Yesterday a friend gave me another big bag of clothes for my DD that her DD had outgrown - very nice, name brand clothing with hardly any wear. She's been doing this for the past two or so years, which I gratefully accept. As such, I have absolutely no need to purchase my DD clothing of any kind -- new, used, or otherwise (in fact, DD probably has too MANY clothes now at this point -- we need to weed through it all and pass a good deal of it on). DD loves it of course --it's like Christmas everytime my friend drops off another bag....

Anyway, we had a fantastically busy weekend and ran around bunches -- but spent relatively little $$$ overall. The kids had parties, games, and playdates all weekend long, so there was certainly no lacking in terms of good, old-fasioned entertainment.....

One thing that has been weighing heavily on my mind these last few days however, concerns our neighbors a few doors down our street. It seems they are splitting up after 20+ years of marriage. These are responsible people/parents and I know they have their reasons and respect that -- still, it makes me very sad. Their DS happens to be my DS's best buddy, and has been since we moved here going on 5 years ago. Now he's moved with his mom to the other side of the neighborhood -- a good 10 or so blocks away, when he was only 4 doors down. All of this has me dwelling too, on the financial costs of divorce as well as the emotional -- the obvious legal fees notwithstanding. Two incomes that once supported one household, will now support two distinctly separate ones, with duplicates of everything. The (ex)husband stays behind in their enormous, 4 -5 bedroom house down the street (for which he will now need to 'cash out' his (ex)wife's equity) -- a huge, sprawling space (with two big additions, one they only just put up last fall) for one lone, newly single man and his weekend-visiting DS (an older DD is away at college). The whole situation leaves me pensive, and it feels like a loss. Sigh.....

DS and I ought to try getting in the garden today. The forecast is for rain this afternoon, and it would do well for us to get more planted ahead of it.....