I have certainly been busy bee the last few days.I have been diligently working on my green hats, Deedee's spiral tube socks (these are coming out so cute) and shopping. I have gotten a digital camera (yay), a bike trailer, veggies for my garden, fabric to make the kids shirts and pants for next winter, and the biggest of all, at least for James, was a brand new bike and helmet.

Today went very well. He was a little hyper with Kathy but he was so excited about his bike. He got to ride it there (we only live 15 minutes from the clinic) and he just had to tell her about it. He first saw it when he and I went to buy the bike trailer but I told him we would have to talk to his father first. When we went back to look at it, I was prepared to tell James no because I thought it would be at least $100 more than it turned out being. So we walked out with a new bike on the condition that James also pick out a new helmet. He settled on one with flames. What I thought was cool was that because we bought the helmet with the bike, and it was considered an accessory, we got 15% off and we have free maintenance on it for six months. We certainly didn't get that kind of service at Wal Mart. He calls his bike his motorcycle bike; it looks like a motor bike. When Charles gets home, we plan on taking him down to pick out a bike for himself as well. He needs one and we can't just give him James' old one like we had planned. It's just fallen apart. We've had it for over two years, James has only really in truly ridden it the last 8 months so it shouldn't be falling apart already.

He also had fun with Betsy. We rode home real quick after his appointment with Kathy. We didn't have enough time to ride/walk there so we had to drive. He was really disappointed that he was unable to ride his bike. I had a quick conference with his teachers to write a new IEP and then I was off to pay bills. I paid off the tires that my father had bought me. I was hoping for time to go to the Needle Nook as well, but with the IEP conference I only had time to go turn around and go back to the school. So, I parked outside, turned some good music on, and knitted on Deedee's sock for 10 minutes until it was time to go in to get James.

We stopped and got something to eat real quick and then, the highlight of James' day. We stopped at the pet store so James could get some more neon tetra's, as well as a new plecostomus. I got a bit annoyed that a 10 minute stop took over 20. No one asked if I needed any help. I finally went looking and found everyone clustered around the front check out counter, just talking. Bleh...... We also walked out with a cool little aeration goody (a skelly hiding in a barrel) and a little pirate treasure set. There were little gold dubloons, tiny piles of gold coins, hearts, oysters with pearls in them, treasure chests, etc. It looks really cool against the new black substrate that James also picked out. The pirate stuff was supposed to be put up for his upcoming pirate birthday party. I figured I would hide it when we got home, and he'd forget all about it. Wrong. I had cleaned the tank in preparation for adding the new critters. The water had all been removed and I had just laid the fresh layer of substrate down. While I went to get the water, James proceeded to decorate his tank by himself. I didn't have the heart to take the stuff away. He looked so excited and proud of himself.

I don't know why it took me so long to finally getting it through my head to stop shopping at Wal Mart. I had been brainwashed into believing that was the only place I could find everything I needed as well afford. We haven't been in Wal Mart in over 2 months. (little dance for joy). Shopping at other stores around town has made me discover a ton of neat stuff. For instance, not only do I usually get great help at our local pet store, they have a much wider selection, the animals are cared for better, and the people know what they're talking about! So yeah, Wal Mart is evil. Don't shop there. :D

Oimelc/Imbolc went very well. Spring is on her way. I saw/heard two flocks of geese heading North today. I'm so excited. I had my own small ritual at home and the kids also learned about groundhogs. And then my group had a small ritual. No, we don't style ourselves a coven. We're just a group of like minded people that enjoy learning from each other once a month. We all had fun weaving Brigid's Crosses. We also enjoyed a bottle of my father in law's wine. He owns a local winery, Camas Prairie Winery. (yes, shameless promotion.) His wine is wonderful and while I have tried several of them, there are still a few that I haven't. I bought one bottle of Domestic Goddess for the occasion. I had never tried it before and I have a new favorite. It's lovely; smooth and sweet with a very small bite. I have a trend going. I noticed all of my favorite wines seem to be sweet and/or desert wines. Everyone was excited that I brought it. It's not often any of us can afford the wine, although, it's well worth the price. I mean, just the knowledge that it was made in the back of the store makes it special.