Birmingham Zoo
We took the kids to the zoo today, and they all had fun. William, Tracey, Delbert and I fed the giraffes and we all learned that giraffes don’t have any top teeth and their (black) tongue is 17″ long. Neat. I also quizzed the older boys about the difference between a male lion and a female–without looking under the tail. They did well in their explanations. The wildcats were getting a little frisky with each other. It looked like harmless kitty play, but I noticed some mating behaviors and we moved the kids on to the next exhibit.

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I was reading Julie’s blog and got tagged at the end of her post. So, here goes.
4 Jobs You’ve Had
1. burger flipper
2. chicken fryer
3. grocery store cashier
4. soldier

4 Films You’d Watch Over and Over:
1. Serenity
2. Braveheart
3. Madagascar
4. Highlander

4 TV Shows You Love to Watch:
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I bought a journal at Books-A-Million last night to keep specifics on my current crochet projects. It’s a simple, blank, black-paged spiral-bound book and I love it. I have room to write all the details of one project, including start and finish and row counts, on one page plus a spot to attach a yarn sample. The only problem I ran into was the silver pen that came with it was dry. I had some metallic gel pens around, but only found one out of about 10 that worked. Guess I’ll have to pick up some more soon.

So, the first project in my journal is the Send a Cable Cardigan from The Crochet Yearbook Vol. 2. I’m using Caron Simply Soft in Country Blue (sent to me by Elizabeth, who was my autumn secret pal) and it’s working up great so far. I did notice the measurements for the back were wrong in the schematics. I can’t imagine the back of a 52″ sweater measuring only 13″!!! Someone forgot to multiply the measurements by 2….

Don’t ask about the color of the yarn, because I have no idea. It looks like a strand of purple merino wrapped in a blue/green/navy/purple polymid sheath, but I don’t know what it’s called. “Pretty” is what I call it.

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I tried weaning myself; I tried going cold turkey. There’s no doubt in my mind that I need caffeine to function. More precisely, I need the amount of caffeine found in my Pepsi. I love my Adagio Tea, but it just doesn’t get the job done for me. When I went off the Pepsi for about a week, my hubby noticed that I was feeling down. I did too, but I didn’t relate it to being off the caffeine. When I asked him to pick up some Pepsi, I noticed that I perked up almost immediately. I was still taking my Zoloft, so I know that wasn’t the issue. It’s weird, but I think the caffeine actually boosts the Zoloft for me. Ah, well. I guess I’ll toss back 2-3 cans of Pepsi a day to keep my spirits up and the evil monster down.

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That’s one of Sami’s favorite words right now. You’d think it would be fairly easy to figure out: apple, right? Not always. Sometimes “ap-pooool” means food, others it means apple. Tonight, she said a new word, “orn,” while eating a clementine. She’s really a chatty baby. Can’t imagine where she got that habit.

Other favorite words are “ball,” “duck,” “da-dee” (Daddy), “bah-bee” (baby), “kees” (cheese), and “joos” (juice). She also likes her “baf” at night before bedtime.

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My mom was discharged from the hospital today. I found out when my sister came over to pick up my nephew. Since we felt bad about leaving her at the hospital by herself, my sister stayed the night with my mom and I kept Jonas over night. He left around noon, and my mom looked like she was feeling better today, but I could tell that she was still in a weakened state. We fussed at her to slow down some and watch her health more closely so something like this doesn’t happen again (hopefully).

Thanks to all of you who offered prayers, petitions, lit candles, or thought of my mom during her hospitalization. Good thoughts and prayers really do work wonders.