Weekend fun

We had a fun weekend around here. As, I'm sure is obvious after seeing a picture of Play-Doh, which I will get to later. First, as I was brushing my teeth Saturday morning, I heard sirens. Ok, somebody was probably speeding. But, then I heard loud drumbeats, which intrigued me enough to look out the window. There was a parade going down the street, which we were able to see out our living room window. It did't seem like much of a parade, but anytime I can sit in my pjs in the living room watching a parade, I'm all for it!

Later, Blake had the idea of family Play-Doh time. James loves the dope, as he still calls it, at the top of his lungs. Blake decided on a timed challenge, in which we would see who could make the tallest structure out of their container of Play-Doh. I won 2 out of 3, the first of which is pictured.

I also got started making Christmas cards. I really like the design, but won't show it here, as some of the readers of this blog will be receiving them. One down, about 49 to go!

Here is a picture of James on Sunday morning. He has grown quite attached to not just Elmo, but also to the dinosaur he got for his birthday. He can even say dinosaur, which I think is the first word he gives 3 syllables to. He sleeps with them both, and now brings them out with him when he leaves his room in the morning, and often after naps, too. He'll go back for them if he forgets. It's pretty cute.

Sunday did not start out with a parade. It started with James repeatedly getting into Blake's office and bringing drinks into the living room to spill them. A little later, when we tried to access the internet, it wasn't working. I figured James had unplugged something. Nope. Get ready for a rant . . . or you can skip the rest of this paragraph, if you want. I'll never know. There won't be a quiz. Ok, here goes. On Saturday afternoon, I got a notice from them that we have not paid our cable internet bill for September, and we need to pay or we’ll be shut off and have to pay $35 to reconnect. Saturday afternoon. Odd that they’d say we didn’t pay, because we have it automatically withdrawn from our checking account. Sunday morning – the next morning after receiving this notice – no internet. I call them, explain that we just got the notice the previous afternoon, after my bank was closed anyway, and besides, they are supposed to automatically withdraw it. She says that the card used to pay it expired in July. Ok, some things taken out of our bank use the bank acct. number, and some use my debit card. Everyone else who uses the debit card sent me a notice that it was expiring, but not my cable company. Fine. I give them the new expiration date and ask that the internet be restored. She says I have to pay the bill first. Fine, that’s why you have the card number. Use that. She says it is declined. That’s odd – there is plenty of money in the account. Did I forget some big bill? Crap – Blake will kill me if I’ve overdrawn the account and we’re shut off! I'm getting worried. But we try Blake’s debit card. Declined. Credit card – Declined. Another – Declined. Now I'm thinking that we're the victims of identity fraud and have been cut off. She says we could pay online, maybe that would work. She has apparently forgotten that THEY SHUT OFF MY INTERNET, and that’s why I am calling to make this payment. So she says call the phone payment center. No matter how many buttons I push, I never reach it. A third person I talk to finally gets it to go through. I hate the cable company. Rant over.

So, time for some fun. Actually 2 hours late for some fun -- Coordinates Collections had an all day cyber crop, with new challenges each hour for things to scrapbook, techniques to use, etc. It was really a lot of fun, and I got to try some things I'd never done, like stitching. I got a lot of stuff done, and completed all of the challenges. Jamie, the owner, gave each of us that completed all the challenges a prize, so I'll be receiving that with an upcoming shipment. She always has good prizes, and it was really nice of her to do that, because I just expected the first person to finish to get one. I just kept going because I was having fun and always like a challenge. Here are a couple of the layouts I did, both from our time in Florence. The pictures of David are postcards. The actual priceless statue was guarded by a very short, middle-aged woman, who, to be honest, looked a little "off". But, I knew she was in charge, because she kept yelling, "No Pictures!!!" And in the next room, guarding those artworks, was a similar looking woman doing the same thing, only much less frequently, because everyone was pretty much just there to see David.

Well, I've definitely rambled long enough! I don't expect too much more excitement for a couple of days. At least not on the scale of parades and Play-doh.