sketchy neighbors, baby veggies, and weaning pain

so this posting will be on an assortment of topics, in no particular order.

incidentally, we had a hot and sunny 4th of july weekend, filled with gardening, splashing around in cool water, hiking among the mozzies, parade watching, and sand, rock, grass and ice cream eating. (well, only aubrey ate the sand, rocks and grass, tempted though i was.) yippee!

sketchy neighbors

we live in a teeny tiny town in VT, right in the village. we are slowly getting to know our neighbors, after a long and snowy winter where everyone was holed up inside. however, we are having a hard time figuring out what is going on in the house immediately to our south. there seems to be at least one responsible adult who lives there most of the time, but not usually on weekends. we have met her and she is very nice. it seems that her younger sister also lives at the house, but i'm not sure where/who we heard that from. she (younger sister) occasionally says hello, but has not introduced herself.

then there are several young men who also live in the house. or maybe there is just one young man. we're not sure...there is always a rotating ensemble of vehicles in the driveway, and the men/man who live there all look the same...black knit ski cap worn almost always (even in 90 degree july weather!), baggy pants, oversized polo or t-shirt. kind of ghetto-style in the sticks, you know? we know there are at least two guys that live/frequently visit at the house, because one weekend younger sister had a little party, and there were TWO guys there...and they suspiciously looked alike. now we aren't sure which one lives there.

anyhoo, on to the really sketchy part: yesterday, at approximately 8:45 am, I watched one of the mystery men exit the house and make for the back yard, cigarette in one hand, and a 24 oz. can of bud lite in the other. um, breakfast drink of champions? yer.

i suppose i sound a bit like a nosey parker, don't i? it's not hard to spy on the neigbors, when their front door is RIGHT outside our kitchen windows.

baby veggies

garden update: we are slowly conquering the weeds in the garden! we are about to harvest our first lettuce crop, and there are baby veggies of all sorts! we have several baby tomatoes growing in the sunshine; a baby zucchini hidden under the leaves; several tiny baby cukes growing happily; a few teeny sweet italian peppers; and lots and lots of basil. we will be making a batch of pesto soon, i think.

weaning issue

so i finally cut out the last breast feeding session yesterday. actually, i didn't do it on purpose...we had a very busy morning and i simply forgot to nurse aubrey (who didn't care in the slightest). i managed to make it through the day with minimal consequences. however, i woke up this morning feeling a little...um...tender. by mid morning, i was pretty uncomfortable, so i pumped just under an ounce from each side. just enough to ease that omigod i'm gonna explode feeling. i am still pretty full, though. very unpleasant, and considering my track record for plugged ducts, i am a bit frightened. i guess i thought this final stage of weaning would be effortless. maybe it is for some folks? i dunno. i hope that the next few days go smoothly. ouch.