In Search of Myself

Staying awake

At some point, when the coffee stops working and you're trying REALLY hard to not fall asleep at your desk . . . you have to figure SOMETHING out.  And I have discovered that eating Hot Tamales candy will wake you right up.

Makes my stomach hurt a bit, but ya do what you have to do.  :)

Look what we built

. . . in my mom's back yard.

yes, we got creative with the perimeter.  You do what works.  :)

Today's spelling word

My mom just called to tell me something funny:

Jake was sitting at the table, drawing and doodling, and suddenly he holds up his paper and says "Nana, does this spell gymnastics?"

He had written:

jimnastix

I think that was a pretty darn good try!

Then mom said "No, it starts with G-Y-M."

And he said "Why it say GIME?"

ha ha ha!

Update

Well, Leslie left a comment to remind me that I haven't updated in forever.  I keep thinking about it . . . isn't it the thought that counts?

(Yeah . . . all these pictures?  Totally from FEBRUARY.  I think my mom and/or Priscilla might have taken some current ones lately.  Maybe?)

So . . . here's what we're doing:

I am just working working working, reading a lot . . . Lou and I's 6th anniversary was yesterday -- we spent the day putting together a playground at my mom's house.  (Gluttons for punishment, we are -- but I'm tellin' ya, it's a breeze in this cool weather compared to hot hot June last year!!!)

Jake is finishing up his 2nd year of preschool.  He's nervous about going to big school every day next year instead of two days a week and hanging out at Nana's house the rest of the time -- the other day he asked her "But what if I never see you again?"  (awwww.)  Aowyn has taken first place in the running for his favorite sister of Priscilla's 3 (poor Elauna!!!), and he loves when Zoe is at Nana's on Wednesdays and Fridays. 

Jake still loves gymnastics and is really looking forward to some kiddie pool time this summer.  Working on a nice tan, just like every year.  Had his first dentist appointment mid-April and his front teeth have like NO roots left, they're just being stubborn.  Hasn't lost ANY yet.  He's into Ben 10 and Tom & Jerry lately (thanks, Cartoon Network.)  Oh, and he's obsessed with playing Super Mario Galaxy with daddy on the Wii -- he's freaking awesome at it.  His handwriting is really improving, and he's really into telling time and doing math in his head.  (Whatever makes him happy, right?)

Ok, he wants to play board games.  Gotta run.  :)  (CandyLand, The Ladybug Game, and Hungry Hippos are his favorite.)

Hmmm

My right eye is watering, to the point of tears running down at random intervals.  My left eye, however, is dry.  Does this mean that the left side of my brain is sad?

Nashville Zoo

Jake is 5 and a half, and had never been to the Nashville Zoo.  (We've been to the Indiana Zoo twice.  Gotta say . . . Nashville's got nothing on Indy in this instance.)  Priscilla and I have been wanting to take the kids, but it was just never a good time.  We decided that Saturday should be a nice day, before the weather got too hot, and maybe it wouldn't be too crowded . . . well, it was a little chilly (better than hot!) and turns out it was kids get in free day, which helped with the cost but not with the crowd.

they really thought that they'd somehow navigate our way by looking at those maps

dude, the giraffes . . .

Aowyn takes issue with the way the animals smell, and then gets a ride from Jen.  (I felt sorry for her and her short little legs.)

Lorien wants to play with the meercats!  (All the kids loved them.)

The pair of leopards acted just like big, curious cats, coming right up to the glass.  Of course, they were probably trying to figure out how to eat us.

Dude, we're seriously so totally lost.

ha ha!  We made it to the gift shop just in the nick of time.  Stupid zoo construction and maps that make no sense.

A couple new pics

So you might have noticed I haven't been posting much . . . I've been taking a step back from the internet and from scrapbooking, which is kind of nice.  Not letting myself feel obligated to anyone.  Add to that, the step back from TV because of the writer's strike . . . well, and I've been reading a lot of books.  And I've been realizing just how many books I should have read but didn't, and how many I just want to read because I love reading . . . and yeah.  Good times.

So a few pictures.  First, a sweet one of me and Lorien at Easter.  She will sit with me a lot of times, just to hang out, and she was sleepy.

Next, two of my goofy kiddo.  I love both of these pictures, because both are EXACTLY what he looks like. :)  I'm fascinated by the fact that he has such huge eyes, yet when he smiles they're squinty and moon shaped.  And the smile in the first picture?  SO his daddy.  The nose wrinkle in the second one is totally me.

Easter

So Jake is as spoiled at Easter as any other holiday.  He had an egg hunt at school on Thursday, we spent the day at Nana's on Friday (joined by Zoe, Elauna, Aowyn, and Lorien) coloring eggs and having a hunt, Saturday we went to the church where Jake goes to school for a sunset flashlight egg hunt, Sunday morning there was a brief hunt at church, and Sunday afternoon we were at Nannie and Pa's house where we had yet another hunt.  So . . . yeah.  Jake got plenty of egg hunting in this year. 

A visual

I was sitting here thinking about how different middle Tennessee is from where I grew up.  I now have a SuperTarget ONE MILE from my house.  And yeah, that seems silly to care about, but when you come from here:

and then after 14 years, move here:

you can't help but be struck by the differences, even 11 years later.

(Those two maps show the same area, an inch is equal to 50 miles.)

Name that state

Sometime last year, I bought a workbook about the states from Target's dollar bin.  I figured it was a little old for Jake, so I put it on a bookshelf for later.  Well I was washing my face and doing all that before bedtime stuff on Monday, and I come out to find that Jake was working on the book.  He had just finished a dot-to-dot, and I asked him what he was doing.

"Mama," he said, "this is Texas."

"Oh really," I said.  "How do you know that?"

With a sigh (like, duh mom), he said "Because it's SHAPED like Texas."

Right on, little bro.