June Update

Around the House: The week after closing on the house (Yeah!) we had our annual yard sale. If it was up to me I would've given myself a week off after all of the stress of buying the house, but I wanted to have it the same day as the city wide sale. I was so tired from the week before that I forgot to put the signs up until late the night before, and I forgot to advertise on Craig's List until a few hours before. Despite my lack of effort, the sale was a success. I got rid of an entire room full of junk. We sold all of our big stuff except for our old entertainment center, which we just dragged out to the street afterwards. We were too lazy to carry it back in, and it was gone within a couple of hours. The few things small things (mostly clothes) that were left, we packed straight into the car and J dropped them off at Goodwill. My rule is that nothing comes back in the house. The weather was miserable hot and sticky, but no rain. And my newly empty basement is worth all the sweat in the world.

In the Kitchen: The only thing I have really "cooked" recently was blueberry muffins made from fresh-picked-out-of-Grandma's-yard blueberries. She brought up a ton of them, and even though I made a double recipe, there were still lots left for freezing. They'll be perfect for pancakes or waffles over the next few weekends.

New with Embry: A few firsts for Embry last week...(1) She has two loose teeth. She was a little freaked out about it at first, but now I think she's looking forward to when they actually fall out. She keeps asking me every morning, "Did my tooth fall out yet?" I keep reassuring her that she will definitely know when her tooth falls out and she won't need me to tell her. I can't wait to see how cute she looks with one or two missing. (2) She got her first library card. The purpose of actually visiting the library was to return a book that I found in my piles of yard sale stuff. It was purchased from eBay a while back and I noticed that it had "St. Louis County Library" stamped on it. So, I thought I would return it and get Embry a card while we were there. She was very proud to pick out a couple of books and check them out all by herself. Of course, she's already tired of the two that we borrowed and after 3 days wants to pick out some more. I suppose there are worse things for her to be into than reading a whole bunch of books, right?

New with Matthew: Matthew has become a master at immitating people. From acting out entire scenes from Max and Ruby, to mimicking every word and action of his sister. Embry thinks it's funny for about 5 minutes. Then she goes into my bedrooom and closes the door to make it stop. It is pretty cute. Especially when Embry is reading and Matthew grabs a book and sits down next to her and pretends to be reading too.

I am Grateful For: See above for clean basement!

The Weather Outside: Well, at the moment, its sunny and hot. Two hours ago it was downpouring, and it's supposed to storm later this afternoon. Pretty typical. No complaints unless it decides to storm on my way to work.

I am Obsessed With: Now that the house is ours (well, technically it's the bank's), there are so many things that I want to change. They all cost money, of course (which we don't have) but it's nice to know that we don't have to ask permission to paint a room or hang something on a wall. I'm asking for gift cards to the Home Depot for my birthday.