*yawns* I'm back....

Well, I'm back from my conference in Philly and just getting settled back in.... Oops.. I guess I never posted that I was going to Philly in the first place... The annual Medical Library Association was held in Philadelphia this year, and I was away for four days. This is only the second time I've spent the night away from Sadie since she came home from the hospital 19 months ago, and while I enjoyed touring museums and actually getting to READ the displays instead of prying a toddler's hands off the Declaration of Independence, dining in restaurants where crayons are not handed out with the menu, and trying this groovy new thing I'd heard about called sleeping eight hours uninterrupted, I missed the stink out of my family and was happy to come home.

Philly is a decent, interesting enough city. I saw the King Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute and took in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, checked out the fascinating mosaic gardens of South Street, ate some tasty foods and, of course, attended quite a bit of programming and met with several of our vendors. I didn't have the chance to visit my beloved Mutter Museum this time, but I strongly urge anyone visiting Philly to make this fascinating collection of freaky medical oddities a priority. Just be sure to not visit either right before or after lunch.

Philly is well laid out and extremely easy to navigate and I am jealous beyond belief of any city with decent public transportation. Philly seems somehow more livable and smaller scale than New York, and it seems that there is plenty to keep one busy and mentally active there. That said, on the way home from the airport, I opened the car windows as I exited the highway and felt a sense of euphoria as I smelled the damp grass, the wildflowers, and yes, even the cows. I love visiting cities, shopping for unusual finds, sucking up the culture, and getting the h-e-double hockey sticks back to my woodsy retreat in BFE.

I didn't take my camera with me, as I was really there working, but I have a few new Sadie pics...

Sadie is apparently going to canine school. She has taken up fetching these days...



Last week, I took off a day so that Mom could attend to some business in Norfolk. I got together with Robena and wee Twyla and we just spent the day together hanging out...

Sadie finds a ginormous pink ball in Robena's lovely yard...


Just had to get a picture of the kerchief. Sadie ripped it off shortly after this and I couldn't coax her to wear it, but there's not much cuter than a hippie baby with a kerchief on her wee head, eh?


We stopped at the Wednesday afternoon Farmer's Market in Carrboro. We picked up a couple of freshly baked peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, and let the kids indulge... This was the result...


Twyla really enjoyed the chocolate...


This is just a random assortment of pictures I took of Sadie yesterday morning. I went to work a wee bit late, as I didn't arrive back home until late the night before. We took Sadie on a walk...


I just think she looks cute when she's looking down. Indulge me...


Deep in thought...


Retrieving her frisbee...


Looking a wee bit petulant...


And I just took this one because I love how the folks at Peek-a-Do cut the back of her hair. I think they are trying to make her hair grow into the shape of the classic Emo haircut. Toddlers are already so Emo, of course, just naturally....