Whew. What a busy weekend.

Ok, first up. Friday. That was my actual birthday and it was really nice. We had a lot planned but in the end, we went for a pizza lunch, came home and napped, and then we headed out to the drive-in with the Swansons, the Hoels, and Jim. We saw "Up" and "Race to Witch Mountain". If you haven't seen "Up" yet, do. It is a great movie. But take the tissues. I'm not giving anything away here but it starts with this little boy meeting a little girl and they become good friends and she makes him promise to take her to this place called Paradise Falls because that's where their hero is. The years pass and they get married and they start a "Paradise Falls" change jar but they have to keep breaking the jar for mishap, accident, and just the average things that happen in a life. Well, just as he's finally about to take her, she gets sick and dies. (This is the first five minutes, people. Really. I haven't given anything away.) Well, the rest of the movie is about how he still tries to get to this place and the events that happen along the way. It is a very sentimental and sad movie but it was a really good movie. I LOVE Dug the dog. "Squirrel"!! "Witch Mountain" was ok. Not the greatest but certainly not the worst ("Slumber Party Massacre, anyone??). The kids were up for both movies and I cannot believe they made it! Neither of them fell asleep in the car on the way home, either.

On Saturday, we were supposed to go to the zoo or swimming or SOMEthing but somehow it never came about. Instead, Katie and I stayed home and made cookies and then I went to quilting with my good friends. Without getting into the sordid details, I realized that I have some wonderful friends and I am extremely lucky to be surrounded by such lovely, wonderful, and creative people. I'm sorry that we lost some people from our group. I truly am. But their own stubbornness and whatever agenda they had caused that. I'm coming to terms with the fact that the group fracturing didn't actually have anything to do with me. But they gave me a gift certificate that I plan to use for this fall's retreat. I'm very very excited because I am almost guaranteed to be able to do all five days!! Wahoo! As long as Mike can still take the time from work, I'm so there! I also got cupcakes, a funny card, and a lovely balloon which my children have fought over since I brought it in the house. Did I mention that I love my friends? Oh, and that I got to finally take a picture of the finished quilt. So, there it is.

Then today, Sunday, I decided to stop being a wuss and I went to the Sit N Knit at a local yarn shop. I'm really outgoing but it can be hard for me to walk into a situation that I know nothing about. There is a site called Ravelry for knitters and crocheters to get together and chat about all things yarn and the store has a fan group. I met another woman on there who said she'd go if I did. So I went. And I met some really nice people! And I may have recruited a couple more people for my swagbucks site. (Seriously, people. It is so worth it. I've earned FIVE gift cards for Amazon.com in just over a month just for searching like I do normally. http://swagbucks.com/refer/gwdowd) I didn't get to go to the zoo with my family which was sad but I got to meet some new people.

Then I came home, took a short little snooze to get rid of my headache and I took Katie and Gavin to the playground. They played very very well together and had a good time. There was one other little boy at the playground so if one sat down for a minute, the other still had someone to play with. It was hysterical because there was a puppy there and Katie squatted down to pet it and this dog bowled her over, climbed onto her stomach, and started licking her face just like all of those cutesy pictures of kids rolling around in the grass with their puppies. She loved it!! Yes she DID get a bath right after to get the grass, pollen, and dog dander off her very allergy stricken body (and it did start to get to her) but she had fun.

Katie was telling me all about the zoo and pretty much the only thing I understood was that there was a baby cow, some piglets, and some baby chicks with the eggs still right there. Oh, and we have more eggs in our robin's nest under the deck. Oh joy. And our garden seeds don't seem to be coming up. So I guess if I don't put any fall veggies in, we ain't gettin' nothin'. Bummer. I really enjoy getting to pick fresh veggies out of the garden. (insert sad, pouty face here)

Ok. I think I have to get to bed. I wanted to watch Harper's Island tonight but I don't think that will happen. Bummer. Oh well.