The Great Outdoors and Itty Bitty Tomatoes

I've been slacking off again in regard to this blog. With Rick home, I tend to spend less time in the office. He is often on a business call and uses the speakerphone, so I don't like to be making too much noise.

With the outdoor temperature finally getting to a comfortable number, Katie and I have been spending one to two hours outside in the morning. We go over to the outdoor living area, which is between the missile site and our above ground house. Katie wees (swings) or builds dirt castles. Sometimes I play in the dirt with her or I will sit at the table reading a magazine or doing crossword puzzles. I have posted a picture of the living area below.
Katie's swing set is to the left of the portable fireplace. We have an orbital lounger that matches the patio furniture, but we haven't built that yet--we've had the furniture for two years now. Anyway, the lounger will go on the patio by the pool next summer. You can't tell from this picture, but yes, we have two grills. You know Rick. He needs a back up for EVERYTHING! I love this outdoor area. Between the umbrella and mesquite trees it is well shaded. You can see the missile silo and the missile site entrance from this area. In the picture you can also see my Topsy-Turvy tomato plant slightly to the right. I have four itty-bitty tomatoes on the plant. The picture below is a close up of a few of the tomatoes.

The tomatoes are slightly bigger than a pencil eraser. Here's hoping that they mature before our first frost. Katie is fascinated by the tomato plant. She has already made plans for the tomatoes. She told Rick that when they were not itty-bitty anymore, she was going to cut them up and have a tea party. Yup, a sign of a true tomato lover.

This morning Katie accompanied me up the driveway to open the gate. At one point she stopped and pointed through the trees to the cotton field. She told me that she could see the ocean and a humpback whale. Ah yes, the imagination of a child.

This afternoon Katie accompanied me up the driveway to get the mail. Our mail lady had not come yet. I could see her way up the street, so we waited for her. As her car got closer, I told Katie that it was Miss Joyce, our mail lady. When Joyce slowed down, Katie got so excited. She started jumping up and down, waving and yelling, "It's mail lady. It's mail lady." Yup, Katie loves getting mail.

Yesterday Katie and I went to Hobby Lobby and Sam's Club. That outing took up a good part of the morning and all of the afternoon. We spent hours in Hobby Lobby. We were there so long that Katie used their bathroom three times! Katie likes that store and was tickled beyond delight with all of the Christmas stuff, especially the numerous Santas. Katie finds Sam's a little boring so she started to act up. It didn't help that it was way past her nap time. I didn't even get out of Sam's parking lot before she fell asleep.

Last evening I had a SCN (Stamford Community Network) board meeting. It's a joke among us that if you do not attend the meeting where we nominate/vote on people for positions, the rest of the board will vote you in as President. That is why I made sure that I attended yesterday's meeting. Well, that didn't quite work out. Somehow I ended up being nominated and voted in as the Vice President. I had turned down the nomination for President, so not to be a total schmuck I didn't protest when I was nominated as Vice President.

At the end of this month, I will be flying to Nashville with other moms from my MOPS group to attend MOPS' National Convention. I am so looking forward to spending time with other moms, as well as the renewal that MOPS' meetings give me. It will also be the first time that I have been away from Katie for an extended period of time. I have never spent one night away from her, let alone three. It will also be Rick's first time being a "single" parent for an extended period of time. It will be so strange not to have her constantly around me. I will miss her and at the same time I will enjoy focusing on myself for a while. Gee, I hope I don't enjoy it too much. I have to eventually come home!

I can hear thunder off in the distance, so I best get my puzzle books from the outdoor table. We had rain last night (about 1/4") and I hope we get more. The cotton can always use it. Til later.....Ciao!