Picking up where I left off

Saturday morning I woke up early and went to yard sales for the first time this year, I think. I truly do love yard sales but I rarely get up and go these days. I like bargains, but I love sleeping in with Matthew. Still, I would sacrifice some sleep and snuggling for sure-fire finds.

When I lived in Chapel Hill, I never came home from yard sales disappointed. Lib and Maegan, how many good deals did we find back in the day?! Around here, that's not so much the case. The selection's not great (too many used golf clubs, not enough cheap furniture with potential) and a lot of people don't understand yard-sale pricing, which is pretty much the whole point.

ANYway, I did get up and make the rounds on Saturday but it was a bust. I bought two books and they're good ones but they were overpriced. Yard sale paperbacks should be 10 or 25 cents, but I paid 50 cents each. I think it was worth a dollar to not feel like I woke up early for nothing.

I thoroughly cleaned our house for the rest of the morning, had a good run in the afternoon and then read on the porch for a while. I was hoping to round up Lauren G. and Carrie for dinner with Christy in Raleigh before I had to pick up Matt at the airport at 11:15 p.m., but that didn't work out. (Technically, it wouldn't have been in compliance with Carrie's bed rest orders anyway. If baby Riley had made her world debut in the backseat of my car somewhere between Sanford and Raleigh, Jacob would probably never have forgiven me.)

So I went to dinner at Ashten's, where I had amazingly never eaten, with Lauren and Bill and Brie and Brooke and Johnathan. We squeezed into this little corner with a couch and chairs around a coffee table and it was so cozy that when we had the option to upgrade to a regular table and chairs we declined. It was delicious and I had the best time but at 10 I had to leave to pick up Matt, which I was very happy to do.

Yesterday afternoon was Carrie's baby shower (also maybe not within the confines of by-the-book bed rest, but if you saw how excited she gets about her weekly doctor's appointments because they get her out of the house, you would understand)! Two weeks ago we thought we might have a special guest -- baby Riley -- at this shower, but for now she's still chilling in the womb.

The gift table was overflowing -- Carrie has some super-generous family and friends with great taste. Jordan and Emily did a fantastic job putting the shower together and I'll admit it put to shame the one I threw for Lauren G. when Dylan's arrival was imminent. Hostessing is not one of my spiritual gifts, but I'm OK with that. :)

After I got home we spent the rest of the evening watching football. I have now won two weeks in a row in fantasy football! Of course, Tony Romo broke his finger in overtime last night and is out for the next month or so, so my streak probably stops here. Last night I said to Matt, "I love watching StatTracker, much more so than the football games themselves," and I think he absorbed only the first part of my sentence because he got really excited and hugged me.

This morning Kate was off work for Columbus Day so we had coffee. I had a great time. You know the conversation's good when two hours pass and you don't even notice. She is a published author as of last Monday -- click here to check out the book.

Oh my gosh, Kate, I think it just sank in for me that you are on Amazon! That is so exciting and I am jealous!