Sometimes

Look at them, they look great. They smile, they play, they have fun, they are kind, thoughtful and confident. Here they are, on the playground, off to battle all the bad guys of the world. At least until someone scrapes their knees.

Relaxation

I've taken this whole week off work, and it's been wonderful and has flown by too fast. I wish that I had something really exciting and wonderful to report here, but it's been really low-key. Yesterday I treated myself to what my hairdresser, Amy, was calling a day of beauty. It was supposed to start with a hair cut (and color, shhhh, don't tell anyone), but Amy needed to clear up a little problem with her driver's license, so the cut was pushed back. I had a 75 minute massage. It was amazing. Awesome. Wonderful. Worth every minute and every penny. When I look at this picture, I can feel how relaxed my whole body was. Aaaahhhh. Then came the hair stuff. Then the workout. Then the great dinner. Then the three hours of playing pool, getting progressively worse as the night went on. :)

loving it

It's spring break, and I'm taking some days off. I had hoped to get out of town for a night or two, but that's not going to happen. Yesterday I went hiking at Turkey Run State Park. I happened to mention to Nav that I'd be going hiking and he invited himself along (a good thing, not an intrusive thing, just don't know how else to phrase it). I love hiking with him, because he looks up, down, left, right, all around and so we see more and enjoy more. Mar was busy studying and couldn't join us, but hopefully can come along next time. This is a view straight up, and it kind of captures a lot about the day. It was cloudy, then sunny. The trees grow on top of the rock formations and have really cool root structures that wrap around the rocks. Too bad this picture doesn't show more of the rocks. It was a great day: the kind that makes you say out loud what a wonderful thing life is and how great it is to be alive.

ART!

Julia painted this at daycare on a brown paper bag, and as much as I love it, I'm not going to keep it. So, as they say, "take a picture, it lasts longer." : ) Most of her artwork these days is like this: broad swaths of color, swirled and surrounded by other colors.

spring weather

Only three episodes of Dead Like Me left to watch, and I had to return the dvds to the library--the system wouldn't let me renew online. Stopped by today and checked them out again. But instead of sitting down and watching all three episodes, I looked outside at the big sun and the wonderful temp and decided to get out for a walk instead. So I headed to Meadowbrook park, which is a good place to walk (they have sidewalks) when all the green areas of town are mush from all the melting snow. Anywhos, it was wonderful. And on the way home, the sun was huge. My cameraphone couldn't quite capture the enormity of the beast, but I still think it looks cool. And it's hard to take a picture with a cameraphone while driving.

It's a fun house!

In honor of the new, improved starting time for daylight savings, I turned all my clocks ahead before the kids went to bed just to help confuse them. (or maybe just to help confuse me? I dunno.) Anyhow, for the first time, I noticed that I can see my reflection in the chrome clock in the kitchen. Duh. But fun. Fun like in a fun house. I'm feeling rather giddy from the good weather we've had over the past two days. I love and hate that my mood can be so easily effected by my environment. And heaven help me if I spend too much time around people who drag me down. I'm powerless against it. Of course, that's why I try to spend more time with the great folks around me and tend to ditch those who are always talking about the things that they hate and the people who should just die. Seriously. I know people who talk like that.

365

On Flickr, I was inspired (that might be too strong of a word) by other people's 365 sets, so I started one. All the pix are private so far, and some will stay that way forever most likely. Julia took this shot earlier tonight while we were at Tae Kwon Do. She was using my phone to take shots of her toys, of me, of the table, etc. I can't believe how skinny my wrist looks. On the bright side--I was reading Cooking Light and found several new recipes I want to try. Yum! I love food.

Ever have one of those days?

The kind where, when you walk into a room, the people there start talking in code? Or they think they're talking in code, but either they're not as smart as they think they are, or you're not as dumb as they think you are, so you know that they're talking about something related to you? And this comes on the heels of other similar things and political doings of other coworkers? And, if you're like me, you start to wonder if it's all worth it. Most of the time I don't care that the 50-60 hours a week that I work go unnoticed. That others around me are praised just for showing up and staying awake (only a slight exaggeration there). But today, I'm just about ready to give up. And in a neato twist of events, I needed to test my tape deck (so I can take it in to work for one of the profs to use for a class), and the tape I grabbed was Circle by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians. "I quit. I give up. Nothings good enough for anybody else, it seems. And I quit. I give up. Nothings good enough for anybody else, it seems. and. and being alone is the best way to be. when I'm by myself it's the best way to be. when I'm all alone it's the best way to be. when I'm by myself nobody else can say goodbye." Yes. It was one of those days. Today, I've lost all perspective. And that's one of the few qualities of mine that I appreciate.I'm out of focus, and I'm pulling on my hair. I repeat: it. was. one. of. those. days.

p.s. Does it sound like I work in a junior high school? It sure feels that way sometimes.