It has been a nice weekend. The forecasted rain held off until late this afternoon which was a perfect time. Yesterday afternoon/evening, we gathered at the Griffins for the aforementioned barbecue and I had the tastiest hamburger I've had in a very long time. It was delicious--marinated in teriyaki sauce. Mmmm. And I made a yummy chocolate pudding dessert with grated Hershey bar on top. We played some games and then set up the TV projector thing and projected a video on the slanted wall in their family room. We made ourselves comfortable on the floor--pulled the futon mattress out onto the floor--and watched Empire Strikes Back. I had only seen it once or twice and couldn't remember many of the details so that's the one we decided to watch. It was great fun and the kids loved it. We're planning a Harry Potter viewing next weekend.

Today was Joey's day. She *loves* Kid's Day--she's had a countdown calendar on her white board for a week! She and Ed went to breakfast at McDonald's while I snatched a few extra ZZZzs and then at 10:30 when they returned, I was rousted out of bed. Joey opened her gifts and loved them all. As expected, she was most excited about the Survivor buff. I don't know *what* she's going to do with it but she's VERY excited to get it.

While we waited for the movie to start, Joey and I made a bead doll with the beading kit we gave her. It was pretty fun and not difficult at all. She has while blue bead hair.

At the appointed hour, we picked up her friend Taylor (a boy, but not her "boyfriend" she likes to inform me) and we went to see Spirit. It was pretty good. I liked the idea of having animals *not* talk for a change. It was a typical white-man-bad movie but in the end, the white man does a good deed so we see he's not *all* bad, just a manifest-destiny-militaristic-imperialist-pig-dog. Still, it was entertaining.

We went out for ice cream afterward. Mmm. I love those crispy sugar cones--they're so light and tasty. We stopped by Grandma's, too. She had a gift for Joey--some books on wild animals that Joey was very excited to get.

Around 6pm, Christa and her mother stopped by (with baby, of course) and brought me what she called "a little something." It was a big something! She bought a galvanized oblong wash tub (itself about $30--I've been pricing them and wanting to get one for putting drinks on ice for parties) and filled it with tons of stuff--a book, 2 six-packs of my favorite gourmet soda, a matching apron, hot pad, hot mitt set, some note cards, some nice chocolate, a big bottle of french lavendar body lotion, a silver-plated picture frame and 6 little glass candle holders (perfect for lining my mantle with tea lights). It was like Christmas or something. I couldn't believe it! She wrote a wonderful card, too, that I'll save forever. It was just so thoughtful and gracious of her. I was very touched. And I got to hold that dang cute baby, too. He's almost 10 days old and he's darling! He has a very round little head with very definite little features. And lots of dark hair. Man, I couldn't believe how cute he was!

It was lovely to see Christa again, too. She's looking so good. Her mother is very nice, too. She'll be at the shower on Friday so I'll get to see her again. She loved the pregnant pictures I took of Christa so I made sure to give her a few extra.

We rounded out the day with dinner at Quizno's. Those are some damn fine sandwiches, I must say. I haven't had one there for awhile but I'm going to have to go back again really soon. Delicious. I love warm sandwiches--they're ever so much better than cold ones.

Oh, and I've been writing. I think I wrote about 2500 words between yesterday and today. This has been a difficult stretch--writing about what my main character does in the days following her boyfriend's suicide. I'm worried that I may have too much detail so I need someone to read it for me and give me a more objective eye. I don't want it to move too slowly but I don't want it to move too quickly either. I mean, seems to me like you shouldn't gloss too quickly over important things like choosing burial clothes and cleaning out the house of a deceased loved one. We'll see. I'm just trying to write down what seems natural and then I can go back and elaborate or delete as needed. If I spend too much time trying to think it to death, nothing gets written. If I think as I write, I get a lot more committed to paper. My biggest encouragement right now? Joey. She's so curious about this writing process and the fact that I'm writing such a long story. Her interest and encouragement has been a pleasant and welcome surprise.

So, tomorrow. Back to school. No more slacking off. This is my last week to do anything in the dark room. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get my last two final prints done so I can do my other thing--matting. That will be a big (and expensive) project since there are 8 11x14 prints to deal with. Arrgh!

Night, All.

--L