Serveral shorts that make this one long

As August, the last full month of summer begins, here are a few shorts from the month of July:

Lions, and Tigers, and Balloons, OH MY!
Just when I thought "going the extra mile" for customers was a dead art in any chain store (I dare do no more than mention the name of Home Depot lest I fly off the handle!) I was in the checkout line at King Soopers (which is what the Kroger Brand Grocery chain is called here in Colorado) when a clerk came up to me with a balloon for River. I was ecstatic because I remember getting balloons at King Soopers when I was a little kid! River was very curious about the balloon and tried to grab it, bite it and smack it around. At that point it had turned into a great day.

With a spring in my step I unloaded the groceries and loaded River into his car seat. I tied the balloon around the handle of the seat and proceeded to load myself into the car when all of the sudden River let out a piercing scream like he had been hurt. I flung open the door only to find him with the most frightened look on his face that I have ever seen. The cause of the terror? Why none other than the balloon floating lazily on the ceiling of the car a couple of feet away from him. I tried to talk him out of his fear and let him touch the balloon but that only extracted another round of screaming, this time seeming to come from the depths of his soul. Apparently, he is okay with the balloon so long as it only invades his personal space on his terms. I tucked the balloon behind his seat until we got home. At home he was back to playing with it an enjoying it until finally it went the way of all balloons and deflated to its original state of limp plastic.


Facelift
It all started when Cory bought a faucet for house he was plumbing. The homeowners wanted a different faucet but returning the first faucet means paying a restocking fee which is pretty hefty considering the cost of the faucet. So, Cory decided to put it into our kitchen. Problem was it didn't really match our sink, or the hardware on our cabinets. So those must be replaced to make the faucet match, right? And if we are getting rid of those we must also get rid of the counter tops and tile because they match the sink and hardware to be replaced, right? And while we are at it why not ditch the crappy carpet from Home Depot that is only 1.5 years old (pause to recollect myself) and the ugly old linoleum with hardwood floors? We know someone in the business! So, a little over a week ago we began the task of redoing our kitchen to match the faucet. Here are the before pictures:


And here are the pictures showing where we are now:


Cory's parents are in town this weekend and his dad has been invaluable in helping us getting in the new counter tops! So much thanks to John/Dad/Papa Bear :) It is spectacular having no kitchen sink, and having our refrigerator in the living room makes me feel real classy! In the end though I know it will be worth it as our kitchen previously transported me back to the late 80's early 90's every time I entered it with its spectacular flowered, mauve and blue wallpaper and faux gold handles on all of the cabinets and drawers. A million thanks to my husband for all his hard work updating our kitchen!

Summer Classics

After reading a conversation between old high school friends on facebook regarding rereading "The Classics" I decided to do the same. I didn't have any particular book I wanted to read so why not go through all of the books I still have from my advanced placement english classes in high school? My first read was "Wuthering Heights" and I will admit that it was none other than your favorite teeny bopper book and mine that inspired me to start here: Twilight. Regardless, it was spectacular! Wuthering Heights had some of the most deplorable characters pre-Professor Umbridge but the love and hate between said characters is infectuous, dramatic, and honest. I highly recommend it. I am now reading "The Great Gatsby" after which I will read Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." After that I was thinking of reading some Hemingway and then maybe some Steinbeck and Salinger. Any other suggestions of great classics?

The Best for Last
A conversation on Friday with the County Clerk's office revealed the fact that in our county Home Study's are not required! When the judge reviews our petition he/she may order a home study to be completed so we may not be completely off the hook but we don't have to have one before we file our petition to adopt. Needless to say I have been on Cloud 9 all weekend. Unfortunately our lawyer was unsure whether or not he had received the results of our fingerprint background checks (even though we were fingerprinted back in March) which probably means he never submitted our information to get the background check through CO's Child Protective Services either. So we will still have to wait to resolve these outstanding issues but we have one less obstacle and $1600 less standing in our way of finalizing River's adoption. If you are the praying type, please include us in your prayers that the last unresolved issues will be resolved quickly so we can submit our petition before River's first birthday. And if you aren't the praying type, positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated as well!