darla darla bo barla

for the most part, i adore generic brands. buy a tin of tuna for $1.50 less than the can with the fancy picture on the outside, with the exact same tuna on the inside. however, lately i've become disinchanted with the generic brand of cereal. raisin bran in particular. it seems that no matter how carefully i pick my giant bag of "Bran Flakes with Raisins", when i get home and open it up to pour my first few bowls, all i get in flakes. the raisins love sinking way down to the bottom of the bag. i've tried shaking them back up to the top, which really only made a mess of things and didn't help at all. bran flakes for breakfast IS more healthy, i know, (especially for a girl who's prenatal vitamin is chock full of iron) but it's always reminded me a little bit of dog food. okay, enough of that, just had to vent.

so, darla and kevin and chase came and went like a flash of lightning. seriously, one moment they were here and the next they were gone. i don't think i've ever had guests stay at our house that have been so seldom seen. they were only here for 2 days and had sea world, the beach and the zoo to tackle, so it's understandable that they viewed our house mainly as a hotel to sleep in.

it was all good because both josh and i worked while they were here except for sunday, which was the day that darla and i got hours and hours of uninterrupted time together! we decided at first to go for a walk, but after going up a rather steep hill that left me huffing and puffing (i blame it on all of the extra blood pumping through my heart), we opted instead to sit in a lovely park under the shade of a giant palm tree and just talk and talk. it was really quite heavenly. we can talk about anything (and i mean ANYTHING) and not feel uncomfortable at all. once the sprinkler system decided to come on right where we were sitting, we made our way to a little coffee shop on main street for our mini blogger reunion (is it a reunion if you've never actually met the other people in person?) there, darla got to meet zandra and trish for the first time! it's quite interesting when blog life and real life collide...it's quite seamless actually. no small talk or get-to-know- you questions needed, they all just launched right in and chatted away as if they'd known each other forever while i pretty much inhaled my generous slice of carrot cake. we did get a stranger to take a picture of the 4 of us, but i didn't bring my camera, so you'll have to check out trish's blog to see it.

after coffee, we stopped in at trish's house to meet her adorable puppy, liberty, then went on down to zandra's new house in the middle of it's remodel. zandra sent me home with 2 huge boxes FULL of maternity clothes which was quite exciting! then we came back home in time to meet josh at the boll weevil for dinner with chase and kevin. chase couldn't stop talking about the "bambi" that he met at the wild animal park that morning in the petting zoo. apparently he wanted to give it kisses, but mama said no. after a tasty dinner, and quick photos, they all packed up and left. since then the house has been quite silent. they were our last guests this summer (we had a total of 4 families come to stay within 2 months) and its a bit of a sad feeling knowing that the guest room will be empty until my mom comes to visit after the baby is born. at the same time, it also means that soon we can start moving the office over into the guest room to make way for the nursury!! josh and i have already sorted through the 4 giant bins of boy clothes that jessica gave us, and they are patiently awaiting tristan as well.

by the way, a very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY out to my mom in law, chris! she is turning a "dyslexic 45" today and a fun party is planned for this evening. thanks for being such a great mom in law. i love you.