Soul Food

Things that are nourishing me right now:

• Lattes
• Giant bear hugs from Sweetpea. She has quite a grip whether it's around my knees or my neck.
• My running group. Getting up at 5:30 to run is pure torture, especially in the cold. But, having a group of women to run with and who gracefully bear with my sporadic availability is worth it every single time I can be there. Plus, it's an extra boost of energy which is greatly needed right now (goes right along with the caffeine)
• Free, worry-free, generously available childcare from my mom and dad.
• "Removing myself from any form of reality" books.
• Random and numerous facts The Princess shares with me.
• Two small children sleeping together in the top bunk because the little one is anxious and lonely in her new big bottom bunk.
• Retail shifts that involve me organizing for 5 hours straight. (You want the wall of clearance items completely revamped? Yay!)
• A lot of chocolate (good thing for the running!)

Things that are sucking the life right out of me:

• Continued lack of employment for Steve.
• Sweetpea asking if I'm going to be there when she wakes up because so often I'm not.
• Any type of sickness that threatens the delicate balance I've got going on right now.

The length of lists is at a good ratio at least.

Nuance

As a stay at home mom it's sometimes hard to live with the day in, day out monotony of the never-ending chores, nose wiping, question answering, meal making and laundry. Sometimes you get bogged down in the, what feels like, drudgery.

But, I've been out of the monotony for 2 months now. And, when you're not in the monotony you also miss the little nuances, the tiny changes in speech, the quirk of the brow when a little one suddenly understands that they can make a joke, the new facts they know, the change in the color of their hair.

I miss knowing the nuances.

A Little Bit of Attitude

This one is starting to show her own fashion ideas. Taking after her sister (maybe her mother too!)

A Princess, a bear, and Rody

Skeleton Reader

This girl always finds a comfortable spot to read.