My new bedspread, shams, and curtains are finally in. :) I am thoroughly convinced that the post office held them back until after all the Harry Potter books were delivered. Fine with me. It was an excuse to put off deciding on paint colors and....da dum....painting the bedroom. Ugh!

My Smithsonian package (Christmas present for 'A') came in at the same time. I had decided that I'd wait until today and then start sending out Whaz Up? e-mails. Glad I didn't have to do that. I actually have several small Christmas gifts boxed up. And son#3 has told me he knows what he wants. It's so much easier when the kids are older -- more expensive if you're not careful -- but easier all the same. My favorite Christmas shoppping experience has become choosing a night, sitting in front of the computer in pjs with a cup of tea or coffee or a glass of wine and shopping my fingers to the bone online. :) Ah! I sleep so well after it's over.

It's just after noon and a bad thunderstorm has just made its way over us. I guess it cooled things off momentarily before the steam rising off the sidewalks and streets make it seem ever more muggy. It's just too hot to do much of anything. Even when staying inside you feel drained of energy by the afternoon. J wants to go to a Band and Bugle Corp performance Monday. =8-0000 It's OUTSIDE at 6pm, which means we would have to get there well before to park, find seats and such. It's just TOO HOT! We went last year and were blessed in that it was cloudy (no rain), but the whole thing just lasts so l-o-n-g.... We're not even big fans of that kind of thing. It was the first time we had seen something like that. It was neat, but..been there, done that. I tried to get one of the boys to commit to going with J, but no luck so far. ....I think they are waiting to see how much I'm willing to pay. ;)