It looks like the beach is a no-go

Since Ike came through and shut down a lot of the oil refineries in Texas, the gas prices here have skyrocketed. I kept hoping it was just a panic reaction and that once the hurricane actually blew through and the refineries were fine, things would calm down. Not so. I didn't realize it take so long for them to switch a refinery back on and I didn't realize they had completely shut down the one gas pipeline that supplies South Carolina (where we would be going). I did not learn this until *after* we drove down across the state line to the "cheaper" gas stations and was amazed to discover that it was far more expensive down there. The predictions are that it could take weeks before gas prices settle back down.

Fabulous.

So it looks like gas prices will not come back down by tomorrow morning for us to take our annual trek down to the beach. I'm disappointed, but I hadn't set my heart on going and I'm not completely devastated. We'll just have to find something fun to do around here to break up the time that Mr. at Home is gone. Maybe a trip to an outlet mall is in order since both girls need shoes and clothes to fit their growing limbs.

On the haircut, I finally bribed the girls with the use of my camera if they would please take a picture of Mommy and her new hair. L's picture won the impromptu photography contest and here it is for your viewing pleasure.