"With all the guns in this county, couldn't we kill a muskrat?"

I think that must be what the Supreme Court was trying to do with their recent decision. Anyway, this was a great quote from this article http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080627/ap_on_re_us/midwest_flooding_256 about the most recent flooding here in Missouri.

We feel so fortunate that we are not personally dealing with anything like that. We try to remind ourselves of that when we get stressed about having to get the house ready to sell (not to mention the stress of hoping it sells). At least it won't be under water.

We are wrapping up things here. James and I move out Tuesday, and Blake will follow on weekends, and then for good later in July. We made our final trip to the Hippo Place this week and cashed in the tickets we'd earned. The Hippo Place is so much fun, but their prizes are basically crap. But, James has been playing with those toys all week. 10 months of ticket saving well spent!

I may not post anything for a while. For one thing, I won't have internet for several days. Not sure how I'm going to survive that!

This reminds me of learning to drive

My lip hurts. And it is because apparently I can follow directions, only up to a point. When I was learning to drive, Mom was taking me out to deserted country roads. One day, early on, she said I could go ahead and drive home. I asked if I was ready to drive into town. She said it wasn't too far, just don't hit the garage door. I didn't. I hit the back of her car. Fortunately not hard, and there wasn't any damage.

So, why do I think of this now? I had more work done at the dentist Monday. As I left, I asked if there were any restrictions. No, just be careful not to bite my cheek, since it was numb. I didn't. A couple of hours later, I was carefully eating a piece of pizza, and all was well. Some of the numbness was even going away. A little later, I get a second piece. And a couple of bites in, my tongue notices that my lip feels funny. My very numb, and now bleeding lip. Yep, once again, I manage to avoid doing what I am warned against, yet manage to do something equally stupid. No major damage, just a sore, swollen lip. And a reminder to not be so literal.

I really don't know why I even mention this. It's just more interesting than the rest of my day, much of which was spent bubble wrapping household items.

Well, THAT's a Relief!

I know the instructions said it would take 7-10 days for the butterfly to emerge, but I was getting nervous. And James was losing interest, now that the caterpillar was no longer pooping. But, yesterday morning, when I looked in the box, where there had been a plain cocoon, there was now a butterfly standing. While I looked, it was dripping the red meconium. Which may mean that it was actually emerging from the cocoon as I was 4 feet away exercising. Rats! It would have been so much more fun to see the butterfly emerge than to do cardio. But I got James up and we got to see it flap its wings to dry them. Eventually it crawled around the box. In this picture, it is on the cotton ball that I soaked with sugar water for it. I must admit, I was completely fascinated by it much of the day. James was too, but for briefer periods. The instructions said that you could keep it for 2 days, but I felt bad for it, because it really looked like it was trying to get out of the box. And I was afraid of something happening to it. So, late afternoon Blake came out and we let it go. I tried to get a picture of that, but butterflies are fast. Especially when trying to escape their captor.

06-07-08

On 6/7/8, I turned 39. Which Blake told me that morning was "the new 23". That afternoon, he said it was "the new 25". So, by today, it must be the new 80. I don't like birthdays that end in 9s. I think they may be worse than the ones that end in 0. But, I am using this as motivation to get my act together before I turn 40. Of course, I'm not rushing things, since Blake got me a carrot cake for my birthday, which meant that I ate about 2/3 of a carrot cake this weekend.


It was a good day, though. We went to Chevy's for lunch, then decided to go to Balducci winery in Augusta. We stopped by Walgreens and Blake went to get the stuff we'd need for the trip. While he was inside, James and I waited in the car. At one point, I turned around and James had blood all over his mouth and chin. My first thought was that he opened his scar. My second thought was that Blake was going to kill me. Then I realized that it was a new, much smaller cut. Apparently, he bit his lip. You may notice in this picture that he also has a scrape on his forehead. Blake said that he did that falling into the wall while I was scrapbooking at a friend's house Friday night. So, we childproof everything, and yet he manages to injure himself on a wall and strapped into a car seat. How do any of us ever survive childhood?

James with a bloody lip in the dangerous car seat.

We made it to the winery and it was a beautiful day. Blake had bought some toys to play with and for James to chase, and the winery gave me a piece of cheesecake for my birthday. Yum! We really enjoyed the afternoon. We sat at a table in the shade, pretty much away from most everyone else. There was a band playing, and they were pretty good. Oh, and as the pictures show, one of the other things Blake bought at Walgreens was a pair of sunglasses for me, since I forgot mine. Looking around at the winery, I think I would have won the award for largest sunglasses. Sadly, they broke on the way home. Blake thinks I did it on purpose, but I really didn't.

Me and cake

Blake making a goofy face in a picture with me

James making a goofy face in a picture with me -- will nobody give me a break and take a nice picture with me on my birthday?

On the way home, Blake went into the grocery store (to get my cake, I later found out!). While James and I waited in the car again, a guy who was on his way into the store tried to hit on me. He tried again on his way out. Since I was feeling old, THAT really helped! I may be 39, but I guess I've still got it -- hee hee. (I should point out that I gave him NO encouragement . . . )

Hi, Caterpillar! Are you pooping?

Larry and Debbie brought back from vacation a caterpillar that James can grow into a butterfly. I am trying to follow the instructions carefully, feeling a great responsibility for keeping this thing alive. It is pretty cool to watch. The transformation from caterpillar to forming the chrysalis was quick. But, there was time for James to see it move around, see what it got to eat, and the poop, which is technically called frass. James seemed most interested in the poop. So did Blake, for that matter. The caterpillar is now in a box and we are awaiting the emergence of a painted lady butterfly, which should occur in about a week. Keep your fingers crossed!

Last night, I went to McGurk's for Mom's Night Out. McGurk's has a great patio, and it is always fun to sit out there. Our server seemed like she could care less about us, and I think once she saw that our group would be large enough for the gratuity to be automatically added, she stopped any pretense of trying. Too bad, because this rather loud group of women generally tips well. I won't be there much more, but next time, remind me to get the small salad instead of regular size. I got regular, Shannon got small, hers was much cheaper, and they looked almost identical. Also remind me that they charge way too much for beer. But, they have a nice patio.

I will miss these MNOs, but have looked online and found a playgroup in our new community. I just hope the people are as fun. From the very first time I went to something with this group, I was impressed that the others in it were similar in age and interests to me. There is even a smaller group of us that get together for a monthly scrapbook night. Which is coming up this Friday!

Finally, it has been a month since James cut his lip, which means that he can now be a little boy again and run and jump and play. To celebrate, we are going to the Hippo Place tonight. We haven't told him yet, because then he wouldn't stop talking about it. (Actually, last night was one month, but I selfishly went to MNO, since James doesn't understand calendars yet.)

So, it looks like we won't be on the street

Our big (and time-consuming) news is that we will be moving from the O'Fallon to Lee's Summit this summer. Blake has accepted what we are hoping will be a better and less stressful job, and we will be closer to his family. And still close to an airport so we can see my family! We are hopeful that our house will sell quickly, but we have a lot of work to do to get it ready to sell. We went to look for a house to buy this weekend, with all optimism. And struck out. There wasn't anything that we found that was both accessible and in a neighborhood that we liked. Rather than settle or stress too much, we decided to rent an apartment. This way, we'll have plenty of time to find what we want. I looked online, found some, and Blake went to see the best option yesterday. It's not perfect for us, with a special sealed concrete floor that is supposed to be an upgrade, but that will have to be covered in carpet for us, since we have a stumbling 2-year-old. Other than that, it really is a great place, even with a coffee shop (and other shops) right there. And a park. And a golf course. A swimming pool with a very shallow end for Blake to go with James. And, we think they'll accept us!

So, we're excited! And nervous about all there is to do. Not sure exactly yet how we're going to work it all, but I will probably move there with James and most of our stuff a couple of weeks before Blake comes. He gave his employer 2 months notice so he could finish some of the projects he is on.

So, the house is and will be in chaos for a bit. If you have or have had a birthday in the last month or so or during the next couple, it may be August before you get your card. Sorry . . .

Sorry, Conoco

Yesterday was a rather long and stressful day, which followed a very long and stressful Friday (except for watching Lost, which we enjoyed). Today, while long, is (so far) much better. More on all of that in another post, I'm sure.

But, Blake said the following story would be a good one for the blog. If it was me, I'm not sure I'd publish it . . . but since it was his blunder, I'm ok with it. We're driving across the state, and after missing an important turn we add about an hour to our night-time journey. We stop in California, Missouri (which anyone from this area knows should not have been on our route) to get gas. Being a mother, I now think to say things like "Do you need to go to the bathroom before we go on?" I say this to him as he is filling the car, and rather than finishing what he's doing, he just walks into the gas station to use the restroom. With the gas still pumping. My wheelchair is in the trunk, so I'm just watching the pump, hoping it doesn't malfunction and keep pumping indefinitely, spilling gas all over and blowing us up, with me and James stuck in the car unable to do anything about it. As you can see, my mind generally goes straight to the worst possible conclusion. Of course, that didn't happen. The pump shut off when the tank was full and I let my mind wander to other, less life-threatening topics. Blake returns, gets in the car, and starts to drive off. That's when we hear a strange noise. Careful readers may notice that I didn't mention him taking the pump out of the car. So, as he drove off, it pulled the hose off of the machine. Blake and the girl working there tried to reattach it, with no luck, but at least gas wasn't coming out of it. The people at the California Conoco were very nice about it and didn't even take down Blake's information to later sue.

We eventually made it home safely and all is well.