Only one day until

my birthday!

Yup, this Thursday, 9/11, I will be 34. Surprisingly enough, I am rather ho-hum about it. I used to love my b-day, I liked to have a party or go out and do fun stuff. Now, I just really don't care what to do about it. My parents agreed to come this Saturday to babysit, so Craig and I can go out for dinner and a movie. I am going to work tomorrow like normal. I am not upset about turning 34. I am actually quite cool about it as I am really enjoying my 30s. I am just not the same party nut I used to be.

Instead, it is very appealing to me to just have a nice quiet dinner and movie with my hubby and some 'snuggle time' afterwards. Of course, I did tell Craig that I fully expect a gift from him. Come on, now I am not crazy!!

Today I am working from home because we had a scheduled Furnace cleaning and they give you one of those lovely appointment windows, like between 8-12. The guy arrived as 11. Working from home with a toddler is a relative term. I have the laptop plugged in on the kitchen island (the only surface she can't reach) and in between chasing her around, I am getting a little work done. I have a conference call this afternoon which is luckily during her naptime, otherwise she would be squawking in the background the whole time!

The weather is really starting to cool down with chilly nights and crisp mornings. The sun is still warming up the day, but now it is only getting the high 70s. I just love this weather. Not sure if it is because my birthday is in September, but this is my favorite time of year. Sweaters and jeans. Leaves turning colors. Snuggling under the covers at night with the window still open. This time last year we had just arrived in CT after a rather traumatic move, which involved throwing out a lot of our personal belongings, packing up the vehicles like the beverly hillbillies and driving cross country with a 4 month old, to stay in a bedroom at my brother in law's. Now I look back and know that it was the right move. We have an awesome house in a gorgeous town. I love my job, my boss, my coworkers, and my commute is easy. It is nice to have the family close by and many of our friends are here too. Sometimes you just have to take the leap on faith that things will get better and they pay off.

Oh, as for the knitting thing, I am getting totally addicted! I am currently working on a baby blanket for a friend of mine. Her shower is in 1 month, so I have a deadline which is good for me. I also downloaded some patterns for a sweater for Chloe and a poncho for myself. Yes, I know... Ponchos seem very 70s, but I found some really cool patterns that I would love and could even wear to work over a turtle and jeans on Friday casual day. We shall see how quickly I can do it (hopefully before it is springtime!). I also found a cool knitting/yarn store near my house and got a great deal on some yarn for the poncho. Hopefully it will look decent. I picked a super easy pattern and I plan to visit my Gram for help on some of the increases/decreases to make sure I am doing them right. For anyone that is interested, I just want to say that I taught myself using a couple books and online tutorials, so you can do it too!

I have some pictures to share. I can't believe I have actually had several posts recently with no pics. I must be slacking!!

This is what we saw this morning right in our front yard!

First I only saw the one, but then she walked over to the side yard and there was her sister!

This is what Chloe did this morning while I logged on to check my work email. Within 5 minutes, all her toys were pulled out of the toy box and then she started crawling in the laundry bin. I didn't snap a picture of her wandering about, chasing the dog with my undies in her hand!

This is what she did after lunch while I was working online. First she was standing on the chair yelling at the birds. Then she went and got a book and sat down to read to herself! She does very well at entertaining herself.

This weekend, she thought it was funny to wear my hat and carry around a little purse. I think she thought she was imitating me.

My little huggie bear.

This weekend she wore this cute little dress we got from a friend. Despite the ladylike attire, she was still climbing into the toy box and causing general havoc.