7 Quick Takes Friday - May 20, 2011

Thanks to Jen for hosting.

1. I drive by a billboard like this every day on my way to work:

I'm thinking of re-engaging the timestamp feature on my digital camera, and going to take a picture of it on Sunday, just for fun. (FYI, Jimmy Akin has an excellent analysis of why the guy behind the organization predicting the Rapture tomorrow is... well... a few fries short of a Happy Meal.)

2. Have you heard the new CD by the Daughters of St. Paul, "There Can Be Miracles," yet? If not, go and listen! You can also hear several songs on Among Women podcast #96. I'm waiting for it to be available on iTunes before I buy it, but I may call our local Catholic bookstore to see if they have it in stock as well. I rarely buy actual CDs anymore as I prefer a digital format, but I may make an exception for this one -- it's that good!

3. Elanor had her last day of kindergarten yesterday! *sniff* I can't believe my baby is technically a first-grader now. She's doing a summer day-camp thing for the rest of the summer and is terribly excited about it; I think she's most excited about her brand-new Tinkerbell lunch bag.

4. I, however, am not looking forward to packing lunches four days a week for the rest of the summer. Oh well, at least the fact that she's very picky means it'll be essentially the same exact lunch all summer (PB&J sandwich on wheat bread, applesauce, chocolate milk), so I can buy in bulk.

5. Another purchase I may make fairly soon is a Bella band (or the Target-brand equivalent). Uff-da. I'm only 10 weeks; I'm not ready to give up my non-maternity jeans quite yet.

6. My house is clean, thanks to Collin's Mother's Day gift (maid service!). We had a lady scheduled to come on Tuesday but she stood us up (ugh, the perils of Craigslist, I guess), so Collin found someone else who was able to come on Wednesday. She worked very hard and did a fantastic job. I still have mountains of laundry (that's this weekend's project) but my kitchen fairly sparkles now. It's a good feeling. Anyone want to come over? :)

7. We decided, with some regret, that airfare prices being what they are, we can't really afford to fly to North Dakota this summer. :( It would cost $1500 just for the airfare -- that doesn't include the cost of renting a van (which we'd need to do), meals, etc. We could probably find family to stay with and save money on a hotel, but still... we're looking at nearly $2000 worth of expenses and I have unpaid maternity leave coming up in December, so we really can't justify the expense this year. Maybe next year, I don't know.

So, instead, we're going to take a short family vacation to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (September 1). It coincides with our new daycare's family vacation, meaning that we would have to find alternate daycare for that week, so we decided to take advantage and go on a vacation of our own as well.

Over Labor Day weekend and a few days into the following week, we're going to visit Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. We found some fantastic hotel deals online (less than $100/night, very close to Sea World!), and we're very excited. We're also taking the kids to Disneyland for a few days (again, we found some fantastic hotel deals!), but that part is going to be a surprise for them. We'll let them think we're on our way home and then say, "Hey kids, why don't we go to Disneyland for a few days?" and watch them go into spasms of delight. :)

Have a great weekend!