Reunited

Therapize Thyself

(Gracen and I gave each other pedicures.)

Lately I've been spending a lot of time thinking about my life. I have a tendency to think in terms of "big picture," rather than day-to-day. As much as I want to, and do, scream CARPE DIEM from the rooftops, I more often seize onto daily ruts and then get in the routine of ruts. This is not to say that I'm in a funk and not enjoying my life; on the contrary, I get too wrapped up in other things, namely my children, that I blow off tasks that would lead me towards my long term goals. And due to some unfortunate sleeping issues, I'm just too tired to have the initiative to get everything done that needs to be done. If I had some Ambien to get me to sleep at a respectable hour and some Ritalin to organize my profoundly unfocused mind, I might be able to get it together. But, I want to do this the natural way at this point, even though the pharmacological route sounds a heck of a lot easier and probably more fun.

So in good counselor fashion, I made a list of the things I want to accomplish (for me) on a daily basis (some of which will lead me towards my desired bigger picture and some that will just keep the mountain of Harley hair off the kitchen floor) and started processing how I could make those things happen. Here's a sampling from the list:

1. Take a daily shower and wear my hair down at least 4X a week. Some of you may get how hard that can be these days. I may even slap on some chapstick and mascara.

2. Walk Gracen to school--guaranteed 4.5 miles of exercise 3X a week.

3. Daily yoga. I'm a much happier and healthier person when I practice regularly. I still want to go through yoga teacher training in the next couple of years, so it would probably be a good idea for me to be able to touch my toes again soon. I'll give myself a few months before trying to stick them over my head again.

4. Write daily. I always talk about wanting to write, maybe start freelancing, but something always takes precedence--probably napping or laundry or screaming little people.

5. Keep an organized and clean house. We all function better in tidiness.

6. Read more books.

7. Go to bed before 11PM--or even 12 at this point.

Ultimately, a very detailed schedule was born, and I'm on Day 2 of following it. So far, the G has been walked to school, I'm sore from yoga, my house is in relative order, and here I am blogging. I'll keep you posted on how it's going. For now, it just feels good to be doing something for me.

Babies in a Bucket

Gracen is officially a preschool dropout. No worries because she started a new one immediately. The church preschool in our neighborhood had an opening, and we were able to get her in last week. It has been an amazing transformation for the little princess. We knew she wasn't happy at the old school, but for a long time assumed it was just the transition of moving away from home. I'm sure that factored in to it, but she just wasn't improving. She would beg not to go in the mornings, cling to me at drop-off, and still had no idea what her teachers' names were. After repeatedly catching them calling her the wrong name and after a very traumatic Halloween parade, we were done. I'm sure the old school is great for some kids, but Gracen just needs a smaller environment with the same teachers all day.

This new school is great. She gets to eat lunch there and use her old lunchbox from Beff's school. She still really, really, really misses Beth, preschool teacher and babysitter extraordinaire. But she's already showing signs of loving these teachers too, and she's just so happy all the time now. She's excited to go and talks school all the time when she's not there. And we get to walk there!

The only real problem we have now is that Avery is getting sad about leaving Gracen at school. They are hopelessly attached to each other these days.

Getting ready to take off for school!!

Avery trying to entertain herself while sis is off being educated.

The Grouchy Ladybug and the Cowardly Lion

I have been informed that my blog is depressing.  I might be married to the informant.  I'll pep it up.

So Austin and Halloween.  I'm not even sure what to say about it other than these people are insane.  I had no idea Halloween could be every bit as festive as Christmas.  We live on a particularly lively street, apparently.  Families toted their small ones in wagons, which doubled as a traveling cooler of parental libations.  The houses were decked out with orange lights, skeleton flamingos, graveyards, giant spiders in giant webs, life-size talking ghosts, window "scenes," complete haunted houses.  The street was swarmed, much like Bourbon or Franklin streets on Halloween.  These people know how to party.

Uncle Paul came and passed out fancy chocolates and fruit, his favorite tradition in this home and the only thing he was reluctant to give up when he handed the house over to us.  It gave us a chance to go as a full family unit to roar at neighbors and beg for candy.  Matt and Tess joined us and were likewise blown away by the flamboyance of the occasion.  People flocked from other neighborhoods, and were still showing up past 10PM.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but was too in shock to think about photographic posterity.

We spent last week back in North Carolina.  It was too grand of a trip to try and cram into this post, but I'll report more later after I steal everyone else's photos.  We forgot the camera, of course.

I'll leave you with another little dancing video from the other day, as the girls were boogying to their Uncle Ronny Mac in the background.