Meals on Wheels went well today. It was *warm* with all the getting in and out of the car the runner did, but we made good time and didn't run into anything weird. (Once, in Willmar, we ran into an old man who answered the door minus his pants. That was... awkward. No one wanted that route after that.) Tomorrow we're teaming up to deliver meals in some senior living apartments so it'll be one stop and super quick since we can both deliver at the same time.

Yesterday my paternal grandmother called and asked me if I would be willing to put the huge pile of loose photos she's found while cleaning out her house (you know, in case she dies then no one is "burdened" with the job) yesterday into photo albums for her. I said I'd love to and look forward to seeing what she found. She asked me since I already have all of her existing albums at our house in order to scan the photos and make back up discs for other members of the family. Since I'm not sure who *will* get the photos when she dies (which is most likely 10 - 15 years from now even though she's 84), I wanted to be sure that I got copies now when I don't have to ask "permission" or something from my dad or uncle. She hopes to have picked out some albums by Aug. 2nd when we'll see her at a family reunion. She's not very sentimental about these sorts of things (or acts that way anyway), so I'm glad that she's not just shoving them in a shoebox or plastic bag to get bent up and forgotten.

Our Netflix plan switches over to one disc at a time today since we usually only watch that many movies in a month (if that!) and we were wasting money having three sit around unwatched all month. But, the three I returned when I switched the plan arrived there yesterday so they shipped us three news movies, which arrived today, since we were still on the three at a time plan as of yesterday. Madness. I didn't mean for that to happen and had organized the queue in such a way that I thought I'd get to forget about it for a while. Guess not. We'll be trying to watch Waitress, Lars and the Real Girl, and Be Kind Rewind as soon as possible. I'm leaning toward starting with Be Kind Rewind since I do enjoy Michel Gondry's films and the comedic stylings of Jack Black and Mos Def. We'll see what kind of time we can find though.

And now, I will finally take some time to read. (Maybe...)

It seems like I forget how busy summer gets every year. Then I look back at the previous year and think, oh yeah, it was busy then too. Ah well... Never a dull moment I suppose.

This last week I spent catching up from all our holiday traveling over the 4th and figuring out how to fit in everything I want to get done this week before my ten year reunion this Saturday. Speaking of which, we finally decided that I'm going to carpool down with my high school friend who lives in St.Louis Park and Mike will stay home with Ada. He isn't really going to miss out on anything and now we don't have to worry about Ada's schedule getting all messed up again.

Yesterday we finally started using up our Theater All Year Round tickets. They expire on July 31st and we got them from my parents for Christmas. Oops. Procrastination aside, we went to see The Boy Friend at the Lyric Arts Main Stage in Anoka. Mike's brother was in the play when he was in high school so it was fun to see what he part he played. It was really well done except the faux British accents the actors couldn't pull off was a HUGE distraction for me. It would have been better if they'd just gone without them. Ugh. Mike's parents watched the kid while we were gone and they did a bunch of clean up in our yard while we were gone. It used to make me feel bad when they did those kinds of things, but now I just say thank you and move on. My mother-in-law lives outside in the summer so I think she might just enjoy having another yard to mess around in since hers is perfect and tidy 24/7.

To use up the last of our tickets we're seeing Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood at the Stepping Stone Theatre on the 26th and A Murder Is Announced at the Theatre in the Round on the 27th. I'm looking forward to both of them and we had no problem finding a babysitter since Mike's cousin is ALL about Ada. Ada really likes her too so I don't worry about leaving her to go out at all.

Speaking of Ada, I'm making fabulous progress on getting her 2nd birthday party planned. (Where did the tiny baby go???) I created some invitations on Snapfish and took advantage of their prints for a penny sale so those should be arriving this week. We're having a party based on her near complete obsession with the carousel at the Como Zoo. We're having carnival games, fair food, and I'm planning to make this fancy cake. (Or a very similar version of it otherwise.) Mike is under the impression that I might be going a little overboard again but my theory is that I've kept her alive and thriving for another year and, darn it, I want to celebrate that.

Tomorrow and Wednesday I'm driving for Meals on Wheels which I haven't since I worked at the bank in Willmar. It's through church and the runner is pretty practical and punctual so I don't anticipate it taking more than about an hour or hour and a half.

I picked up my reserved copy of Sloane Crosley's I Was Told There'd Be Cake but, to my disappointment, haven't had time to start it yet. Maybe if I quit writing a rambling update I could do that.

I don't know if I'm going to make it through the next week or so. Things are still wildly busy and I constantly feel like I need a nap. This afternoon, once Ada wakes up, we're off on a play date with a woman from church and her two kids. I'd rather clean the house and get the grocery shopping done so I don't have to worry about that tomorrow when I need to leave for my parents' house, but we've already rescheduled once due to weather and I don't want her to start thinking I have no intention of actually getting together with her.

We'll be overnight at my parents' house tomorrow, drive out to my grandma's farm Friday morning to spend the day there, and then stay at my parents' house again the night of the 4th. Saturday afternoon we're driving back to spend time with Mike's sister and possibly more of his family. So far I think it's just his sister, which is more than o.k., as I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed by all the visiting.

In non-family related news, I got contacts again yesterday for the first time in years and years. Because of the gigantic astigmatism in my left eye, I had to get a toric lens for that one. It's huge and difficult to maneuver so I'm trying to get used to wrangling that in and out. I'm borderline for a toric lens in my right eye so I'm hoping we can hold off on that for a while since the spherical lens is much more comfortable and what I'm used to. Since all of my favorite sunglasses have either gone missing or been broken, I'll be on the lookout for a new pair.

Go look at this. You'll like it:

I'd been running across mentions and banners for it for a while and finally took a look. Should be good!

These animal hairdos (LITERALLY animal shaped hairdos) are fascinating but also kind of... creepy.

So, the Sex and the City movie was... about what I expected. It was so predictable and could easily have been a one hour episode instead of TWO AND A HALF HOURS with all the pointless filler. You would have thought it was an 80s movie with all the music montages. Cripes. I think my friend was disappointed that she decided to go with me since I kept making snarky little comments whenever I was irritated by something, which was often.

The other half of team treasurer at church resigned on Sunday leaving me with a lot to do there as the fiscal year runs to the end of June. Good timing. :( I talked to the previous treasurer and she's going to help me close the year and tie out the books. She also filled me in on the behind the scenes talk about what the board is thinking of doing now. They're going to make the treasurer position off board and they aren't planning on asking me if I'd like to do it. I must have looked a little miffed since she said I could do it if I wanted to, but they were thinking of me for the long talked about administrator position. That's a PAYING position, ten hours a week, and a mile down the road. I'd be able to do work at home and it's also fine to bring Ada to the church with me. Does it GET more perfect than that? I thanked her for letting me in on the plan and told her I'd be thrilled if things worked out that way. I'd probably keep the bookkeeping half of the treasurer work, but now it would be paid and tied in to the ten hours a week for administrator. I'd be working with the pastor (interim for now, and a settled hopefully next summer) which I can't forsee a problem with as I've been doing church stuff for my dad since high school. The job pays $9.50 an hour, which isn't a lot, but it'll really do a lot toward building our savings since Mike's salary already covers all the bills/essentials. Good news to be sure!

It's been really busy around here and will be that way until... the middle of July? I think that's when I saw a free weekend on the calendar. Tonight Mike's uncle, Tom, is having a gallery opening at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts. I'm really looking forward to this as I enjoy his uncle's company and his artwork. Come on down if you're free! Tomorrow evening we'll see Uncle Tom again at a family get together at another of Mike's uncle's house.

Tomorrow is our day at the zoo with a mom from church who I've been meaning to make plans with since she expressed interest in doing so in a thank you note last October. On Monday we're actually going back to the zoo AGAIN since Mike's sister will be in town from Portland, OR and thought that would be fun. I can't see Ada objecting so to the zoo we'll go. She's in town for a family reunion this Sunday afternoon that we'll head out to right after the last service of the church year. The subject of the sermon is especially intriguing to me as it's titled "Spirituality for Agnostics and Atheists" and will be delivered by a woman who wrote a book called God is Not Three Guys in the Sky: Cherishing Christianity without Its Exclusive Claims. Coming up in July I have an eye appointment and we're heading out to my grandma's farm for the fourth. There have been babies arriving left and right so that's been some excitement too. Whew!

I'm tired just looking at it all written out and think I may need a nap.

Another lovely day and another trip to the Como Zoo. We're definitely going to get a family membership there since it's obviously something we're utilizing often enough. Parking was a BITCH though since we didn't get there until 11:15. They open at 10:00 but with all the families, buses, and day care centers, it's PACKED by then. I definitely got my walk in for the day just getting to the front doors. Ada was thrilled to ride the carousel not once, but TWICE. She refuses to ride double with me so my ticket is wasted standing next to her since she's still too little to ride alone. I've got some definite color from being out in the sun for so long but it's not looking like it's going to burn. I burn so easily that I don't know why I wasn't better prepared. I'm full of freckles now (face and arms) because that's what happens to me in the sun in the summer. It used to bug me, but I think I'm finally old enough that it's kind of "meh".

I am making no real progress on my meal planning experiment but I'm going to make a greater effort this weekend. I think...

I'm going to see the Sex and the City movie with a friend from high school and I'm not really that thrilled about it. I introduced her to the show and it's been this kind of touch stone in our relationship and she's much more excited about it than I am. It'll be good to see her again as it's been a few weeks, but I'd almost rather just sit and chat instead of watch the shopaholics fling themselves and their drama around. Or maybe I should just relax and enjoy the popcorn flick for what it's worth. Maybe.

I'm teaching RE again this Sunday and I'm still hoping for too few kids to hold a class again. I really want to sit in on this service so I'm sure I'll have a TON of kids this week.

Other than that, it's time with the family and hopefully a good book. I'm starting Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith (book #27 for the year) and I always enjoy her writing so I'm looking forward to it.

what exactly is going on up there with all these amputated feet washing up?

Guess who bought presale tickets to see Wicked at the Orpheum in November? Awwww yeah! :D

This week is starting off exceptionally well.

Anyone else who's interested: http://www.hennepintheatredistrict.org/wickedpresale.html

The password you'll need is EMERALDGREEN.

It's been an interesting rest of the week here. It turned out that what I thought might be allergies causing the runny nose/coughing/watering eyes was actually a cold virus. Bah! All three of us were miserable with it from Tuesday night until about... today. It's been getting better every day, but I'll be happy when it's completely gone. I think Ada probably handled it better than anyone and just carried on as if nothing was amiss. (Except for at night when she was trying to sleep. Then the gloves were off and she was up quite a bit.)

Another fun neighborhood event: A very large tree next door to my in-laws house (three blocks away) fell down last night and took out the power ALL over the place. It snapped off right around 11:00 PM last night and wasn't restored until this morning around 11:00 AM. A big thank you to those poor Xcel energy guys who were out there trying to work with all the locals gawking like it was a national disaster. Since church is only a mile from my doorstep, there wasn't any electricity there either. I was supposed to teach religious education this morning but only one girl showed up and she preferred to play with her brother in the nursery so I left early. I'm scheduled to teach next week too and I'm kind of hoping for a repeat of this week. That's awful, I know, but there's some back story/ranting that would make it make more sense but that will have to wait for a day where I have more time.

We took a Father's Day trip to Half Price Books after I came home this morning and I picked up many wonderful and inexpensive books for myself and one for Ada. Mike picked up a computer game and we called it good. I had a 15% off coupon which was good for almost $5 off when it was all said and done. That's like three of the books being free! (Two of mine from the clearance section and Ada's) Tonight we're headed over to Mike's parents' house to grill and hang out with his dad for a little while. I picked out and Mike paid for four rounds of golf at a local golf club so I'm hoping he likes it. (Big thanks to dragons_angel for providing the link that saved me cash money on the gift!)

Next week is looking busy and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I have lots to do for bookkeeping at church since the church year comes to an end June 30th, two play dates, and I promised Ada another visit to the zoo. (I don't remember why I did now, but she's so cute when we're there that it doesn't *really* matter.) I'm seriously looking into a zoo membership because we're there almost every week and it just makes sense. I'm thinking about doing it up big and taking her to the Minnesota Zoo so perhaps we'll try that this week instead.

And now, to read!

Due to multiple requests from my tiny boss in the past couple days, we went to the Como Zoo (again!) today. We've been there probably six times now since the end of April. What can I say? Kid loves the zoo. It was pretty nice out too and, since it's supposed to rain again tomorrow, I'm glad we went. I think the next time will be later in the afternoon though since right when they open is just MOBBED with kids. It was just too chaotic for me and *I* ended up cranky and wanted to go home.

I've been looking at doing meal planning for the month so that I'm not stuck staring into the cupboards every night asking the question that seems to plague almost every stay at home mom (or anyone who is in charge of supper preparation actually) I know: "What should I make for supper?" I've been looking online and at books from the library for suggestions on meals, etc., but everything I'm finding is for carnivores. Almost ALL of the menus and recipes I'm finding are centered around flesh. Bah! I'll have to try some Googlefu later for "vegetarian monthly meal planning" or something and see if I fare better than I have in the past week. Have any of you had much experience with monthly planning or freezer meals? I seem to be under the impression that scentedwoods did freezer meals at one point but it could be that my memory is going in my old age.

After playing at the park for over an hour this evening, I am now tired.

The End.

I'm all for extending nursing if you're comfortable with it (I nursed Ada until she was 16 months), but this is... insane. At almost eight years old I was more into Nintendo than I was into drawing portraits of my mom's breasts. Or, you know, NAMING them.

What beautiful weather today! I just can't complain enough about all the rain we've been having lately. We had to drive through it while visiting family this weekend and I still have to clean up my yard from the really heavy stuff last week. To add insult to injury, it looks like they're forecasting more
later this week. I suppose I really shouldn't complain too much. We haven't had serious flooding or property damage like so many other people. I'm just tired of being stuck inside with so much I want to get done outside the house.

One benefit of all the rain is that my garden is growing well and needs to be weeded. I'm just thrilled to see actual plants coming up from the seeds I planted. It's like magic! I stare out the window at the tiny plants several times a day just boggling at how fabulous nature is. It was a tiny seed and now it's a plant! (I'm easily amused if you hadn't noticed.)

Anyway, our trip this weekend went well despite the strong wind we drove down in and the scary storm we encountered just north of the Iowa border when we came home. It was really nice to see so much of my extended family again and it looks like I'll be getting to spend some time with my cousin's wife, Heidi, at the end of July when she's in town for a work function. Here's a photo of my maternal grandmother, her grandchildren, their spouses, and her great grandchildren:



We have several other events planned out of town this summer but I'm starting to second guess some of them with the price of gas finally hitting $4.09 here today. I almost drove up on the curve I was so surprised. Last night it was $3.88! My dad has been following the price of oil with a fanatics attention and he claims gas is projected to hit $5.50/gallon by July. We'll definitely be changing how and where we drive this summer. Permanently I would imagine since I can't see it suddenly reverting to under $2.00 any time soon. We're planning a family vacation again this year with my parents and sister, but it's going to be in and immediately around the Twin Cities. I'm really looking forward to it but had better get planning if I want to do anything other than view the Star Wars exhibit at the Science Museum.

And now, I return to my latest book (#25 for the year), The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them).

A little NSFW due to some brief surgical footage, just FYI. They had to try an intervention that drastic due to a huge tumor growing on the baby. Crazy what science/modern medicine can do now! And, needless to say, I'm SO happy I didn't have to deal with something like that while I was pregnant with Ada.

Things continue to be busy but good.

Saturday we picked up a new stove at the Appliance Smart sale at the fairgrounds and we saved on the delivery fee ($70!) since my father-in-law was able to come down and pick it up in his SUV. He also helped Mike hook it up right away so I wasn't without an oven for more than two days. Yay! It works wonderfully and I can't say I miss the old one much at all.

On Memorial Day, we helped my sister move into her new place. It's a very nice apartment and, since it didn't really go as she'd planned, I'll leave it at that.

This summer is really going to be busy, starting with this weekend. We have a baby shower for one of Mike's cousins and we're going to my parents to help celebrate the 15th anniversary of my dad's ordination. (He's a Lutheran pastor for those of you who didn't know.) My paternal grandmother is bringing treats to serve after coffee and I offered to help out.

Next Saturday is a significant road trip to see my maternal grandmother and my fabulous extended family on that side (aunt, uncle, cousins and their families). It's a yearly event and we're definitely looking forward to seeing everyone again. There are *lots* of little kids for Ada to play with on that side and we'll be spending Friday night in the lap of luxury in an AmericInn. Decadent! :P

Speaking of decadent, when I have a few minutes to read webcomics between doing some deep spring cleaning in the house, here are some that I really enjoy and you may want to check out yourselves:
Girls with Slingshots
Multiplex
Crowfeathers
You'll Have That
Girly
(Hover over the link for brief descriptive tags.)

Also, did you know Amazon.com does groceries now? I had no idea. I signed up for their "Subscribe & Save" program on some organic products that we go through a lot of (Clif kid Zbars, Clif Twisted Fruit, FruitaBü Smooshed Fruit, and EnviroKidz Peanut Butter Crispy Rice bars) and I'm really saving some money. It's 15% off their listed price and free shipping no matter what the total. If you sign up for subscribe & save and then cancel future shipments then you'll still get the 15% off your original shipment. Nothing to lose there eh?

And now, to sleep.

First off, we're still all in one piece over here so no worries. It's just been really busy around these parts and some of it's good, some bad. I couldn't possibly find the time to go over everything, so here's a quick list style update.

The Bad
-The friend from church that was fighting stage four breast cancer died last Wednesday and her memorial service was last Saturday. Mike and I are both very sad and she will be greatly missed. I've taken over all of the duties of the treasurer position at church while her partner grieves so that's kept me a lot busier than normal as well.

-Our oven refuses to ignite and only wants to fill our kitchen with gas. One of the burners likewise refuses to ignite and only spews gas so we're in the market for a new stove. We've looked at Home Depot, Menards, Sears, and Craigslist and haven't found anything we're really wild about yet. I've heard there's an appliance sale at the fairgrounds this weekend so we're going to give that a try. My mother-in-law is fine with me using her oven for my weekly bread baking so I don't have to suffer through store bought bread at least.

-My maternal grandmother spent some time last week visiting the Mayo Clinic to try and determine if she was in the early stages of kidney failure. Turns out that she should be fine and they think it was a dose of ibuprofen that was causing all the problems. I'm grateful for that but it was a very tense week of testing and waiting for results.

-I'm tired of Hillary hanging around. Give up woman. Give up.

The Good
-We were able to visit the Living Green Expo and made off with five reusable shopping bags. (Here's a picture of us with one of them. You had to take the picture to get a bag and I had NO problem with that. The other two were from Lund's/Byerly's.) There wasn't a lot in the way of new information for us but we've been doing really well with getting even "greener" around the house. We ordered a compost bin for cheap from our county and I'm backyard blogging next to some laundry gently swaying on our new retractable clothesline. I managed to get a garden started and planted some bulbs in the backyard.

-We bought tickets for our parents, my sister, and her girlfriend to the Star Wars exhibit at the Science Museum on August 22nd. This will kick off our second annual family vacation. My dad wants to go to the state fair this year and, since he's old, I'm humoring him. I loathe the state fair as you may or may not know, but Ada will probably love the people watching too so I'm taking one for the team. I want to go fairly early on a weekday morning to improve my chances of not grouching about it the entire day. We'll see how I do there.

Ada just woke up so I'm cutting this short AND not proofreading it. Eventually I'll have everything caught up, both reading the millions and millions of back entries that I'm behind on and writing up things I want to remember here. Eventually.

via videosift.com

The absolute highlight of this video starts right around -1:18. Oh my God, I just can't quit watching it.

I just got an e-mail that I scored another book from the Library Thing early reviewers program! This will be my third book so far and I'm just as excited as if it was the first one. FREE BOOKS!!! It really doesn't get any better than that. No sir.

I'll be receiving a book called Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs by Andy and Jonathan Hillstrand. Apparently they have a show on TV called Deadliest Catch but I've never heard of it and probably won't look into it until I'm done reading the book.

( Here's the synopsis of the book from Library Thing... )

I've really enjoyed reviewing books through this program so far and it's sad that I'm such a crazy bibliophile that I'll do it for the free books alone.

Yesterday I finally motivated myself with some internal trash talking and had an excellent kick boxing session while Ada napped. (Prior to that, I hadn't smacked the bag around since before Cancun. Naughty!) I shouldn't have been so hard on myself because, after Ada woke up, we went across the street to the park for AN HOUR where she proceeded to run me ragged. She had a blast except for when I wouldn't let her walk up the slide. (Not that she actually could even if I let her.) Mean old mommy wanted her to use the STAIRS and then slide down. It's so neat to see her figure out how things work and get excited about things I take for granted. (OMGSWINGS!!!!!) If Minnesota ever decides to let go of winter, there will definitely be many more park trips in our future.

Now, in my immediate future, there is sleep.

Today I was wildly productive, much to my surprise. It all started off with the routine vacuuming of the house and snowballed from there. I cleaned and reorganized our living room, hall closet, and Ada's room.

Ada's room really got the most attention and I ended up running to Target tonight for a couple of things to get her room even more organized. I picked up an over the door six hook rack for her robe, hooded bath towel, and various jackets and some magazine organizers to store the issues of her multiple subscriptions. She gets Babybug and The Little Lutheran (Hooray for proselytizing!) from my parents and I signed her up for Wild Animal Baby, which has turned out to be really fun for both of us. Anyway, as you can see, it wouldn't take long for things to get messy with that many little magazines running around. Her whole room is set up in a more toddler friendly way and I think it'll be quite nice for all of us.

If you think Ada gets a lot of magazines check out the list of titles I'm signed up for:
Reader's Digest (from my mom)
Prevention (also from my mom)
Parents (free for a year with one of Ada's birthday presents)
Babytalk (Free to anyone who cares to sign up for it. I got my first copy while at a prenatal appointment at the doctor's office.)
People (I know, I know. Such a guilty pleasure. It has really good book reviews. Seriously!)
Psychology Today (Hah! Almost makes up for People!)
Kiwi magazine (Organic/natural parenting magazine that I just subscribed to)
BUST (LOVE! Check it out ladies and enlightened gentlemen.)
Mental Floss (I also have much love for this one! If you've never heard of it, check it out.)

Annnnd... that's about it. I haven't had time to sit down and read any of them cover to cover in, well, years now but I stack them up in my magazine rack in the hope that one day I will. At least I won't be at a loss for reading material when I'm "retired".

In other reading news, I'm very excited about the two books I picked up from the library tonight too: Michael Pollan's newest, In Defense of Food, and Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Ten Self-Help Gurus, and a Year on the Brink of the Comfort Zone by Beth Lisick. (I found the second one through a People magazine review so THERE!) I read The Omnivore's Dilemma when it first came out and LOVED it so I'll be starting with In Defense of Food. I know several of you have read it or are reading it now so I look forward to lively discussion when I complete it.

I bought the sequel to The Sneaky Chef yesterday too. It's called (and I know it's long) The Sneaky Chef: How to Cheat on Your Man (In the Kitchen) Hiding Healthy Foods in Hearty Meals Any Guy Will Love. I'm hoping it's a better cookbook than the title would imply. I quickly paged through it and it looked like there were some good things. The original Sneaky Chef book hasn't done me wrong yet so I have faith this one will be at least as good. Speaking of Sneaky Chef, we had the "Fortified French Toast" for supper tonight with a crunchy breading of crushed Wheaties cereal and wheat germ and it was the BEST french toast I've ever had, hands down. Seriously. There were carrots and sweet potato in it but that didn't matter one bit. I have some to reheat for breakfast and I can't wait!

I also can't wait to get some sleep after my big day of spring cleaning and reorganizing. I'll need to rest up since I plan to tackle the bathroom, the other hall closet, and the kitchen tomorrow. My sister has Thursday and Friday off this week and I'd much rather hang out with her than clean (given the opportunity) so I'd best get off the computer!

P.S., We got a new MacBook last Friday and it's pretty sweet. The keyboard isn't as lovely as the iBook's, but otherwise it's great. As an added bonus, we saw aflamingstar while we were picking it up at Rosedale! :)

Ask and you shall eventually receive.

( Cancun 2008 )

And now we're home and Cancun is but a fond memory. Despite the stress of packing, being away from Ada, and flying, I'd have to say that I'm glad that I went. If another all expenses paid vacation to Mexico came along, I'd go so far as to say I'd even go again.

(Note to Minnesota: NO MORE SNOW. It's officially SPRING. Give it up!)

I keep trying to work myself up to write something about our trip to Cancun but everything falls flat. I'm just having trouble writing about any of that when there are a couple of things weighing on my mind right now.

1. The one month old son of someone I've known since I was 16 has been in and out of the emergency room and hospital lately and was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia. That's as scary as it sounds and I won't even get into how bone chilling it's been for the little guy's parents to deal with his condition. I can't even begin to imagine having to do some of the things to Ada that have had to be done to this little guy so his heart works normally. I'm obsessively checking for updates on his condition and I worry a lot. (Little good that does, but it's what I'm good at.)

2. For some of the locals, you may have heard about the terrible six car pile up accident on 494 & 169 back on March 28th. One of my classmates from high school was left in critical condition and his two month old daughter died at the hospital. (News story on the accident here.) Even in Mexico, I kept in touch with my sister about his condition. There's a Caring Bridge site set up for him so I've been able to check that out regularly. He was always a really easy going, nice guy in high school and it was shocking to hear about what had happened. Tragic just doesn't do it justice...

So, yeah. Between these two events, I haven't really felt like talking about how decadent and fabulous Mexico was. It was wonderful and I had a great time, don't get me wrong. It just feels out of place to go on about it at this point though.