"String too short to use"

10) Liam had his first meal in a restaurant today. We had lunch with two of my very good friends. They are both moms themselves and so are very tolerant of childish behavior. Liam was, however, the perfect little gentleman until the very end when we were all done eating and he wanted to get down on the floor and play and Mom wouldn’t let him. He and I shared an order of fish & chips and then he had applesauce and milk to go with it. He has been in restaurants before, but this is the first time he’s been able to “order off the menu.”

9) Friends, there’s nothing like ‘em.

8) We’re having a party. My husband’s birthday is next Saturday. We are going to have a houseful of overnight guests and a bunch of friends over for dinner and cake. Y’all come!

7) It is good to be needed. I sometimes question whether I am. Thankfully something usually happens to convince me that someone needs me for something, and if I am really lucky that something is something that makes me happy to do or be.

6) Liam is patta-caking. He has the “patta-cake” part down. He sometimes remembers to “roll it,” can’t get the whole “prick it and mark it with a B” part, but rushes the “throw it in the oven for baby and me” cause that’s the most fun. He is so stinking cute, there are days I don’t get much done for playing with the baby. Oh well.

5) My only regret that the weather is cooler: top down season is coming to a close. Bummer!

4) I have reached the conclusion that the ability to create certain food items is art. Cooking itself is not really art. Any idiot can boil water and it doesn’t take any talent to make toast. However, homemade pie crust and homemade yeast bread (sans machine) I believe are art forms. The pie crust I’ve got, the bread remains a struggle in still life. My husband also informs me that gravy from scratch and rice (sans rice cooker) should also be elevated to the art level. Of course, I can’t cook rice without it either staying crunchy or becoming so sticky you could mortar bricks with it. He cooks the rice in our household. I do, however, have the gravy talent.

3) After a rather dismal September, October is looking brighter. I have been working a great deal and so my budget looks much better. Color me happy!

2) Speaking of budgets. Note to my dear friend, Maggie: my husband gets paid once a month. It is direct deposited to our savings account. I transfer to checking only enough to pay bills. On Fridays I withdraw cash for our living expenses. From that cash comes the groceries, entertainment, meals out and incidentals, when it is gone, we stay home. I have budgeted X amount and I make every effort to make it through until the next Friday. Hope that helps.

1) The statistics on sanity is that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends - if they're okay, then it's you.