I Can't Believe I'm Allowed To Do This.

Seriously, is this okay? My older girls have absolutely forbidden me from getting on to Facebook in any way, shape or form. I used to hack in through Abby's account, but when Ellen found out she had a fit and asked Abby why she allowed me to do that. Abby denied giving permission and they applied pressure so I agreed not to get on Facebook anymore through Abby's account, and I haven't. All my friends tell me to just get my own page, but I've been forbidden from doing that too and my own kids wouldn't add me as a friend so what's the point? The women in our ward at church all tell me how hilarious Craig's Facebook page is, but I'm in the dark on that one too. He minimizes it whenever I come into the room. (Girls, is there anything on there he wouldn't want his mother to see--besides posts from the girls at school?)

Despite the Facebook ban, my niece, Katie, who probably doesn't care in the least if I have a Facebook page or not, and Ellen, who cares a lot about the Facebook thing, have both encouraged me to start a blog instead of sending the periodic emails, so here we go.

Abby finished finals with roaring success last Wednesday. She moved into her apartment Friday, thanks to a friend who helped her get everything down the stairs and to the curb and thanks to Aunt Diane, who recruited a friend to help. Between the two cars they got Abby and all her stuff over to Liberty Square. When Abby moved in there were signs of life, but no people. She said there was a pile of stuff in the living room, belonging to someone who appeared to be moving out and there was definitely a bedroom where someone was living. I think she was there for 4 hours before someone finally showed up. The pile of stuff, inexplicably left in the living room, belongs to three girls who will be moving in today (Monday) and who are friends with the girl who is already there. There is one other "random" girl moving in, who will be Abby's roommate. Callie, the girl who is already there, has a boyfriend, but Abby reported that he's really nice and they aren't awkward to have sitting in your living room.

Abby went to church Sunday in her new ward and sat next to someone who when she said she was from Indiana responded, "Where in Indiana? Not Gary right? Oh, you're not from Gary, you're too bright and smiley to be from Gary!" If you've ever been to/through Gary, you know how true that is!

All of Abby's friends are gone and none of the guys will be back in the Fall because of missions so the five days post finals have been a little lonely for her. She got all her stuff tucked away in her apartment, which was a trick because her friends gave her tons of stuff they couldn't get home. She is loaded with junk food and has enough microwave popcorn to supply movie night for the next 3 years, I think. She walked to the grocery store Saturday, once the rain stopped, and so she is feeling relatively settled.

Ellen had a crazy week last week. Everything seemingly went wrong, but ended with an eye-opening moment in the temple which she will tell you about soon. El has a blog of her own and if you are interested in keeping up with her you can access it at http://elliespublicblog.blogspot.com/. Oh, and just so you know, she calls it Ellies blog, but I think I'm the only one that is allowed to call her Ellie and I don't think I do it anymore. Usually I call her El, which is confusing when she is home because I call Kelly Kel and they rhyme.

Craig is doing really well. He's as crazy as ever, which is a good sign. He'll be seeing the cardiologist sometime soon and getting an echocardiogram. He has made only one reference to his disease. We were at the dinner table and he held his bowl out and asked me to serve him some soup. Tom asked why he couldn't do it himself. The corners of his mouth twitched, but he kept a straight face as he said, "I have a disablility." I cracked up. When we saw the guidance counselor last week we were talking about Craig walking between the freshman campus and the 10-12 building. The GC mentioned they could get him a wheelchair if going back and forth was a problem and I suggested he could get his harem to push him. He was quite amused by that idea. While we were at the high school a girl looked in the window of the guidance office waiting room and waved. I said, "You know her? Wow, you're popular." He smiled and said, "Duh!"

Enough for now--I'll keep them shorter in the future.