This morning was one of running errands while Greg attended a business conference. We heard back from the other driver's insurance company yesterday and they're going to cut us a check for $1750 for the (totaled) saturn, so this morning we went to the towing yard and handed the keys and title over to the (very nice) owner for any scrap he can get from it. Given the amount we're getting, we're pretty sure we're going to look for a second car in the next couple weeks (as soon as we receive the check), but we're going to spend no more than $1000 out of our emergency fund, for a total of $$2750, about $250 of which will go to registration. So, $2500 should get us a good used car from our favorite dealer.

So the morning looked like this:
- 5:40a Eric wakes up, calls for Mommy and Daddy, we ignore him, he either falls back asleep or amuses himself quietly.
- 6:30a Alarm goes off, we get up, Eric hears us and calls out again, we let him out of his room and start the morning.
- 8a Hand totaled saturn to towyard owner.
- 8:15a Drop Greg at the house of the friend he's carpooling to the conference with.
- 8:20a Eric and I start our errands, which begin with having the CRV in for its yearly inspection.
- 8:55a Bank, which opens at 9a. Eric amuses himself by reading the letters on the door and jumping around the stoop.
- 9:10a Children's Orchard doesn't open for 20 more minutes, so we go down the street to Market Basket for Quick Oats, one thing I know we can't get at Trader Joe's. Afterwards we right the tiny merry-go-round (ride horsey? ride horsey? ride horsey? ride horsey? ...).
- 9:25a Right next door is a new Dollar Tree, so we pop in to investigate and buy items for 4 Infant Baskets we'll be donating to Lowell Wish for impoverished newborns and their mothers.
- 9:45a Children's Orchard to redeem the birthday voucher Eric was sent in my email. Eric gets to pick something from a treasure chest and picks a small plastic Stegasaurus (dina-Zore). Not much in the way of hats (used hats are frowned upon, I guess, unlike used shoes which they have bins and bins of to start the winter season) so we move on without buying anything.
- 10:05a McDonald's drive-through for a bottle of water. Thirsty mommy and child.
- 10:30a Parlee Farms to pick out pumpkins and see the sights (I have to wake Eric up from the doze he's fallen into on the drive). We wander around, go inside the farm stand and buy a bag of Cider Donuts (large donut holes coated in granulated sugar, made with apple cider), of which Eric gets one. We look at the goats briefly before going to the pumpkin patch. Eric gets to ride on the cart and pick out small sugar pumpkins, better for eating than the large jack-o-lantern pumpkins. By now the donut is almost finished. After paying for those and dropping them at the car, we wander over to see if he's tall enough to ride the "training tractors" (which he's not), play on the hay-bale maze (briefly, since I couldn't catch him if he fell off the other side), watch the bunnies and goats (bye bye rabbit, bye bye doatz), wash hands, then go back inside the farm stand to pick out some apples (to a small voice chanting 'apoe apoe apoe', to the delight of the cashiers). As I'm putting the change back in my wallet, Eric grabs an apple larger than both his fists and begins eating it. This involves taking tiny bites out of it, which makes the apple look like it was pecked by ducks or nibbled by largish caterpillars. He gets to keep the apple on the way back to the car and off to our next stop.
- 11:20a Trader Joe's for grocery shopping. By now Eric is a little squirmy and more talkative and makes a little bit of a fuss leaving his apple in the car. I'm getting tired, too.
- 12:00n KFC drive-through next door for lunch, with Eric still munching on his apple.
- 12:20p Home to unload the perishables and set up lunch, which consists of a chicken sandwich for me and popcorn chicken for Eric, and fries shared between the two of us. Eric mostly eats the mustard and ketchup from off his fries and chicken, but does manage to finish off his 3 fries, a couple bites of chicken, and a couple bits of tomato from my sandwich. After he's all-done (and wiped off), he eats more apple, a couple alphabet cookies, and a slice of mango as I finish unloading the groceries. He also snags another piece of chicken from off the dining room table, miraculously not spilling the box in the process.
- 12:55p Almost ready for naptime and he gets a concentrated expression on his face. I ask if he's pooping and he says "...yah" which, based on the new aroma, is correct (a fluke, since usually his answer doesn't reflect reality necessarily). Off to the bedroom for a diaper change and nap.
- 1:30p I'm typing this in and he has finished chattering and playing his glowbug. Greg is due home in another half-hour.