Our Summers Are Not For Relaxing

UPDATE: A few wedding pictures have been added...

Past weekend was excellent. It began on Thursday with Cari's bachelorette party. We met at her mom's house, opened gifts, and went to In the Raw for dinner. I had a great time catching up with Aubrey and James (nickname for Jamie), and we managed to have some pretty funny conversations. After dinner we drove around Tulsa trying to find a place that would be a good fit for 12 or so lovely ladies ready to have a good time. Requirements: not Brookside Bar, not trashy, not clubbish, and not boring. As most of you know, that narrowed the options down to approx 3 in the Tulsa area. The first had an incredibly loud band and sketchy folks sitting out front. The second had already stopped serving beer downstairs and their upstairs was covered in a hazy fog of smoke. The third, Continental, suited us just fine. Last time I was there I ended up on stage with the band. Since it was clearly not my party, I decided I would keep myself seated. Good times were had by all (including Cari, I hope). Due to work the next day, I left the party around 12:45a. Yep, I actually hit the "am" hour on a work night. Went to bed immediately and woke up Friday morning to a loud, obnoxious noise. Actually it was my husband, sweetly kissing my cheek and waking me up, but I was in NO mood to hear anything after only 5 hours of sleep. I need 10 hours folks! 12 if you've got 'em!





Friday was a snooze-fest at work. I again learned what it was like to sleep with my eyes open and was thankful when the clock struck 11! I'm having trouble remembering the day but I think we cleaned the house and I took a nap so we would be ready for our house guest: Leslie! She arrived around 6p and we had a great time catching up. I took her to Jenks America's prime spot, the Riverwalk. We had some margaritas and chips while waiting for a table at Los Cabos. I learned all about her new dog Weber and caught up on her family and friends. As I type, they are packing for Memphis, TN and moving there this weekend. The good news: Michael and I enjoy road trips, bbq, and blue suede shoes, so I know we'll visit. :)

Saturday evening was Cari and Ken's wedding. The future Sniders, Michael, and I took 8 boxes of wine to their reception site and set them up. 8 boxes = a lot o' wine. We dressed at Kait's house and drove to the wedding together. The only seats available when we arrived were between 84 screaming babies. Here's the deal. I don't really know why people bring babies to weddings but that is fine as long as you keep them quiet. And if you can't keep them quiet (which I also understand), there is wedding protocol you must follow: remove said baby. Do not keep feeding it cheerios while talking loudly to it. Do not give it diapers to throw in the middle of the aisle. And do NOT start talking to the neighboring babies around you and act like you're at a family picnic. GAH! I heard about every 3rd word from Rev. Michael H. (the pastor), lost feeling in my right hand due to Michael's ridiculously strong grip (he and I feel the same way about this baby stuff), and became very bitter. On a positive note, every 3rd word was beautiful, the bride was gorgeous, the groom was dashing, and it was an incredibly lovely wedding. I was glad to be there, just a bit peeved at the tiny tots.

We made our way to the reception and had a blast. The food was AWESOME. I ate, well ok, a lot. Usually I'm pretty picky so I took mounds of the first few item I saw and then as I walked down the line realized there were many other enjoyable features. Wasn't sure if I'd have the chance to go back through the line so I just added a few extra layers of food on top. Yep, I was THAT girl. The rest of the night was spent dancing and drinking with good friends. Cari and Ken smiled the entire night and you could tell they were so loved by everyone in attendance. It was great!

After the wedding, we went to Grey Snail and had a few beverages. It was quite funny, we were all tired but SO determined to not be party poopers. At about 1a, we all looked at each other and just left. I'm not sure if we even asked if the other was ready, it was THAT obvious. Fun times.

Here are a few pictures. Unfortunately we did not have any taken with the bride (oops)... I know the prof. photographer got plenty of us dancing with her but that's it...








So that was our weekend. This Friday we have a goodbye party for Rami, one of Michael's co-workers. He is leaving Samson and heading to TU law school. The theme is Ram-A-Palooza and I was asked to create a flyer for the event (similar to Mitch-A-Palooza from Old School). Had a good time with that. :)



Saturday I'm driving to NW Arkansas to visit Jennifer and Melissa! Jen had a baby recently and Melissa is well on her way! Sunday is small group, Monday is work, and Tuesday at 6a we fly to the great state of California. More specifically, San Diego. I am so excited.

Damage Control & My BFF

As most of you could tell, last week's post was written in sheer frustration. I am not taking back any of my original thoughts, but I did discover after reading the comments that more of you are reading the ol' blog than I thought (which is fantastic)! That being said, YES the bells frustrate me (apparently I'm not the only one!), and YES they are extremely loud, but I do think it was a generous gift and one that is appreciated by many. Perhaps if I didn't hear them all of the time I would agree. I am considering taking down the picture because it might have taken the post from somewhat humorous to borderline rude.

Moving on to more important matters--We had a FANTASTIC weekend! I am waiting on pictures from friends (still not used to bringing our camera to important events) and then I will write all about it!

In other great news, I just booked the hotel in Eureka Springs for our anniversary weekend in a few months! Apparently October is THE month to go to Eureka so you have to book lodging well in advance or you might end up at a bad Bed & Breakfast with cold eggs and rude blue hairs. No thanks. Michael has never been to Eureka and I adore the place so I thought it would be a fun and relatively inexpensive way to celebrate the big 1. While making the reservation I learned our room has a fridge stocked with complimentary soft drinks and bottled water. Immediate fist punch in the air! It's the little things in life, ya know?

Below is a 30-second video I took on our camera the other day. Many of you have asked how it is possible for one feline to be so large. I think this video captures the essence of Thumbs better than I ever could. As a proud parent, I know she is a bit hefty but doesn't she look SO GOOD on camera?! HA! Thumbs, our plus-sized model...

Video

I Don't Care If They're Church Hymns...

I have a horrible confession to make, but a bit of background first...

Last year, two church familes made sizeable donations so we could purchase carillon bells (32) for the tower. I immediately pictured Michael and I walking out of the church after our wedding to the glorious peal of bells. The arrival, however, was delayed and I was then concerned we would walk out to a large crane perched in front of the church. Neither happened.

The bells were a fun addition. For about 3 weeks. They play every hour, half hour, and quarter hour, but the WORST is at lunch (right now). They play for a solid 20 minutes. My office is right next to the bells and the window is paper thin so they are uber loud.

Please don't hate me when I say I have (more than once) cursed these bells to the high heavens. The entire 4th of July week our music minister switched things up by adding patriotic songs. Fortunately for the staff, they don't carry guns at the church. First time in my life I was all for war and not afraid to show it.

I had a meeting last night at 5:30 (I usually leave at 4:30). I decided I would get some extra work done and was busy at my desk. As the clock struck 5 the bells did their normal ditty... and then kept on going. AGAIN. Guess he'd set them for the after-work crowd to enjoy on their drive home. My hands started shaking, my eyes narrowed, and I. Was. Angry. Couldn't do it folks, couldn't do it. I grabbed my purse and hit the road. I didn't know where I was driving to, I just had to drive and get away from the terror of the bells. Gives new definition to the phrase, "hells bells."

Fortunately for me, my angry driving arms led me right to the Taco Bell drive-through. It was fabulous, and the one and only "bell" I shall cherish forever.

A-mi-nals

Warning: This post is 90% about animals. Any of you who don't like animals (heartless souls...) should skip it entirely.

After work on Thursday, a huge group from Samson went to Oscar's Gastropub for Garrett's goodbye party. Michael and I typically show up to events right on time while everyone else seems to run late, so we decided this time we would be the fashionably late ones. We walked in at 5:20 (party started at 5) and took 2 of the last 4 seats. It was an extremely long table and we weren't friends with any of our seat neighbors. Argh. A few others arrived who we did know and took the remaining seats next to us. Big sigh of relief. While we were at Oscar's, I had my first experience with fried green beans. I've had several people in my lifetime ask why I was so adament on living in the south. New answer: fried green beans. (Previous answers have been "fried okra" or "fried macaroni bites." Consistency has always been a strength of mine...)

Friday I went to work and then met mom and Mrs. Townley at Queenies for lunch. It was so great to see them both. We wandered around Utica Square for an hour and then drove to Michael's and my home. Mrs. Townley had never seen it before so I was able to give the grand tour, which is always fun. They stayed for several hours (felt like a few minutes) before they drove back to the Fort. I took a 20-minute power nap and then Michael and I headed to the horse races.

Didn't think they had horse races in Tulsa? Yea, me either. I was pretty skeptical but we had a great time. Samson had a tent on the grounds so we had as much bbq and beer as we pleased. Michael and I bet 3 times and won once. It did not start off well--our first horse was dead last. I think, nay, I KNOW I could have run faster than the beast. (Ha--did anyone else pick up on the "nay" pun?) I didn't understand all of the tiny numbers so my picks were chosen entirely off of the horses' names. Fun times. We went to a friend's house afterwards before we headed home. Very fun night.

Our winning ticket!

Big winners! (We'd spent $4 purchasing tickets so you're looking at a profit of $1.60)

On Saturday we continued the grand animal tour by going to the Tulsa zoo. It was approx 120 degrees outside and we missed seeing a few of the animals because they were resting comfortably in their indoor dens. We would have been pretty disappointed had we paid for our tickets but they were given to us so we couldn't complain. I saw a lot of really funny looking animals and others that were very beautiful. The monkeys cracked me up. I laughed the hardest, however, at the road runner. A few of you know about Michael's tendency to run.... everywhere. For example, if he is in the living room and wants to check something on the computer, he sprints the 20 feet to get there. And then sprints back. If you are ever talking to him on the phone, please know that he is running around our house the entire time. Me? I get comfortable in our bed and don't move at all. Anyway... The roadrunner had 2 areas in his entire open room that held his interest. He'd stay in one spot for a bit and then dart to the other spot. Pause. Then dart right back to where he was. I kept thinking, "Who does this remind me of?" And then it hit me. My own little road runner, Michael. It was great.


Thumbs sits like this...

Behind Michael is a ginormous bear...

Old man river...

There is a zebra in the background. He liked my shirt:


After the zoo we lounged around at home. Michael wanted me to watch Batman Begins before we saw the Dark Knight so we made a mexican fiesta and settled in to watch some superheroes. Sunday began with church, a quick lunch (mexican fiesta 2.0) and then we saw the darkest movie I have seen in a long time. I thought it was really good, Michael LOVED it. So there you have it.

Saturday night I was sitting in our office when Michael asked if I'd seen Thumbs in her latest spot. He was standing at the doorway of our guest bathroom and I took a quick peek (and then grabbed my camera). Is she not the greatest? Oh Thumbs, what joy you bring to our lives!


She is sporting her new collar...

I Heart Numbers

I was thinking about this post and realized all of my news is quantitative, so I decided it might be fun to list the amount and then explain what each value represented.

26: Age my life-long friend Julie Bulie Edwards turns today. On our 10th birthdays we got our ears pierced. On our 16th birthdays we drove each other around the Fort. (Do you remember "Discover Fort Smith" day?) I wish I could be in Boston to celebrate with you, hope it is faaaantastic!

5: Meetings I have today. 5!!! Aren't there laws against this? I have 4 back-to-back that begin at 8:30a and will last until 1p. After a 2 hour break I have my last meeting at 3p. Good. Lord. (Which just so happens to be the subject we will be discussing at each of the aforementioned meetings.)

101: Days until my baby niece or nephew should be born. (See also: Number of dalmations in old Disney movie.) I am SO excited to be an aunt. I visit baby stores weekly to look at the adorable clothes and wish each would be more creative with their unisex apparel. Most of it looks too dude-like for a girl but waaay too feminine for a boy. I finally found a fantastic item that I'm going to purchase. As soon as Justin and Michelle receive it I will post it on here because I find it HI-larious.

0: Days left with my work buddy Heather. Today is her final day and then she becomes a stay-at-home-mom with 2 of the cutest kiddos I know. I know she is excited but I am going to really miss our daily chats. Michael, if you are reading this, I would also like to become a stay-at-home-mom. Minus the kids part. How do you feel about that?



29: Kids I took care of last night at a youth event. There were 2 of us in charge and I was absolutely exhausted by the time I left (and eaten alive by bugs). Michael has had to stay late at work the past few nights so he was not able to be there. He is a quiet leader but one the kids listen to and one I depend on when I'm at my wits end. I kept looking for him so I could share my "Oh my gosh get me out of here" look and was quite sad that he was not there to comfort me.

12: Names I have come up with for our future dog. Over the past few weeks, I have been doing massive amounts of research for the next member of our family. He/she has to be able to get along with fat cats, kids, be friendly, smart, and able to clean the house and wash the cars. I was able to find one that does it all. :) Anywho, I could come up with dozens of boy names but we think we want a girl and those names are much harder. I thought I had it the other night and excitedly shared it with Michael...

Me: Michael! I thought of the perfect name! I was trying to think of things we have in common that we love... like Ansel (Ansel Adams), Shel (Shel Silverstein), Maui, etc. And I got it! Kimo!
Michael: You aren't serious.
Meredith: I AM! We loved that restaurant on our honeymoon! And what a cute name! Kimo!
Michael: No one else will think of it that way. Come on, think about it for a second...

So I started thinking of all the dirty words that sound like Kimo (couldn't think of any). And then it hit me. Oh. CHEMO. I immediately imagined our dog running around the neighborhood and me screaming at the top of my lungs, "Chemo!! Chemo! Here girl!" Sounds like a sick joke. So... the name Kimo/Chemo is definitely out.

0: Fences we have in our backyard. Could be awhile before we get our glorious dog.

And finally..

8 to 3: The final dork vote. I am the biggest dork there ever was. However, I want to know which one of you switched your vote. As of yesterday it was 5 to 4. For the 8 of you that voted for me, I give you my sincere thanks as well as a big punch in the gut.

To Small Groups!!!

Update: Pictures and video below...

I often use periods for emphasis, so allow me to share the following: I. Am. Fried. Our trip to the lake on Saturday was amazing and I can't stop smiling when I think about it. There were 6 of us and we were told on the drive up that it was tradition for all couples to ride the tube together (a bit of marriage counseling I suppose). I was a bit nervous because I have shared a tube with others before and ended up somewhere near the bottom of the lake with a large body on top of me. I was determined to not let that happen again.

As soon as we stepped on the boat we had some lunch and then I immediately jumped in. Being the smart one, I decided I would wait and put sunscreen on AFTER I got back in the boat, but I ended up staying in the water for almost an hour talking to the girls. Apparently my brain cells completely shut off when the sun is involved. It didn't take long for my shoulders and arms to turn a nice shade of red.

When it came time to ride on the tube, Michael and I were able to get ourselves situated pretty quickly. The first time we lasted quite a while and then I flew off. If it is possible to giggle underwater, I did. We got back on and rode a few more times. I MIGHT have outlasted Michael the third time around but it would seem silly to mention that on here. Even if it kind of proves my arms are stronger and my will is mightier... and that overall I'm a better person...

We had a fair share of tubing, knee-boarding and skiing. I wanted to try skiing again because I remembered being decent at it the last time. Michael politely asked when that last time occured and my only memory was that I was still wearing my back brace (add another dork vote to my side). So I'm thinking it was circa 1998. For those of you who are extremely visual, I did NOT wear the back brace while I was skiing. Or with my bikini. (But I did have to put it on for the trip home...) Anywho, I tried 3 or 4 times on Saturday, was able to get up but couldn't stay up. Perhaps next time.

We ended the evening at Pizza Port, another tradition of the Myers family. The pizza was amazing (yet to be determined if it was really that good or if toasted bark would have tasted delicious after the exhausting day we had). After a quick stop at Braums, we headed home. I went to sleep almost immediately and woke up feeling like I'd been hit by an elephant or possibly three of Thumbs. Every muscle in my body ached (and still does) and my shoulders were scary red. Michael and I went to church in the least amount of clothing possible. Talk about battle wounds, we were covered.



The Homans...


The Myers...




Neat video--this was our first attempt so I am the one flying off the back.


One last bit... I noticed that I have been consistently winning (losing?) the dork vote. I go back and forth with whether I should feel honored or if I should take a good look inside. Have I mentioned Michael's middle name is Eugene? Eh?? Nothing? Damn.

Because everyone needs a good song to brighten their Monday...

A Smorgasbord

A few updates:
1. The week is (already) almost over! When you take off Monday, come to work late on Wednesday, and only work a half day on Friday, it flies by pretty quickly!

2. I have had confirmation from at least 5 people that my hair is not green. And I have been keeping my office door closed until I know there are more than 3 of us in the building. Creeper...

3. My arm is no longer red, the meds have brought me back to life, and we had a blast hanging out with Allison and Ro. They came in Tuesday evening around 6p and the 4 of us along with Kait and Steve had some sushi at In the Raw. Afterwards we went to Freckles for dessert and talked about some pretty disgusting things. Very fun, and very funny evening. Last night Michael and I went to a youth program and saw some of our J-Life kids. I have decided I LOVE 6th-8th graders. They are hilarious and (most of them) are really great kids. We are used to being around 6-10 kids but there were about 25 of them last night. A little overwhelming at first but fun nonetheless.

A few thoughts...
1. Are you ever minding your own business and then you think about something that is going to happen in the near future and literally get a burst of excitement? I thought that feeling was reserved for kids going to Disney World but I still get those bursts and they are quite fabulous. I think it is a blessing that I have such a forgetful mind, otherwise I would not have the pleasure of rediscovering an upcoming event and getting all giddy with excitement.

2. Speaking of rediscovery, I had a moment last night of deja vu that I wanted to share. I have become a big fan of apples with peanut butter. I typically cut up the apple, stick the pieces in a bowl, and add a spoonful of peanut butter to the side of the bowl. Easy enough. I noticed yesterday that I eat TINY amounts of peanut butter on each of the slices so the last few slices of apple can have mounds of the goodness. I smiled when I remembered I used to do this with Handi-Snacks too. (Oh PLEASE tell me you remember these?) I would use the tiniest amount of processed cheese on the first few crackers and then load up the final 2 with gobs of the orange mystery substance. So I guess those jerky neighbors were right--I AM a hoarder afterall.

3. Michael and I had a very serious discussion last night during dinner. I asked him who he felt (between the two of us) was the bigger dork. He immediately said he thought it was himself. But I am quite confident the title belongs to me. He does have a few doozies: the comics, the uber dorky video games, the history books that he reads for fun (I have no idea)... But then there is me. I love puns, spent 10 minutes on dictionary.com in order to spell "smorgasbord" correctly (turns out "schmorgas board" is not correct), and best or worst of all, I heart math. Big time. I found this uber dorky poll and decided I'd leave it up to you to determine once and for all, which one of us is a bigger dork? (Please turn your attention to the right of your screen.) Keep in mind, it was I who had the idea of the dorky poll.

A few rules:
-Just because you are my parent does not mean you have to vote for me. Michael's feelings will not be hurt if you vote for him. Not to mention, it's anonymous so no one will know.
-Only vote once. I can just see Justonian feverishly clicking away on my name for every time I told him he would never get married.

If there are less than 5 votes total, we will know that not only are we BOTH dorks, we are also losers. Not a good way to start the weekend so come on, do your civic duty.

And finally, I meant to post this last week, but here is a picture of Evalyn! I love shim! :)

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears??

Why is it you always come back from a fabulously long weekend/holiday refreshed for approx. 15 seconds and then BAM! Someone says your hair is green?

Alarm goes off at 6a as usual. I get ready, drive to work, sit at my desk and start reading through my emails from the previous few days. The church is eerily quiet (and dark!) at 7a, I am usually here with one or two of the maintenance staff and that's it. It's one of my favorite times of the day. One of the "mighty men of maintenance" comes to my office door and states, "Well you got some sun this weekend." I reply, "Yep, sure did." Awkward pause. Then the loud mouth continues... "And someone sure bleached your hair." I reply, "Yep, they sure did." (I knew going platinum would come back to bite me...) Awkward pause. "It looks green." I say, "I'm sorry, what?" He replies, "It looks green. Your hair (points to head)--it looks green." Me: "Oh. Well, it's not really supposed to look um... green." Awkward pause. I give him the, "Welp, it was good to see you" look and he moves closer. Really close. 2 feet away now and stares at my hair. "Yep... definitely green." So I half laugh and say, "Uh.. you're starting to make me feel really uncomfortable." Does he leave? No, he stands there for another 120 seconds and then finally moseys out the door.

Are you serious?! I immediately go to the bathroom and check my hair. And guess what folks? It is NOT green. Rude. RUDE!!

But don't worry, that's merely the beginning. I go to the doctor around 10a because I haven't been feeling too fabulous (please see "smell the barf" in previous entry). The nurse puts the blood pressure thing on my arm and it keeps sliding down towards my elbow. I try to move it and the nurse says, "Don't worry, once this thing gets going it gets REALLY tight." So I quit fidgeting and it starts to expand... and expand... and oh my God my arm is turning purple. I start feeliing a little sick because I can feel the blood pumping (which is directly related to VEINS--eeeck!). Then she pauses and says, "Oh, that's too bad. It didn't work. Let's do it again." So my poor arm gets a second dose of pain. She finally gets my blood pressure and takes the dumb thing off me. We both stare at my arm because there is a 5 inch band that is now blood red. She and I both start rubbing the little guy to bring it back to life.

I talk to the doc, take the script to Walgreens and it's back to work. After my 1 hour wait, I return to Walgreens to pick up my meds. The line at Walgreens is incredibly slow and during the entire wait my eyes keep diverting to the Sonic directly across the street. Suddenly I HEAR my stomach grumble, "Mmmmm, Macaroni Bites." I decide after the trauma of my green hair and red arm (Meeerry Christmas everyone!), I deserve some fried goodness. I pick up my meds and find out they only cost $4. What is this, 1967? Medicine that is guaranteed to bring me back to life costs the same as a gallon of gas! I drive towards deliciousness. I pull in. I push the button. They ask for my order. I respond. And then those terrible words that I knew, just KNEW would eventually haunt me come blaring back:

"We are psssshhh macaroni bites."

Stupid interference, I could have sworn he just said... Wait.. Hmm. Context clues...

He notices my long pause and repeats. "We are OUT of macaroni bites." (And yes, this conversation also made me think of poor George Stanley Banks and the classic line, "Noooo... noo! It's TWO hundred and fifty a head...")

You have GOT to be kidding me. Ugh. What a sad, unfulfilling, self-confidence shot, painful day. We have friends visiting us tonite and I am counting on them to bring me back to life, because right now the medicine alone doesn't stand a chance.

RIP macaroni bites. RIP...

Eh, I'm On Vacation. No Time For Titles.

It's Sunday evening and I am in a FANTASTIC mood. It was a great 3-day weekend and we decided to continue the fun by taking off work tomorrow--woooohooo! I mentioned a few months ago that Michael and I were going to take off an entire week from work so we could relax. No trips, no expenses, just the two of us, a bad yard, and a pool 40 feet away. The vacation came to a crashing halt when Michael found out he would be taking over a new position a few weeks ago. Anywho, long story short, 9-day vacation became 4-day vacation. I was pretty down when I first found out but I've since made amends with myself, my husband, and Samson Resources for their terrible timing.

Thursday night we went to our home away from home--Utica Square--for their concert series. The future Sniders joined us as well as Garrett and Tara. It was blazing hot, I think I spent most of the time wishing my room temp red wine was a cool sangria.

On Friday (HAAAAPPY 4th of July!) the future Sniders joined us at our neighborhood pool. Michael overheard some unfriendly neighbors claim we were "hoarders" for grabbing two extra lounge chairs before Kait and Stephen arrived. I chose to give them my most evil look (I've been told it is a force to be reckoned with) but apparently it's all in the eyes so with my sunglasses on I just looked like I was staring. I wanted to yell, "It's a free country!" with the whole 4th of July theme but do not worry, I did not. After we'd had our fill of the glorious sun we cleaned up and went to the Riverwalk to eat dinner and watch the fireworks. The fireworks were less than amazing but still a nice time and much less crowded than the ones on the 21st street bridge. We all smoked some cigars and called it a night.

Let's see... yesterday. I have no idea what we did. I know we slept in... and I know food was involved... That's all I've got. Apparently it wasn't the most memorable. I just asked Michael and he can't think of anything either. Woohoo, vacation mission accomplished. Complete and utter boredom. Fabulous.

This morning we went to church. The air conditioner wasn't on and I started feeling REALLY nauseous. I leaned over to Michael at least 3 times to ask if he could also smell the barf. Not kidding, it smelled like someone ralphed right behind me. He reassured me that there was nothing of the sort. Anywho, we cleared out of there before we had a chance to take the Lord's Supper. I was not about to pass out in the wine goblet.

I guess that is about it. I realize our blog has been lacking on the pictures as of late and I apologize. I did want to show off the kiddo and her thorough enjoyment of our vacation as well.

She is one crazy cat.

Thursday...


Friday...


Saturday...


Sunday...


I'd layed out some of my old dresses on our office floor and Thumbs could not get enough of them. I realize if I'd just hung them back up this wouldn't have happened but 4-day vacation = no housework for me. How in the world can she have such a belly when the pictures obviously prove she is incredibly active?! :)

And, last and certainly least, an update on the lawn. It really is looking better (look at today's pictures and then click here) but I'm still waiting for that day when I wake up, look out the window, and see green for days.





Hope you all enjoy work tomorrow. I will be thinking of you.