I celebrated my birthday all weekend long. Friday night, Dustin's family took me for dinner and presents. Saturday night (my actual birthday), my sisters took me out for a dinner, followed by presents, a walk around downtown Champaign, and a drink at the Blind Pig.
Here is Jesse's introduction to my blog. Jesse is 25, my sister Karee's boyfriend. He crashed our party and bought me a drink. Lara adores Jesse; Claire runs away when she sees him.On Sunday, I celebrated with a low-key celebration at my parents' house. Now, Dustin wanted to originally have a huge birthday party for me and invite everyone. But I requested it be kept very low-key. Not because I had a problem with turning 30, but because that is just more my style. Dustin was awesome. He made my favorite adult beverages (Bailey's Mudslide and pina colada) and some fabulous chip 'n' mint cupcakes. Check these out.
SO GOOD!!So it was a really nice birthday. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and gifts, and just all around helped me celebrate my golden birthday!
Dustin had a good trip to Rhode Island. He learned a TON of great information and is going to make an attempt to become an EAS master beekeeper over the next year or so. We all missed him and were happy to have him home, though we did get to talk to him a few times over Skype (one night, Dustin refreshed my memory on how to can green beans over Skype; at one point, I was holding the computer directly over the canner so Dustin could get a good look at the contents-haha).
Claire likes to help break the beans.I am very excited to tell you all that the country house now has floors! The upstairs was carpeted last night, and the wood floors downstairs were put in a couple weeks ago. The stairs have been carpeted too. The bathrooms need to be finished, and all the trim along the walls and windows needs to be done, but then we will be ready to start moving things in!! It really feels like a home now. I can't wait to move in and make it my own! Lara feels the same way, for she said, "Wow, this is my home!" I did have the opportunity to meet a neighbor, which means someone who lives a mile away. She owns a very hip and trendy children's consignment shop here in Homer; she is very friendly, and I have the feeling she doesn't let anyone leave her store until she has made a new friend. This evening, we had supper at the country house. We roasted corn (just picked from our garden) over the coals, and had chips and hot dogs. Afterward, of course, we had s'mores. My parents came out for a tour later.
Here's our garden. It looks a bit overgrown. We put the rows too close together, and it was too hard to manage the weeds. We've got much better ideas for next year. ;)No more luck on the potty-training front. Well, there are a few steps in progress, but nothing really measurable.
I've really gotten out of the swing of teaching Lara her reading lessons. This summer, we have had so many things on our schedule that it has really gotten put on the back-burner. She is still doing really well, but I would have liked to see her further along than she is currently.
So we have been catching up on some good family time these last two days. We've gone out to eat at some restaurants, have had some fun on the slip 'n' slide, and have done some shopping.
I am looking forward to the summer being over. Normally I never say that, but this summer has been out-of-sorts. I am looking forward to getting back into a solid routine, and I am also looking forward to starting in on some Moms' groups that will start back up in late August or September.
I am trying (as crazy as this sounds) to calm down a little on taking pictures. I really need to get the pictures-I currently have- organized and on discs, and get some printed out. This will be a major undertaking, so I don't want to continue taking a great deal more right now; I need to get ahead of the game. So I am starting to be picky about what pictures I take. But as Lara sings, "The mommy on the bus...takes lots of pictures of me! Pictures of me! Pictures of me! The mommy on the bus takes lots of pictures of me! All through the town!"
On that note, I really have not had a desire to do much with my photography business right now. I have been getting requests, but have either been turning them down or agreeing to them on complicated terms. ;) There's just too much to handle right now in life, and I am not interested in it enough to give up more of the little time I have.''That's all for tonight, folks. Stay cool on this hot, hot day.
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