rock stars!!!!
yes, people, that is what we were last night!
it was so much fun--everyone went all out in their costumes and were easy to identify (except for one girl, who was from siouxie and the banshees, which only matt guessed correctly---of course---so she didn't have to buy any drinks or do any embarrassing thing in public)! we also had sonny and cher, billy idol, the blues brothers, coolio, and matt and i were billy ray cyrus and cyndi lauper. when we went out, people were so into us. everyone laughed at us (especially matt with his mullet and eddie--who normally has a totally shaved head--in his sonny outfit) and chatted with us. it was really fun to be someone who was recognizable because people would say, "hey cyndi!!!" as i walked by. to commemorate this evening, matt and i will make a cd including at least one song from each person's character!

matt and i had a cookout planned for the two of us on the beach today. he's still sleeping, though. and it's cloudy. therefore, i won't wake him up until the sun comes out. which is fine because i need to do some laundry and get the guest room ready for mary and casey's visit on wednesday. mare, we'll get the padres tickets for friday--and real seats are totally fine--any preference of section? i can't wait to see bo at dog beach!!!!!! we have to be subtle with him at our place, though, because we're really not allowed to have him here. but there's a great place for him to run in the field behind our place and also a fenced in dog run just across the street, if he still requires physical boundaries :)

about "the village":
you guys all have me excited about it now.
but, justin--would it be too scary for me? remember after we watched "stir of echos"? it was nice to have you telling me when a freaky part was coming in "the sixth sense", too (which i really liked).
also, my friend from junior high, judy (evans) greer was in it. she was the blondish chick who was also in the wedding planner, adaptation, and also recently played the secretary on arrested development. just a fun fact!

and anyone who wants to have a baby someday should read michelle's blog, about that hannah peanut being able to communicate through sign language before she can use actual words! thye use an awesomely created program by a speech therapist designed so that normal-ha! people can teach their babies how to use simple signs to communicate (called babysign). babies can learn gestures typically before they learn to speak and if you teach them a few signs before they start talking, research has shown that they will typically say their first words earlier, and have a much larger expressive vocabulary (even at ages 2 and 3) than babies who have not been exposed to sign language. plus, michelle and ryan know what she wants and don't have to guess why she is crying (if it even gets to that point, which it usually doesn't). it's something i've always planned to do with my babies and it is so fun to see ryan and michelle doing it with hannah and seeing it work so well. it was also awesome to be in home (cincy/ky) when she learned "milk" and "all done"--you can literally see her little brain working--so amazing! the best was when grammy was feeding hannah a bottle and the entire time she was just laying there, all relaxed, except for her tiny fat hand signing "milk" the whole time she was drinking! well that's enough auntie tracey talk from me!

but my hand was made strong by the hand of the Almighty...
-bob marley