I was there. I saw history happen.

It's the morning after, and the words are hard to find....I feel like I still have so much to process from yesterday. The excitement, the crazy -ass miles long line that we waited in, the speeches and performances and just....the ENERGY. It was amazing and wonderful and powerful and yes, HOPEFUL.

Oh, and we did the wave about a million times. Doin' the wave for change!

It was perfect....until the And Then.

We went camping! It was Chipmunk's first camping trip, which is weird because she loooooves nature and being outside, so I'm not sure exactly why we haven't gone before now. Anyway, all day yesterday, she had a total blast. She held a millipede for about 15 minutes, she went fishing, we went on numerous walks, she saw chipmunks and black squirells, we roasted hot dogs and made smores....I mean, it was a perfect camping trip. Everything I had hoped for and then some, really. (Until we get to the And Then... part)

Lake Wellington is BEAUTIFUL, just a gorgeous area---there were practically no other campers there--it really felt like we had this huge area to ourselves. And the rocks....the rocks were big and pretty and everywhere. We are a rock lovin' family, so this was a very good thing.

So anywho, here's the And Then!!! part. She went to bed without a problem--we cuddled up and made shadow puppets on the tent ceiling and giggled and had a very nice time. Then, for whatever reason, she woke up at about 3 am. I mean, was awake. And behaving awfully: yelling and being super loud and obnoxious, shining the flashlight in my face and in Granny's face, insisting she was hungry and thirsty but wouldn't drink any water when we went and got her some, just....the whole thing was not fun. We kept telling her she had to be quiet so as not to disturb any other campers that might be in the area, which only made her louder. So I took her to the car and sat with her in there, and then my mom came out and took the long shift with her so I could get some sleep back in the tent. At that point, we had decided that we were packing up and leaving pretty much as soon as we could. Which is exactly what we did; packed up and burned rubber home. Not a great ending.

But. I think we'll try again. She just had SUCH a good time the first day, and honestly she was great at the beginning of the night...I don't know what happened later. Maybe she was scared? She wouldn't say, so I don't know for sure.

Here are a few highlights:


Millipede Girl!

Rainbow

Can I Climb It?

4 am. Not Happy.


More pictures can be found here:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v639/ignoramoose/Camping/

Besties in the making~

These 2 girls are so, so cute together. L-Dawg is about 1 and a half years older than H-Dawg, but they always get along so famously. They totally dig hanging out and playing together. I love them!!

Here they are this past weekend, doing the girl thing. Yay friends!


Cooperative art.

Sidewalk art!


They played in the bath for a long time...



They were so funny about this! They made us leave and close the door; in fact, they demanded it! It was totally hilarious.

Rainy Day Part Two

This is from last week, I'm just late in posting. We had another beautiful, rain-soaked day....and we enjoyed it!

I'll be there.

For Obama's acceptance speech. I can't believe it....I am so excited! Rock on, dad! My dad scored me a ticket, and a ticket for my friend Trish, too (my dad totally has the connections, yo).

We are so so SO excited!

Now, to figure out how the hell we're gonna get there. It's gonna be a logistical nightmare--the highway will be shut down for awhile, there are rumors that the lightrail will have certain stations that won't be running, etc. Yikes!

Garden Party Frock giveaway~

Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

This beautiful green dress is lovely....Kathleen at GrosgrainFabulous is so, so talented.

Congratulations, Jason Turner!

Jason Turner wins the bronze!

I've had many a delicious dinner at my cousin John's old house with Jason. John trained at the OTC with Jason for many many years, and they are good friends. Turner's a helluva good guy, and I am so happy for him!

Rainy Days and Sundays.....

are totally wonderful and The Carpenters were completely wrong.

It's a beautiful, rainy, chilly day here...perfect. I adore the rain. Sadly, I live in a state that is not known for its dreary, drizzly days---summer thunderstorms are nice but don't last long, and one of our state's mottos is that we get more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Nice for most people, but I'm not most people. I much prefer dripping, wet, gray days. And when I get them, I savor them...

So today, baby girl, beagle dog and I loaded into the car and drove around, enjoying the rain. I made her a big travel mug of hot chocolate and I made myself a big steaming mug of earl grey. It was a soothing and lovely outing...rainy days (and Sundays, for that matter) rule.

Who's a good beagle dog?

You're a good beagle dog, yes you are! What a good boy! Aw, who's the best doggie? You're the best doggie! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?

Those are headbands, not ropes, as my husband first thought!
(She is very proud of her headband handiwork)

Simple Pleasures

A simple dinner on a lovely summer evening is so nice for the spirit.




He could not resist making a silly face.



The wee Cheflet made Judge a grass salad.

What a great little citizen!

She helped me vote in our primaries today! Everyone at the precinct just loved her....she got about a million "I voted!" stickers. She helped me push the buttons, too.

I really want to instill civic responsibility in her, and I'm making it a priority to take her with me to do important things like voting. Apathy is unacceptable, you know?

Yay for wee compatriots!

Bush at the Olympics=Comedy Gold

I can't stop laughing. I love him in the stands with his American flag waving madly, I love him playing volleyball with Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, I loved him chit-chatting with The Poot (Putin) in the stands during the opening ceremonies. I want him to be the new Olympic mascot.


http://olympics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/bush-enjoys-time-with-us-athletes/

Glorious, kind, always on time...pearls on a string

If anyone embodies that Ryan Adams' song, it's my friend Glamorosi. She is truly beautiful, inside and out. And she makes the most fantastic jewelry--she has a real talent. I love her stuff.

She's holding a contest, called Glamorinky Friday, and for this particular contest she will custom design a piece of jewelry based around the winner's answer. Go check it out!

http://glamorosi.blogspot.com/2008/08/glamorinky-friday-18.html

And do poke around and look at her jewelry...it's pretty spectacular.

I used to do a helluva curl!

I worked at a Dairy Queen when I was in high school, and I used to be able to do a pretty darn good curl (you know, the loop-de-loo thingy on the top of the ice cream). I wonder if I could pull one off now? I bet I could. That sort of amazing talent never really leaves you, I reckon.

Anywho! If you are in the mood for a tasty ice cream treat, hit your local Dairy Queen on Thursday, August 7th. DQ is donating the proceeds from all Blizzards sold to the Children's Miracle Network!

http://www.miracletreatday.com/

That should at least, like, halve your guilt from mega yummy Blizzard consumption, right?


Below, an example of a substandard curl. Whoever made this ice cream should be ASHAMED. Awful.

My feet are singing!

I went to a new spa today, Aspen Grove Salon and Spa, and had a sublime foot treatment! Linsey, my nail tech, was fantastic! She did a great job, but beyond that, she was so sweet and personable. She was great to talk to, but she was also in tune to my mood as well--she would quietly go about her work if she could tell I wanted to silently bliss out in the massage chair.

As for the treatment itself....wow. It lasted an hour and 15 minutes! I feel so pampered. I went for the deluxe pedicure, but they also have a basic $35 pedi, too. Next time, I would LOVE to try the ionic foot bath--combine that with some reflexology and OMG you'd have to carry me home.

Part of the allure of this spa is the ambiance; beautiful wood furniture, doors, and chair rails, soothing paint colors on the walls, complimentary wine & beer while you are getting treatments, a nice musical playlist in the background, etc. It looks like a place where you'd expect to drop a lot of dough, but from what I could tell, their prices seem fairly comparable to other places around here.

I have cute purple toesies, which I am sure will make my husband happy since I opted for purple nail polish instead of purple highlights in my hair-- which is what I really want.

Aspen Grove Salon and Spa, thank you for a lovely afternoon.

Paperdoll Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Paperdoll Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

I love the clean simplicity of this dress....adding fancy schmancy shoes or tights could give it any look you wanted. Super cute!

Popcorn Bloomer and Blouse GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Popcorn Bloomer and Blouse GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

My cousin just had a baby girl, and I would LOVE to win this & give it to her! *closes eyes and wishes very hard*

"When I got my library card, that was when my life began"~ Rita Mae Brown ~

So about twice a year or so, maybe a bit less than that, a group of friends and I do a book swap. We each get a buddy and buy them books we think they'd enjoy based on their favorite genres and books they've read & enjoyed in the past. There are usually several different categories, including fiction, nonfiction, wildcard (anything you fancy to buy), wishlist, etc. It's always so much fun to pick out books for someone else that I usually forget to look forward to what I might be getting. So I was pretty floored today when I got the book box to end all book boxes! My book swap buddy went above and beyond. The only "bad" part is trying to decide what to read first.....I'm thinking Myths To Live By, but The Tao Of Willie is calling to me, too. On the other hand, The Good Fairies of New York looks great. Auch, you see my dilemma!

Oh, you're a beauty, aren't you?

I finally have some stuff happenin' in my garden! And hail has not destroyed anything (yet, please knock on wood and throw salt and whatever else you can think of).

I'm going to be overflowing with 'maters and peppers. Which is a good thing, yes? Yes!

Waffle House?

More like Awesome House! Ba dum dum.

Kid Rock may be a douche, but he has great taste in greasy breakfast joints, I'll give him that. I haven't been to a Waffle House in years and years, and I'd been reading some scary things about them on the interwebz, but holy smokes our local Waffle House rules! Full disclosure: I looooove greasy spoons, so I'm predisposed towards the short order cook types of places. If you're looking for asparagus & salmon eggs benedict, you aren't gonna find it at WH. But if you want a fried egg, some bacon & hashbrowns-- look no further! And hey, if you're going.....could you come pick me up?

Yep, she's her daddy's girl alright

"Daddy, can you smell my fart?" *laughs hysterically*

Fields of Gold Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Fields of Gold Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Wow, this dress is super pretty...yellow is a color that looks good on Lila, but we don't have a lot of yellow clothes for her.

Super cute bows, and a giveaway!

Go to this blog to enter:

http://ashmorefamily.blogspot.com/2008/08/back-to-school-free-bloggy-give-away.html

The bows are ADORABLE. I love the camo & the rebel the mostest. Can't you just imagine Lila's cute little head with one of them on it?

It's late, and I'm tired

I should be off in dreamland right now. I'm sleepy and my allergies have been treating me roughly today...my soft pillow is calling my name.

But. But, there's an X-Files rerun on SciFi. And I have a sleeping, snoring beagle on my lap. And tomorrow is Friday, after all, which is practically the weekend and I can catch up on sleep then, right?

What a lovely dilemma to have.