We're home again. I seem to be coming and going from home a lot this month. Let's see--so far in August, I have slept exactly 14 out of 28 days in my own bed. Not that I'm complaining. I love going places and doing things. I just love my own bed very very much. It's such a lovely bed. A comfortable bed. With incredibly soft 440-count pima cotton sheets. That get softer every time I wash them. And I have a big, wonderful body pillow in my bed. No, not Ed. He's a furnace. You can't sleep too close to him or else you'll spontaneously combust. No, this is a 60-inch body pillow that makes my back and hips very comfortable and makes my bed the most lovely place on earth. I love my bed.

Which is why I wasn't happy when the doorbell rang at 8:24 this morning. I lay there thinking, "Anyone I'd want to talk to at 8:24am knows better than to ring my doorbell at 8:24am so I'm not going to answer the door." Joey, however, did not feel the same way so she answered the door. It was the Fed*ex guy dropping off a package containing my new scrapbooking supplies and a new paper cutter. That's fine--I love getting packages. I just do not love being awakened at 8:24am on the last sleep-in day of summer. The remaining 4 days of summer will be busy and I won't be able to sleep in on any of them. In fact, I'll be having to get up at 6:15 Friday and Saturday to receive my cutest nephew in the entire world. So instead of my great sleep-in-until-I-feel-like-rolling-out-of-bed plan, I was rudely awakened at least an hour before I wanted to be conscious. *sigh* I'm such a lazy bum.

The M0ms 'n Tots Retreat was lovely. The weather was incredible. If you've never been to the Oregon coast, it's a rugged and gorgeous place, but the weather isn't always pleasant. I've been there many times when it was so cold that you couldn't go out on the beach and play, even in warm clothes. And in the middle of summer. But it was warm and beautiful this time. We had a great time. And there were many s'mores to be eaten. We had a great bonfire on the beach Tuesday night--that was great fun. The little kids were quite enamoured of the fire. Mesmerized by it.

There were two children who made me crazy at least part of the time, though. One girl, a four year old named Raney, who seemed to spend at least half of her time whining. The 11th commandment in our home is "No Whining." I hate hate hate it. But Raney seems to have adopted it has her primary mode of communication. When she was busy and running around the beach or the park or busily engaged, she was fine, but if she got a little tired or a little hungry or a little stressed out by the 3 year old girl who frequently vexed her, out came the whine. I just tried to ignore it. Sometimes even successfully. ::g:: Then there was the little 18-mo-old who liked to cry a lot. He is a very hard-headed guy and didn't take to "no" very well so when it was administered, he cried. A lot. And I guess his family is immune to it because it didn't seem to garner a lot of attention. Joey wasn't a big crier. I mean, she cried--all children do--but not prolonged and not just wandering all around the house when I told her 'no.' Poor Jem. I hope he'll grow out of the crying thing. Yikes!

But despite the crying and the whining, I still had a fun time. The moms were great to hang with and my nephew was as darling as ever--he just keeps getting cuter and cuter and more entertaining.

We met Joey's new teacher for next year. She's older than her last two *very* young teachers (22 and 24) and has a lot of teaching experience. I'm looking forward to the new, structured environment. And the routine. I know, I know--I always say I'm not a routine-oriented person, but a little bit of regularity is a good thing. And I like having regular time to myself. I love summer but there are lots of things to love about the school year, not the least of which is knowing that I'll have a specified amount of time to myself every week.

Joey and I were trying to figure out what to do on our last full day of summer without the baby and while we were thinking, she and her friend cooked up a playdate so now I'm on my own. I'm not sure what to do with myself. I know I was just saying that I was looking forward to some time alone but I wasn't anticipating it for today. Now what to do? I don't want to waste it doing banal things like ironing or cleaning Joey's room--I can do that next week. I could go shopping, but I really don't need anything. *sigh* That's pitiful--I can usually always shop. Hmmm...now I'm just at loose ends. I'm going to have to put on my thinking cap to come up with something.

Later,

--L