold. I am trying to be more mind of what I am eating and drinking and their amounts. As I poured the water from the glass into the measuring cup, it spilled on the counter and some down the cabinets. My daughter, who was standing next to me munching on her favorite food of Cheerios, opened the right side of the cabinet under the sink, shut the door, then opened the left side. Although she is not allowed to go in those cabinets, I let her go to watch what she was doing. After she opened the left side, she took the dishcloth from the bar it hangs on and started to wipe the water I had spilled off the cabinet. She saw a need and was taking care of it. She likes to wipe things. We use to keep a rag hanging on her high chair for her messier meal times. She would occupy herself by "wiping up" the floor, the table legs, the chairs. She now has her own clean rag to use.

Another thing that I have seen her do that is very cute and imitating, is to "feed" her baby dolls and give them something to drink. She sees us feed her and help her with cups, that she does it, too.

I chose an OB/GYN. Though, after my appointment yesterday, maybe I should rethink that.

I sat in the exam room in my paper shirt and paper "blanket," waiting for my doctor to come for half an hour. I think that is too long when one is undressed. When he finally showed up, he asked how I was. I said I was tired of waiting. He apologized and said there was an urgent situation he needed to take care of. I have no problem with waiting if there is something urgent, but I have a problem with no one coming in to tell me this. A nurse should have come into the room and explained that my doctor was taking care of a pressing matter and would be with me as soon as he could be. And if they knew about the situation before they even took me into the exam room, then they should have had me just wait in the waiting room. I will be calling and telling them this soon. I need to update them on my insurance anyway.

My friend said her rule of thumb about waiting for a doctor is 30 minutes in the waiting room and 15 minutes in the exam room. I think I just might adopt these rules too.

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For a while now, my daughter has been very uncooperative on the changing table. I have been quite annoyed at trying to keep her laying still and on her back. Just the other day she grabbed her dirty diaper while I was trying to take it away. I certainly don't need the contents of a dirty diaper falling out.

Well, lately I have discovered that she likes having her diaper changed on the floor. She lays rather still. It is on her terms, I guess. As long as she lies still and lets me change her without wiggling and turning, I'd change her in the bathtub.