Post 500!

Did you know that TODAY I'm writing my 500th post!! It completely boggles the mind. Or, at least my mind.

And I'm excited to let ya'll know that we finally have a winner of our vase giveaway! It only took me almost 3 weeks to get around to organizing this! Our winner is Ella C.! I even took the time to notify her this morning! Look at me just checking items off my to-do list!

On the facing page of my to-do list is the camping-trip checklist. It's been staring me down all week, laughing at me, as I make some small attempt to prepare for camping with a two-year-old in upstate New York, 5 hours away.

But I'm absolutely, 100%, determined to do this. I even have a real plan for packing the car with our tent, bedding, and other supplies. I bet God thinks this is hilarious.

We camped almost every year with my family when we were growing up -- in campers, cabins, tents, you name it, and I even accompanied my cousins and childhood friends on camping trips with their families. Best memories of my life! It's kind of a tradition, even though I totally bailed out of doing it when I hit my college years. Now I have a little kiddo of my own, though, and we need to start making some camping memories with her cousins. So, my parents, sister, her fiance, her three girls, me, Mark, and E, are all heading out tomorrow, camping gear in tow, to spend a weekend tenting on the banks of the St. Lawrence.

So, don't be surprised if you don't hear from me much between today and tomorrow. I'll update you from the campsite via at least 3 forms of social media. Prior to that, I'll be too busy trying to fit a soft, cushiony, cozy, memory-foam mattress in my trunk. And a cuddly comforter with pillows. And 3 different cords for my Kindle, phone, and iPad.

Stay tuned... Friday night, 6 o'clock news report: In what appears to be a freak-accident turned rescue-mission, Friday evening, a camper was found clinging to a rock off the shore of a nearby campsite, tangled in a mass of smart-phone and tablet charger wires. The woman, 31-year-old Gretchin Strange, of Vermont, was stranded for approximately 20 minutes before a local fisherman came to her rescue in his dinghy. From the shore, reporters could hear her wailing, "My iPhone... my iPhone... I think it fell in the water." Her husband, 37-year-old Mark Strange, allegedly said that he thought she most likely just left it in the women's restroom. More at 11. Here's Joel with your weekend weather... Joel: Heh, heh, thanks, Trish, sounds like that woman was looking for her
'dumb' phone, am I right?