Trick or Treat

I took a lot of pictures while we were out trick or treating tonight, and afterwards I realized that once you've seen one picture of Ben collecting candy, you've pretty much seen them all. We live in a great neighborhood for trick or treating, so it only took going up and down 2 cul de sacs before his pumpkin was full and he was ready to come home. Becca suffered in her butterfly costume through the pizza party and parade, and then retired to the porch to hand out candy with Nanny and Papa. Here are some pictures. The pictures of seemingly random people interspersed are some of our neighbors who we went around with.

Deja Vu

At lunch time today I dropped off Ben's kindergarten registration forms for next year at our neighborhood elementary school. This required filling out a three page registration form, digging out Ben's birth certificate, and finding three forms of address verification. The address verification I felt was a little excessive; I had to provide my driver's license, the deed to our house, and this month's electric bill. That last required me to dig through the trash, because I had paid the darn thing the day before and chucked it. Fortunately I found it in reasonably good condition, with just a small amount of, ahem, pancake syrup on it (which I carefully wiped off so hopefully the secretary at the elementary school was none the wiser).

The last time I'd been in an elementary school before today was probably when I was sixteen or seventeen and used to go with a friend sometimes to pick up her little sister from school. So it was a little weird. Weird to think that in the coming years this unfamiliar place will become intimately familiar to me since starting in August we'll have one or both kids enrolled there for the next ten years. Weird to think that two years ago at this time I was combing through greatschools.net and other resources compiling spreadsheets of elementary schools trying to find the neighborhoods with the best public schools in anticipation of our move to Charlotte. And here I was two years later walking in the door of one of them with registration materials in hand. Weird weird weird.

Good TV

I just got to watch a half hour Barack infomercial followed by the Phillies winning the world series. Who could ask for a better night of television? (Now if only they'd make four inning baseball games the rule, I could actually manage to sit through a whole one).

Yes, Joel is happy. Hopefully this has erased the specter of '93 (is that when it was?) from his psyche. Now if Obama wins on Tuesday maybe I can have my husband back instead of the quivering mass of nerves I have been living with lately...

Another Dorky Car Seat Post

Lately I have become so annoyed with Ben's car seat. First, I tried to take the cover off to wash it, and failed miserably. In the process I discovered that the user manual indicates that according to his height, he has outgrown the 5-point harness. On my to-do list was to remove the harness and convert the seat to a belt-positioning booster. So finally I got around to doing that this morning, and in the process became even more annoyed with the seat. With the harness removed, the extra padding on the seat is not held in place by anything so it falls right off, leaving the seat (I imagine) very uncomfortable. Additionally there's no way to remove the tether, latch straps, etc that are used with the harness system so you just have to bundle them up behind the seat. Which might be fine except that with the booster there's no way to anchor the seat in place so it just sits there on the seat. I have not driven the car yet with the seat this way, but I imagine it will be sliding all over the back seat. As if I didn't have enough to complain about, the base of the seat has sharp edges which dig into the car's leather seat.

So rather than put up with all of this, I decided it was time for Ben to get a new seat. We got a good two and a half years or so out of the old one, so I don't mind parting with it. I just ordered his new one, so he'll have to put up with the old one for a few more days.

The one I ordered him is the Clek Olli booster seat. Because I am such a dork, I am so excited by the fact that it "clicks" into the car's latch hooks, so is anchored in place (no sliding around). I also appreciated the different colors to choose from (I chose the "treehouse" pattern), and I am sure I will appreciate having only one big bulky seat in the car instead of two. Now when we have extra passengers in the car, it will be very easy to "snap" Ben's booster out to move to the third row, or just chuck it in the trunk if he's not traveling with us.

Anyway (since I am such a dork) I will post a follow up when the seat arrives to let you know if it lives up to my high expectations :) (Considering that it was 2 or 3x as expensive as most other backless boosters, it better).

Mistaken Identity

Yesterday afternoon when I picked up Ben from preschool a woman came up to me in the parking lot. "Hey there!" she said. "I was just answering your email!" I didn't recognize her but I smiled and said hi, and then continued buckling Rebecca into her car seat. I was trying to figure out who she might be, but I was starting to think she had me confused with someone else. I had sent two preschool-related emails that day, but neither one seemed likely candidates for the email she was referring to. Only one of them was to someone I did not personally know, and both had been replied to hours earlier.

She continued to stand next to my car, peering into it as I got the kids into their seats. "Hmm," she said. "I didn't think I knew you had two."

Now, probably at this point I ought to have confessed to her that I had no idea who she was and that she probably had me confused with someone else. But I was still wondering if maybe I was supposed to know this person. She had clearly seen Ben as she peered into my car, and he had not been a tip-off that I was not who she thought I was. So she had both me and Ben confused with another mother and son? Was that possible? Was it not only possible that there is another mother who picks her kid up wearing ratty jeans and a rattier sweatshirt, without makeup, but one who also has a son who resembles Ben? This seemed rather unlikely to me also, so I continued to nod and smile noncommitally until she finally headed into the school.

I forgot about the incident until this morning, when it suddenly occurred to me that I might run into this woman again, and she might continue to think I was someone else. It would be like that Friends episode where Chandler's coworker keeps calling him Toby and asking who this Chandler guy is (I just happened to see this episode again recently as I was channel surfing). I briefly considered parking on the other side of the lot, modifying my drop-off and pick-up routine, and/or wearing a disguise so I wouldn't be "recognized" by her again. But then I realized that if I did this my life might actually turn into a Friends episode, and so rather than risk that I shall simply correct her if again I run into her and again she mistakes me for someone else.

But hopefully I won't run into her again.

Politics & Sports...

...are apparently indistinguishable in Ben's mind. For a while his tendency to confuse Barack Obama with a football player had me slightly concerned (are the only black people he sees on television football stars so he thinks Obama must be one?) After a while I discarded this theory and decided instead that my four year old boy simply cannot conceive of a "contest" where either Obama or McCain will "win" without framing it in sports terms. So in his mind, Obama and McCain must both be sports stars of some kind.

Yesterday for example he was dribbling a ball around the living room and shooting it into an improvised "basket" (the stair well, which was blocked off by a baby gate) and narrating his version of Presidential politics - "Barack Obama has the ball! Oh no! John McCain got the ball! He's shooting - he scores! Mom! John McCain scored! Oh no! Barack Obama fell down! He fell down, Mom! Look! OH NO - HERE COMES GEORGE BUSH!"

I hope that Obama fares better in the actual election contest than in Ben's version of it.

Lizards and Halloween Parties

This morning we were getting ready to go to a Halloween party at a neighbor's house when Ben said, "Mom, come look - there's a lizard in the kitchen!" He said this rather nonchalantly, so I assumed he was teasing me or referring to a toy lizard. So I ignored him at first. He persisted, so finally I glanced into the kitchen - and sure enough, there was a lizard in the kitchen. So I chased this lizard all over the kitchen and finally trapped it with a paper plate and cup, and put it outside. And then we went to the Halloween party.

Rebecca was cranky (tired and hungry) and Ben was poorly behaved, wanting only to play with Carson's power rangers instead of participating in the games and activities. We left a little bit early, after both kids melted down at once and it became a little too much for me to manage (Joel was at home sleeping off the Denver fiasco - we could not disable his car alarm so his car is still at the airport). I got a couple more pics of the kids in their costumes, though, so all was not completely in vain (I did not however have the presence of mind to take a picture of the lizard in the kitchen - sorry).

Of all the Places to Lose Your Keys

In the... let's see now... eleven? years I have known Joel, he has never lost his keys. Yes he has misplaced them a time or two... I recall they somehow wound up in the trash once... But he has never permanently lost them. Until today apparently, when he called me from the airport in Denver to say he was about to get on a plane to fly home (a day early from his conference) and could not find his keys.

Houston, we have a problem. Not only does this mean I have to go pick him up at the airport later tonight, it also means that in all likelihood we will need to have his car towed from the airport to the dealership because his car alarm is on and the only alarm-turner-offer-beeper-thingy is attached to his keys. I have a key to his car but if the alarm is on I won't be able to start it unless there's a manual override button somewhere, which I don't think there is (the guy at the dealership said it would be red and to the left of the steering column and I don't recall ever seeing such a button in his car).

So... of all the places to lose your keys, why does it have to be Denver, with your car at the airport?!

Behold, the Power of Cheeseburger

This morning at 10am Ben's teacher called and asked if I could come take him home - he'd been crying and saying his stomach hurt. So I picked him up and he lay on my bed and watched cartoons for a while, drank some juice, and acted morose until I suggested maybe he was well enough to go to McDonald's for lunch? After devouring a Happy Meal, he seems much improved. Which means it is probably going to be a long afternoon.

Fear of Elevators

I think fear of elevators is called "clautophobia" but I cannot find a clear consensus on that. Whatever it's called, Rebecca has it. Which is very surprising to me considering her usually mellow personality and the fact that I have rarely seen her be afraid of anything. But today was the second or third time that she freaked in the elevator at Ben's school. For a while I avoided using the elevator because I knew she didn't like it, and then today I forgot and I put her in her stroller to go in to get Ben this afternoon. So of course I had to use the elevator to go up to the second floor where Ben's classroom is since I had the stroller. She started screaming bloody murder as soon as the elevator door opened and again on the way back downstairs even though I took her out of the stroller and held her on the way down - it didn't make her feel any better. I really don't understand what about it scares her. Should I practice avoidance or try to desensitize her?

Non Sequitur

When we're driving in the car Ben sometimes requests specific topics of conversation. This morning he requested to talk about dinosaurs. What about them? I asked. He said he wanted to know how there had come to be dinosaurs a long time ago and why there weren't any anymore.

So I obligingly launched into an abbreviated explanation of life on Earth - how life started in the water, eventually leading to fish, amphibians, reptiles, and dinosaurs. Then I explained about the climate of the Earth at that time and how likely a meteor crashed into Earth and caused the weather to become too cold for dinosaurs and how they eventually all died and mammals took over. Warming up to the subject - no pun intended - I explained the differences between mammals and reptiles and how mammals are better suited than reptiles to live in colder climates. I ended with a soliloquoy about humans-as-mammals and how our brains make us the most dangerous animal of all. I was really rather proud of myself, especially considering this was all before my morning coffee so I was not properly awake.

When I finished my speech -- which Ben had remained remarkably silent through -- I asked did he have any questions?

"Yes," he said. "Did you know that Stretch-Out on Krypto the Superdog can turn into anything? Like if Krypto or somebody is in the water, he could turn into a boat."

Hmmm... looks like I lost him somewhere...

Another Round of Becca's Birthday Pics (Belated)

Among the guests at Becca's first birthday party were Joel's aunt and uncle, his cousin Paul, and Paul's wife Elissa. Since Joel's aunt and uncle lived in Florida until recently, and his cousin lives in Philly, it was a special treat to get to see them. Yesterday we received pictures and video from their visit, so here is a small sample:

Apple Pie

The apple picking adventure may have gotten two thumbs down, but the resulting pie gets two thumbs up.

And no, I don't intend to eat this one all in one sitting. Though it is tempting. Especially with vanilla ice cream...

Apples!

This afternoon we went to the Apple Harvest Festival at Windy Hill Orchard. Joel gave the excursion two thumbs down -- it was about an hour away and pretty pitiful in comparison to the apple orchard we visited in New Hampshire during our stint in Blackstone. (It also contained what I would consider to be the rattiest restroom facilities I have visited in North America. Although Joel did not visit the facilities himself, my description was greatly disturbing to him).

However, there were some highlights along with the lowlights --

Ben's first caramel apple:

Rebecca's first cider donut (shared with mommy):

And apples! (I think I am going to need to make a pie or three...):

Unwilling Subjects

Ben and Becca picked out their Halloween costumes this morning - okay, I picked out Becca's for her. Although we tried them on when we got home, neither of them were very willing photo participants.

Clone Trooper Ben (sans mask), complaining that he wants his lunch:

Butterfly Becca, taking off:

At some point I am sure I will get some better pictures...

Just Like on TV

Okay not really.

My grand jury experience was interesting, moderately exciting, and a little disappointing in some respects. The first thing I was disappointed in was that the (two pairs of) agents who drove me from and to the airport (although they did for the most part look the part and produced cool badges) drove regular cars, not black Suburbans with tinted windows like I'd hoped. They were also all very nice and friendly.

I was also disappointed by the judge who swore me in beforehand, since he was not wearing a robe, his "chambers" looked like a regular office, and although he did the "raise your right hand and swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth" bit, apparently they dispense with the "so help you God" part and the Bible nowadays. Disappointing. (Maybe it was a little too un-first-amendment-y?)

Although it was moderately exciting to be accosted by reporters in the lobby outside the attorney general's office ("Excuse me, can you tell me if you're here for such-and-such case?" "Ummm... I'd rather not say..." "Can you at least tell me your name?" "Uuuhhh... no, that's okay. But thanks for asking....") they were print reporters with their little pads and pencils at the ready, not television reporters with cameras and microphones. Also disappointing.

The grand jury room, though with more (bored-looking) jurors than I'd expected -- I forgot that grand juries have more than twelve -- looked more like a classroom, and the witness stand was far less intimidating than the ones you see on TV. And there was not a judge in the room. Again: disappointing!

The court reporter was cool, sitting right by me typing away furiously. I'd like to see a copy of the transcript so I can see how many times I said "Uhhh", "y'know" and "like". I tend to say those things a lot when I talk and I am totally unconscious of it usually.

Otherwise, the proceeding mostly involved explaining the context of emails I wrote at work between two and five years ago and describing projects I worked on and what went on at meetings during the same two-to-five-years-ago time frame. Remembering the emails and projects I was pretty good at (seeing as how they had the emails nicely printed out and displayed on an overhead projector to refresh my memory), but the meetings for the most part I couldn't remember much about. ("Let's go over who else was there. Was so-and-so there?" "I think so." "How about so-and-so?" "Maybe." "So-and-so?" "Don't remember." "So-and-so?" "Yes! She brought sandwiches!")

I mean really, who remembers much about work meetings, even ones at which allegedly illegal activities were discussed, except who brought the sandwiches? I was pregnant at the time, and sandwiches were very much on the forefront of my mind. (Mmmm... those were good sandwiches... Not worth going to jail over, but good sandwiches).

Second-hand Story

I missed a blog-worthy moment tonight at home - Joel gave Rebecca a bath, and as he took her out of the tub she pooped all over the floor. I might add that since I switched her to whole milk a week or so ago, her poops have been very, shall we say, messy. Thankfully Joel's mom was there and helped get Rebecca cleaned up and ready for bed while Joel cleaned up the floor and threw away his socks (they were not spared). I am sorry I missed such a made-for-blogging moment. I miss my babies already (yes even a poop story had me wishing I were home...)

Anyway I'm at my hotel in Harrisburg, ordered some room service, watched the debate, and now I am watching CNN's post debate coverage and wondering what debate they watched? Because it certainly wasn't what what I just watched... No... no debate rant tonight, I'm too tired. (I know you're disappointed). Off to bed...

There and Back... Again

I'm flying to Harrisburg again today (returning tomorrow night), where I will be testifying at a grand jury proceeding. I just got a call from the attorney general's office, confirming my arrival time and letting me know that two "agents" will meet me at the airport and escort me to my hotel. I asked where specifically at the airport I should look for these agents, and I was informed that they have my picture from my PA driver's license and would be looking for me in the baggage claim area. (I resisted mentioning that the picture in question is 11 years old and if they can recognize me from that I shall be very flattered indeed). I'll be bringing my laptop with me this time so I'll blog again tonight if there's anything blog-worthy to report.

Ben's preschool is closed again today (for Sukkot this time), but he has a babysitter until 4, at which time Joel's parents will take over until Joel gets home. Joel has a page and a half of instructions for my day and a half departure, mostly pertaining to Rebecca... Ben, of course will not hesitate to point out to Daddy at every opportunity "That's not the way Mommy does it..." But Rebecca is not so vocal yet.

Chastised!

The other day, as Ben suffered from boredom, we had the following conversation:

BEN: I want to do something special. What can I do that is special?
ME: I don't know...
BEN: God gave you a brain in your head - why don't you use it?

I would like to point out that I have NEVER said anything remotely like this to Ben. Upon questioning, he informed me that one of his teachers says this sometimes in response to "I don't know" answers. Who knew preschool teachers could be so harsh?

Pumpkins!

Today we decided to get some of the obligatory fall (never mind that it must have been close to 80 degrees today) children-and-pumpkin pictures, especially of Rebecca, who has never been subjected to such indignity before. This morning we got a couple pics of her in the front yard with a rather large pumpkin, and then this afternoon we took the kids to a pumpkin patch where we did the whole hay ride/petting zoo/pumpkin picking thing.

I was proud of Joel, who despite his E-coli paranoia, allowed the kids to partake in the petting zoo experience, although he nearly had a heart attack when Rebecca decided to bite the goat enclosure (do they make a Purell for that?). Pictures - including goat-enclosure-biting-incident - below.

Saturday with the Grandparents

This morning Grandma and Ben went for a bike ride:

Ulysses tagged along too of course:

Meanwhile, Grandpa installed a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. Rebecca was far less pleased about this than I was:

Cookie Dough Soup

Yesterday while my mom made chicken soup, Ben made cookie dough soup. Here is his recipe:

Ingredients:
Cookie dough
Water
Celery
Carrots
Orange peel
Gummy bears
Banana
Dish soap

Mix well. Spill some on the floor. Cover the remainder and let sit for 3 hours. Then pour it into the garbage disposal, and your kitchen will be filled with a deliciously fragrant (?) smell.

Ben Atones

Apparently mindful of the fact that today is Yom Kippur -- even though he is spending his day off at the children's museum with Grandma and Grandpa rather than in fasting and reflection -- Ben walked up to me this morning and gave me a big hug and said, "Mommy I am sorry for all the very bad things I've done," and then: "From now on when I do something bad I will always say I'm sorry."

If he keeps that promise until the end of the day I'll be impressed.

1 out of 2 Ain't Bad

Today my parents arrived from Philadelphia for their semi-annual visit. Ben was very excited to see them, though he may have had an ulterior motive. When I told him they were coming he asked, "Will they bring me a present?" I told him, "Probably, but you can't ask for a present the minute they walk through the door. You have to be polite."

Apparently he listened to me at least a little, because when my parents walked through the door this afternoon Ben gave them each a big hug and then asked, "Please may I have a present?" So, at least he was polite...

Fall Cleaning

Over the last couple of days I have been systematically cleaning out Ben and Becca's closets. I was prompted to do so because a local charity drives around once a month collecting donations so all you have to do is leave bags of stuff on your front porch. Since I needed to start purging all the kids' too-small summer clothes and figuring out what they've got for fall that they can wear, it was a good time to clean out the closets. Except that both of their closets were like in the cartoons where you open the door and all the stuff piled to the ceiling falls out and buries you (not much of an exaggeration).

So last week I got together 5 trash bags of stuff from Ben's closet to donate, and this week I started on Becca's closet. After filling 5 trash bags from her closet, I got down to a box of hand-me-downs that I had totally forgotten about. It was from my brother, who sent me a box of clothes a month after Rebecca was born that had belonged to my niece Annie. I had totally forgotten about it because, although the clothes are nice and in good condition, almost all of them are sizes 4T and 5T.

I put the box back in the closet and made myself a mental note that in 2011 Rebecca will be stylin' in Gap Kids' Fall 2003 clothing line... Thanks Alex!

Look it Up

(The following conversation took place last night while Ben was making waves in the bath tub):

BEN: How does the ocean make waves?
ME: Ummm... The wind makes them, I think?
BEN: Maybe it is because the moon's gravity pushes the water up on the sand. *
ME: If you already know the answer why are you asking me?
BEN: I don't actually know. I said 'maybe'. Let's look it up on Ask.com. **

*Apparently confusing waves with tides, but I still give him credit for using the word "gravity" (even though he pronounced it "grabity").

**Still waiting for him to ask me to Google something, but I'm sure it won't be far off.

Botanical Gardens

Today we went to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens, so below you will find far too many pictures of flowers, fountains, and butterflies. It was very pretty and the weather was awesome -- sunny and around 80. A perfect day to walk around and enjoy the outdoors. Joel was feeling pretty good, miraculously. My camera's batteries chose to die about two minutes before a butterfly landed on Ben's finger, and it stayed there for like a minute so it would have made a great picture, with Ben standing stock still grinning like a maniac. Oh well - maybe next time.

Kidney Stone Revisited

Joel was complaining earlier this week that he thought he was getting a kidney stone. I didn't pay much attention. Not because I don't care or anything, it's just that ever since Joel's first kidney stone experience (three or four years ago), he complains about once every couple months that he thinks he's getting another kidney stone. He's like The Boy Who Cried Kidney Stone. After a while I started tuning him out. So imagine my surprise when he comes home from work last night and announces that he has a doctor-certified, honest-to-goodness kidney stone.

When he had the last one, he threatened to jump out a window during the height of his pain (he claims not to remember this). But so far he is handling this one very well. I am afraid that may just be because it hasn't gotten down, you know, far enough to cause a lot of pain.

He was reasonably cheerful this morning, even not minding much the fact that I had invited one of Ben's school friends and his little brother over to play. Both are, shall we say, extremely boisterous children. The play date did not go extraordinarily well as these things go -- there was a fair amount of crying, timeouts, poor behavior, running around and top-of-the-lungs screaming. So I expected Joel might be ready to kill me by the time they went home. But he was fine. He was even well enough to go out for a late lunch/early dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, and now he's watching the Phillies (go Phillies).

I expect at any moment he may double over in agony, so although he's getting tired of it, I shall continue to ask him "Are you okay?" every thirty seconds for the next three or four days.

Post Debate Hangover

I stayed up late to watch the vice presidential debate last night and then Becca decided to wake up bright and early at 5:45. I might as well not let my poor night's rest go in vain, so I shall give you my thoughts on the vice presidential debate.

First of all, I am disappointed by most of the analysis I have heard this morning (though admittedly I have not heard much except a little bit of Keith Oberman last night and a little bit of POTUS08 this morning on XM). The bar for Sarah Palin has been set so low (that she speak in complete sentences as one analyst put it on XM this morning, and that she not spontaneously combust on stage as Keith Oberman put it last night) that many in the news media are actually saying she acquitted herself well-ish.

I will excuse the news media for this assessment. Probably they want to wait and see what the polls over the next few days say before coming out and saying what they really think. Probably they don't want to be accused of influencing voters' opinions and being biased and all of that.

But come on, people - she totally sucked! Granted, she did not run offstage crying, but is that really the bar you're setting for a VP candidate? She came off as incredibly shallow, both in a personal sense and in terms of her experience and preparedness for this debate. She had her talking points in front of her, and she was going to get them all out regardless of whether or not they had anything to do with the question she was supposed to be answering. None of her responses contained anything resembling depth or substance even when she stuck to those talking points. And when she was forced to deviate from them she was laugh-out-loud funny (not in a good way) and/or cringingly bad. She could have been made to run away crying at any moment by either Joe Biden or Gwen Ifill, but they restrained themselves.

I came away with the impression that not only does she have no business anywhere near the Presidency or the Vice Presidency, but she has no business being Governor of Alaska either. (Let's face it -- Alaska is full of weirdos. She would never have been elected anywhere else).

Here's one comment she made a couple of times that really bugged me (paraphrased): "Now come on there, Joe, there you go again, lookin' backwards at the past mistakes, tryin' to find someone to blame... let's forget about the past!..." etc. Ummm... okay... so how do you propose to define a platform of change (as McCain seems to be trying to do now also) if you don't define what it is you're changing from? Maybe that's the whole problem with the phony-ass McCain campaign... they know voters want change, but since they don't actually want change themselves they just have to say they're going to change things and then refuse to talk about what actually needs changing and why, much less what exactly that change entails.

And, while I am at it, what is with that way she's always talkin'? It comes off as totally affected, not to mention completely unprofessional and unintelligent. Sarah, America wants a qualified, professional VP... If you want to also be colorful and 'folksy' or whatever you were going for, that's fine. But there's a time and a place for it. Not all the time, every place. And here's one final tip for you: It's the VP debate, not the Miss America pageant -- you don't need to give "a shout out" to your "favorite second graders" at whateverthef*ck elementary school.

Okay, I'm done... I think.

Got Gas?

I was finally able to get gas this morning, just in time (the fuel light came on this morning). Getting gas is not as difficult as it was last week, but it is still significantly more complicated than it used to be. To be sure I would not drive around wasting gas while looking for gas, I consulted a map on the Charlotte Observer's web site, which has handy pushpins marking all the area gas stations. Purple pushpins are stations that had gas as of a reported time, and blue pushpins are ones that did not. It seems as though about half the gas stations in Charlotte have gas at the moment, which is a drastic improvement from a week ago, when about 1 in 6 stations had gas. So you check the map for the closest station with gas, call them up to make sure they still have it and find out how long the wait is, and off you go! I was lucky -- the station about a mile from here had gas this morning and virtually no wait. Never thought I'd be so happy to spend $69 on a tank of gas... which by the way was selling for $3.89 a gallon this morning... though I haven't heard anyone complain about the price, which I understand is about 30 cents higher than the national average.

Thank You Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathleen!

Ben and Becca would like to say thank you to Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathleen for the presents they sent today.

First Ben, and it is worth mentioning that the stuffed dog was supposed to be for Rebecca... oh well. It was instantly commandeered by Ben and named Gracie. He likes the batmobile too, I promise. Okay, you're up Ben...



Now Becca, slightly less eloquent but no less heartfelt, rocking out to her singing nursery rhymes book, and showing a strong preference for Row, Row, Row Your Boat: