my latest invention

I am designing a line of paperclip belly button rings for myself. It's really pretty fun! I am currently wearing a three-leaf clover with a curly-cue on the bottom. Yes, this is what needle-nose pliers were invented for!

In other news, I am now twenty-four and back from my weekend of selling fireworks. Boy I miss Josh already, but c'est la vie and life goes on.

Thank you to everyone up in Visalia, Orosi, and Parlier who made me feel so loved on my birthday. Special thanks to Ross for my Happy Birthday Giraffe Poodle balloon.

Some of the highlights of my birthday at the fireworks stand - Ross (Josh's 12-year-old cousin) and I hung out a lot. I got a really fun glock-style bb gun for my birthday (from Josh)and that was a blast. Ross made balloon animals for the customers while I finished up the blanket I've been making for Sam. (It's done btw). So I was on my last row and Ross - the sweetest 12-year-old boy ever - got tired of making balloon animals. So like all sweet twelve-year-old boys, he started shooting them and killing them with his staple gun instead. I thought that was great fun, but that it could be improved on. In the end we staple-gunned the balloon animals to an empty box behind the booth and shot them dead from twenty paces with my bb gun. On other fun topics, we also convinced Jerry (Josh's 40 something 2nd cousin) that the bb's were $30 a bottle instead of the $4 that they are, and we had him picking up all the bb's from the ground. It was really really really funny until he got tired of it and told Ross to pick them up. Honestly! What's a sweet 12-year-old boy to do?

I would also like to thank Uncle Todd for NOT eating a Boston milkshake while I was in the stand with him. (Uncle is very lactose intolerant). He'll eat one later on this week while he's sharing the stand with Josh. Betch'a Josh'll miss me then! There are nothing like smelly men to make other smelly men want more women around! impish grin!

I would also like to say, for the record, that Miles (Jerry's four year old son) is the most hyper-active little boy I have ever seen and I have no idea how Cathy (now pregnant with child #2) keeps up with him. Yes, some women are just amazing.

Thanks so much to Mom and Dad Y. for the great food and loving hospitality! You guys are just awesome! Cheers!