Memorial Day Checklist

1. Ate Lehi Roller Mills Country Raspberry Muffins for breakfast . . . a perfect start to the day.

2. Got the A/C units put in the windows. Hallelujah!

3. Fed Jenn's latest obsession by going to Ikea "just to look." Came out only $3 poorer, partly because we had to bribe Henry to stay in the cart with Swedish Fish. Still not sure if the trip hurt or helped my intense and greedy desire for MORE AND MORE STUFF to fill our beautiful new house (it will be hard to live there with our old furniture after seeing it so nicely furnished by the previous tenants). Still, even after all the amazingly good deals we found, it doesn't mean we have any money . . . nor will we likely get any money over the next 5 years. Oh, the injustice of it all!

4. Fed Ben's latest obsession by going to Best Buy "just to look." Ben has slightly more self-control than me, although I still give myself credit for only spending $3. We didn't buy anything, but we played with GPS systems for about 30 minutes. Ben has been spending nearly every minute of his free time trying to decide which system is the best. Just as soon as he thinks he comes to a conclusion, someone throws another factor into the equation, and he starts all over again. And why would we have money for a GPS system and no money for a new sofa? Probably because Ben never wants anything, and I always want something. So it will probably end up that he gets the thing he wants this time, since he wants it so badly. We're still waiting eagerly for that stimulus, by the way.

5. Afternoon: went hiking at Mills Reservation. Much more satisfying, relaxing, and fulfilling than how we chose to spend our morning. So in this part of New Jersey you have to search for them, but when you find these little pockets of preserved nature, they are amazing. We kept reveling in the stark contrast between what Northern New Jersey is (way too many people, buildings, houses, and businesses crammed together) and what it once was (endless forests of tall, thin deciduous trees -- basically a canopy of green). And to reinforce that contrast, at the peak of the hike (which isn't much of a peak at all), you can see a beautiful view of the NYC skyline. You might have to squint to see the skyline in my photo.

6. Henry learned to answer nature's call "nature's way." A big step for him -- his first successful standing up endeavor. This is big, as we're trying really hard to move away from having to take his potty seat with us everywhere we go.

7. Birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, topped off with our White Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Cheesecake a few hours later at home. Ben's birthday is Wednesday, but since I have Mutual on Wednesday night and he has a meeting Thursday night, his Birthday Observed will be Friday night. And apparently his other Birthday Observed was yesterday. That lucky duck.