I slept in a tent in my backyard last night. All summer long I've been promising Joey that we could have a campout in the backyard with a few friends because she didn't get to go to the Brownie campout (she caught a cold the night before she was supposed to go). I kept putting it off because we didn't have the tent in our possession (it was loaned to Russell along with our sleeping bags in May) and because I just didn't feel much like doing it. Finally, though, I could put it off no longer. We had two girls spend the night. I made coals in the barbecue and we roasted weenies and marshmallows and then the girls played in the tent until 11:30 when I came to bed. They all fell right to sleep. Considering that I was in a sleeping bag (which makes me feel *very* claustrophobic given my flailing-while-I-sleep nature) and in a tent, I slept surprisingly well. Once I got my hood on and tightened up so only my nose stuck out, I mean. It was a full moon last night and it was bright as day in the tent so I needed to cover my eyes. It went well, though. I woke up around 8:30 and felt surpringly well-rested. That in itself surprises me since I usually don't wake up until after nine and I don't always feel all that well rested. Perhaps I should start sleeping out at night?

Last night I also had my first official professional photo shoot. I took cast pictures for a theatre group here in town and it was really fun. After getting the posed photos, I wandered around the front of the stage while they did their dress rehearsal and snapped some candids. It will be fun to see how they turn out and see what the response is to the photos. It felt really great to be working again. My photos on Friday of Kim were fun, too. She needed some head shots for an audition she's doing next week and asked me to take them. It was sort of a professional gig. I mean, the photos will be used professionally by her but it was more a professional favor because I didn't charge her for my time.

Tomorrow Joey and I head off to the beach for 4 days. It's time for the annual Moms 'n Tots beach retreat. I love this time of year because it's so fun to run away to the beach and play with the kids. I plan to do some major scrapbooking, too. I organized all my scrapbooking paper yesterday. I went through it and gave Joey all the paper I didn't like or only liked marginally and then bought $40 worth of new paper (out with the old, in with the new) and then set up a new organization style so that I could find paper better. (Warning: Boring scrapbook talk ensues.) I used to organize my paper (of which I have hundreds of sheets) so that my solid color cardstock was separate from the printed papers. I realized that this wasn't useful, though, because what I'm looking for is color, not solid or printed, so I rearranged it all by color and have a slot for each one--reds/burgundies, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples/pinks, browns, blacks/greys, whites, creams and then have some slots for specialty papers like holiday-themed papers, vellums and mulberry paper since those tend to get damaged easily. I also left a slot that I can store any new paper acquisitions if I don't have time to organize them right away but still want to put them away. When it comes to scrapbooking, I'm extremely organized. Just take a look at my tacklebox full of pens and tools, all organized by color and type of pen. I'll bet I have several hundred dollars' worth of pens and tools alone (much to Ed's chagrin, I'm sure).

So today I do laundry, get ready for the beach, pick up my newly fixed car and play with my family. Sounds like a winner, doesn't it?

Later...

--L (p.s. thanks for the weightloss support--I really appreciate it. I'm down one more pound bringing me to a grand total of 19. I won't say how many more I have to lose, though.)