Mobile Baby means more work for Dad

Yup, my daughter is crawling. Sort of... She'll get faster as time goes by, but she's mobile now, which means I need to babyproof the house. Plug guards, door guards, and the baby gate. This thing is not difficult to use, but constant: Take it down put it back up action will drive me batty, so I'll probalby have to secure it. Don't think it'll be difficult, which means it will be a pain in the keester.

It's also fall now, the two trees I worked hard with this summer to keep alive (at the cost of my lawn) are starting to turn. I'm hoping that means they're okay, and not just dying but I'll just have to wait and see come Springtime.

Cleaned out my BBQ Grill Grease Trap this weekend too. Never really done that before or ever really. I need to get a new grill cover though.. the intense sunlight has completely disintegraged the cover, so it sheds all over my grill now. I don't know why I keep it on the grill, I guess it's better than nothing.

Applebee's Desert Shooters

If anyone has not tried these yet, I do reccommend them. Sara had a coupon for 2 free ones with the purchase of an entree (one per shooter), so we had lunch there. They were just the right amount of dessert after a meal so you don't have to split or share it, or just leave a portion on the table.

Nora made a friend there in the form of a 1-2 year old girl who was just fascinated by Nora, and vice versa.

I was suckered by an internet troll

and it's really chapping my hide.

On another site, I got into a debate about homosexuality.. a topic I usually avoid largely due to the heated topic material, and refusal of both sides to see any common ground.

Nevertheless i started on my side, and someone started theirs. Unbeknownst to me, after she made her point, she saw (long before I did) we'd have to agree to disagree and left it at that.

Now this is where it gets fun, This allows anonymous posting, which she and I were doing. Not that we were hiding our names, just that we didn't think of adding it at the end.

After she stopped posting, another Anonymous poster continued the fight. Since they were not leaving their name, I naively believed it ws the poster from before.

I don't think my "voice" ever raised but I could see them not particularly answering any of my responses, but only repeating their stance over and over, so I left a long post ending it with Agree to disagree.

Then the original poster I THOUGHT I was having this debate with chimed in, and said none of the latter half was her.....


I got suckered by a damn internet troll. And I used to think I could stay above that. Grr.

So as I said on that board I say here "I apologize for placing the words of an anonymous poster into your mouth. "

and one more time for good measure... Grrrrrr

Mowing weeds and celebrating 31 years

Who would think that mowing the lawn (what's left of it) would be so draining. Granted, the sun is on me for most of the time, as my trees aren't old enough to cover the backyard but still. Spent most of the time pulling up Crabgrass. I've ignored the rest of the weeds that have taken root in my once fertile lawn, mostly because they grow up. Since Crabgrass grows out, it doesn't really get mowed, and I want my lawn to at least have a fighting chance of coming back next spring.

Went to my mom's last night and had the whole family over. My stepfater, my brother and I all have the same birthday, so we had a family hoopla over it. Pork Country Style Ribs, Corn on the Cob, Potato Salad, fruit, chips dip etc. Also Mom made each of us our own cake. My Stepdad's special (Yellow sheetcake/ Chocolate frosting) My brother got a cheesecake, and I had a funfetti cake with sprinkles :). it was a good evening. Nora also didn't cry when Grandma & Grandpa held her YAY! We're making progress!

Tomorrow is my actual birthday and Sara plans on taking me out to dinner. Here's hoping the Cold we caught from our daughter doesn't keep us from going. Although since NEITHER of us got really any sleep last night, we may have to postpone until we're a bit back on the weather.

Labor Day

I had the in-laws in town and I brought my parents over for a BBQ at about 11am. So Early! yes, I know, but after noon, the sun pours all over my deck and it's pretty much unbearable to go out on that thing until after sunset.

Anyway, I think I grill better for a group of like 8-10 than I do 2-4. the grill is covered in meat & corn, and all of it came off juicy. Nummy Nummy.

Ren Fest started this weekend too. All of us went and most of us got sinus/allergy headaches. Mostly because it's been so dry here for months, the dust there is off the charts.

Going to go again this weekend, and do our traditional Olive garden Never Ending Pasta Bowls dinner.

Nora's now sleeping swaddler-less, mostly from this weekend. We went to dinner and didn't get home until 8ish. SHe didn't nap much during the day, and zonked out in the car. DID NOT wake up when I got her out of her seat, and I just decided it was best to lay her in her crib, where she slept well to 6am.