10 Things I've Learned Today

1) Even when my children aren't home, I'm going to wake up at 6:30...and 7:15...and 7:45...just waiting for a little blonde head to pop up over the edge of the bed and demand food.

2) The house is eerily - and sadly - quiet without them. (I knew this already. Just got a reminder today.)

3) It's definitely worth checking the "damaged" section when shopping for a major appliance. We found the $800 dryer that we'd looked at earlier in the week for only $640 - because it had a little dent in the BACK left side, where no one will ever see it again. (SCORE!!)

4) I learned what a pain in the butt it is to help your husband maneuver a dryer through a door, around the kitchen, and into place.

5) Having not had a new dryer in twelve years, I learned that ALL new dryers have sensors that allow them to turn off when the clothes are finished drying, instead of running all the way through the cycle. (Yay for being more energy efficient!)

6) I also learned that my new dryer will dry a load of clothes in 35 MINUTES, Y'ALL that it would have taken the old dryer two hours to dry.

7) I learned that I'm a very boring - and likely very old - person for being this excited about a new dryer.

8) If hubby leaves the back doors open on his Utz truck, our very large, very smelly dog will seize the opportunity to jump inside. Thankfully, he was only interested in an empty Mt Dew bottle, and not the boxes and boxes of potato chips. (That could have been bad.)

-- 8b) Gene learned to close the doors on his truck.

9) I learned that two nights without my girls is entirely too long - even though they're having a blast with Gramma and Grandpa Tommy, and being spoiled rotten with Happy Meals and new bicycles.

10) I learned that I am too sensitive (again, a reminder and not new knowledge) and, apparently, a bad friend to boot.

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On a happier note, though, how about a little something for Pink Saturday?

I'm looking at the delicious pink of her lips and cheeks, since the pink in her dress doesn't come through as well as the orange. But the pink in her lips is enough...

This is my baby girl, my Amelia...Milly...who is 3 1/2 but wants to be 16, since that's her favorite number. (Everything is "16" these days. She told me today that she was staying at Gramma's for 16 more days. I don't think so, sweetie!)

We stopped at a nearby park for a little photo shoot one morning this past week, just after dropping her big sister off at her Junior Naturalist camp at the museum. Milly was a great little model - unexpectedly so, to tell you the truth. Her sister is usually the girly, pose-y, take-a-picture-of-me type. Which makes this picture (and the 194 others I took that morning) of my Booga that much more precious to me.

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Part of Pink Saturday is meeting new people - well, visiting new blogs - so I thought I'd share about a new favorite that I stumbled across last Saturday: Dear Helen Hartman. Modern problems, timeless wisdom, vintage attitude. She kind of reminds me of my grandma - the one I liked best - although she's way younger. I just really want to be her friend or neighbor or something. :)

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Alrighty, now for the Saturday 9! Be sure to let me know if you join in so I can come check out your answers too.

1) Tell us about the most recent wedding you attended.

- I haven't been to a wedding in ages. The last one may have actually been in January 2006 - the daughter of our then-pastor. It was lovely - she's a beautiful woman and looked just like a princess. Rachael, who was very nearly two then, actually called her Cinderella. Rachael also let me roll her hair in curlers before the wedding, but all the curl fell out before we got there. Poor kid got her daddy's stick-straight hair.

2) Do you enjoy attending weddings, or do they bore you to tears?
- I enjoy them, but they always make me cry. Of course, most things do.

3) Does marriage in general make you feel confident and good inside, or skeptical?

- It depends on the day. For the most part, I'd go with the former description...although some days, I'm certain it would be far easier to ditch the man and get a cat.

4) Do you have a photo blog? (If so, feel free to share the link with us.)

- Not a photo blog per se, but I do have one devoted solely to my digital scrapbooking.

5) Do you find yourself driving less due to the high gas prices?

- More and more frequently, yes. My van is a gas guzzler, so I need to knock off some of the more frivolous outings.

6) What's the high temperature today where you are?

- I'm not sure exactly...it's been hovering between 90 and 100 all week. The high tomorrow is supposed to be 95. Just shoot me now.

7) "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." Agree, or no?

- Mostly. Heat is wretched, but humidity just makes it that much more wretched. When I step outside and it feels like I'm slogging through a bowl of oatmeal, it immediately turns into a good day to stay in the house.

8) What's the hottest you've ever been in your life?

- This past Monday - about 100 degrees outside - sitting by the therapy pool in the YMCA during my girls' swim lesson. It was like a sauna in the desert in there. Just dripping sweat. I may have to take my own swimsuit next time so I can jump in too...or abandon the kiddos and go sit somewhere that's actually air conditioned.

9) Non-temperature related last question: In your opinion...who's hot?

- Taylor Lautner. Retracting my cougar claws now...but seriously. He just is.