Hi everyone,
No, I did not fall off the face of the earth. I was just busy... like everyone else here on the board! I had birthday party part 2 for the family. The food was easy: baked ziti and chicken the day and night before. Family carried in salads. But my girls wanted a complete birthday celebration all over again, complete with
streamer decorations and a cake cut and decorated like a butterfly. It was wonderful, but it sure added to my list of things to do.

And of course, the money gifts they received were burning a hole in their pockets, so we just HAD to go shopping!! Actually they thought long and hard on what they wanted. But it got stretched to two separate days of shopping. One reason being the CD they wanted was not to be released for 3 more days! Willie Nelson's song "On the Road Again" sure is a mother's theme song!!

They will be making their First Communion on May 12 and my sister and I decided to make their veils from scratch, which ended up being easy, especially because dear sister has a serger and is such a creative talent!! But it was still running around. But we sure had fun the four of us, my sister and I plus my two girls, when we had the girls try on their complete outfit! Lots of giggles. It made me think of proms and weddings to come! Fun to fuss and dress up. And of course I remind the girls of the solemnity of the sacrament and service. But like any 8 year old, my older daughter is concentrating on the cash gifts she hopes to receive!!!

Speaking of cash... Walmart is a lifesaver. That's where I got the dresses... They look like Victorian tea dresses: gorgeous lace with sheen, drop waist, shawl collar. And only $20!!! Stockings were $3, shoes on sale for $9, slips still fit from last Easter, and the headpieces for $7 of materials. I spent less on two girls than some spend on one! And my girls look wonderful. Thank you Walmart!! It's my favorite store. I even have a favorite cashier who remembers me!!

In the meantime, on the WW front, I received my 10 pound ribbon last week!! I back slid a pound and a half this week... oops. My leader blamed it on water retention (which it could have been because I had Now sour cream and onion chips the night before... how dumb, I know better). I also blamed it on cream cheese... oh did I have a hankering for it this week!! I counted the points a couple of times, but...... So I called my gain "cream cheese retention!!" But the craving is past and onward I go!!

What a joy it has been reading the posts. I really savored the local stories everyone has been sharing... the power brown outs, the tornados, the humidity, town names, local foods (don't think I've EVER had a crawfish!! lol), floods, driving requirements (gulp... my baby will be getting his permit in November!).

Oh, one more big piece of excitment-- I shopped for and ordered a new computer!! It will be the third on our family network. It is a souped up gaming machine for my boys. I am going to pass my 5.5 year old workhorse 200 MHz/Pentium 1 machine to the girls, I'll get the 3 year old 400 MHz/Pentium 2, and the boys are getting the 1200 MHz/Pentium 4 system. It's a screamer of a machine which is what you need for games. The 200 has been fine for Internet and email. But I see it slow down on Word 2000. Also, I am testing out some bookkeeping software. I might start up some part time work at home.

The computer is our Spring Break treat. Some folks go on vacation... we buy computers!! We are all excited, especially since the boys will now be able to play two computer games they received at Christmas, but could not play on the slower speed machine!! Christmas in April! We expected it to be delivered next Friday, but I just checked the order status and it is on it's way!!! Could be here as early as Tuesday!! Our weekend will be spent on getting ready.

It feels good to post and share with everyone. Sorry if I went on too long. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Ladies, since we're on the secon page, I'm going to start a new thread. Come on ove