Our Day at the Zoo

Not necessarily the best day to go to the Cincinnati Zoo -- the place was p-a-c-k-e-d! But Jeff, Brayden and I still managed to have a great time. For the first time, Brayden actually saw and acknowledged the animals -- up until now he's always been so busy watching the people around him, he never saw the animals. But today he saw them, waved to them, talked to them, pointed at them.. it was great. It was much hotter than we anticipated -- low 90's I believe -- so we only stayed about an hour or so. Since we have a membership, I'll take Brayden back once the cooler weather arrives.

Another day in...

Slept OK last night -- first time since Jeff's been gone. Got about 6 hours sleep, which is actually typical for me. I got up at 6am with great intentions of spending the day in my quilt room, but while cleaning up the kitchen and doing email, I received a call from my SIL and need to go pick him up at work and give him a ride home -- since he's been laid off. Sigh... No comment on that one is the safest comment to make at this point... So instead of spending the day quilting, I will pick SIL up, bring him home, and head to out to the Joann fabric store in Hamilton and pick up the quilt backing fabric I need to finish several quilts. Just plain off-white or muslin will be fine for the projects I need to finish. I feel so bad for my daughter, though at some point this is going to get old, I suppose. I know she was just starting to get ahead financially, and now he's out of work - again. She so deserves some peace and stability in her life -- but only she can decide if and when that is ever going to happen. Being mom to adult kids is a thousand times harder than being mom to small children. Even shaking my "mom finger" at her does no good -- or actually isn't even allowed anymore! She's a smart girl, she's fiercely indepedent, and she will do what is best for her and her son... Our opinions may differ on how she should do this, but it's her and only her decision to make.

Shopping soothes the soul - now and then

Finally got out of the house today and in my car for just a mini-road trip. Took friend Lynn down to Reading, OH to The Glass Barn -- an amazing hole-in-the-wall discount store that sometimes has great things, sometimes not. Today was a NOT. I did get two rolls of Mountain Mist quilt batting. It's polyester but that's just fine for baby quilts. It was also king size, and I can usually get 4 baby quilts out of one king size roll. At $4.99 a package, that will work out to just $1.25 for batting per baby quilt. Nothing wrong with that! I actually went to buy four or six new coffee mugs for the kitchen, but couldn't find what I wanted. I want just the right mug with just the right color in just the right size. Difficult to find. I came close -- I did come home with two great mugs, but the color is wrong for hanging in the kitchen. But size-wise and shape-wise they're perfect. We stopped at a thrift store just to see what we could see. Lynn found a delightful little tote bag/back pack done in very bright colors, with an applique Mexican motif with what I think is a llama, cactus, sun, trees and a little female doll in costume. I have no need for a bag like this, but I'm thinking it might be gorgeous to cut out this applique and use it as a center of a child's quilt. I'll take a picture of it when I get my camera back. (Jeff has taken the camera to MA with him.) I also picked up a yard of bright border fabric (.50) and two books for Brayden (.25 each). We went to lunch at the Red Squirrel on Rt 42 and Hauck Road. I normally love the Red Squirrel's food but ordered the chicken salad and it was typical made-ahead more-may0-than-chicken and too sweet. Fries were good tho. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate my sandwich a 3 and the fries a 7. Also, $10.45 for a chicken salad sandwich and drink seems a bit much! It's now 3pm and I haven't yet decided what to do with the rest of my day. Jeff called this morning and sounds like he's working hard. He did get time with our friends Paul and Jean in Maine yesterday, ate fresh caught lobster while sitting on Paul's dock, and then went out for a night sail. He sounded tired this morning, and was running late for his next vendor visit, but I could tell he had a great time. I miss him A LOT and am having a real hard time falling asleep at night without him there! LOL! Who knew?!?

Awww.. poor little guy

Just got a phone call that Mary had to take Brayden to the hospital this morning. Poor little guy apparently has asthma! He's doing fine now after receiving a "breathing treatment". They are x-raying his chest just to make sure it's not pneumonia, but she said he's feeling much better. She sounded calm and didn't need me to come to the hospital, which she would have wanted it she was scared for him. Awww, my poor cutie-patootie. I may go over this afternoon when they're back from the hospital just to visit him -- maybe bring him a "feel better" present.