Happy birthday babies!

Rocky and Smalls had their first birthday (and their first birthday party) this month. April 7 to be exact. Why is that doubly important? It is 4-7, and 47 is Brad's favorite number.

We got them each a can of wet cat food, which they devoured like they were starving. We also got them presents: little kitty pop tents with tunnels to connect them. Think of them like the old hamster cages with tubes connecting the cages. Each tent has little ribbons hanging from the inside, and when they crawl in it sounds like grocery bags.

The boys love them.

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On another note, Brad and I were sent to Richmond for multimedia training at the corporate office this week. It gave us a rare glimpse at broadcast journalists. Yeah, we learned cool multimedia stuff, but tolerating broadcast journalists took more effort. Yikes!

Side bonus: our hotel had a gym, pool and hot tub. It was like a mini vacation ... for FREE!

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Brad and I went to Greensboro on Saturday to visit my dad. It was his 46th birthday and we hadn't seen my family since, well, pretty much since the wedding last September. Oops.

I think the cutest part of the trip was watching my dad give Brad golf lessons in the back yard. I haven't seen my dad look so happy in a long time. Oh wait, I haven't seen my dad in a long time.

We also saw my brother's new house. It's nice, and I'm glad he's finally being an adult. Granny and granddaddy are getting to where they must just be bored out of their minds. They sit in the house all day (Granny basically can't move any more because of RA), so they rely heavily on the game show network and phone calls.

Last in our gauntlet of visits was to Jenn's house. We were going to grill hamburgers then head to a Grasshoppers game (minor league baseball), but it was rained out. All in all a good trip, especially because Brad got to bond with Jenn. She is probably the person most like me, so it threw me off that they hadn't really hit it off yet. Then I realized what was wrong: she just wasn't given the chance. Once they were in the same room together without major events (like weddings) going on, they hit it off.

Cool.

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Now I'm watching hour four of the Discovery Channel. I love science and nature shows. First it was "Walking with Cavemen," then "Man vs. Nature." Now it's "Planet Earth." Good thing Brad's working or he'd have left for a six-hour Madden fest by himself. And that, my friends, is why it's good to have different days off occasionally.