Day #80 (Raining on Saturday? Figures) (From Saturday)

It's raining... on Saturday. Figures, right? I mean, what else does "His Royal Highness" do with the girls when he's in town? I mean, God forbid he spend time just talking and interacting with them. No, no, no! He takes them out to whatever carnival, fair, festival, etc. that happens to be going on. This weekend was the Grape Festival up in Geauga County. Normally that would be fun but (1) it's raining and (2) the girls just wanted to hang out in his hotel suite and "visit" with him, not have to drive an hour or so away, then spend 4 or 5 hours wandering around looking at stuff. Oh well, that's something they'll have to work out eventually.

Since it was just me and the two little ones (Patrick had to work), we decided to run a few errands first. After a quick trip to KMart (they had a huge "super coupon" sale going on and I decided to take advantage - 3 bags excluding the bags with 2 liters of soda and I only spent $13!), we stopped at the library to get some books and DVDs. Also, Patrick had a fine and he asked me if I would pay it while I was there. I figured it would be *maybe* $20 at the most. Nope, he apparently lost a book (some huge 1,000 page history book) and owed a bunch of little fines. Grand total came to just under $90!!! YIKES! From now on, I'm demanding that I return ALL books taken out by our family. That's just an insane amount and I don't ever plan on writing a check that big to our city library unless it's a donation to their non-profit organization.

After spending a little time with Maura & Amelia (they each took out a DVD and a book), we grabbed lunch at Wendy's and came home. Once we got home, I decided that it would be a great day to cook and bake. Mind you, it's been pouring rain for a couple of hours at this point. So, I canned 5 large Mason jars of homemade spaghetti sauce, a batch of blueberry cheesecake muffins, and snickerdoodles. And, because it was so dreary, I lit a bunch of candles in the kitchen and dining room (don't worry - I have an "open" floor plan and there is only the snackbar that separates the kitchen from the dining room and nothing separating the dining room from the living room) to "brighten up" the place. Plus the scents were great. I found some soy candles that are supposed to smell like "clean linen" but, to me, smelled more like "newborn baby head" (well, I guess that would be "Johnson's Baby Shampoo" but I like my description better.)

When Patrick came home from work, he was happy to see all the baked goods and the candles and smells made him almost immediately relax. I think I should do this more often. :)

It was, also, my ex father-in-law's birthday, so the little girls and I left him a voice mail message, wishing him a happy birthday. Then I spent the next hour hoping His Royal Highness remembered to have the girls call him, too. (I know they sent a card because I mailed it earlier this week.)

Then it was an early night to bed, as Sunday was promising to be a totally logistical nightmare (church, extended Sunday school for Julia & Frankie, getting Julia & Frankie to church as His Royal Highness isn't a fan of any organized religion, getting Maura to cheerleading, getting Frankie to cheerleading after extended Sunday school, etc. etc. etc.)

Mary