More Than Good Enough

Me, Sarah McLachlan, and the bestie, Sara (no "h") And yep, that is the real Sarah McLachlan with her arms around us!

I will be doing a whole lengthy post over here in the next few days, so stay tuned for all the juicy details!

Self Portraits From a Tegan and Sara Concert

Sara and I tried to take our picture on Thursday night before the concert and these were the results.  We took a bunch, but couldn't get them quite right.  It was really hard to take pictures of ourselves in the front seat of her car, in the dark, with my camera positioned on the dashboard.  These were some of  my favorites, although I don't know why my hair looks red, because it's not red.  The concert was amazing and I had such a great time!  If felt like we were in high school all over again. If any of you have the chance to see Tegan and Sara in concert, I would totally recommend that you do, because they were fabulous live and put on a really great show.

Happy February Birthday to Me

Since I lamented in quite a few posts about getting older, turning 28, but still feeling like a teenager on the inside, then I'm sure you've realized that my birthday was months ago.  And if you didn't know that, well now you know I'm four months into this 28th year of mine, although I tend to see it as six months until my 29th and just a measly 18 months until the big three-oh.  So how is it my birthday in February?

Because back in October my bestie had just had her second child and was now the mother of a newborn and a 14 month old.  But somehow, even in that new baby state of haziness, she was able to think about me and my birthday and she got us tickets to see:

Tegan & Sara for when they were coming to Richmond in February. (We both love them) And that just happens to be tomorrow!  So we're going to a concert- just the two of us.  She even called my mom to see if she'd watch Spencer for me! It's a real girls night out and I'm so excited.  Sara and I haven't been to a concert together in years- like almost a decade- and we looked like this back then:

(a game played during a youth group meeting)

We were just silly goofy kids.  And now we're both moms.  

But always best friends.  

Forever Friends. 

Winter Wonderland Weekend

We had a huge snow storm here this weekend with over a foot of snow!  It started early Saturday morning and didn't stop until early Sunday morning.  We were snowed in with my bestie and her family, which was great for Spencer- she had such a great time playing with the other kiddos.  It was great for us because we got to have a lot of girl time! Yesterday we played in the snow and made 3/4 of a snowman.  The girls got tired of being out in the cold so we had to go in.  We thought about finishing him late last night but we were all too tired.  Richmond is still currently under a blanket of white, with all of local schools still closed through tomorrow.  And if you can even imagine this- it's supposed to snow again this weekend!  This kinda weather is just CRAZY, but it makes for some great pictures.  Here are a few more of Spencer over the weekend.

 

 

Go Go Go and Stop

By 11:30am this morning I felt like I'd just ran a marathon.  We got up and went to the grocery store, the drug store, McDonalds and the gas station.  Then there was the making (more like assembling) of two separate dishes from my grocery store purchases, getting showered, appropriately dressed and made up, then doing the same for Spence, loading up all the food into the car, driving twenty miles to drop off Spencer and then back in the opposite direction towards my final destination.  All of that by 11:30am.  I was so focused on getting everything done in time that I never even stopped, never even paused, to think about why I was actually doing all of this.

I walked into the building and found a place to sit- which was difficult because it was jam packed full with people.  I couldn't even find my mom, so I just sat down in one of the arm chairs they put out since all of the regular seating was full. As I sat there catching my breath the cloying scent of too many flowers in a confined space wafted over, tickling my nose and snapping me back to reality.  I was at a funeral.  The second time in two weeks that death had visited someone in my life.

The man who passed away is (was) my best friend's father-in-law.  But he was more than that- he was a family friend and The Best Man to my Maid of Honor.  One week before Sara's wedding, her soon to be father-in-law received the news that would forever change their lives.  He was diagnosed with an extremely rare neurodegenerative disease.  It was similar to ALS in that it would rob him of his ability to move and speak, all while his mind worked just fine.  But ALS has a life expectancy of 1-2 years after diagnosis, while his was 4-7 years.  That might sound like the better of the two deals, but trust me, it's not. All it meant was that he was trapped in his body longer.

A few days before the wedding they gave me the news.  It wasn't something they were ready to share with anyone yet, but I needed to know.  I was the maid of honor and he was the best man- he would climb the steps to the alter and then escort me down them and out of the very large church.  He was worried that he might trip, stumble, or fall in front of everyone- he didn't want to embarrass his son or do anything that might take the focus off of the bride and groom. To the untrained eye it might have looked like he was escorting me, but I was there for him.  As we linked arms on the alter stairs I could see the nervousness in his eyes, I gave him a little nod and squeezed his arm- I wanted him to know that I wouldn't let anything happen.  And it didn't.

He was a good, kind man.  At the viewing last night, the line to greet his wife was over an hour wait; over 500 people came to pay their respects and it took over five hours.  The service today was beautiful, filled with pictures, loving anecdotes and eulogies.  As I sat there in that arm chair all by myself, tears filled my eyes.  I had been going, going, going and now that I had stopped, the sadness of it all just become so real to me.  The unfairness.  He was a very active man- played tennis, ran every day, an avid skier, world traveler, dancer, and a successful owner of his own business.  He was a man's man, a gregarious Southern Gentleman, a devoted father to his son. It's a terrible disease for anyone to have, but it was particularly cruel for a someone like him.  Everything he was, everything he loved to do, it was all steadily taken away from him, with no hope that it would ever get any better.

Sara's son was born a few months ago and I had the privilege of taking some family photographs of them.  Sara's little boy was named after his grandpa, but it was going to be a surprise. In the hospital room I stood to the side as a son introduced his newborn son to his father.  I watched as he told him what his grandson's name was.  I took picture after picture, the flood of tears spilling out of my eyes made it a little difficult for me to see. It was a beautiful moment.  And even though he couldn't move, couldn't speak- the love and pride he felt shone in his eyes.  This is the picture I took the moment he found out the name of his first grandson.

They truly were the only windows into his soul, and they spoke volumes. 

After the funeral was over I was in charge of collecting all the food and driving it over to the post-graveside lunch reception.  I started feeling the urge to Go, Go, Go and accomplish my task.  But then I said to myself, Stop.  Life is so short and so much of it is spent just running through the motions and getting to the next thing all on autopilot. It's hard for me to press pause and savor the moment, but it's something I'm going to try to do from now on.  I don't want to miss the important moments or breeze right through them without realizing that I am.  Sometimes you just need to Stop.

The Bestie's Story

This weekend has just been crazy! Sara, the bestie, called me on Friday night and told me she was heading to the hospital- her contractions were 3 minutes apart and she was in agony. A little after midnight I got a text message that said after admitting her they were sending her home. Because she had to have an emergency C-Section for Lila, insurance mandated that she had to have other one this baby. When she got to the hospital her water had yet to break, and once again, insurance mandated she be sent home because they weren't go to pay for her go through early labor at the hospital. (Insurance also doesn't pay for C-Sections prior to 7 seven days before your due date, unless it's an emergent situation- it was 9 days before her due date.)


She was miserable and really suffering, unable to sleep and having contractions on top of contractions, with little break in between. On Saturday I had to go to my 8 and 1/2 hour anatomy and physiology class so I couldn't''t be with her. I stopped by after it was over and her face was white with pain, tears in her eyes. It was really hard for me to see her like that and knowing I could do nothing about it. Well, I did bring her a yummy slurpee and her favorite Halloween gum, but what I really wanted to do was go to that hospital, tell them who my dad was, and make them admit for real! But I didn't- sanity prevailed :)


Going to class for 8 hours really takes it out of you and I was exhausted. This morning (Sunday), in the early hours, I got a text message that baby had arrived and both he and Sara were doing great. At 3:30 am, with her water still not broken, she couldn't take the pain any longer and had her husband drive her to the hospital. When they checked her in, she was six (6) cm dilated! Six cm and no water breakage- can you imagine!? She'd been having contractions 1-2 minutes apart for almost two entire days. To me, she is rock star!


They doctors and nurses had to do some serious rushing to get her doctor there and her prepped and ready to the OR (her family didn't even have time to make it!) so that they could section the baby out. He was breech, so this added a little bit more drama to the situation. This morning at 5am their son was born, 7 lbs 5 oz!

And let me tell you, he is beautiful! Such a handsome little man. Spencer and I went up there after Sara had a chance to nap- which was much needed since she hadn't slept in 48 hours. I charged my camera battery and was ready to start taking pictures when I realized my memory card wasn't in there- ugh! I'm still so mad at myself! Her son (no name until I can make sure it's okay with her) is so much bigger than Lila, who was born at only 8 months (just like Spencer) and was a teeny tiny little preemie of a baby.



When I held him I had Sara's husband take Spencer and Lila to play to the little park at the hospital grounds, as she tends to get a little jealous when she sees me holding other babies! As he was snuggled in my arms I caught a whiff of that newborn baby smell and tears sprung to my eyes. It was a reminder of how fast Spencer is growing up and how she's never going to have "that smell" again. I wish someone could bottle up newborn baby smell- I mean every new baby smells just like it- surely they could make the scent a lotion, right? Anyway, I just felt so many different emotions holding the little man, much different than with Lila, since Spencer was still technically a baby when she was born. I didn't have this ache in my heart that my little baby wasn't a baby anymore.


After we left we had to go to their house and feed their dogs- they'd been "forgotten" in the haze of pain and labor. Tomorrow, before we head back, I need to go to the store and buy him a little hat. They only ones they had left at the hospital were pink and Sara wasn't too thrilled with that. Any recommendations on where to find one? Hopefully I will be able to get some really good pictures to post for ya'll tomorrow! But for tonight, I'm just completely zonked out. Two "family" babies born in one weekend and one marathon class have completely rendered me exhausted!

** Addie Update- She is off the ventilator! This is just amazing for such a tiny little baby. She'll have to be in the hospital for at least, the very least, 2-3 months, but every tiny step forward helps. The local Quantum House (like the RMDH) is full, but they've been added to the waiting list. The hospital where they're at (the one that has the NICU best able to treat Addie) is quite a long ways from their home, so they were really hopeful that something would become available to them before Katie is discharged tomorrow. Since it looks like that might not happen, please pray that a spot will open up for them very soon! And for Katie who is recovering from her weeks stay in the hospital plus the c-section surgery. Thank you and please keep the prayers coming! **

bv

The Last Wednesday

Spencer and I went over to Sara's house for our last Wednesday play date before her new little man graces us with his presence. It was also out last play date at the house where she's lived since before getting married. To mark the day we made sugar cookies like we used to do and ordered our favorite pizza, a luxury we haven't afforded ourselves since having the kiddos. Even though we tried to make it memorable, it was hard to be nostalgic and reminisce since there's a one year old and a two year old running around, but now that we're back home it's starting to sink in.

They are only moving a few blocks away from their old house, so it's not that she's going too far away or anything- it's just all the memories that I have there. It was my home away from home for so long. When I graduated college and moved back in with my parents I would spend many nights there as an "escape" from feeling like I was still in high school. After I moved into my apartment during law school, I would go there to "escape" from the tedious life of a 1L. When I had to move back home because of my very unplanned pregnancy with Spencer, I spent many nights crying on her sofa snuggled up with her dogs. It was actually in her upstairs bathroom that she informed me my pregnancy test was indeed positive. After Spencer was born, her house was my place of refuge, I could go there and just be Katie instead of Katie, unwed single mother.

Good things always happened to me there. I'm not a lucky person, I never have been. I don't win contests, my slot machines never pour out the big bucks, and if a bird is flying above me and 100 other people- he'll poop on my head. But something about her house was lucky for me. I'm sure if I lived there I might feel differently, glad to get into a bigger house that has a kitchen large enough for a table and a hot water heater that doesn't go cold after 5 minutes. But that house has been the one constant thing in my life since graduating. When everything was in question and my world was spinning, I could always go there and feel at ease, just comforted by being there.

Next week when her new little boy enters this world, the final move will take place while she's still in the hospital. Most of their things are already there, but the "life blood" of their home is still at their old house. The new home is wonderful, beautiful, and spacious while the old one is small(er), crowded, and aging. But it was their starting off place, where they got engaged and where they started their real life together. It was where I started my real life, too. I'm excited to go to the new abode for our first Wednesday with three children instead of two, but I do feel like a huge chapter in our lives is closing. It's a grown up house and I still have a hard time seeing us as real adults. I often feel like I'm just playing a part in a play and any day now the curtain will close and I'll be an immature teenager again. Is that crazy? Am I the only one who feels that way?

I'm sure it's painfully obvious to anyone reading this that I have a difficult time accepting change. It's why I've let bad, bad relationships go on too, too long, why I have nightmares when even entertaining the thought of a new hair style, why I resisted getting a DVD player for years after they became standard fare (I had over 200 VHS tapes! I didn't want to start an entire new collection), why I keep my size 4 pants in the bottom of my drawer (because of course I'm going to fit into them one day), and why I insist on blowing out the number of candles of the age I'm turning on my birthday (I can still blow them all out, even with 27!). And as I get older I'm realizing that things are changing more often and much more quickly than I'm wanting it. I guess that's just a part of growing up and being a real adult.

But I'm a fake grown up, remember?

The Day Before the First Day of School

To me, Labor Day has always meant the last day of summer vacation, the day before school starts, and the beginning of fall. I guess this technically changed when I started college, but I didn't really notice or pay attention to it because we still had classes on that day. It wasn't until my first post-graduation Labor Day that I felt sad- it no longer represented what it once did.

I know a lot of states start school sometime during August, but in Virginia, when I was of the "school aged," we had something known as the Kings Dominion Law. It mandated that public schools were not allowed to start the year before Labor Day- in large part because of the tourism industry.
I've always loved going back to school, school supply shopping, and getting my new school year wardrobe. It was something I was so ready for by the beginning of every August. There was never any dread about starting school again, just the anticipation of all the great things I imagined would happen that year. I could never sleep the night before, even more so than on Christmas Eve. (Isn't that crazy?) My dad took me to breakfast every year on the first day, even in high school when we had to get up at 5am because my ride was picking me up at 6:30. (Yes, I was too cool for the bus by the 9th grade).

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who have nothing but glorious memories of my formal schooling years. I guess I'm doubly lucky that I have nothing but the same memories of college, too! But that's beside the point. Erma Bombeck once said "There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child." And how true is that? I've spent every year since I stopped believing in Santa Claus trying to recreate that magic- the magic I once felt. But I also think there's something very sad about waking up on Labor Day and knowing that you aren't going to have your first day of school tomorrow. That those years have passed, this is now an ordinary day, and tomorrow the school supplies will all go on sale.

I'm sure when Spencer starts kindergarten the same feelings will return, but I can't think about that now because it makes me teary. I know people always say that some of the Christmas magic returns when your children start believing in Santa, so I'm hoping the same thing applies to this craziness I feel about the first day of school! Sometimes I can't believe that era of my life is over- it will never happen again- it just doesn't make sense to me. When I was growing up I always remember adults telling me to enjoy my youth because it goes by too fast. I used to think they were nuts, because I was enjoying my youth! And now I think that might have been really bad advice, because I loved my youth so much that it's really, impossibly hard for me to let go of.


I've always thought it's unfair that we're young for such a short period of time and then old for the rest of our lives. Now that I'm getting older my definition of old is of course changing a bit, haha, but the day is going to come when there will be no about it- I'll be old. (The Lord willing.) And it's days like today that remind me of how fleeting this whole thing is. One of the Bible verses that's always haunted me is James 14:4 - You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. And there's nothing I can control about that.

Today is my bestie's birthday and we celebrated as we have done every year, reminiscing about old times and the good old days while wondering about our futures. A song came on the radio from that time, reminding us of our youth, and suddenly the memories came flooding back of the angsty days gone by. And I was happy. As much as I loved my youth, I'm looking forward to what's still to come. There are still the feelings of butterflies and anticipation about the tomorrows in my life. I'm so lucky that I have such wonderful memories but I'm even more thankful for all the ones I still have to make.

Happy Birthday Sara!

High School

College

And Beyond!

Show Us Your Life - My Baby Shower

This week on Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life, the topic is baby showers. My baby shower was given to me by my best friend Sara. She did such an amazing job, especially when it came all the weird things I wanted and didn't want (Like the Chik-Fil-A chicken nuggets I had to have!) Unfortunately, I was on my death bed with a 102 degree fever and I felt a little better than I expect to feel right before I die!

Even though I was so sick, it was still wonderful, the best day of pregnancy. It was the only time my mom was nice to me for more than 50% of the day and the only day I didn't cry- not even once! It was what I had been waiting for - a day to celebrate the upcoming arrival of my precious little girl rather than hiding away in my parent's house.

This was over two years ago, so making onesies at a baby shower was still a novel idea! Everyone made Spencer a onesie and they were all so cute.





Didn't my friends do a great job? I still have all the little outfits, they meant so much to me!

Sara made the cupcakes! I was so impressed, especially since she had so much to do to get ready. They were delicious, funfetti cupcakes- my absolute favorite.

Spencer still has that Care Bear!





I think I smiled more that day than I had in the previous 8 months combined.

That's me opening up my presents. (That's my mom on the right)
I never would have guessed that day that I'd be having Spencer in less than two weeks! During my pregnancy, Sara was my ROCK, without her, I'd have been lost. I am so lucky to have had such an amazing friend. Even now, two years later, I'm still filled with gratitude for all she did for me.

**More Show You How I Live Posts**

Favorite Vacation Spot
I Have a Child. The Jig is Up.
Here Comes the Maid Of Honor

Here Comes the Maid of Honor

This week on Show Us How You Live over at Kelly's Korner, the topic du jour is Bridal Parties and Flowers. I was the maid of honor in my best Sara's wedding, which was shortly after I graduated college. It was The Event of the year- 12 months of non-stop planning, 4 showers, a week of pre-wedding festivities, 300 people in attendance, 4 musical soloists - including a song written for them, and a toast given by yours truly (in front of those 300 people!). It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to, with every single detail meticulously planned by Sara.

This is me walking down the aisle. The color of my dress was Tiffany Box Blue- no kidding!

The roses look red, but they were a deep magenta.

I'm not naked, the picture just cuts out my dress. Can you tell how excited I was for them? As MOH, it was my job to keep the couple happy and iron out their kinks during the previous 12 months. This is my thinking to myself "job well done, Katie!" (And you look beautiful, Sara!)

All of the bridesmaids had different dresses in the same color.

And this is the happy couple, with Sara in the most beautiful gown I've ever seen.

___

So if and when I ever do get married, I like this bridesmaid dress. In the picture it looks floor length, and I would want it to be tea length, but I think it's simple and elegant.

For the flowers, I want a bouquet of ranunculus and a centerpiece of peonies. I think both of these displays are lovely.
And that's the end of my wedding experience history and future. Can't wait to see every else's fabulous dresses and flowers!

**See I Have a Child. The Jig is Up for further wedding explanation**

Rewind

The rundown:

• Friday was filled with birthday present shopping, taking care of my parents house while they were in LA and cleaning.
• Saturday was Lila's 1st birthday party. This would normally not cause me any stress at all, but my ex-boyfriend (Sara's brother) and his new wife were going to be there. I hadn't seen him since before he got married and since before his wife said we were no longer allowed to communicate with each other. Everything turned out fine and it was very undramatic, but I had been worrying about it for so long that the process just zapped me of all my energy when we left the party. It was like the biggest weight being lifted off my shoulders and now I could breathe again.
• Sunday, Spencer's PGP's came over and planted some trees. Then my aunt took us to the cemetery to visit my Grandpa and Papa for Father's Day and then we went out to eat. (My parents were in Los Angeles for a volleyball tournament with my brother.) Thank goodness my aunt was there, because Spencer was in rare form. She started pitching a fit the second I put her in the booster seat and it got worse when the waiter informed us that they were OUT OF CRAYONS!

None of these things on there own would have been a problem, but everything combined just wore me out. Tomorrow we're going to see Sara and Lila for our weekly get together, which is good, because I'm in some serious need of adult girl time!

When It Rains, It Flash Floods

I feel like I'm an 80 year old lady talking about this "cray zee" weather we've be having, but it's crazy, so I'm writing about it! Last night when I was watching TV the local news channels (all three) kept scrolling weather alerts across the bottom of the screen. They made it sound like I should have an ark prepared, FLASH FLOODS!, tornado watches, hurricane like gusts of wind.

I looked outside and it was as still as could be. So I walked on my porch to smell the air (I have an amazing sense of smell and I can always smell a storm/snow etc., before it comes) and there was nothing in the air. I turned on our local weather channel, lowered the volume, and went to sleep.


This morning, it was bright and sunny as could be, it hadn't rained and there was no wind, however it was 87 degrees at 8m, yuck! The weather channel continued to warn me of this terrible weather that was upon us, saying flash flood warning. Well, I didn't head the weatherman and Spencer and I went over to Sara's house for a girls day. Oh, it was so lovely, except for the fact that it was 94 degrees by 12pm.


I wish I had the words or the knowledge to explain the air to ya'll, but I don't. The best way I can describe it is to say that it was eerily still and thick. You could almost see the moisture in the air and it stuck to our skin like a blanket of cobwebs.


But the girls were so cute together, and neither of us could get over how they really look and act like little versions of us. So there we are, us gabbing, girls watching something on Nick Jr., when the screen goes black. Then the the beeps start, followed by "ALERT! This is a warning from The National Weather Service" followed again by "ALERT! FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR..." and then it listed our county followed by every surrounding county in a 60 mile radius.


Honestly, I've never seen a warning like that one. Usually they just mute the program you're watching and announce the alert while it scrolls across the bottom of the screen. This is exactly what it looked like.


I just crafted that little pic myself, so you'd get the effect, but that's what we saw. And the letters were much bigger, I just made them smaller so I could get all the words on it! haha. Sara and I both looked at each other, looked outside, raised our eyebrows a little. About one minute later I opened the door to let the dogs in and in one nanosecond, the sky, sun out and shining brightly, momentarily opened and let down a 25 second downpour.


That was about the time I decided to take the weather warning seriously- even though two minutes after it rained, it was still hot as Hades, there were no ominous clouds in sight, and it didn't look like it had even drizzled. I was even worried that I might not make it home before the FLASH FLOOD! I was so worried about all my new plants, either they'd be drowned to death or they'd be blown away (what my cray-zee mind was thinking) before I could come to their rescue (I live about 15-20 mins away from Sara).


On the drive home, the radio was issuing the same warnings, you'd of thought they were talking about a blizzard that would bury us all, avalanche-style, that's how into this storm everyone. Right before I got to my driveway it started to drizzle. I ran Spencer inside and quickly got all my potted and hanging plants on my porch. I covered my new little seedling with some blue tarp and staked it into the ground. (No, I normally don't have that sorta thing on hand, but I found it in my Papa's shed out back.)

Some of my potted plants that are all sad now that I've brought them inside. Don't they know it's for their own good! haha

I sighed in relief when I shut the door, calm with the knowledge that we were now ready for the FLASH FLOOD! I called my aunt because she was going to come over for dinner tonight, but we decided that we should probably heed the weather warning, and stay inside. Five minutes later the sun was back out, the rain a non-existent memory.

EXASPERATION!

That is what I felt. For almost an entire day now we had all been plagued by these warnings, and yet nothing, NOTHING, had happened. It was like a real life weather version of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. I'm not a Nervous Nelly or anything, but I do try to be careful in bad weather; I know that in a match up between me and Mother Nature, I don't stand a chance. I decided to get Spencer's bath out of the way, something about her being in water with possible lightening around us, really freaks me out. (Even as I type this, a little voice in the back of my head is telling me to GET OFF THE COMPUTER, a bolt of lightening is going to travel through it and zap the life from me!)
Right after I pulled Spencer out of the tub, then I heard the deafening clap of thunder, followed by the crackling of lightening, and then the pitter patter of rain drops on the roof. Outside, it's now a freaky shade of brown, blue, and orange- the rain stops and starts, but the thunder is still loud as ever.

There's something very refreshing about a good loud thunderstorm! But I've been in a lot of really bad storm systems and the thing that scares me the most are trees falling through windows. William & Mary was badly damaged by Hurricane Isabel in 2003, we missed 2 weeks of school, and lost so many trees. Luckily we had all evacuated the day before (about 12hrs before it hit), but there were fallen trees all around our house and all our furniture was either gone, or smashed.


So Spencer and I are safely tucked away from any potential falling trees. We still have power AND bread and milk! That's a Richmond thing, whenever Richmonders hear of any possible storm coming our way, we flock to the grocery store for bread and milk. It was more of snow related shopping trip until Isabel came to town; the greater metro area was without power for 3-5 days, and all the grocery stores were closed. Even the ones that were open weren't allowed to sell any perishable foods because of the power outages and flooding.


This is the what our weather forecast currently looks like. Lets just hope Spencer can sleep through thunder and hail! But thank goodness it's now 71 degrees, 94 is just too hot! Oh, and if my SYTYCD recap isn't up tonight, it's probably because we lost power.

On the front stoop, at about 6:30pm, see the lamp post light in the lower left hand corner? It's really dark out!