Thanks, Perkins. That was the way I'm planning on taking (since 71 is less than 2 miles from my house) and it's a straight shot. What kind of delays and how long shall I add to the travel time? I was giving myself a nice comfortable cushion of two hours drive time.

There were some minor construction related slow downs at several points, meaning in the middle of the afternoon I had to drop down to about 45/50, which wouldn't be a big deal, but then it gets down to one lane in each direction for about a mile. I wouldn't add too much to the 2 hours. I think I left Columbus about 2:20 and got here a little before 5:00, but I also stopped once to buy a soda, and hit Cincinnatti right about 4:30, so I got stuck in some rush hour traffic.

Yay to Kristin, hugs to vw and Gud, and other stuff I am probably forgetting for other people.

eta: Steph, I would love to hop in the shower quickly. How about at 5:30 or a few minutes after?

Thanks, Perkins. Duly noted. Oh, and can you remind me to bring my hip sling for O at some point? The aquarium doesn't always allow strollers so I want to make sure I have another option. I'll add 15 minutes or so to my drive time just to be safe. I should miss the rush hour leaving Columbus and hopefully beat it back here before it gets too bad. It will be a holiday weekend, so I'm not going to hold my breath, though.

eta: Steph, I would love to hop in the shower quickly. How about at 5:30 or a few minutes after?

You betcha. I'll go to the grocery, and I'll call your cell when I'm done.

Cool, I will see you soon, Steph, and try to remind you later tonight, Cashmere.

We had a free standing lamp that we had to wedge behind an end table and the sofa so that O couldn't get at it. Do you have somewhere else to put the cookbooks up?

We keep running up against the problem of too much stuff in too small a space. That said, if we just got rid of all the cookbooks we never use, we'd probably only have about a third as many, and it'd be easier to store them out of reach. But there's really no other place to put that lamp. Every wedge-able corner is already full.

That fence thing Gud posted looks like a good option, though. At least she'd have a bigger space to roam than her playpen. That's what makes me feel guilty--I feel like she needs more roaming time/space than what I give her.

Good then, sounds like a fairly easy fix. I can just imagine how frustrating that must be Susan, trying to deal with time and work and space issues all at once.

Trudy, I am SO NOT FOOLED by your evil month sock puppet!

The tag gave you away. Now GET OFFA MY LAWN! (and your little dog, too)

Anyone know what Kwistin is going on about?

Deena, give Kara a hug for me. I was pouty too.

Also, the weather in Cincinnati is great, at least today, even though it was cold and there were a few flakes of snow falling when I left Cleveland.

I just keep reminding myself that babies grow up healthy and normal under conditions much worse than ours WRT space, stimulation, etc., and that none of this seems to be retarding her physical and intellectual development--I mean, arguably, if she had more safe space and therefore more opportunity to roam, she might've walked at ten months like most babies in my family. But she's walking now, so it's not like she's even remotely behind schedule.

(For the record, note that I'm not worrying. I'm talking myself out of worrying. It's a different vibe.)