::random::

*My daughter announced yesterday that she wants to be either a garden gnome or a mushroom for Halloween! I didn't even know that she knew what a garden gnome was, but thanks to her hippie babysitter, that's what she wants to be. Hooray for hippie babysitters!! Oooh man, am I gonna have fun with this. I mean, the only thing that would make me happier is if she wanted to be Maria from The Sound of Music. I just pray that peer pressure doesn't get the best of her and she decides she'd rather be Hannah Montana instead.

*Ever since Anna was about 2, she has LOVED to "cook" in the kitchen. This always involved her putting on an apron, getting out several pots and pans, and mixing, oh, say, orange juice, brown sugar, oregano, balsamic vinegar and enough chili powder to kill a horse. And then she'd proudly put it into tiny dishes and set them in front of Eric and I, waiting patiently for us to try it. Yum. She even did this when we had dinner parties; "appetizers" she called it. It was very cute until we noticed that our spices were depleting rapidly and we never had what we needed when we went to the cupboard. We had to lay down the law, that she could ONLY help in the kitchen when we were cooking. Which, of course, took all the fun out of it.

Well, lately, she has rediscovered the joy of cooking. Her dad has a GIGANTIC garden and they have spent many hours over the past month or so canning tomatoes and making sauces. She has even come up with an imaginary restaurant, called Cousco's Cafe. She was telling me all about it last night, as she helped me make manicotti. "Daddy and I have this restaurant, and we use only organic vegetables from a big community garden and we share our food with whoever needs it." I love that kid.

Eric just called and told me that for her birthday, he is having an apron and a chef's toque made with the name of their restaurant embroidered on them for her! Is that not the coolest gift ever? Almost as good as the year she turned 4 and ALL SHE WANTED for her birthday was a Praying Mantis. Oh, yeah, let me just run down to the, uh, Freaky Insect Store and get one for you. Well, wouldn't you know it, that on the very day of her birthday, Eric was on a job site and as he walked by a bush, there was a Praying Mantis sitting there. He's a good dad. She's a lucky kid.

*Today is BB day!! We are going to pick her up this evening in Coeur d' Alene. Last weekend Anna and I went and bought all the accoutrement that a new-to-us dog requires: a sheep-skin for her to lay on, a new collar and leash and of course some toys of her very own. Anna has the sheep-skin set up on the foot of her bed, so that BB knows that she is supposed to sleep there. We even, oh lord this is kind of embarrassing, got a little foot stool for her so that she can get on the bed without hurting herself. I will, of course, post photos when we get her. We are just a little bit excited.

*Also, it has been almost two weeks and I still like my new husband!!! In fact, I'd go so far as to say I like him even more, now that we are married. And not just because he can no longer make "squatter" jokes and threaten to make me move out. As I've told him (and I think he actually gets it): you can say whatever you want in your head, just don't let it come out. And THAT my friends, is the key to a happy marriage.