The morning was relatively uneventful, with the exception of me running up and down the stairs logging into servers at work finding out why backups failed and configuring Treo handhelds. Some vacation.

The upside is that the frequent trips on the stairs helped my sinuses...a little. Christ, how I hate sinus infections.

Anywho, a little after ten, we'd been laying around doing a whole lot of nothing, so I decided that Lauren and Mr. Mom were going to the Mall. Hooray for us.

We got there, played around the coin fountain near Galyans, and headed for the food court, where we promptly got in the elevator and rode round trip floor to ceiling for about half an hour.

Then, when my "shit it's hot in this elevator" had about hit its zenith, we got out and saw aunt Heather and her friend Miss Mandy. From then on, it was a whirlwind of activity.

We went to stride rite and bought the under four version of the little black dress: white leather tennis shoes. You can't go wrong and you can't go without them. She's now wearing a 7.5, by the way.

A quick change in the family bathrooms and Lauren was a ton lighter and ready to go again.

Then, it was off to the Disney store where Mandy wanted to buy Lauren anything and everything. I said no more to Mandy than I did my daughter. We then headed to Galyans where I promptly stole my baby a balloon and we shopped for shoes and clothes. Actually, Heather and Mandy shopped. Lauren hid in the clothing racks.

Finally, it was the food court for Chik-fil-a nuggets, fries and a sprite, followed by "any cookie Lauren wants." (Thanks Mandy). Lauren picked the double stuffed, icing filled double chocolate thingy, and proceeded to pull it in half and eat the icing.

Mandy looked at us quizically, but that's just Lauren.

In the car, home at 12:30 and a nap at 1:oopm. Hopefully I've done my job and she's worn out and ready for a nap. I know I'm ready for some X-Box casino games and a little NASCAR column writing.

More to follow after naptime.

By the way, you can check out my columns at the following link:

http://www.anomieacres.com/markbackerindex.htm

Let me know what you think...