Carcassonne

I bought Jason Carcassonne for his birthday. It was supposed to be a surprise, as his birthday isn't until April 19th, but he found the receipt (I didn't hide it very well) so we got it out early. He's been too busy to play with me yet, but, out of boredom, I re-read all the instructions so I'd be ready when the time came. I bought the original game and the first two expasions (Inns & Cathedrals and the Builders something or other) and he was pretty excited. It really wasn't very expensive because I found a good deal online.

Here is an interesting tidbit. In the original game, the instructions say that when scoring farms each city is worth 3 points. In the expansion with the pig, it says each city is worth 4 points and 5 if you have a pig in the farm. I was surprised they would be different and even double-checked myself. Which way do you play? Are your cities worth 3 or 4 points?

Since we haven't posted on here in a while, I thought a Carcassonne discussion was better than no discussion at all. Hillary, I haven't heard from you in a while, how is your house and the move coming along? Have you already moved in?

Dry Eye Syndrome

I went to an ophthalmologist this morning. My eyes have been bothering me for years and it seems to be getting worse. He says I have dry eye syndrome, (just like in the television commercial), and I have to take Restasis. He says it's a condition that affects people as they get older (40's and older) and it happens to women more than men. I guess I fit both of those categories!

New front room

Well, after many years of dreaming of matching furniture and accompanying decor in the front room, my dream has finally been realized (almost). Dad finished hanging the valance for the new drapes last night (after going back to Penneys twice to change rods). Here are pictures of the front room as it now stands. We still need to paint and get new carpet sometime down the road. Hope you like it.

Words Harvey can say

Heather and I decided to compile a list of words Harvey can say at the moment. It's quite impressive! There are more words that he understands when we say them, but he doesn't use them yet other than mimicking. However, these are words that he actually knows and will say on his own.

Harvey	momma	daddy
hi	bye	hello
eat	more	done
juice	milk	cheese
apple	applesauce	banana
nose	eyes	teeth
hair	toes	hand
hat	coat	shoes
socks	diaper	hug
bath	car	chair
kitty	dog	horse
duck	fish	chicken
monkey	cow	bear
home	sleep	Totoro
Pooh	Elmo	blanket
again	up	down
on	off	hammer
ball	boat	book
toy	stairs	TV
baby	medicine	go
wow

Yes, he will actually say "wow" in a whispered voice. It's very cute.

Edit: Here's a few I forgot:

cracker	Charlie	watch
box	yellow	purple
pink	stuck	two
three	"night night"	yes	no
uh oh

Labyrinth, and other Atlanta favorites

For the last few days Jason, Addie and I have been in Atlanta on vacation. SCO schedules their spring break around an annual optometry conference and pays students $100 to go, so we thought we'd take a few days to see what Atlanta had to offer.

The first day we went to Coke World, the big Coca-Cola museum. We saw tons of memorabilia, a 3D movie, the Coke Bear (featured here, he was awesome), and were able to taste 64 different kinds of Coke products from around the globe. My favorite was Aquious, a berryish water distributed in Tawaiian.

After Coke World we went to the Georgia Aquarium. It is the largest aquarium in the world and SPECTACULAR. We all enjoyed touching sting rays, seeing jellyfish and whale shark, and having our feet kill by the end of the day. I honestly would recommend the aquarium to anyone, it was fantastic.

Addie loved the fish and tried giving them hugs all afternoon.

On Saturday, while Jason went to the conference, I went with two of my friends to the Atlanta Zoo. It was a sorry zoo, let me tell you. The exhibits were small and cramped, half the animals were nowhere to be seen, but the lion cubs and panda bears were out playing and sort-of made up for it. Luckily we only had to pay $5 to get in, so it was worth it. Addie enjoyed the animals, and I enjoyed good company.

Infront of the lions. She started pushing this cute little boy when he got too close to her, so we had to hightail it out of there!

Saturday afternoon we went to the Center for Puppetry Arts because they were hosting a Jim Henson exhibit. It was a little museum, not much to see, but I was able to read all about the making of Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, the Muppets and Sesame Street puppets, and learn about Jim Henson's life. I wasn't supposed to take any pictures, but I couldn't very well leave without one snapshot of a Labyrinth puppet! Here is my undercover, no flash, very dim, picture. Did you know that these guys that guard the entrance to the helping hands have names? They do! Ralph, Alph, Tim and Jim. Very fitting, as I had to call Jim to have him help me get the address to the museum. Thanks, Jim! Anyhow, it was fairly cool.

We enjoyed Atlanta and certainly loved having a vacation. Anytime that I get to spend with Jason is wonderful! He didn't study all week and I loved it! I can't wait until school is over! Only two more years...

Happy Belated Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

I just wanted to wish you two a happy anniversary. I know it's two days late, but I honestly thought about you on Wednesday, I just wasn't in a place to post when I did. I even talked to Mom and forgot to tell her over the phone, so I appologize. I am glad you two are married though. I'm thankful that you still show love to each other and are public about affection. You have been a great example for me in what I want my relationship to be like. I want you to know how much I love and appreciate you and your marriage.

Kitchen Curtains

Jim's been complaining about the sun in his face when he's on the computer and wanted curtains, so I went to IKEA and bought the same ones that Kurt and Heather have in their family room. But the white curtains and the white walls looked like a hospital, so I added the green stripes. I think they turned out pretty good. We are getting new living room furniture on Friday, and I bought new drapes for the front room yesterday. I'll post those pictures when the furniture gets here. We've had both of our cars tuned up (they have over 100,000 miles on each) that cost about $2,000, so hopefully, we're through with big expenses for a while.