what I did on my summer vacation

This weekend, Mercer set off for the Volunteer State to do some presentin' and some conferrin'. He had the pleasure of seeing Tom and Ethan and some whacky-sounding orb and some schmo writers (just kidding, I'm sure they were all lovely). Then he got to haul back to Greensboro, arrive at 4, and leave immediately thereafter for his job-which-shall-remain-nameless, leaving me to lollygag and post a verbose and uninteresting synopsis of my weekend, which I shall do posthaste. Yay!

The upshot of this babydaddy absence was that my mama, and then my dad and sister, paid a visit a) just to be familial and b) to make sure I didn't have to enlist the assistance of the incredibly kindly neighbors if I went into labor. Well, that didn't happen, but we did some other pretty cool stuff. For example, we got all these pictures hung, a task I had been putting off doing since the landlord had picture molding installed in December. My mama works in art and is very precise and my dad's a good knot-tier. And I'll be damned if I ain't good at chanting "to da left, to da left, to da right, to da right."

We went to a gardening supply store and bought seeds and, well, gardening supplies, and also get this: a damn lawnmower! A true recognition of the fact that hopefully we will have lawns in years to come. Now, I'm not asking for anything particularly green or extravagant or high-maintenance when it comes to lawns, but it's nice to have a little bit of outdoorsy space immediately available. My dad also brought me a box shipped direct from China containing what may be one of the coolest gifts we have received to date (though they have all been amazing in their own right):
See, my dad and his friend John traveled to China over a year ago and in one city hired a young tour guide who was studying English. She just got married and emailed him all these amazing photos featuring the happy couple in all these different outfits in front of a variety of backdrops. Anyhow, she was so pleased to hear that Ellery was having a grandson that she embroidered a pillow for the baby--if it's not clear, the inscription reads "Baby Angel, Feb 2008." So sweet! What's more, she sent the baby a card wishing him "health, wisdom, optimism, and good looks." Here's hoping! Her penmanship, btw, is way, way, way better than mine. While her Chinese name is LiFeng, she selected the English name Jane because her favorite book is Jane Eyre. I was very touched by this gift. Audie, on the other hand, was nonplussed and didn't even want to acknowledge embroidered dog.

Final pic: bump watch! Though now it's more of a small geographic feature than a bump. I'm beginning to recognize the utility of maternity clothes, of which I did not invest in many. Many of which I did not invest? In? Anyhow, they're so's you don't look like a slob with half yer belly poking out at all times. What's more, I have quite the bootydoo.

Not familiar with the vernacular? It's when your belly sticks out more than your booty do.

Damn, I'm eating a container o yogurt and I didn't realize it was fruit on the bottom 'til I got to the bottom and found the fruit. Next time I gotta dig harder. What am I supposed to do with this?

PS I ate it.