Annie Peterson: I live in Kansas City

I know I haven't written in a few days, and I know how annoying that can be if you, as a reader, are anything like I am as a reader. I can't stand it when people don't update their blogs FIVE TIMES A DAY (nobody actually does that except me on rare occasions). My absence the last week is unexplainable. My only demand is: don't blame me! Blame...ummm...not me.

Today I realized that I have lived in three cities. Chicago, Tacoma, and Kansas City. Three whole cities in three totally different places in the country. If I had just moved from Chicago to Gurnee to Crystal Lakes, now that would be a fake three cities... But I have really lived in three separate places! How exciting.

One interesting thing about living in Kansas City is that you spend much of your time in two different states. Everyone always seems to ask me how it is living in Kansas, and I tell them "I don't know. I live in Missouri." The city is divided by a street called...guess...State Line Road! Badoink.

I live in Missouri, but babysit in Kansas. Usually this is just a fun thought to think about, but sometimes, such as when it comes down to businesses (aka TAXES) and such, it actually makes a difference which side of State Line Road you're on. I just realized that HyVee and Blockbuster are probably in Kansas, while Target and Chipotle, just a ways down on the road, are in Missouri. This morning I wondered if the sales tax rates are different. Maybe if I had shopped at the Gap in Kansas it would have cheaper.

This seems to really become an issue in adoption. I just read a blog of an IHOP couple who have just adopted a baby, but are waiting for the papers to be totally completed. The baby was born in Kansas, though, and so they are camping out at someone else's house because their house is in Missouri! If they took the baby over the state line, it could be considered kidnapping. Now that is weird. They just have to shimmy across one by one for the various things they have to do at home or at IHOP, but they can't bring the baby across that road. So interesting.

Meanwhile, my friends the Bohlenders are enjoying their new baby girls. (one of them is named Anna! Jump for joy! :) Check out Randy's blog for pictures and video. The girls are SO adorable and I have been un-ashamedly plugging myself in as a possible babysitter.

Let's see...to update you on the week of blogs I missed...

I did a photo shoot! My friend Jessica is a photographer, and is in process of doing various practice sessions to build a portfolio! We went to Loose Park, which is this gorgeous massive area of green grass and flowers and fountains and then we tried to go to the Plaza but ended up just driving around and around looking for a parking space (you would have thought you were in downtown Chicago only...worse) and ended up having to give up. We had unknowingly scheduled our shoot for the opening day of the Annual Art Festival. I never knew KC was SO enthralled by such things.

I bought some new pajamas. This means a lot. I have been wearing the same pajamas since my first summer in Tacoma before Ariel turned one. And she's turning four on Thursday. That is a long time to be wearing the same pajamas. I think there should be a song about that.

Anyways, I went to Gap and splurged a little bit on some of the comfiest pants in the whole wide world. I. love. them.

AND I got a scarf. I have been really wanting a scarf for a few weeks now, and I finally got on at Gap!! Yay for Gap.

Saturday was Ariel's birthday party! We all went to Chick-fil-A (I love Chick-fil-A, I really do) and the kiddos played in the play place and had chicken nuggets, and I made the cake, and met some new people, and we all had a blast!

Here is the cake I made! It was Strawberry and Chocolate inside, just like the birthday girl asked:

Reason #267 why it's good that I'm skinny...I usually end up accompanying those little ones that don't want to go by themselves up into the jungle gym. Let me tell you it is HARD to wrangle all my length of legs and arms in those small spaces: