South Carolinians?

We'll know VERY soon........

And my excuse for failing to write much this week is Borderfest. Munch has to come along, so it should be interesting, to say the least.

Here We Go

Andrew is pulling himself up now - on everything. This pic is, of course, only in mid-pull; once he gets all the way up I must put down the camera to spot him.

And here is just another of Dora's daily activities: baby licking.

Steppin' Out

Day two of the garage sale went pretty well. To unwind after the busy weekend, Jon and I went out on an actual date - sans Andrew. We dressed up and everything. The last time we dressed up a little together was Heidi's wedding in August of 2007, which is why this event needed to be documented in photographs.
We blew a wad of garage sale dough at new hibachi restaurant called Hayashi. It was good, but I still haven't found anything that beats Hibachi (and ANDY) in good ol' Morgantown, WV.
My first sushi since before pregnancy! (Sorry Heidi.)

Tales of a Garage Sale

We had our second South Texas garage sale today. Andrew and I are posing here at the END of the first day, but let's flash back......

It was a little chilly in the am, so Andrew got to wear his rarely-used hat.

There were a few "wardrobe malfunctions."

Then it got sunny and beautiful. Thank GOD, because the morning was stressful: folks ringing our doorbell at 7 am, a full HOUR before we advertised we would be opening. That's how they work it down here, I guess.

It actually ended up being a pretty tearful day for MK.... we sold many things my dad had put together and used for many years of his life: two examples are a bookcase he built to house my doll collection and his 1976 Shopsmith lathe. WARNING: Here is the sniff, sniff blog moment: Jon had an excellent idea for the Shopsmith: we are putting the exact amount we got from it directly into Andrew's college account, so his Grandad Welch has a definite contribution for his grandson.

All in all, we really did well. Here are the men at the end of the day - clearly over it (or each other). :O) Wish us luck for tomorrow.

Perpetually barefoot? Not recommended.

This photo is circa April 2006 when two of my best buddies came down for a visit. We got pedicures one day and then headed down into Mexico for some food and shopping. Ah, such great memories [sigh].

Yesterday, I had my first pedicure in months. It showed, too, when the technician whipped out the Dremel tool to sand my foot into something resembling skin. Never before had power tools been (or needed to be) used on my feet. As a stay-at-home-mom, I am on my feet more than I ever was as an elementary music teacher (and that is saying something), and the feet usually have no shoes. Might need to rethink that one.

VERY Expensive Dog

So, it's been 2 years now since we brought Maddie and Dora home from the Upper Valley Humane Society. Everyone says, "Dogs are expensive," and then you think, "expensive-shmensive. What's $85 shelter fee, a little food, and an occasional vet bill?" THEN you realize that the expenses those folks were actually talking about are the dog-induced property damage, as well as other unexpected bills. Dora, our boxer, has ended up costing us thousands. She digs holes in the yard whenever the mood strikes her....she REALLY can't resist morning dirt. There have been numerous damaged dog crates and other means of containment. There was the emergency vet visit after she ate a whole plush toy and had white stuffing coming out of her behind. Then, of course, there was this lovely day in November of 2006 when she literally ate our otherwise pristine linoleum kitchen floor. It's been cratesville for both our furry princesses ever since.

Now, in an effort to sell our house in this super-competetive market, we have been sprucing everything up. Thanks to Dora, we now have beautiful tile in our kitchen.



After we all returned from a neighborhood walk this afternoon, Dora yakked in two huge spots on the freshly shampooed carpet. Jon was trying to console a fussy Andrew at the time and I was attempting to avoid burning dinner. A stressful snapshot, to say the least.

Later on, Dora heard something outside, did her Scooby-Doo growl, and I asked her who she was protecting us from. Reflecting upon all her past and present house-defiling behaviors, Jon said, "She's protecting us from potential home-buyers."

I really hope he's not right.

Enjoying these early years

A friend sent me this hilarious photo. It served as a timely reminder to enjoy these fleeting moments with our 8.5-month-old, even though he is majorly teething and has his first cold. He's still pretty darn sweet and doesn't talk back.

Against my better judgement...

...off I go, blogging again. I did a Yahoo 360 page a year or so ago and then, in true ADD fashion, lost interest and let it fall by the wayside. Let me vow, right here and now, to post something at least every week, whether or not it's interesting. I look forward to keeping up with all the smart WV women I know and love via this blog. BTW, we call Andrew the "munch," short for "munchkin." We know not why - God knows the kid is NOT small.