First off, I'm having my coffee while Ted's beside me reading the paper (that I read already), then get ready for all the kids (minus Nick, of course) and my parents who are coming for a barbecue.

Yet to be done? The doggie-do pick-up, wash the garden furniture, hang the hammock, set the tables, prepare the vegetables, go to Mike's new apartment and take him some odds and ends, finish up his kitchen organising, drive him here, try to find a store that's open (need more ice cream) and pray that it doesn't rain.

We have for years had a whole bunch of people over for Labour Day, but this year, because it's been so hard emotionally with my mother's condition, it's only family and one close friend. I'll post some pictures of our day tomorrow.

I'm very upset with my husband. Gabi's birthday is in 3 days, and I wanted to take the train to Chicago to the American Girl Store. Today would have been the perfect day to go, and then we could have gone to Navy Pier for lunch

But he claims we need to stop spending money, blah, blah, blah. AND yet it's ok when he wants to do expensive things like go to the race track and bet on horses!

I'll make him suffer, we'll just sit around the house and be bored!

A new school year begins today here and for the first time in ages we don't have THAT as a consideration, except for Mike, but it's a bit different since he's teaching and that doesn't begin until next week. So I'm still in summer mode.

Tina, like Jojo said, smack him.

Shelly, we don't have traditional foods for the holiday - yesterday we had marinated pork tenderloin and grilled chicken, a bunch of grilled vegetables, 2 salads and key lime pie (frozen from the A&P), all washed down with wine and cranberry juice cocktails, strawberries and chips. It was yummy and the kitchen mess was lots of fun (not).

No camera. Mike has the only working one in the whole family at the moment and he forgot to bring it. I still haven't replaced mine but I will soon. There's a linen sale coming up that has 600 count sheets for $55 and I plan on stocking up. Once that visa bill has come and gone, it's camera time. (It's always something, eh?)

ooh, I would like some sheets like that. Though with our next big check I am getting a new bed...YAh Vinnie reenlists soon and with it will come lots of money to pay off bills.

And tha pork tenderloin sounded really good

Forget the sheets -- we need a new mattress!

Now that my husband has had his spinal surgery, I'm considering getting two single mattresses instead of one king-sized mattress, and putting them together on the king bed. Then, I could just cover them with the king mattress cover, and linens. We haven't gone mattress hunting yet, but I imagine that, at this stage, he's going to want something a little firmer than I might...

I'm not looking forward to visiting all the mattress stores, and taking turns lying on the various beds. What a bore!

A couple of years ago we bought a new pillow top mattress and we LOVE it, absolutely love it. I even tossed the featherbed down to the guest room - don't need it any more. We had to buy all new fitted sheets with the extra deep (what do you call the part that tucks under the side??? - ack) thingies and that's when we went with super high thread count, 800 I think. They were really expensive and I wondered if I was nuts for doing it, but I can't recommend them enough.

Now, given the choice of luxury sheets or a new wardrobe, I'd go for the sheets, lol. I'm hopelessly hooked, and so is my family. It's really worth the extra expense, honestly.

Moore, mattress shopping is no fun, I know. But sheet shopping IS. You'll need a treat after all that testing. My d-i-l and friend are heading out tomorrow morning, visa cards all dusted off, to the clearance sale. And duvet covers are on sale, too. Yeah!