• Turns out car trouble was just in the cards for me on this trip. I got a flat tire leaving the hotel for Robin’s competition. Luckily I’d left 45 minutes early, but I couldn’t get the lug nuts to budge even a millimeter to get the donut on. So we enjoyed a last-minute Uber to…

    January 27
  • This is the first of a long string of weekends we’ll be traveling for cheer and dance competitions. There was a stretch of about 15 minutes that was very tense on the way to Orlando when my gas gauge turned on just before a 15-mile stretch of highway without a single exit. I made it…

    January 26
  • Everything in my whole day seemed to happen entirely between the hours of 3 and 6 and it felt utterly chaotic. I ended up falling asleep on the couch right after the kids went to bed. I hate being this tired, but some days are just like that, I guess.

    January 25
  • Not only is this probably my favorite Christmas present this year, but these are also probably the comfiest pajamas I own.

    January 24
  • I was planning on skipping the school open house, but I’m glad Christina pushed me to go. It’s cool seeing what my kids are doing with their days, to meet their teachers, see their classrooms. Seaside is such a cool school… almost every room had a different essential oil diffusing and all the overhead fluorescent…

    January 23
  • I did not do a good job of balancing things today. I ate almost entire box of chocolate chip cookies (I left three), a donut, three helpings of pasta, and a bunch of pizza rolls, all after 3pm. I used all my free time to do crossword puzzles, to the point that there are only…

    January 22
  • Led the church service this morning. It went ok, but wasn’t my best effort. I explored Tillie K Fowler Park after several recommendations. I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. I had trouble following the trail map, which, ok, is kind of a problem I have everywhere, but it irritated me…

    January 21
  • I spent a lot of time doing crossword puzzles today. Robin wants to sew another bag, so I took a break to cut more fabric and happened to catch the light on this hibiscus just before it was too late. The hibiscus has been putting on a show lately.

    January 20
  • Some Squishmallows were unintentionally cut out of this shot, but trust they were present at the time of shooting. They joined us on morning car line because Robin took Christina’s bouncy ball and wouldn’t give it back. Sometimes you make trade-offs.

    January 19
  • I think sometimes I forget how hard it is to be 12. So much is changing all at once – your body, your relationships, school. An entirely new sense of self is developing and it’s so hard to navigate it all, to sort things out. It’s hard to know where to turn, if anywhere. It’s…

    January 18
  • Today I learned that on Wednesdays I have to buy pizza with spinach and onions because that is the only way I’ll get more than one slice.

    January 17
  • Unlike me, Pinot knows not to read work emails right before bed.

    January 16
  • Today didn’t quite go as planned. Too much responsibility and not enough fun. But Christina’s room is clean, which is always a bit miraculous, and I did some knitting for the first time in probably two months. Back to reality tomorrow.

    January 15
  • We wrapped up Christina’s birthday party this morning with french toast and bacon. I think the girls finally fell asleep around 5am. Then Robin went to a movie with a friend. I did some sewing and all in all it was a pretty good day.

    January 14
  • Today’s a busy day. The whole family went geocaching with friends from church this morning and it was super fun. Christina is an excellent snoop. She found almost all of the caches within seconds almost every time. We’ve got one near our house. We’ll have to find it. Robin finished this bag and it is…

    January 13