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We went home this last weekend – it was Maggie’s first road trip! She traveled very well – we only stopped one extra time to feed and change her. Otherwise, she slept the entire trip.

On Friday night we got to mom and Dad’s about 5:30 or so. Margi and Bill met us. Little Dawn has grown so much since I last saw her in April!  Michelle and Luke brought dinner over and we had a grand time!  It was probably after 1:30am before I went to bed. Mom and I enjoy talking too much. We set up the pack n’ play in the bedroom and Maggie slept in that just fine.

Saturday morning, Grandma had a brunch at her house, b/c my aunt and uncle from WI had come down for the weekend. It was nice, b/c Grandma and Lynn and Ruth all got to hold Maggie before the insanity of the shower.  Around noon we went up to the church to get ready for the shower.  Chelle and Mom went really overboard with that, but it was so fun!  Everyone made an 8×8 scrapbook page to go into a scrapbook about the shower.  A lot of the family came, as well as some church family.

When we got home from the shower,we were so exhausted. We all went out to dinner, even Josh & Katie & Scootie.

Sunday morning Jason and I opted to not go to church.  Then we met Grandma et al at Pizza Hut for lunch.  Yum!

We didn’t have to get back until Monday morning, so it was so nice to have another night at home.  We played a game that Luke and Chelle brought over. It was a lot of fun.

The weekend was just too short!

My mom is always making fun of me and how I try to do “hippie” things.  Now she also calls them “green” things.  What I find interesting aobut most “green” practices is that many people do them already simply because of the financial benefits. They’re frugal, which makes them “green” automatically!  I think this is where I fit in, for the most part.  I find many disposable things pointless and have had cloth napkins, handkerchiefs, etc for years.  Why continue to spend money on something you keep throwing away?  So, anyway I thought I would take some time now and again to talk about what I’ve been doing to do my part.

I’ll start with those basics – the cloth replacements for daily living.  Shortly after we got married, I told Jason that I wanted to buy cloth napkins, b/c it just made more sense.  So, while using our gift cards from our wedding, one of the thing we purchased was a nice daily-use china set and tablecloth, placemats and napkins.  Every couple of days or so, more often if they’re completely soiled, I throw them in the dirty laundry to wash come wash day.  It works so much better.

A year or two ago, I decided that I wanted to use handkerchiefs instead of kleenex – Michelle finds this disgusting! LOL!  Well, I had 1 or 2 that I already owned that I used at first.  I had a terrible cold and would have gone through an entire box in a day or two.  The first thing I noticed was that the handkerchief was so much more comfortable than a kleenex.  Especially after blowing my nose 100 times with that cold. A kleenex would have left it so raw.  I could’ve spent the extra $$ on lotion-filled kleenex, but the hanky worked just fine.  And the 2nd thing I noticed was that the hanky held up so much better than kleenex. Usually one blow and a kleenex has to be thrown away, b/c a hold has been blown in it.  The hanky was softer, kinder, and stronger.  At the end of the day, I throw it in the wash and pull out a new one.  A bought another pack of hankies within the week and haven’t looked back.  Come cold season each year, I’m so thankful!

So, 2 things that I’ve replaced disposable with reusable items. And neither was for “environmental” reasons per se, but that’s a great side benefit!  More things that I’ve done will be coming!

We went to Iowa the other day.  I got to see Grammy & Grampy and Aunt Michelle and Uncle Luke and Aunt Margi and my cousins Xander, Matthew, and Dawn. I know what a cousin is now! It’s a person about my age that I get to play with! These are the first Cousins I’ve met and they were fun! Although the boys run around a lot and I was afraid to lay on the floor like I do at home sometimes and Dawn wanted to play with all the new toys I got.  I’m not sure about them yet.  But I like Grammy & Grampy and Aunt Michelle a lot.

One of the days we were home I got to go to a place called a “church” where thye had a party for me. It was an awful lot of people and they all wanted to hold me. But I got a lot of nice clothes and toys to play with, so I suppose it was ok.

I was so tired after that party that I slept and slept.  I don’t remember anything else we did except that I still got to eat. Otherwise, I slept.