I am so disappointed in our passport application process so far for Henry. We went to the USPS in Schaumburg that advertises that passport services will be available from 10-2 on Saturday. We arrived at the passport station at 12:15PM on Saturday thinking that over 1 1/2 hours would be plenty of time to get Henry's passport app approved. We were wrong b/c apparently only 4 application can be processed in that amount of time and the two ladies who were working the passport app desk had placed a handmade "Passport Closed" sign on the edge of their table to indicate that they weren't open, but actually I think it meant that they would not be taking more applications that day. So when we asked if there were other POs nearby, they responded that they didn't know. Secretly we knew there were not other POs nearby with passport app. processing. The real pain in the butt is that both Martin and I have to appear with Henry. So instead of going to rudeville again we will try again with Henry on Saturday at the local PO.

Also I have always been a closet fan of Samantha Brown's travel shows until I realized that her shows always have her doing stuff that NO ONE would ever get to do on a normal vacation. Flying in a stunt plane in Key West? Meeting Kinky Friedman in Austin? Joining a c&w band in Nashville? Come on! I just went on the Travel Channel website and wow, they have really pumped up the website for this gal. Of course I shouldn't complain. Her show is one of the last few on the Travel Channel that doesn't mix travel with food. I love eating when I travel as much as the next gal, but she doesn't really eat that much on her trips whereas Anthony Bourdain only cares about food. They even say on the website that she has a stylist. This woman is not travelling as light as she would have us believe! She seems like a nice person and maybe it's the fact that the show is no longer the hidden cute gem it once was. I mean, after all, she does showcase my suitcase int eh opening credits. The girl would probably be my friend on that alone.

And while I'm on the topic of channels not airing what they say they air (I gave on Mtv not airing videos a long time ago) why in the world does DIY and HGTV air only home improvement and real estate shows all day long. And most of the supposed diy shows show people ripping out entire bathrooms and laying tile and adding ac units to homes. I always thought diy might include some knitting or bedazzler how-tos. I'm just saying. Maybe there needs to be a Crafts channel that just airs Knitty Gritty, Martha Stewart and Creative Juice.

I made a Mississippi Mud cake today to celebrate my birthday on Sunday. I took pictures of the cake batter and of the two gorgeous layers I made. However in the process of looking at these pics I realized my oven is filthy. I had no idea I had ever cooked such splattery stuff, but there it was all over the place. But believe me when I say that the batter was silken. It looked a lot like chocolate mousse to be honest and if anyone ever wondered what silk might be if it was edible, this batter was it. Super easy recipe from Cooking Light a few years back. I took two liberties with the recipe: I made two layers instead of one and I used sour cream instead of the called-for buttermilk. For years I had always added vinegar to reg. milk for the old "oops this called for buttermilk" solution. Since I always have sour cream this worked out great. I put marshmallows between the layers and then made the yummy icing. I vaguely remember my mom letting me make this cake for my aunt & uncle when they came to visit us when I was in 7th grade. I think I ended up eating half the icing I made and felt extremely ill afterward. Well when something consists of powdered sugar, unsweetened cocoa and butter I guess I deserved to feel ill!

We got a big box of Halloween goodies from my mom today. I hung up the spooky hand towels and set a scary cat version of a Russian stacking doll. I am waiting to see how long it will take Martin to notice. Mom also sent Henry some adorable things, including a green knitted frog hat. The hat made Henry's casual Friday attire go from ho-hum to Rib-bit!

After watching Lady Gaga this weekend on SNL, Martin asked where she was from. I said the US to which he replied, "Well, usually when you are a Lady something there's a Lord that goes along with that." Can you imagine how fabulous it would be if there was also a Lord Gaga?

This afternoon Henry is enjoying some tummy time while I have folded clothes. It is now 5:15PM and he has not had a nap longer than 15 minutes all day. My mother says I deserve this after doing the same thing to her. He has also officially rolled over twice in the past 30 minutes. How many times does he have to do it in a row for it to be an "official" roll over mentioned in the baby book?

We are going to the new JC Penney to get Henry's picture taken tomorrow! He is not aware that this is part of our big day but I think he will be willing to pose nice for a picture. Other things we have planned tomorrow include:
*Taking Martin to the train
*buying toilet paper and baking soda
*lunch with Rhonda at Moe's
*maybe buying mums and a pumpkin for the front stoop

We did go to Dead Lobster last night to eat Endless Shrimp. It was really endless and you could mix and match the shrimp selections. When you ordered more shrimp they called it refills, which was odd because everytime they asked if we wanted refills we immediately thought of drinks.

I have been wanting to make poppyseed bread lately but I'm not sure if I even have the time. It's just a simple dump it together and mix it and then bake, so I might try that this week too.