Monday, July 28, Murphy and I went with some of my coworkers to a chuckwagon. One of the by-products of ethanol is feed, or distillers. It comes in dry or modified-wet form. One of the truck drivers that gets a lot of distillers has a chuckwagon and participates in contests in South Dakota. Everything has to be authentic. So that night, he cooked for us. It was really good. There was some sort of meat that I didn't eat along with vegetables, corn bread, and upside down pineapple dessert. Being a dessert lover, that was my favorite part. Murphy's favorite part was chasing the chickens and kitties. It made me homesick for farm life. I just don't see Rob ever being a farmer. Not even a hobby farmer. No cows either. I'm not even sure I can get him to live in the country. I've told him all the wonderful things about living in the country but in his mind, you just miss out on all the action if you live in the country. Someday, maybe.
We had a post placement visit the next day. Erin, I hope you never plan a quick trip to our house. It was the first time she'd been here and the first chance I had to show her all the stuff we bought in Colombia. Murphy's Gotcha Day gifts, her clothes, her room... I kept saying "Oh I have to show you this..." Good thing she knows me by now and we get along so well! I have no idea when the next visit will be. I've read on other people's blogs that they don't like them but I actually do. It gives us a chance to talk about Murphy and not everyone wants to hear us gush about her for hours!
My mom's sister turned 50 on the 29th, so we had a little surprise party for her that weekend in Winner, where she lives and teaches Art at the high school. My aunt and uncle planned to go down there. She knew that part. She didn't know others were coming. My mom picked up Murphy and me Friday afternoon and I filled her car way full. We were a little late because I had to take the babysitter home get our stuff loaded. On the way there, Murphy needed a nap but over her dead body was she going to take one. My mom ended up singing to her for quite a while before she finally fell asleep. Another aunt and uncle met us down there and we walked into Karyl's house together. She was quite surprised. Little did she know her friends had a party planned for that night. We all went out to eat and then we had to get her to the bar. We decided that someone would suggest taking her for a drink and the three men would take the kids home. (Her son is six.) But actually the men would drive around the block while we got her to the bar. We walked into the bar and it was packed. First of all, it was right before the Sturgis Rally and there is also alot of people on their way. And then it was Hawaiian night at the bar. She wanted to turn around and go home because it was so crowded. By the time we got to the back, she figured out there was a party. The men arrived shortly after. We only stayed for a little bit and then some of us went home. Jeremy and Karyl stayed a little longer since the party was for her. Saturday we played cards for a very long time. I had to play for church on Sunday so we ended up coming home on Saturday. It was a fun weekend. But for future reference I should remember to shower and have on decent clothes any weeekend around my birthday.
The next week was a busy one for us. Rob had a school conference in Sioux Falls so Murphy and I went with him. We left on Wednesday and didn't have any time to relax the whole time we were there! We stayed in a great motel (that oddly only has full sized beds) with a swimming pool and we weren't there long enough to enjoy it! Thursday I spent the entire day in the mall trying to find the perfect white dress for her to wear for her one-year pictures. Yeah, I was a little late. Finally I found one at the Gap; the first store I'd been in and hadn't seen it. So then I had to return everything else I'd found "just in case I didn't find a white dress". We met our friends Rahn, Maria, Keely, and Kalla at Chevy's for supper that night. We miss them so much! They lived right across the street from us in Elk Point and we spent quite a bit of time with them. Rahn and Rob coached football together so they had to watch game tape after every game. Until like 3:00 in the morning. I taught Keely piano. Kalla loves Rob (and the kitties). After we moved she literally didn't speak to me because I took them away from her. Maria and I shopped together (even the day after Thanksgiving one year!), drank coffee and wine together. Rob and Maria could hang out. Rahn and I could hang out. It was just that kind of friendship. I don't think we'll ever find that again and we miss them SO MUCH! After supper we went to our friends Leroy and Denita's house. Murphy climbed up and down the steps. Until she fell and hit her head right where you could see it for pictures! I have to back up a little. Wednesday night Rob's sister went with us to Old Chicago to eat. We saw this lady with really cute hair. After Christy and I spent some time trying to remember it so I could get mine cut like that, I just decided to ask her if I could take a picture of it. Our husbands thought we were nuts but she said she was a hair dresser and would love it if her clients brought in pictures of what they wanted. So Friday morning I went to the girl in Tea who used to cut my hair when we lived there. I was really happy with the cut. Then I took Murphy to Harold's to have her pictures taken. The girl used a flower to make her smile. It really worked until she tried to take it away. Then she bawled. So when I changed her clothes into the white dress I'd spent the entire day looking for, she bawled because she didn't have the flower. We ended up with about six pictures in the dress and some of them she is just outright bawling. So much for the dress! The other ones turned out really well. I still haven't ordered them of course. By the time we got done, Rob was done with his conference so we had to go and get checked out of our room and head home. See why we didn't have any time to sit and relax? Saturday morning we got up and I took three of our summer babysitters to the lake. Murphy and Riley, too. The girls jet ski'd and swam. Finally I had a relaxing weekend!
She got tooth number six on the 15th. Now she has three on top and three on the bottom, but they don't match up.
On the 16th we went to the Brown County Fair in Aberdeen. I was in 4-H and spent every summer at the fair when I was young. Remember I was a farm girl so I showed sheep and steers, along with having tons of arts and crafts, sewing, photography, baking...you name it. This was in the early 80's and my cousin Brett and I would roam the fair by ourselves with no chance of being kidnapped. We even did it at the state fair. There isn't a chance now that I'd let Murphy do that. We took her on a pony ride, which she loved, and took her through the petting zoo. We didn't go on any rides. I think next year will be better for that. We met a friend of ours that we hadn't seen for years. He got married while we were in Colombia and we hadn't met his wife yet. It was nice to see him all grown up! He worked with Rob at the Zoo during college so they have plenty of stories to tell. And if you aren't from around here, the Zoo isn't a zoo. It's a bar.
School started for Rob on August 19th. It wasn't a whole lot different than the rest of the month because he'd been going in full time since July. That night I took Murphy and Riley for a walk. I'm sure it's hard to imagine but I talk the whole time. This time, though, Murphy talked back! We have a book that says "the cow says moo, the sheep says baa, three singing pigs say la, la, la". Except when I memorized it, it's silly pigs, not singing. So anyway, she said moo, baa, and la, la, la. She actually said la, la, la all the time after that. She's never picked up on anything else in the book. Maybe I said those first few pages more than the others.
I swear she's a brain child. She picks things up so quick. On the 21st, Roxie asked her to point to her nose and she did. So besides moo, baa, and la, la, la, she points to her nose a lot.
That week, our dishwasher quit, so we ended up getting a new one. Not what I wanted to spend my money on but it's better than washing them by hand!
On the 28th, I picked Murphy up from daycare and noticed a bite on her forehead, which wasn't really uncommon. That night she was playing with Riley and tripped and fell. She didn't cry but within minutes, her head had swelled up tremendously and we freaked out a little. We ended up taking her to the emergency room and found out that she'd been stung, not bitten. The stinger was still in her head but the poison hadn't been triggered until she fell on it. The PA pulled out the stinger and her head went back to normal size. It never really even bothered her. We could push on it and she didn't even flinch.
I can't forget to mention Riley. She's doing well. Still kind of a pain. Still peeing on the floor. But we love her.
So there's August. Our life gets a little busier once school starts. There are so many activities to go to. I choose not to go to all of them. It's way too much. More from September soon!
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