This is the view from the property we recently purchased. Yep, that's a red barn across the way. We're surrounded by farms. The house is OK--not the dream house, but we hope to build that on the 23 acres someday. For now, we will stay in our current home and hopefully rent out the little house with the beautiful view.

I've been batchin' it these last few days. Why I ever thought life was hard before kids is beyond me. Seriously, I've been sleeping in and staying up late. I stayed back because Pete felt it was important that I paint in our current house. Yes, we have lived here 9 years and there were walls that were just white. So, I have been painting like crazy in case someone decides they want to buy our current house. We will put it on the market in the spring. At least I'll get to enjoy the pretty painted walls for a while. I guess having two mortgages is not ideal. At least, for us it isn't.

I haven't been working all the time, however. Saturday, some friends were having a swim party/cookout. I went to that. And then Sunday, I went to church and then ended the day with karaoke. A friend wanted to go out with a bunch of girls for her birthday so we went out for dinner and then karaoke. It was fun. And, I didn't have to pay a baby sitter. Bonus.

The place we went for karaoke was a little, um, how do I say this?--unrefined. It was smoky and the music was loud. And it didn't start until 10 pm! The DJ was a young, skinny guy who could really sing. He sang some good songs and then he sang a song that made me embarrassed to be there! I had never heard the song before and, honestly, could do without hearing it again. There was an old man singing (I guess one could call it that) and a couple of young girls, too. It was obvious who the regulars were. It was obvious this group of over 35 year olds was not a group of regulars.

Then Monday I painted some more and then had a softball game in the evening. Our team won! I even scored a run. It was a good night.

I can't tell you how relaxed I am. Boy, kids sure do make me tense. I'm looking forward to seeing them tomorrow, though. Today I was shopping at Target and it occurred to me that it's not that fun if you aren't escaping your kids. I needed a couple of things and, once I got them, discovered I was ready to get out of there. Wow. Yep, I'm looking forward to seeing my kiddos.