Is it Monday Already?

Never a dull moment. I am starting to wonder if things will really ever start to "settle down" around here. I kinda doubt it, at least for the short term. Now that it looks like spring is really here, it's all Go Go Go.

Thursday night, I went to dinner with a couple of the other neighborhood moms. It was a really good night out, and I am starting to feel less like an outsider, so that's definitely a good thing. Friday, I made sure Daphne took an early nap so she could finally play in the cul de sac with the other kids after school. I took her down there and her little Peanut eyes got huge when she saw all the kids with their scooters and sidewalk chalk and bubble machines. Then her friend Lauren, a big kindergartener, came running up going, "Daphne! Daphne!" and that made me almost cry. We spent a good hour and a half outside, with kids for her to play with and grown-ups for me to talk to. I actually know every neighbor on my block, except for one, by name. It took years to meet just a handful of people in my old neighborhood.

Speaking of neighbors, below is a picture of someone who actually lives in my back yard under our potting shed:

So cute, huh? It is a groundhog (which, by the way, I found out is the same thing as a woodchuck). At first we thought we had a skunk living there, so this was a very pleasant surprise. Since I am the one who saw it first, I get to think of the name. Daphne wants to name it Snoopy. Kev and Jeff want to call it "Chickens" (long story). I would prefer something that sorta goes with Pancho, like maybe Lefty or Cisco or Consuela, but I have a feeling Snoopy is gonna stick. You learn to pick your battles with the Peanut. Anyway, you should see this little guy run. He (she?) is really fast! I will try to get it on video sometime if I can.

Jeff was here over the weekend, and treated us to a Hibachi dinner Friday night. Those guys are so impressive. And the food was really tasty. Saturday, we all went to lunch at the Hamburg Doner (aka the Mighty Midget), which was having a one-year anniversary celebration. The best part about that was the free delicious split pea soup they were giving away on the patio. Their regular house-band, Dave Pepper, was playing, and Daphne did her best to request a Kinks song, but they couldn't hear her tiny voice. Oddly enough, they played a Kinks song anyway. Not the one she asked for, but it worked. It would have been more fun if it hadn't been raining.

Sunday, we went on a breakfast adventure that involved a long long drive, but ended up about a block from home. Another long story. After that, Kev went to buy his new birthday bike while the rest of us napped.



Cool bike, isn't it? Not quite as cool as mine, but pretty dang close. Of course, Kev was excited when he brought it home, and wanted to go for a family bike ride. But as he was hooking up the Burley, it started to rain. The bad news is, it was a pretty short and unpleasant ride. The good news is, I finally heard thunder in Virginia. We sat on the porch and enjoyed the storm, which was very short, and then it was puddle jumping time for Daphne, while I took some post-storm pictures of the increasingly pretty things blooming in the yard. I am glad that Snoopy/Chickens/Lefty had a safe place to ride out the storm.

This morning, Kev went to work and Jeff left for Baltimore and Daphne and I went to Wegman's. It's pretty quiet around here, but I don't expect it to last. You should see the calendar for April. Stay tuned...