A Piece of Bread and HALLELUJAH, AND PRAISE THE LORD!

Update on the "eat-a-piece-of-bread-in-30-seconds w/o drink" challenge. Sister Jane (she's not a nun) is visiting her friend Lera this weekend. Jane just called and said Lera downed a piece of bread w/o water in 58 seconds flat. Now, admittedly, she lost b/c it was over 30 seconds, but she far won over my adult boys! Can't wait to share that news with Chad & Mark. ("Roy", are you reading this? She beat you, too!)

Since Oct. 18, I have been w/o a sink my in kitchen. Today, Nov. 22, I finally have it back in place. Hip, hip, hooray! I almost kissed that heavy, cast-iron sink when it fell into place. It's my new best friend. I've cleaned and caressed it all afternoon. What a wonderful world I live in when I can get a glass of water from a sink in my kitchen instead of trudging into my tiny laundry and getting water from the tiniest sink this side of the Mason/Dixon line! And I have a functioning dishwasher! Yipee! It was five long, arduous weeks, but I'm slowly getting a glimpse of how great my kitchen will look when it's completed. My dream was to have it all done before G.G.#2 arrived. HA. Missed that one. Then I thought by Thanksgiving. Hey, I'm just thankful I have a sink for Thanksgiving Day. Unrealistically, I'm dreaming of completion before Christmas Day. That would be a true miracle. Tom only has weekends to work. Here is a list of some things yet to be done: hardwire two new outlet strips under two cabinets, install four undercabinet lights, add decorator "lip" around all upper cabinets to hide the new undercabinet light fixtures, install two new overhead light fixtures, prime all the walls and ceiling, paint walls and ceiling, touch-up paint on cabinets, install decorative backsplash over sink and cooktop, install decorative brackets on all upper cabinets. What do you think? Christmas 2009? That's what I was thinking. I'll keep you informed. I'd rather keep my marriage in tact than to pressure my husband for completion by a certain date. I'm ready to decorate for Christmas!!!!! It's too junky around here. Oh, wait, I have 13 people coming for Thanksgiving dinner. I'd better get busy cleaning up around here.

Sister Jane (she's still not a nun) and I babysat Brie last night while Mark and Andrea went out for dinner. Supposedly, Jane was the babysitter and I was there for moral and possible physical support. Let's just say it was a good think I was there, too. Brie had a fussy night. Here's a picture of her just before she began to wail.

"Jane, you convent-deserting nun, I'M NOT HAPPY!"

Don't get me wrong. Brie was only fussy for about 30 minutes out of 3 hours. She had a great time on the floor mat. She's trying to turn over, but hasn't quite got it down yet. I pushed her little rump and turned her over. She was very surprised!