{Virtual Coffee}

Oh yay, it's time for coffee. Come on in because I am already on my second cup.

If we were meeting for coffee today we wouldn't talk about how !@#$% cold it is AGAIN. I wouldn't tell you the weird sounds my car was making on the way to school because there is just no way to describe them other than it was a kind of weary weeping, or maybe that was me.

If we were meeting for coffee I would tell you all about the birthday that came and went in our house this week.

My little ray of sunshine turned 8. EIGHT?!

How did that happen?! It took all I had not to laugh and/or cry when he dressed himself for school that day in his fancy shirt and tie. Funny how the feel of wearing nice clothes can effect even children.

I would tell you about BOTH cakes he had. I think it's almost standard nowadays to have two celebrations for kids - one with family and then another with their friends. But what's not to like about more cake huh? There was a lot of hot air blowing.

If you came over for coffee today I would show you our new mailbox that appeared shortly before Valentine's Day. We have been exchanging all kinds of messages and I got my first Valentine in it L-O-N-G before the 14th.

Yesterday morning I was also handed this one - the heart shaped marshmallow from Riley's bowl of Lucky Charms. It really is the thought that counts.

And while we were talking Valentine's Day I would weep about how, for the second year in a row, Riley came home from school with one measly valentine. Last year I wrote about how painful that was for him but this year he seemed to take it a little more in stride although you never know what is percolating beneath the surface, do you? It's hard to explain to an eight-year old how the nice guys don't always finish last. Some days growing up is as painful for the child as it is for the parent.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would declare that our aquarium is finally stable. After two weeks of daily water changes, the ammonia, nitrates and nitrites are, at last, at an "acceptable" level. I would tell you that there is evidence that Riley is a budding buddhist. He chose the bamboo for the aquarium (that's Turbo Snail climbing up the stalk - so named as the thing covers ground like a snail on espresso)

as well as the pagoda.

And at Chapters last Friday he picked out this mini zen garden kit with his gift certificate (over other toys and books).

And he's getting quite good at the raking procedure. Gotta love the gardener with his umbrella hat.

Well, it's time for me to go and see what I can do about my coat. Yesterday whilst leaving my office building at the end of the day I walked into a perfume cloud and the trim around my hood still smells and it's been making me feel kind of nauseous.

If you still have a thirst trot on over to Amy's Lucky Number 13 for another cup!