I can’t even think about what’s going on in Washington right now.
But as for November 4th, I liked this easy-to-understand chart.
Of course, all bets may be off with the financial markets what they are today, but this is the “plan”, at least.
Thanks, Anne. You always provide excellent tidbits. And yard signs.
I don’t know if you remember how much I listened to my “Annie” album when I was 6-7-8, and sang it all over the house, but….. I just got a big smile on my face as I listened to your big niece’s rendition of “Maybe” as she watched the movie with Michael downstairs. She has watched it quite frequently since we got it about 3 weeks ago. She is learning all the songs, too….
Just after we last wrote, we headed out to the drive-in in Newton, Iowa.
We went to see Mamma Mia with the girls and we all enjoyed it. Here are the girls, set up in their lawn chairs (thanks, Nine!), ready to go. We have been wanting to go to the drive-in all summer, but the movies have never been kid-appropriate. When we saw this one, we jumped at the chance. It reminded us of our trip to the drive-in in Durham, NC with Steve, Jacqueline, and their dog, Cash, when E was a baby. Ever since then, we have wanted to go back, and 4 years later, we did. More on Steve and Jacqueline later!
Also since we last wrote, I added another year to the count. I keep forgetting how old I am and have to do the math, since I do remember my birth year. 37 is the tally. For a while, I thought I was turning 38, so when I finally actually thought about it and did the math, I felt instantly younger.
My birthday was not a great day. E was sick that day, work was fairly stressful, and I was generally crabby. BUT… the evening was excellent. Dinner out with the family at Chipotle, home for yummy ice cream cake, and then the arrival of our dear friend, Kent. He and his family are in the process of moving from the suburbs of Toronto back to Denver, and he chose to stop in Urbandale while on the long drive, driving one car and towing the other.
Jenn and the boys were already in Denver due to the start of the school year, so Kent was solo. He arrived at about 9:45 PM after leaving the Toronto area at 6 AM central time. Ugh. A VERY long day. But he made it safe and sound. We spent a couple of hours chatting and then we let him sleep a bit before the final leg of his journey. We had not seen him since they joined us in Italy in May of 2007 and it was really nice to catch up.
E was sick on Saturday, too, so she couldn’t go to gymnastics and dance class. She was sorry to miss it. But she was fine by the time Sunday rolled around, and she got to go to her friend’s birthday party.
Michael left on Monday for a short trip to Savannah, GA for work. He thought the conference was worth it, but was glad to get home on Wednesday.
Yesterday, we went to gymnastics and dance and it went well. E seems to like gymnastics, especially. Afterward, we went to the girls’ school to help them put down rubber tiles for the toddler playground. We will be very happy when J’s diapers and socks aren’t full of wood chips at the end of the day! J’s teacher and occasional babysitter, Miss Andrea, was there to take care of the kids while Michael and I helped with the tiles. When the girls were finally exhausted and ready for nap, I took them home while Michael stayed to help some more. He was pretty tired when he got home at about 3. Just as he arrived back home, so did our friends from Iowa City, the Charliers…. aka Steve and Jacqueline mentioned earlier. We had a nice evening grilling outside with them and getting caught up.
This morning, Jacqueline and I went to the Unitarian Church that I visited a couple of weeks ago. I am liking it a lot. I do really like the key principles. The first sermon that I went to two weeks ago was based on Stephen Colbert’s notion of “truthiness.” I thought it was a good one, for anyone who is interested. Jacqueline and I both liked today’s, as well. The theme was social justice. And the key point was about figuring out how to be a strong voice for the issues that matter to you.
Afterward, we met Steve, Michael, and kids at the zoo.
We spent some time feeding the koi… all the kids seem to be fascinated by this, and all the grown-ups seem to be a bit disturbed.
Today was a Latino Heritage festival at the zoo and the park next door. Not only did we see koi, sea lions, tigers, penguins, and zebras, but we also ate delicious Mexican food for lunch.
E & B were quite excited about getting their picture taken with Smokey.
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