Birthday suits

I forgot to do Penny's birthday dress this year, so I decided to do both on the same day. This year, I took pics of them hanging around the house, playing video games and just
being kids on Sunday afternoon. Not my best effort, bit viva la tradition!

Resolutions + Lent

So some of you (OK... two of you) wondered where my New Year's resolution list was hiding. Turns out, I'm resolutioned out. After 2011's epic failure, and a life I planned as my end-goal life, and not my early-goal life (I'm sort of an underachiever), But... I have an awesome job as a day-shift ICU nurse (that's right... I save lives), my kids are in an excellent school and they are both super happy, my husband is pretty much the best man to ever live and New Girl is the best sitcom to come around in a long time. It's really the perfect life.

I don't have much to resolve. At this point in my life, I no longer want to get better. I just want to sleep eight hours a night and not forget where I left my car keys.

To boot, it's Lent. Again, I'm not resolving anything. Not less wine. Not less hamburgers. Not less yelling. I'm not giving up anything I love.

But, sure. There are things I want. Let's start there.

I want an electric car. Done. And it's so fun to charge it up while I go grocery shopping.

I want to run a half marathon this year. Well, awesome Julia (soon-to-be East Lansing MICHIGAN Julia who loves to go camping with us and doesn't mind at all if the girls want to sleep in her tent) wants to run one. And for someone who's moving from one of the coolest cities in the world to East Lansing, I thought this was the least I could do for her.

So I've been running every day I'm not working. Which is four days a week. Well, I run three days. At least two days. And I take Jake with me. And recently, Carol. We're running a 5K in two weeks.

I want to be a better nurse. So I work my scheduled shifts and, mostly, I screen my calls when work wants me to come in extra. Because I'm almost 40 and I'm tired. But I will try to become certified (haha... Not that kind. The excellent kind that requires a test and makes me certified in critical care) later this year.

I want to eat great food, drink wine, watch TV, spoil my children (but not too much) and sleep at least 8 hours a night. I think I've hit my laid back 40s.

Finally... .

I do want to stop leaving several glasses of water by my bed. It's just weird.

And one day later....

Almost 9, with newly pierced ears