Dear Virginia,

Note: This is about the STATE of Virginia, not my darling new sister-in-law. I like her a lot.

Dear Virginia,
I really don't like you. At all. In fact, I would have to say you are my least favorite of all the 50 states in the Union. I know you're loaded with history and charm and have quite a few selling points, but I'm really not your biggest fan right now. I even visited you once about 15 years ago and at the time, I thought you were fabulous. My opinion has changed dramatically since then. You may wonder what I have against you. Exhibit A: You stole my little sister and I want her back.

Come on, who else do you know who would play "horsey" in a dress and wedges? She's great, I'm telling you. I can't even listen to the Taylor Swift CD in my car anymore because it makes me miss her too much.

And while we're at it, I'm not such a huge fan of North Carolina, either. Garrett asks me every day where Uncle Mike is and when they can go to Chuck-E-Cheese again. We tell him Uncle Mike went far away in a big airplane, and Garrett just says that he will take Annabelle in his helicopter to visit him. Good plan. I hope they have a Chuck-E-Cheese in Chapel Hill.

Now that I've finished airing my grievances, I'll share a couple of fun stories with you. It's been one of my finer weeks since I began the journey of Motherhood.

You may notice these lovely boots covered in mud. Not just any mud--special mud. The really special kind that comes mixed with horse manure.

(This picture really doesn't do the boots justice. This is after they've been partially cleaned and rained on. They were nasty!)

Garrett is a little obsessed with this not-so-baby chick of his. He chases it everywhere and occasionally he is lucky enough to catch it.

Yesterday, I was chatting with a neighbor in the driveway while Garrett was chasing his chick and Abby was playing with the dog. (Greg was at work.) The neighbor left and I headed to the back yard to find Garrett yelling because he was stuck in the horse corral. (Going in the corral is a BIG NO-NO and Garrett has never gone in before. I guess there has to be a first--and hopefully a last--time for everything.) As many of you may know, our Spring has been what you might call "wet" and our lovely Valley is one muddy mess. I am not joking when I say the horse corral is at least one foot deep of mud and muck--I had always guessed it was disgusting, now I know.

Back to the story: Garrett is stuck in the mud and yelling because he can't get out and he needs to go potty. My mud boots are back in the house garage, but I notice a pair of Greg's close by, so I throw them on and head in after him. I take about three steps in before I also get stuck. (Seriously folks, this mud/manure mixture is at least a foot deep and I'm in boots way too big for me. Not a good combo.) The horses were on the other side of the corral to begin with, but they're surrounding us now and I'm getting a bit nervous. The sky is getting darker by the second and I'm hearing thunder and feeling raindrops. Not good. I try to wiggle my way out, but it's not happening. Ultimately, my only choice is to take my boots off, throw my socks over the fence, and walk through the sh*% barefoot so I can rescue my beloved little redhead. By the time we got out of there, he had wet his pants and we were both covered in crap from head to toe. It was lovely. (Abby was watching the whole thing from the other side of the fence and was seriously considering climbing under the fence and joining us. I was yelling at her not to come in while carrying Garrett out and climbing over the fence. Good times.)

I've had a few momentary panic attacks when I think of what could have happenend--like he could have been trampled by a horse or fallen face first in the mud and not been able to get up--but we survived and now it makes for an entertaining story. :) I really hope Garrett learned his lesson and won't be chasing his favorite chicken into the corral ever again.

One more quick story--this one is gross, but not as bad. We were heading to storytime at the library this morning when Greg called from work and really needed us to bring him some tools. Garrett LOVES the library and was bummed when I told him we weren't going, so I told him we could go to the park instead after we got done. Too bad it was a bit chilly today, so we opted for lunch at Chick-Fil-A instead. The kids had a blast playing and we made a quick stop at the potty before we left. I'm still not sure what happened, but I was crouched down by Garrett while he was doing his business and somehow he totally missed and ended up wetting all. over. my. leg. Like we're talking HUGE wet spot that made it look like I had had an accident. I was really proud to walk through the restaurant and to the car looking like an idiot.

It's been a fun week. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.