Worst. Blogger. Ever.

That's me. I have intentions of updating. I even have ideas for updating. But the act of logging in and updating? I just can't quite get that far, it seems.

Anyway, I will attempt to catch up. First of all, the weekend in Chicago was amazing. I spent Friday night listening to and playing music with my husband and some friends. Saturday we had a nice lunch as a family, and Saturday night I attended the Living Room Show. It's difficult for me to describe the night because there's no way to attach words to the way it felt to be there. But I can say that there was a lot of beautiful music, and I feel fortunate to have been a part of the night. A lot of people were very generous to me in regards to that weekend, so thanks to my husband, my mother-in-law, and my Chicago friends who planned the whole night.

This past weekend we went to a waterpark with my family. We all stayed in one condominium and spent the weekend eating and playing together. It was a lot of fun, and I swear our girls would have stayed in the park for all 13 hours it was open had we not dragged them out for meals and "resting." Needless to say, everyone is recovering today from a lack of sleep (and sore muscles for those of us who are so out of shape that manuevering across the lilypads is all it takes to do us in).

Tomorrow is my "baby's" third birthday. I have no gift, no cake, and no solid ideas for either. Send last-minute-clever-mom vibes, will you?

Still Feel Gone

Wait, what the--?! Wasn't I just announcing the arrival of my spring break? Yes, I was. And now it's already gone. *sigh* But it was wonderfully uneventful. I got my first run of the season in (only a three-miler to start, but it's something!), we ate two or three meals together, as a family, for much of the week. What a treat! And my girls took to sleeping until 8am during the break which gives me high hopes for our summer together!

But now I'm back to the classroom which really is okay except that I miss my girls. My two POTTY TRAINED girls. Yes. We are potty trained! (I would include a cute-yet-completely-appropriate photo of my sweetie in her birthday suit during our hardcore week of training, but every photo upload utility despises me.) So I have two little girls running around in My Little Pony, Dora, and Princess panties. A triumph!

I got some exciting news today: I've been invited to participate in a Living Room Show put on by one of my favorite performers of all time, Jeff Tweedy. It will be me and 29 other people in a living room in Illinois, making our personal requests of Mr. Tweedy and listening to him perform from just feet away. *Pinch me, please.* How does this come to be, you ask? Jeff Tweedy auctions off these living room shows at a local [Chicago] charity event to raise money for the cause in question. (As an additional endorsement of J. Tweedy and his band Wilco, last year they performed in Chicago's Millenium Park--think the bean!--and donated $75,000 from the proceeds to the Chicago Coalition For the Homeless. In fact, they regularly donate money from merchandise sales to local charities. They are good people in many ways.)

So anyway, three lucky groups of 30 people are granted living room shows. Imagine! Well, as my luck would have it, someone had to back out of their spot in the group, and I was asked to take her place. Woo! I will have to contribute my share to the charity, of course. But what an opportunity. So I'm now preoccupied with thoughts of this weekend, what song I'll request, etc. Send vibes, will you?

Hmmm, okay. I must go to bed for now. I promise--I'll try to do better keeping up.

That was fun...

Despite the snow and cold, the Easter Bunny still arrived with loot for everyone. There was ample shivering and shaking, but the girls will endure most anything for their weight in candy. And after the egg hunt, it was time for donning new Easter dresses--and a new bonnet for Bella. Easter is one of my favorite times of year because it's a reminder that spring is on its way, and there are dresses in countless shades of the season to remind us. Of course posing in those lovely dresses isn't nearly as much fun as twirling and engaging in general "princess-ness" so these are some of the best shots I could get.

My apologies for the odd layout of this post--I'm still learning. Which is also the reason I can only get select photos to upload while for others I simply get error messages. *#@*%!

Give Me A Break!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh... my Spring Break has finally arrived--accompanied by a snow advisory and the chance for up to ELEVEN inches of snow! The distance between this forecast and my desired forecast for spring break is nothing less than a black hole.

Easter Basket Goodies? Check.
Easter Dresses, Sweaters (*$#!*$#! weather!), and Bonnets? Check.
Appointments for Hair Cuts? Check.
Adequate Caffeine (form of: coffee)? Check.
Laundry Done? Errrrr....

There's nothing good about this Friday--it's laundry catch-up day, my least favorite day of the week. But in the spirit of positive thinking, counting your blessings, etc, here are some Good things about this Friday:

1. I'm at home with my girls.
2. I'm getting a fresh hair cut today, of which I am in desperate need.
3. I'm sitting here with a fresh cup of coffee, listening to the sounds of my girls playing house together downstairs--without crying, fighting, or shouting "MOM!!!!"
4. We had an all-out dance party this morning to the song, "There's No Monsters In My House!" by some old friends, The Gooby Band (album: Silly Songs for Serious People.)
5. My husband has been especially patient with me and my endeavor to learn guitar, so now I have more than a dozen songs in my "repertoire." I plan to play this afternoon.

Speaking of music, anyone who knows me and hubby knows we love music in all of its forms: cds, live shows, group performance, solo performance, improv, etc. So when trying to come up with a name for my blog, I starting hearing some of my favorite songs in my head. The one that stuck out was "Achin' To Be," a song by a now-defunct band from Minneapolis, The Replacements, from their album Don't Tell A Soul. I'm posting the lyrics because I think it's a beautiful song, and doesn't it express a universal truth? Everyone in this world simply Achin' To Be.

Well shes kind of like an artist
Sittin on the floor
Never finishes, she abandons
Never shows a soul
And shes kind of like a movie
Everyone rushes to see
And no one understands it
Sittin in their seats

She opens her mouth to speak and
What comes outs a mystery
Thought about, not understood
Shes achin to be

Well she dances alone in nightclubs
Every other day of the week
People look right through her
Baby doll, check your cheek
And shes kind of like a poet
Who finds it hard to speak
Poems come so slowly
Like the colors down a sheet

She opens her mouth to speak and
What comes outs a mystery
Thought about, not understood
Shes achin to be

Ive been achin for a while now, friend
Ive been achin hard for years

Well shes kind of like an artist
Who uses paints no more
You never show me what youre doing
Never show a soul

Well, I saw one of your pictures
There was nothin that I could see
If no ones on your canvas
Well, Im achin to be

She closes her mouth to speak and
Closes her eyes to see
Thought about and only loved

Shes achin to be
Just like me

On the brink...

Twenty-four hours from now I will officially be on SPRING BREAK! This is excellent news, of course, although I have stacks of papers that need critiquing before I'm truly free. (It's never a good sign when you're brewing a pot of full-strength coffee at 8pm.) But I can do this, right? There really is no alternative. Here's to tomorrow afternoon!

And so it begins...

Well, yes--the weekend. So it begins. But mostly I'm thinking of SPRING. The last two days have been in the 40s, and this rare treat has been lost on no one--especially my sweet girls. We've hauled out every ride-on toy packed away in our garage and have even gone so far as to dust off the lawn chairs. I know we have plenty of sub-zero temperatures and possibly even--gasp--snow still to come, but a bunch of girls can dream, can't we?

Something else is beginning as well... the days of my oldest being asked outside to play by neighbor kids. It was quite sweet tonight when our neighbor's 9 year old granddaughter came over to ask my daughter if she'd like to "scoot" on the parking lot. She was quite excited about the invitation, of course, although her little sister wasn't sure about the arrangement. How quickly my little girl is growing!

I'm off to a state tournament championship game tomorrow, which is always an exciting experience for a school. That means a weekend's worth of cleaning must be packed into just part of a day. Hmmmm.... we shall see how the house fares under that schedule. Prediction: not well.

A Queen and Her Castle

Due to a variety of circumstances surrounding my schedule and the schedule of Dear Hubby, after 8pm this evening I will find myself at home, alone. Just me. Well, me and my sweet Shih Tzu, but she's virtually no work at all and excellent at snuggling.



So the big question becomes What do I do? Go to bed early? Stay up late (and inevitably regret it in the morning)? I have to admit, I feel the pressure. What will I do with my one chance?? Because, let's be honest, who knows when this opportunity will present itself again. Clearly some big decisions have to be made, and I foresee myself snuggled in the recliner with my laptop at the ready and the radio turned up louder than usual. (I know. I'm fantastically wild.)



But the true reward will be tomorrow morning, when the only person I have to get ready is... (wait for it...) ME. No scrambling to get two little ones dressed, to brush hair (to mad protesting, always), to pack bags for school and the sitter's house, to pack my own bags up, to scrounge for my lunch. Instead I may be able to shower without a four year old at my feet, without trying to mediate fights from behind the shower curtain, and without rushing through the entire process because there's no other choice. Yes, tomorrow morning may be my greatest reward of all.