Not Letting the Mean People Win

I got to start the day with a rather nasty email from one of the "don't paint that" crowd, followed by an email from ebay that I am violating policy by linking to this blog (they are supposed to tell me if I can keep the link or not later), all before the coffee is even brewed. Still, I've decided to count my blessings rather than my irritations, so here is the good stuff--


Last night, we took the girls to the Dubuque County Fair to see Bridgit Mendler. For those without teen and tween girls in their home, she is a Disney star from Good Luck Charlie, and she gave a really nice concert, good to see a happy concert with good music and good values. My husband's mom had dinner for us before the concert, very nice of her, as we had to run out before the dishes were done. His dad always saves all his newspapers and shipping boxes for me, so I have a carload of shipping supplies still to unload from the car.

This morning, as I'm on hold with ebay, the girls made breakfast and even got out the little espresso pot and made us iced lattes that we added chocolate peppermint syrup to, it was pretty darn good, and just another little reminder of how lucky I am that my children and I found each other from across the planet. Who would guess a poor girl from Iowa would end up travelling to China to meet the loves of her life? All in all, I think I have it pretty good! Here are the girls in "pretend Italy", our hotel in Florida when we went on vacation.