Tonight I was trying to clean up some email folders and accidentally deleted a bunch of folders I needed. I'm so upset with myself. I was literally saying, "Step away from the computer, Jill, and let things be." Ugh. I should have stuck to cleaning the house!

Ping asked me first thing this morning what our plans were. We've been going out daily, so she assumed we had somewhere to go today. I told her we were staying home, and she was a little bummed. Just as well, since it poured for almost the entire day. Rain, drizzle, and mist are okay, but this was pouring — who wants to be out in that?

I made a ton of phone calls and got a lot of work done at my desk. I'm really pleased because Ping and I cleaned out my armoire; it needed major tidying. Ping was thrilled to help, and we straightened all of her hair bows — that took an hour!

Late this afternoon I asked Ping if I could have my ottoman so I could sit comfortably and read for a little while; I figured I'd read for 15 minutes until Bill got home. She was unwilling to part with it. She has a bean bag for TV watching, but in the last few weeks she has taken my ottoman and brought it up to the TV. Rather than insist, I went to the family room, but Miss Sophie was sleeping comfortably on the couch. I get no respect. Needless to say, I begged Ping to sit with me so we could snuggle. She went for it. I do love snuggling with her. Bill came home shortly after, and the two of them went out shopping. I watched a show that was featuring some surgery I wanted to see, and then I sat down at the computer to do a few things — and that is when I started deleting. I am such a deleter! When will I learn? Well, that is all for now. I hope you have a splendid weekend. Mama out.

Yesterday was supposed to be a very hot and humid day. Well, it ended up being pretty hot, but there wasn't any sun. That was disappointing because I took Ping to Donna's house for a swim. It's an hour there and an hour back. The least I could ask for was some sun. Ping didn't care, though. After Michael and Brad cooked some hamburgers and hot dogs, we ate and then hopped into the pool. Donna said it was too cold for her. I stayed in the pool for a good hour or so. I finally had to drag the prune-toed child out of the pool. Donna promised her some ice cream, so I was able to get her to dry off and change since she had something else that was exciting. We got home around 5:00 p.m. or so. We didn't do much for the rest of the night. I did do a lot of research on the computer for some upcoming things I would like to do. I finally crawled into bed around 2:00 a.m. Sleeping last night wasn't going to come easily. There was a fire call, so I had to listen to that entire scene unfold. Bill didn't have to go because he is on the ambulance, but we still have to listen to it. For some reason I was all twisted up in what I was wearing. Nothing was going right and I was really itchy from the awful bites. I'm not sure if it was from swimming, but my neck really hurt too. I finally fell asleep after 3:00 a.m. or so and woke up at the crack of dawn. I also woke when Bill got ready for work; Ping woke with him. She has been sleeping in lately, but not today, so sleeping this morning wasn't going to happen either. It was fine — we had plans, so I needed to be up anyway. I called Meri to confirm our plans, jumped in the shower, headed to her house, and we went to lunch. We then drove to Playtown Express off Route 495, but when we arrived they told us they were closing in 15 minutes — during the summer they close at 3:00 p.m. We had no idea and felt bad because the kids were so excited, so we jumped back into our cars, went home to West Boylston, and took the kids to our local playground. I took Ping so she could play with a new friend named Ben. I met Ben's mom, Susan, through my CASA training. I had never been to this playground, so I met Susan at a local store and followed her there. It was bright and sunny; we sat in the sun, then moved to a bench in the shade, but the sun found us after a while and we both ended up sunburned. Hopefully Ben is okay; Ping was fine — she's so lucky she tans. Neither of us remembered sunscreen. However, Susan brought plenty of juice boxes and sandwiches for the kids — clearly a thoughtful mom. I brought a drink for Ping, one for myself, and some Goldfish and fruit snacks. Ping didn’t touch the Goldfish or fruit snacks, but she loved the juice boxes and enjoyed a sandwich. Ben and Susan gave Ping an adorable pink necklace; she loved it. On the way home she kept saying it was her favorite necklace. Ping and I had a lot of fun. Next time we'll pick a shadier playground or bring sunscreen. Ping spent the rest of the afternoon watching videos while I caught up on business calls. At one point she looked at me and said, "Mama, why are you so red?"