Hard to believe that May is already over! How did that happen? We are having our first real stretch of summer weather and it's HOT and HUMID! Ethan and I have been spending a lot of time outside - going for walks or just playing in the grass. He's growing so fast and has learned a ton of stuff this month! It's hard to believe that he is the same boy I first met last December. He weighs about 18 or so pounds and has grown about another inch. He's becoming ticklish and that's really fun. He's up on his hands and knees and is rocking back and forth and threatening to crawl any minute. We are SO not ready for that!! He is also learning to sit by himself although he's still pretty unstable and tips most of the time. I found out that he LOVES swings. There are a couple of really good parks right around our house that have baby swings and he just can't stop smiling on them! We also took our first longish (4 1/2 hours) car ride to Detroit to visit with family. Ethan was the belle of the ball and I enjoyed getting to share him with everyone.

I went to my first all day Saturday game day this month. Boy was that fun! It's a really nice group of people and I am hoping to make some good friends there. I also went to a play of a former Math teacher with one of my old high school buddies (hi steve!). It was not a great play (interesting, but a little heady for my tastes) and the meat manicotti before the play was more like meat log covered in ragu, but I still had a great time!! I got to see another friend stopping through town and we got to eat the best pizza on the planet, Gino's East. It was nice to catch up and Ethan was quite a trooper in rush hour traffic.

It may look like a lot, but that only accounts for three days this month. I am realizing that I need more social interaction and am really starting to miss having a group of close, local friends. It just seems to be taking forever to meet new people. And while I keep telling myself that I have been mostly underground for the year and that it takes times to cultivate new friendships, that doesn't seem to make a difference to the part of me that wants them NOW! So I am getting proactive again in a sort of shotgun kind of way. I am going to start looking around to find a church where I feel comfortable. I've gotten in touch with the local "parents without partners" group and will be going to an orientation this coming month. I am looking into what it would take to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity a couple Saturdays a month. And I have been scoping out the mom's at my play class and getting phone numbers for possible lunch dates. Peggy Whitmore even gave me the phone number of some of her friends here that she thinks I'd enjoy - it almost feels like a blind date! It really takes something to meet people when you work at home! But I know there are people here that I will connect with just as ther! e have been everywhere I've lived - it's just a matter of finding them. So wish me luck and happy hunting and I'll report back next month!!

Thanks to everyone for all the leads I got for Lumpy. He is now living on a farm in Woodstock, IL with three other outside cats. There is a barn to stay warm in and lots of good places to play and hide. I just got a report this week saying that he hid out most of the first day but that he had adjusted by the second and is very happy. I was also told that one of the other cats brought home three kittens that had been abandoned and that Lumpy adopted one as his own. It's nice to know that he is well taken care of and is adjusting to his new home. And it is also nice to know that my carpet cleaning efforts are no longer in vain! Leia has been noticeably clingy, but I think that will probably pass as time goes on. Lumpy was around her whole life and I know that would be hard on me too. So thanks again for all your help!