My DH has been out of town 3 of the last 4 weeks. James and I have missed him very much, and I'm pretty exhausted from being the full-time single parent. This past week I did not have to babysit, so we packed a bag and headed to Southern Illinois for a week of helping out Aunt Ellen with her kiddos, including 3 week old Baby Jake. More to come on Jake, but first a cute story of my train ride to So. Ill.

We sat on a crowded car, very near a little old lady with lots of rings on her fingers, nails freshly manicured, and a sparkle in her beautiful eyes. She told me of her grandkids and great-grandkids pictures in hand. She just loved talking to Baby James the entire train-ride from Champaign to Carbondale.

She asked, "What is your son's name?" to which I replied "James." Her face lit up. "Oh, I'll never ever forget that. My husband's name is James." When we arrived at the train station, her husband was there to meet her, and my mom was there to meet me. After hugs and kisses and a walk to the car, my mom told me who I'd been talking to on the train ride. The woman's husband, James, was my mom's 5th grade teacher.

"...it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world..."