It is a sad state of affairs, my friends, when I consider $3.99 for a gallon of gas to be a good thing. How outrageous!
We’ve watched the cheaper of the 2 gas stations close to our house slowly creep up to that ridiculous $4 mark, but it always managed to bounce back down. Earlier this week, however, it finally gave up and now stands at $4.09 per gallon of regular gasoline. Ugh. I refused to succumb to such an atrocious amount and was determined to find a station that was still somewhere in the $3s. Fortunately Wednesday on my way home from work, when I was just about down to fumes in the tank, I stopped at a station close to my office that was still at $3.99 per gallon. Hallelujah, praise the lord, I found the elusive <$4 fuel!
Um, not so much. My total for a tank was $61.67. Zoinks!! And this is for a Toyota Highlander with good gas mileage. Thank heavens I don’t drive a Hummer.
Unfortunately said gas station was up to $4.09 for regular on my way home yesterday. Boo. I know I should probably just ride my bike – better for me, better for the environment, and all. But it’d be almost a solid hour ride each way, plus I’d have to bring all my shower stuff to work because you know I can’t bike for an hour at a good road bike clip without sweating like a man. And there are no convenient bus stations to my office either. So drive it is.
Here, Mr. Oil Commodity-man, you can have one of these:
It’s the Royal Wedding today, duh! And yes, I did get up at 4:30 this morning to watch the VIPs arriving at the church, the ceremony, the recessional, and just now the kiss. Ahh… the kiss! Kisses actually, since they puckered up twice on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the cheering masses. How fun!
I don’t care how many people make fun of me for watching, I thought it was beautiful. It’s every little girl’s dream to be a princess, and now Kate Middleton really is! My sister M and I were texting back and forth all morning commenting on the hats (how ugly most of them were!**), the horses, the Abbey, the Princes giggling together as they walked in, the dresses. It was great! I can’t say Kate’s dress impressed me that much, but I LOVED Pippa’s. Did you see it? Here:
I love the cowl neck and mermaid style
and the buttons down the back!
And how studly did Prince Harry look up at the altar? I always thought he was kind of a chump, but he looked pretty good sauntering in there today. I think he and Pippa would make a cute pair.
Anyone else wake up at the crack of dawn to enjoy some tea and scones and pretend you were a Brit for the morning? Ok I didn’t have any tea or scones, nor did I talk in a haughty fake British accent, but I did thoroughly enjoy watching the Prince finally marry his Princess. ๐
**Did they honestly look in the mirror before the festivities this morning and think, “Damn this fascinator looks good!”? And why are these called fascinators?
Auntie M was in town for Easter last weekend and she was dying to let D try Cheetos. I said fine, but not regular Cheetos – they’re too hard and crunchy. Fortunately my mom got the Cheetos Puffs, which were perfect. And whaddya know, she loved them! We gave her one and she went to town on the thing. By the end all she had left in her hand was a slimy little cheesy nub, so I took that away from her before she tried to scoot away and smear it on the rug or the leather chair. Plus I don’t think they’re the most nutritional thing we could’ve given her. ๐
Behold, the attack of D’s first Cheeto (pardon the sirens and noise in the background. we were watching “Date Night”. she apparently loved that too.)! I told you she rarely sits still. ๐
As April winds down and May approaches, I’ve been thinking back on how much D has accomplished this month. She started scooting in earnest early in the month (the video R took was from April 6) instead of just pushing herself around on her stomach. This may actually have started before then, but that was the first time we saw her do it at home. We’re still waiting for that first crawl, though. Unkie C gave her plenty of lessons this past weekend, but scooting is still her preferred method of transportation.
She started pulling herself up on things. The little monkey in the bars of her crib was last week on April 18, and then her teacher said she finally pulled herself all the way up on the play blocks at daycare the day after that too. I was playing with her on the floor this weekend and she used my arm to pull herself up to fully standing – there she was, all 28ish inches of her looking me right in the eye. ๐ That was the first time I’d seen her stand as well. Before that she’d just gotten to her knees with one foot trying to move to standing.
She likes to rock her highchair. And I don’t mean like she’s all heeeeyyy, check me out in my new highchair. I mean she literally rocks the thing. At meal times she’ll take a bite, then rock back and forth, slamming into the back of the seat and scooting the whole chair. Granted the wheels do lock to prevent movement, so it’s not like she’s cruising around the house in a highchair, but it’s still funny. ๐ This chick does not like to sit still.
This one’s not movement-related, but her top teeth are now coming in to match the pair of chompers on the bottom. Chuck and Cecil have upstairs neighbors! These broke through last month, but now the front four are prominently on display in that darling little smile.
Ok you can't see her top teeth in this one, but I just thought this picture was so cute
Our beautiful baby girl is getting so big! I can’t believe she’ll be 9 months old in a few days. 9 months sounds like a long time, but I remember the feel of bringing her home for the very first time as if it was yesterday. In all honesty, though, the time has seemed to go by just right, if that makes any sense. It does seem like it’s been 9 whole months, instead of flying by like time usually does. But I know in a couple years I’ll look back on these days and say it all went by in the blink of an eye…
I don’t know how many times I’ve said this to R in response to his frequent complaint of “I just wish I was really good at one thing.”
Um, hello? You’re great at everything! Let’s see, where should I begin the list? I know, sports:ย football, basketball, baseball, track. Throw in pretty much any other sport that involves throwing, catching, or running, and he’s good at that too. Up next, things at home:ย only ANYTHING, seeing as he has now single-handedly rebuilt and remodeled almost our entire house – structure, wiring, plumbing, duct work, appliances. He can even sew! He also shovels snow in winter, helps mow the lawn in summer, and takes out/brings in the garbage cans. What else? Cooking:ย duh – we all know he’s amazing at this and does all of it for our household. Additionally, all things mechanic or electronic:ย he’s changed the brakes on our vehicles, given them oil changes, helped replace a heater core (what? don’t ask – it was a miserable project), fixed window motors, replaced radios, and he is famous for his knowledge of every gadget from cell phones to computers to TVs and everything in between. And don’t forget all of his hobbies:ย home brewing, charcuterie (and basically anything meat-related), motorcycles, music, kites, model rockets, photography. That list is pretty much endless. Is there anything this kid can’t do? In a word – nope.
Now me, on the other hand. I am really good at one thing. Swimming. I swam all through high school and college. I was a State Champion in high school, All-American in college, Academic All-Big Ten in college, and I held a school record at UW-Madison (that has long since been broken, but still. it was up there for a little while. :)). I’ve also been a US Masters National Champion in my years since college. Wow, SM, you’re a stud. Yes, yes, thank you, please hold your applause (modest, much? ;)). But, please notice how short that list is – ONE thing. See R’s up there? He has like a million. Sure I can kick your ass up and down a pool, but when it comes to being good, even moderately good, at a whole host of things, I fall far short.
This conversation always makes me curious, too – does everyone want to be really good at one thing? Like really, really, good, as I am with swimming (i’m sorry, i’m not usually so blatantly cocky, but i’ve learned to look back on my swimming career and be really proud of my accolades after downplaying them for many years)? Or would most people prefer to be good at a lot of things, as in R’s case? I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be able to do pretty much anything I ever need for myself instead of having to ask for help all the time over being able to swim fast. Unfortunately, I swim fast.
Oh! How could I forget the most important thing R is good at? He’s the most fantastic, wonderful father – D is a very lucky little girl.
Daddy and D getting ready to hunt for eggs
He let her put all the eggs in the basket - so cute!
One thing you may not know about me is that I love gardening (or did I already tell you that?). I never would’ve thought it would be something that tickled my fancy, seeing how most things domestically-oriented don’t. But once we moved into our house and I started digging around in the existing gardens and transplanting things and planting new things and experimenting with what works and what looks good where, I found I really have a knack for it.
And I absolutely love seeing my gardens bloom each year and look pretty. I’m big on bulbs too, since they come up each year without me having to do any more work. ๐ I’m super excited about the new row of peonies this year that I mentioned before – I checked last night and all 6 are sprouting. Hooray!
This weekend my mom sent home some hosta plants for me, and last night I planted them around our lamppost in the front yard. A few years ago I dug up a little circle around the base of it to make room for some color in the yard, and I usually plant dahlias around there. But last year they didn’t do as well as they have in years past, and it never fails that they get nicked with the lawn mower at some point during the season.
I was thinking about putting daffodil bulbs in there this year because I love them and they’re one of the few spring flowers I don’t have anywhere, but then I got these hostas and figured it’d be just as easy to put them there instead. I’ve already filled a lot of space in our other gardens with hostas that I transplanted from under a bush in the back yard, so I was running out of spots for these new ones and I didn’t want them to go to waste. I think they turned out pretty well.
Lovely weather we're having.... AGAINUp close and personal
I didn’t dig a super deep hole for these guys, so I really hope they thrive here. I’m hopeful, though, since they were already sprouting when my mom dug them up for me.
We received an awesome surprise on the doorstep yesterday, too. My great aunt J and my mom’s cousin J sent a beautiful quilt for D. That’s nice, but what’s so special about a quilt, you wonder? It was my great-great-grandmother D’s (so D’s great-great-great-grandmother D), and she was the one after whom our D was named.
I had no idea this quilt was coming, or even existed, so I was very excited to get such a wonderful heirloom. And it is even more special for D since it came from her namesake. The note with it said my great aunt J remembered seeing it in her grandma D’s house when she was younger, and it was probably made in the 1910s-1920s.
How cool! I had R take a picture of it on my phone this morning, but it turned out really blurry. I’ll take a better one tonight, but at least you can get the idea.
D will be the 6th generation to have this quilt. Awesome!
I absolutely love family tradition, so getting this quilt for D means a lot to me. It will be the perfect cover when she transitions to a big girl bed from her crib. Her great-great-great grandma D will be watching over her each night and blessing her with sweet, sweet dreams.
One of my friends had that as her Facebook status last night, and I could not agree more. Too bad they always go so quickly and end way before they should.
It was great having a long weekend this week, though. We had a wonderful time at my mom’s, and D thoroughly enjoyed her first Easter. She helped Daddy hunt for Easter eggs, and the Easter Bunny brought her the most ridiculously fluffy, cute bunny coat ever. Doesn’t this just kill you?
Cutest bunny there ever was
Saturday morning I was sitting on the deck after a jog, cooling down and just quietly counting my blessings – 65 degrees, sun, warm breeze, blood pumping after some good exercise, beautiful baby girl napping peacefully upstairs, nothing else on the agenda for the entire day except looking forward to steaks on the grill for dinner, surrounded by loving family. It was such a fantastic time and very relaxing, just what the doctor ordered. I just wish it happened more often and lasted more than 3 days.
And now it’s Monday and back to the grind. Blllleeeecchh. Even after regular weekends Monday mornings are the worst, but at least they’re only a couple hours long. It’s funny, too, how it almost never fails that after some time off my attention always turns to planning the next day off or vacation. Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she? ๐
Did you all have nice holiday weekends?
p.s. Run stats for that jog mentioned above – 2.17 miles in 20:25. Little slower at a 9:25 pace, but there were lots of hills and I was intentionally going slowly since I hadn’t gotten out for a run in over a week. Another notch on the running belt.
