So much to catch up on

Our vacation is starting to wind down. We've taken a few excursions here and there. I actually thought we'd be able to do more, but it's ended up quite nice staying at my parents' house most days and relaxing. I've got a good tan going at least. Tomorrow morning I leave super early for San Diego for Comicon. I hope to get some good pics of crazy people dressed up. The Con is so much fun, but tempting because I know I'll want to buy stuff, but we're on a budget now so I can't go too crazy.

Quick update on house stuff: we signed all the loan papers the other night. That was an ordeal! Thank goodness it's over with. Our home owner's insurance is all set, Shawn called on electric and gas, and he booked the Uhaul for Aug 9. I scheduled the carpet cleaner for late next week and have an electrician/gas man coming in on Tue while I'm there cleaning for an estimate on putting a gas line in for the laundry room and the kitchen. We are set to sign the closing paperwork at 4pm on Mon. Only a few more days and it will all be official!!! Yay!!

OK. Now, movie updates: Shawn and I saw The Dark Knight. I loved it. He said he liked the last one better. Whatever. Honestly, Heath Ledger's performance was amazing. I thought it would be a challenge to step into a role that Jack Nicholson made famous, but Heath took it to a whole new level and blew me away. I was scared of him actually. He's a total psycho. The scene when he's wearing a nurse's uniform is creepy and genius. The story is complex and has some unexpected twists, so it kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire 2 1/2 hours. Like I said, I loved TDK.

Last night a huge group of us (10 in all) went to see Mamma Mia. While it's not the best movie musical by far, it was still very entertaining. Nobody can listen to an ABBA song and not start tapping his/her feet or singing along. Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried sang beautifully. I don't know how Pierce Brosnan got the job because he can't sing worth crap, but at least he's good to look at. The end credit dance scenes were hilarious. I so want to get Shawn to dress up in an ABBA costume with me for Halloween. Now that would be one winning getup.

Last week Mom and I took Inara to the OC Fair. Inara seemed to like looking at the farm animals. She would get excited and start kicking her legs and flapping her arms. It was pretty funny. We walked around and looked at some of the vendor booths. Inara started getting a little fussy, so I gave her a bottle and she was happy. Mom and I grabbed lunch: fried sweet potatoes, zucchini and fish. Hey, it's the fair. We had to eat something totally bad for us. I ended up picking up a few gifts for Kylie and Kristi's new little one and, of course, something for Inara. We were there for 3 hours and baby girl did so well. She, of course, crashed in the car on the way home.

Saturday was my dad's surprise 60th birthday party. We told him we were having people over but never indicated how many. I think he was surprised to see so many people there. I know he was shocked by the prime rib lunch Dale (from Rosa's Cafe) made for him. I was excited to meet and talk with Pop's fishing and hunting buddies. My cousin Rob, Kelli and Alex flew down too, so it was awesome to see them, especially since they were unable to come to CO last month. They all finally got to meet Inara, which I was excited about. I was also thrilled to have my cousin Kim, Danny and their new little one Madison here. Part of the reason why I planned my trip here was around Kim having her baby. Maddie is so tiny! The diapers don't even fit on her. Guaranteed she'll start filling things out over night like Inara did though. Saturday was a great day all around. I was bummed that I ended up with a horrible stomachache that night and pretty much went to bed before everyone left. That sucked! But I'm glad Pop had a good day.

The best part of this trip has been watching Inara grow. Her hair is getting longer and curly in the back. Her two bottom front teeth are visible and coming in strong. And sharp! She's pulling herself up and totally trying to walk, although she hasn't started crawling yet. Yeah, I'm thinking at this point she just might skip the whole crawling stage. She loves to be in the pool. She kicks her legs and loves to sit in her ladybug floaty. It's so cute. But the best part has been watching my parents with her, especially my dad. The second we start to hear her make a noise over the monitor, he jumps up and goes upstairs to get her. He's gotten really good at feeding her her baby food too. I have pics that we'll post once we get back to CO and get settled back in. Oh and my mom keeps suggesting that I just leave Inara here with her so we can pack our stuff and move into the new house without having to worry about the baby and she'll just bring her to CO when they come out for Inara's birthday. Yeah, NO! But good try mom. At least, my parents are now committed to coming out in Sept to see the house but more so to see baby girl for her birthday. Yay!!!