Well, I'm over the England thing. Portugal getting the French kiss-off in the semis helped, but I think it was the therapy that cheered me up most.

HAPPY JULY 4TH FROM JIM AND AMY!!!
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So yesterday was July 4th, a.k.a. Independence Day (it's not just a Will Smith movie, geniuses) and the day of the year when Americans let off fireworks and celebrate their independence from England. Given this fact, I thought maybe I should stay safely indoors, but Amy assured me it wasn't like that and so I celebrated my independence too. We had a really awesome day! At 8PM we went (back) to Hopedale (which was a little odd at first) to watch a really cool fireworks display. We took along a shopping bag full of cheese popcorn and ate lots while the spectacle unfolded. Seriously, you have to love a country where you can eat popcorn from a carrier bag, and where the sandwiches are measured in feet (and occasionally taste like them - ho, ho) We took Maddie and she was exceptionally well behaved and genuinely watched about half the display and HONESTLY sung the Star-Spangled Banner. Only one of those facts is true. Then we came home at about 11PM, and it was so warm we put on suits and went nightswimming (see below) and floated about with the moon on the water.

We took some pictures, but we have to get them developed (we've lost our digital camera - erk.) We'll get them put on a CD so I can blog a few of them.

CALL ME "SPECKLED JIM"
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I've spent the day painting what will soon be our baby's nursery, and I have paint in my nostrils. But it's going really well, and I think it's going to look great when it's finished. There are pictures of that coming soon, too, but for now here's a very primitively described preview of our color-scheme:








Ooooooh, nice!










Painting the ceiling is going to be REALLY fun. :) If I don't manage to swallow at least a cupful of blue paint, I will eat my hat. Which would be ironic, and counterproductive.

Anyway, the hat thing made my tummy rumble which woke me up to the fact that dinner time is here again. Hate to leave you, but as we speak Amy is drawing me inexorably from the computer with dulcet song and the suggestion of eggs, and the Ore-Ida brand Hash Brown Patties are cooing seductively from the freezer so, frankly, what can I do? Hope you are all great, and speak to you again soon in one way or t'other.

Love,
Jim and Amy and Stupenderosa

P.S. - Apart from working too hard, Amy is doing great - she's feeling lots of kicks, and has got a nice big bump coming along, too!

P.P.S. - We're not really going to call the baby Stupenderosa. That would be Stupiderooney.

P.P.P.S. - 'Nightswimming' by REM - this song has always been a bit of a talisman for Amy and I.

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night.
The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago,
Turned around backwards so the windshield shows.
Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse.
Still, its so much clearer.
I forgot my shirt at the waters edge.
The moon is low tonight.

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night.
Im not sure all these people understand.
Its not like years ago,
The fear of getting caught,
Of recklessness and water.
They cannot see me naked.
These things, they go away,
Replaced by everyday.

Nightswimming, remembering that night.
Septembers coming soon.
Im pining for the moon.
And what if there were two, side by side in orbit
Around the fairest sun?
That bright, tight forever drum
Could not describe nightswimming.

You, I thought I knew you.
You I cannot judge.
You, I thought you knew me,
This one laughing quietly underneath my breath.
Nightswimming.

The photograph reflects,
Every streetlight a reminder.
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night.