Mountains. Definitely not molehills.

This summer has flown by faster than a greased pig, so much so that I literally haven't had a nanosecond to write about it in here. So here's the Reader's Digest version of things.

Our basement is stabilized - dry and mold-free, and waiting for us to get home next week to choose new carpeting to be installed. Since we are not putting down padding underneath it, we opted for a high quality, thick, high-texture-resiliency type that was within the budget allotted by our insurance. I picked out several neutral (= cat barf camouflaging) colors that I will choose from. (David wanted none of the decision-making with regard to color, so it's all on me. Which is fine.) So that's good.

This is the last week of BMF here in Breckenridge, CO, where I've spent most of July and all of August so far. I can't tell you how much fun I've had, and man, does it make a difference to be at this altitude (9,600 feet elevation) without being pregnant. I had a monster headache the night we arrived, but I popped an Excedrin (gotta love that stuff!) and poof!! Gone. I had a great practice session that night, too. Because our condo is so much closer to the performing arts center than the one I stayed in last year, I've been loving walking to and from rehearsals with my spiffy new lightweight new Thompson Edition case on my back!

It's been a great season: Beethoven's 8th, Pines of Rome, Bernstein "On The Town" and "Fancy Free", Porgy & Bess, an all John Williams concert...and this week, we're doing Corigliano and John Adams!! Does it get any better than this??!! Oh, and for those of you who've known me as a die-hard 8D fan pretty much my whole life, you'd better sit down before you read this...I brought both the Yamadouble and the 8D out this summer, and realized....are you ready for this?...that I prefer my 667D hands down!! Is that a jaw dropper or what?! Listen, nobody was more surprised at this than I was! Since I had just gotten the Yamaha in late March and am required to play a brass horn at work (the 8D is nickel silver and thus has a very different sound that wouldn't blend well at all with the section), I never had the option of choosing before this summer, and I really sat down and compared the two of them. The Yamadouble is so much better in tune, light years easier to play, and the crystalline response and clarity...I just can't get over how much I adore it. It's about time I found a brass horn I liked this much!

Benjamin is doing fabulously, as usual. He sleeps 12 uninterrupted hours at night and still enjoys mid-morning and afternoon naps. (We enjoy his naps too. :D) He is almost ready to sit up on his own; it's a balance thing for him, since his head is so big and he's so lean and long. His legs continue to be strong and hilariously muscular; you should see his little quads and calves! He's not crawling yet, but man does he ever scoot. He can motor around the room on his back, using the back of his head and his legs in this weird crab-like backwards crawl. It's so entertaining. He is no longer breastfeeding, because he also now has two lower teeth which he thought it was uproariously funny to bite me with. (Me: "OWWWWWW!! No bite!!" Ben: "Heee!!" {big grin}) That was the end of nursing for me. Ah well...I can say I breastfed for 7.5 months, and that's pretty good. He's really much more interested in solid foods anyway. Garden Vegetables are his favorite.

This week David's mom is visiting to help take care of Ben and also to have a little vacation; David himself arrives on Thursday morning - yay! - and we drive back to Wisconsin on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. We'll stop in NE the first night and IA the second. Since we installed a nifty mirror above Ben's car seat, meaning he can see us and communicate with us in transit, he is a champion traveler. It's been a great summer in so many ways, and I'll be very happy to get back to our home, kitties, gardens, and the comfort of everyday Milwaukee life.