"If you think it's hot here" signed, God (marquee of the Bellevue Assembly of God church, Nashville)

Hi! I'm here, and not in the clutches of pentecostals with a dark sense of humor. Did make me laugh, though, because guess what? It's HOT in the South! I know, not a big revelation, especially in August. I met my next door neighbor after about a week and asked if it was a really quiet street - we hadn't seen any kids out on the swingsets or barbeques in the backyards. Turns out they just have the sense to stay inside when it's this hot.

Riley had his first swimming lesson this morning. Very cool except for one thing. Have you heard of the trick whereby you say "1 - 2 - 3" and then blow in the baby's face before dunking them briefly? This is supposed to make them take a quick breath and close their mouth. No such luck. It makes Riley really happy and excited and he opens his mouth extra wide for a chlorinated surprise. Poor baby! What's your crazy mother doing dunking you! So we will be trying to encourage fish lips and kissing motions instead I guess. Any other ideas are welcome. Other than that I think he really enjoyed it. Going back tomorrow through Thursday.

Also, thrilling, Riley is perfecting the art of walking like a drunken sailor (his first steps were on Saturday the 31st right before we moved). He seems to have simply waited to walk (he's 16 months) until he could do it without falling over too much. He does fall, but more often than not, he rebalances himself, squats or changes direction. He still doesn't go very far without at least one anchor point, but he walked all the way from the YMCA locker rooms to our car in the parking lot holding on to just one hand, which I think is pretty impressive.

We have a mini-van. I am now a mini-van mama. 2003 Honda Odyssey with double power sliding doors. It's got some other stuff too, but that was the important thing. They say it's grey, but it looks very underwater-colored to me. Oh, and the salesman did actually say "we'll get 'er done" when bringing back his manager's acceptance of our offer. Hee-hee.

Moving in still going slowly, but we now have a fridge. Excuse me, did I say a fridge? I mean a MECHANICAL MONSTER OF GARGANTUAN PROPORTIONS!!! But, well, it is a nice fridge, so there. You just have to watch yourself when walking past it, because you might
be captured and put in the "grocery saver" quick freeze.

Breezy's doing really well with work - overwhelmed, but he's having fun, so there you go. Worth it! Went to church for first time on Sunday at Bellvue Community Church. The message was great, but we were kind of blown away by the bazillion television screens
(this church may be a little too post-modern and short-attention-span for us) and the worship team singing "All Star" (also known as "Theme from Shrek") when we came in. Weird. Also, not so much participation in worship and watching the worship show (well, it is Nashville, I guess). But really really good speaker, sooooo...

Anyway, I shouldn't stay up too late. Kickboxing drills, Riley's swim lesson, and the Edwin Warner Nature Center tomorrow. Plus, Riley's been waking up a lot at night. He goes back to sleep again well, especially after some Tylenol. I think it's his teeth. Maybe we'll get a real nap in tomorrow, and I can unpack some more. Our house is land of boxes. The really frustrating thing? I finally finished re-reading the 5th Harry Potter book, and can't remember where I packed the 6th one. Sufficient unto the day.