I have two girls for the next 2 days. It is such fun to have Baylee here with us but sometimes she and Joey drive each other crazy, like a couple of sisters. Of course, they are the closest thing either of them is ever going to have to a sister and they've known each other since they were babies, so I shouldn't be surprised when they do some of their sibling behavior. But for the most part, they are delightful together. And they move so comfortably between each other's worlds. Some days I'd pick them up from their respective schools, some days Stacey would. They go with whichever of us is there. They are comfortable in either home. I love it.

Today was our first day of summer freedom so we celebrated by doing house work. Wee haw! I told Joey that she needed to clean her room in preparation for Baylee's visit. I offered her a monetary incentive to do it within a certain length of time. I wasn't paying her for cleaning her room--I was paying her for not spending the entire day cleaning her room. She hopped right to it and cleaned it up quickly. Then after that, I suggested that we go through her "critters" (read: McDonald's Happy Meal toys and things of that ilk) and get rid of some of them. Her old school is putting together some toy baskets and was taking donations. We have a nice big bag full of them now for the school. Yay! After we got the room put back together, it was time to tidy up the rest of the house and vaccuum. Joey got her first vaccuuming lesson today. We have a very heavy, self-propelled vaccuum and I thought it was going to drag her into the wall at first, but she did a decent job. She's not crazy about vaccuuming, though. Rats.

I have now crossed the Rubicon. I dragged all my baby equipment to my friend's garage sale to be sold tomorrow. The carseats? Gone. The strollers? Gone. The potty chair? The booster chair? Some toys? Gone, gone, gone. The highchair was too disgusting, though. It's going to Goodwill. I wouldn't be able to ask for money for it. Anything that doesn't sell goes to Goodwill after the sale. While I was there dropping off my stuff, I saw that she had some beanie babies on her table to sell tomorrow. I bought 2 of them--almost matching kitties--for $.50 each and brought them back for the 2 ecstatic girls. It amazes me, sometimes, what will completely make their whole day. Anyway, back to the Rubicon. I have always held onto that baby stuff thinking that someday I'd need it again. But I am pretty darn sure that I won't but if by some amazing twist of fate I end up with a need for those items, I'd want to start over with new stuff anyway. That stuff is almost 8 years old and has been pre-empted by much kewler stuff. So now I have no baby equipment (except a crib which I'd like to pass down to Joey or lend to my sister). It felt weird to get rid of it. I still have boxes of baby clothes. I got rid of the ordinary stuff--leggings and plain shirts but kept the really cute stuff and the fancy stuff. I can't let go of those things yet--perhaps I'll save them for when Joey has a baby like my friend's mom did. Ed will resist that, though. We have a *lot* more storage space now, though. I like that. Ed likes it more.

My cold seems to be lessening. I felt mostly human today and only coughed a few times and didn't pee my pants one single drop today. That is certainly something to cheer about.

We've got some fun things planned out for tomorrow--the girls want to make King Daddy crowns for Father's Day and they want to go swimming at the Y (though I'm not sure if we'll be able to swing that). We're making Ziplock-baggie ice cream after lunch, and we're making jam at 3:00 with my friend and some girls from church so we need to go get the strawberries in preparation for that, and we have to go grocery shopping and visit Grandma for a bit, and and and and... And lucky you--you'll get to hear all about it tomorrow!

The girls are angling for a dinner trip to Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow but we're trying to disabuse them of that notion because we'll be going to the Balloon Festival on Saturday morning and they'll have a pancake breakfast and a carnival at the park, too. I think it will be tons o' fun and much better than hanging out with the Cheese Mouse. Or rat, or whatever the hell he is.

Aaaah. I love summer. I love the endless possibilities. I love the slower pace. I love the lack of alarm clocks. I love the lack of tests, papers and lectures. I love having whole days with no plans so that we can do whatever we want. I love the notion that we can just hop in the car and drive to the beach because it sounds like fun. I love summer.

--L