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Hey everyone,

It's been a long week for us. Juice is still trying to adjust to his new work/school schedule. It's hard on him to have to be up so late every night. But he seems to be enjoying his classes so far. But I rarely seem him on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays so you'll have to ask him for sure. But he says he likes it and I'll take that at face value. :)

On the nights that Juice has school, I spend most of it walking the dog and playing with her. It's nice to have some company when he's gone. Soot's favorite toy right now is a small red dog that we got at her vet's office. The receptionists put that small red dog on a leash and loves to chase it around. Especially when you swing it. Well last night, the leash broke! Poor thing was chewed through. But it didn't stop Soot from running around the house with that red dog in her mouth. She loves it that much. Another favorite toy is an empty plastic milk carton. You know, the gallon ones with the handles? She loves carrying it around the house and stalking it. She'll drop it, walk away, turn around, crouch, and the pounce on it. Behold the mighty hunter! Get that milk jug!

We didn't do much this weekend. I went out and bought a new suitcase with my birthday money. We went to the outlet mall in Virginia called Potomac Mills. (www.potomacmills.com) It's a huge place! And it's a major tourist trap. It even has a foreign money exchange center in the mall. Amazingly enough. But they have really great stores like Off Saks 5th Ave and the Nordstrom Rack. I got a really nice suitcase for about 65 dollars. It's bright blue, and has a bunch of little pockets on the inside. My favorite thing is that they have a plastic pocket sewn into the liner to put your 'wet' things in. Very cool.

I've had a cold the past few days and it's been driving me nuts. I know exactly where I got it. A few Sundays ago, Hannah, one of my sunbeams, was talking to me and I couldn't hear her. So I got closer to hear better and she sneezed right in my face! Eww! I'm sure that's where this cold came from since I'm normally a fairly healthy person. Ah well...At least it's a fairly mild cold. It just means I've been sleeping a lot, and I stayed home from work on Thursday to nurse my poor health. I'm happy to report that my health is getting better now. :)

The weather has been beautiful the past few days. We had Hurricane Ivan come through and apparently did a lot of damage in Virginia with tornadoes and floods. We just had a lot of rain and wind, but nothing too serious. We were lucky. But since then, the weather has been nice, mid 70s and sun shining! And it's not too hot. It feels like a very nice crisp fall day today. I even had to wear my jacket this morning. Yay!

Love you all,
Safire and Juice