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Ok, so we were at Target, grocery shopping, and I was pushing the cart past the yogurt cooler when I glanced down and saw the coolest shoes, then glanced back up as I passed the guy who was wearing them and said, “cool shoes.” I took two more steps and then whirled around, my jaw in full dropped position and a gasp in my throat. He was rolling! “Ohmygod, they do make them in adult sizes! Where did you get them?” He told me, I thanked him then impulsively hugged him as my husband and his wife looked on bemusedly.

I have wanted rolly-shoes forever, since the first time I saw them on a kid. They’re at the mall here in town, and they will be mine. Miiiiiiine!!!

Picture:

Link

…til classes start! I am excited and nervous and a little overwhelmed by the amount I know I’ll be trying to keep up with. I’m grateful for Joey, who is being so wonderful about the prospect of dealing with AB’s evening routine - dinner, bath and bed - alone three nights a week while I’m in class. I’m taking him grocery shopping this weekend to get some easy-to-prepare dinners. Last weekend, he helped me get the alcove (the enclosed porch off the guest bedroom) set up as a study room. My pencils are sharpened, and my bookbag’s already packed for the first night of classes. (Yes, I know. N3rd. I am what I am!)

Tonight’s the last night of Gymboree before classes start. Since I have a Thursday night class, Joey will be taking AB without me starting next week. I’m really going to miss watching her learn and develop new skills from week to week. And seeing the joy on her face as she runs from one activity to another. Oh, and dinner at Jason’s Deli before her class starts. I’m gonna miss that, too. :P

(Wise old Plato said: “The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” That Plato, he was a pretty hip dude.)

We took AB to the boardwalk last night to get new shoes, and of course we took pictures.

Here she is on her “car phone” before we left the house. She rides this little plastic car all over the house these days, stopping in doorways to dismount, lift it over the threshold, climb back on and scoot on through. Thank goodness for hardwood floors and a wide open floorplan. :)

When we go shopping, Joey and I have very well-defined roles: I shop, and he chases after AB. Little Dooger likes to run free. (Note the different shoes from the previous pic. This was post-Stride Rite.)

Part of the magic of having a toddler is in their little brains’ constant curious learning. Here AB stopped to inspect some leaves and twigs.

More twig research. She’s funded by a grant from The Mommy Foundation. :P

And finally, my favorite picture of the evening. Sheer toddler joy:

I love being AB’s Mommy.

If you’re reading this at this point, you are most likely an online friend from another site. So hi! :) This is where I’m going to do most of my writing now, and yes I do plan to actually write.

Here’s a quick update on where I am:

I’m starting back to school on Monday, August 27. I’ll be working on my undergraduate core requirements for the MBA program, and I’ll be taking 12 hours - 3 night classes and 1 online class. I may go insane, but it will the good kind of insane. The productive kind.  (In case you’re interested: Principles of Marketing, Principles of Management, Information Systems and Accounting Concepts.)

AB is fast approaching her second birthday, and she is something else. She chatters constantly and is curious about everything. The question of the moment is What’s that?, which is repeated 50 times a day at least. She loves to sing and remembers the words to dozens of songs. She knows her letters and can count to twelve. She finally has enough curls to pull into pigtails. She loves talking to strangers (supervised, naturally) and has a smile for everyone. She gives sweet, sweet kisses. I took some great pics of her on the boardwalk tonight and will post them as soon as I find the cord to transfer them!

We’re very much settled into the house we bought last year. There are still decorating/remodeling projects slated in every room of the house, but it’s home. :)  Our beautiful red clawfoot cast-iron tub will finally be installed in about a month.  The next project after that will be repainting the accent wall in the bathroom to match the tub. After that, who knows?

Umm, what else?

I’m still driving my bug and loving it.

I like Ron Paul so far for president.

I reread Atlas Shrugged last week for the dozenth time, and it was different this time. I will post about this soon - am looking forward to discussing it. (Chris! Nichole!)

Ok, that’s all for now. If you’ve been given this link now, when I am not nearly done designing this site but just can’t wait to post… well, I must really like you. :D