Running

Good news...the homestudy is here!!!! I'll be sending out the package to CIS later this week and also putting together the stuff that needs to be authenticated.

Spent a great weekend with my brother's family. They arrived Thursday, we ate Cantina Laredo that night. Friday Mary Ann and I toof the girls to the Fort Worth zoo while Robert and John Robert golfed at the Colonial. Friday night was Papadeaux's. Then Saturday Mary Ann and I took the girls shopping and Robert and John Robert went to Bass Pro.

Saturday night I sent in my first round draft picks for my fantasy league (I drafted 9th since I placed second in the league last year). Got Brees for QB. I'm happy. I figured if I couldn't get one of the top 5 running backs, I'd go for one of the top QB's. I knew Manning would not be there by the 9th pick, so I am happy with Brees. There are still some top 10 RB's left and I pick 2nd in the 2nd round.

Then I ran off to Barnes and Noble to pick up Harry Potter and was up reading until 4:30. Got up at 11:30 and finished the book around 7pm. I won't say much so as not to spoil, but I am generally (not totally) pleased with various aspects of the book. Two places had me near tears. Several places had me laughing out loud. The ending was not what I expected.

So today I finally sat down and fulfilled some of my NIN secretarial duties, sending out the monthly newsletter. Was able to automatically add all the NIN people to my address book and now I need to go pick them out one by one and put them in e-mail groups. Yahoo is good because I never have to change my e-mail addy when I change providers, and yahoo has come a long way with user friendliness, but it still isn't as friendly as, say, Outlook Express.

I need to get this place cleaned up before I head out to my parents'. The kitchen hasn't been touched since late Saturday afternoon (pre-HP), so it's a matter of throwing stuff in the dishwasher and recycle bin. Once I get home Wednesday I'll deal with the airmattresses and linens from the visit. We had plenty of room for Robert's family, so that was nice.

Mary Ann and the girls are learning to knit. It's fun...for me, anyway. I know when you start you feel like you'll never get it, but Mary Ann and Sara are doing very well. I'm not sure how into it Hannah really is. I gave them some plastic needles I started with that are good for beginners and some stretchy acrylic yarn in good light colors. I also gave them most of my bamboo needles, since I am a Knit Picks Options gal myself now. The beginner's kit they got had hard, small needles and they were struggling. The yarn wasn't stretchy, either. I think for beginners soft, flexible needles are good and stretchy acrylics work well because they have a lot of give. It was a while before I was knitting with cotton and it was even longer before I loosened up enough to feel comfy with metal needles. I picked up some orange for Hannah today to take over. That girl has lost all vestiges of her former pink loving self and is all about the orange and camo and black and anything, really, that isn't too girly. She still likes skirts, but nothing frilly or pink or purple. Sara has always been a purple fan and probably always will be.

Okay, gotta run and clean and pack and I'll be back sometime later this week.