August 21, 2000

One year ago: I try some valerian with very little success, and have lunch with Ter and Stimp.

Why does it seem like every weekend in the summer is just filled with things to do? I'm not complaining, but I just wish things were a little more spread out. It seems like winter lasts so long because there is never anything going on, but summer is so short because every weekend, I'm running from place to place.

This weekend was no exception. Jim's oldest sister came into town on Thursday night with her two kids, and his other sister came out to see everyone. So we went over to Jim's parents house on Thursday night, Friday night, and all day Saturday. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting, especially with the kids. I love them and all, but kids demand a lot of attention and constant supervision, and I'm not even their mom. Jim and I babysat his six-year-old niece Saturday morning, and she was super easy because she basically ate cereal and watched cartoons, but I still felt like I couldn't relax at all. It was nice to come home and just fall on the couch and not have to worry about anyone but myself. Yes, I am selfish. So sue me. Jim's sister is a big dog-lover and she was enabling Jim's desire to have an Irish Wolfhound, which I don't really want. I mean, regardless, we're going to wait until we have a house and a yard to get a dog. But I don't want a Wolfhound because they look mangy and they're too damn big. I want a medium-sized dog. It's not worth arguing about right now, since we don't have a house though.

Then, on Sunday, we went to a couples' shower for Mary and Terry at his aunt's house down in Homer. Andy was out of town, so Molly went with us. Actually, she drove, so I guess we went with her. It was the first couples shower I've been to, and I enjoyed it, but it was very couple-y. I think I would have felt weird if I were single. I felt like we were one step away from talking about indemnity insurance and cleaning out the gutter. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- it just seemed like such an adult thing to do. I guess I need to come to grips with the fact that I am an adult.

One cool thing that happened -- Terry's aunt (who owned the house where the party was held) got this town crier guy to come. He was dressed up in Revolutionary War garb, and he sang a personalized song with lots of funny details about how Terry is forgetful, and Mary is "the checkbook queen". Everyone was laughing. The first two pictures on this page are of that part of the shower. I got drafted to be the note taker for the gift-opening section. Stimp was the only one who got really creative with the gift. He bought them a normal gift, and then the rest were all numbered with an explanation they had to read aloud that was humorous. It made me wish I had put a little more effort into my gift! The food was delicious and it was nice to hang out with everyone. I don't get to see them all that often, at least not all in the same place.

Tonight, Mary and I went over to Molly's house, as she was hosting a Pampered Chef party. I bought a pizza stone and a dough roller, because I make pizza at least once a week and my old cookie sheet sucks! And I never roll out the dough evenly. So I figured it was a good investment. Then Wednesday, we are going over to Mary's house to watch Survivor and Thursday morning I leave for Vegas! I don't know if I will update before then, so if not, I'll see you on the flip side!