Aya hug dat, panic shopping, and Obama Overload. . .

Aidan has this funny thing he says when he really likes something which is "Aya hug dat!" He says it a lot, so I guess he likes a lot of things: "Aidan, do you want some grapes?" "Aya hug grapes!" "Aidan, do you want to ride your bike?" "Aya hug bike!" "Let's get your coat on." "Aya hug Aidan's jacket!" Yes, he says it just like that. So, I should be happy he say, and a lot, "Aya hug Mommy!"

Hugging the brown bear Cousin Max gave Aidan for Christmas:


I collect gift cards. I love them. I get them for my birthday and for Christmas all the time. I love being able to shop, preferably online, for whatever I want when I want it. It's great. I had 2 from Crate and Barrel and 3 from William Sonoma, until today that is. They totalled a fair amount of money, too. But, with the economy the way it is, I was beginning to fear keeping gift cards around for too long. What if the store went under???? Then, yesterday, came the news that Circuit City was going into LIQUIDATION. I don't ordinarily shop at Circuit City, but it just seems like another huge sign of the times that this, seemingly strong store, would now go from reorganization bankruptcy of just a couple of months to liquidation. And, so I panicked about my gift cards. . .

This morning I got up and determined I was going shopping today. At the Mall. It was only 2 degrees outside this morning, but I was determined. So, this afternoon, I bundled up and headed off to the Mall to spend my gift cards. . .The Outlet Mall, and spend them I did. I still have a little left on one William Sonoma card, but I can quickly dispatch that very soon. . .did I mention that it was an outdoor mall??? Man, it was COLD!!!

And, now, finally, we have officially stopped watching the news for a few days. We are in Obama Overload to the max! Living so near Washington, D. C. has many perks. However, our news tends to be pretty much National news and so we have heard nothing but news of the "Historic Obama Innaguration" for the past week and we still have a few days to go! I am mean nothing else! This morning there was even a countdown of the hours until the swearing in ceremony. . .You would think that no one has ever been elected President before!

I was actually mildly interested for a while. Until, that is, we were told that all of the bridges from Virginia into D. C. were being closed sometime Monday night/Tuesday morning. Do you suppose they realize that we, in Virginia, now feel as though we have been shut out??? Not that we were going to go anywhere near the city on Tuesday, but seriously!

Change. We'll see. . .