A Day in the Life

I've been seeing "Day in the Life" posts floating around some of the blogs I frequent, and it seemed like a fun idea to remember what typical life looks like. I decided to document yesterday, since it was the last "typical" day of the year, and since tomorrow is my last day of the year (Praise the Lord for holiday shutdown and leftover vacation days!). So here goes!

5:19 a.m. - My internal alarm clock has an annoying habit of waking me up about 20 minutes before my alarm goes off, and today is no exception. Though I tried to fall back asleep, it didn't really matter because...

5:26 a.m. - Ellie cries out for me, so I get up and bring her back to our room for some cuddles. This happens a couple times a week--usually we are met with the pitterpatter of little feet and Elaina climbs up on Josh's side of the bed and Ellie stands at mine with upstretched arms. This morning I enjoy the cuddles and hope to get her back to sleep before my alarm goes off. Before I know it, she is breathing peacefully beside me.

5:45 - Alarm goes off. Up and at 'em!

6:00-6:20 - The morning routine commences. I pack our lunch bags (today there is less to pack, because lunch is out!), which always includes a piece of fruit for the morning and some half and half for our coffees. Then I get dressed and make sure the diaper bag is packed. 

Elaina comes bounding out of her room and happily joins me as I "put my face on" and brush my teeth. (Confession: I have been known to put my makeup on in the car on the way to my mother-in-law's, but I had to stop when the sun was still down when we left.)

(yes, that is a bandaid on her forehead....long story)

Soon, Ellie is awake. I change her diaper while Josh loads up the car, and then we put on coats and head out the door.

6:40 - Arrive at my mother-in-law's to drop off the girls. We usually chat for a few minutes and leave as Rita is discussing with the girls what they will have for breakfast. Inevitably, Ellie will request Lucky Charms.

7:00 - Arrive at my desk after the five minute walk from the parking lot. If only I were joking about that, too. This picture was taken at one end of the hall, near my desk. The teeny, tiny light at the center is the door I come through.

7:00-9:00 - Check my email, start on my to-do list, and listen to Bob and Tom. This morning I have breakfast at my desk, too, since I accidentally bought extra neufachetal cheese and had to get some bagel this so as not to waste it. (Side note: whoever created bagel thins may be a personal hero of mine. I am fairly certain a small addiction to everything bagels contributed to some extra poundage earlier this year...and the thins are only 110 calories!). 

9:00 - Time for coffee! I like to pack a chocolate to have with my coffee, but today I get a chocolate bolt from one of Josh's suppliers. Yummy!

10:00 - I step away from my desk for a couple of minutes to call Rita and talk to the girls. I've done this for so long that I don't really remember not doing it. It started when I went back to work after Elaina was born--I would call on my way to the Mother's Room (yet another five plus minute walk from my desk) to see how she was. When Elaina got older, she went through some pretty significant separation anxiety, and then Ellie came, and now...well, honestly, it's one part of the day I really look forward to. I love chatting with Rita and hearing the girls' little voices on the other end of the line.

11:00 - Josh's group invited me out to lunch. We go to Sugar, where I have the Cubano Nuevo (deeeeelish). While we are eating, I notice the sun has finally come out, so I snap a picture of the sky.

12:30 p.m. -3:30 - Back to work. Knowing I have so little time left to get certain things off my plate, it is a busy afternoon. I nearly have a George Constanza moment and briefly consider banging my head on my desk but power through and survive the rest of the day.

3:50 - Arrive back at Rita's to pick up the girls. This is the scene that greets us.

Why hello, girls! So good to see you, too!

We chat for awhile and hear about the girls' days, which were equal parts good and not so good, due to circumstances out of Rita's control. Thankfully, she made them feel extra-special to make up for the bad, and they seem no worse for the wear :)

4:30 - Home again! Josh entertains the girls while I get dinner around. Tonight we are having breakfast for dinner--pancakes and bacon. Elaina helps for a bit and then retreats off to find her Elf on the Shelf (Lyla) and to watch the Winnie the Pooh Christmas with her dad and Ellie.

Such a good daddy

5:05 - Dinner is served!

Beautiful? No. Tasty? Of course!

Though we have to fight with Ellie to eat her pancakes (why it was even a fight is beyond me. What kid doesn't like something drenched in syrup?), she chows down on the bacon and we finish the meal with only one timeout. Josh cleans up the dishes while I gather our library materials.

5:50 - Off to the library, with a quick pitstop off to Rita's to grab the diaper bag we forgot. The girls each get to pick out one book and one movie. As usual, Elaina heads straight for the Mercer Mayer section

...and Ellie heads for the blocks.

6:30 - We check out and head home. The girls chatter about all the Christmas lights they see on the drive. As soon as we get home, it's time for baths. Josh scrubs the girls while I set out their jammies, pick out clothes for tomorrow, and begin straightening the living room. I also use this time to call my grammas and Rachel just to check in.

7:15 - The girls are jammied and settle in for their end of the night routine. Ellie sits on my lap with her two lovies and watches a Road Runner cartoon followed by a Tweety Bird cartoon. Then we go "get the bed ready" for Elaina, which consists of me laying Ellie down and singing to her/sitting with her til she falls asleep. Then it's back in the living room with Elaina while she winds down for the night. When she goes to bed around 7:45, I say a prayer with her and then go take my shower.

8:05 - Tomorrow is a potluck at work, so I set out to make some Hard Apple Cider and cinnamon bread, only to realize I am about 2/3 short on the required amount of flour. I briefly consider not taking anything, but then I remember all those nice life lessons my parents taught me as I grew up, which included not going to a potluck when you don't bring anything to share. Time for Plan B: Chocolate covered pretzels.

For reasons still unknown to me, I decide to melt the chocolate coating in a skillet instead of in the microwae like I've done thousand times before. The chocolate seizes up, so being the Food Network afficianado that I am, I decide I am fully capable of rectifying the problem. Wrong. Word to the wise: milk will not un-seize chocolate. Then Josh threw some water in the pan. It didn't work, either.

Um....yuck

8:55 - After successfully melting more chocolate in the microwave, my contribution to the potluck is complete.

9:00-10:00 - I wrap Christmas presents and watched Chopped with Josh. It is a pretty productive wrapping session and I didn't quite feel 1000 years old when I stood up, so I consider it a success.

This is at least the 3rd year I've had this wrapping paper. To say I'm sick of it is a huge understatement....but there is so much left! Sigh...

10:05 - Doors locked, cats fed, teeth brushed, and off to bed!

Well, that was sort of exhausting. But it's good to remember the normal days, because life is mostly normal days, after all. And I want to enjoy them all!

On holey coats and promises

When I was a junior in college, my parents bought me my very first pea coat. It was black wool, lined with satin, and designed to protect against the bitter lake-effect wind that knifed through campus during the endless winter months. It made me feel grown up, professional. Ready to take on the world.

When I moved to Nashville a year and a half later, my coat came with me, though it was hard to fathom needing it in the suffocating heat of mid-August. Soon enough, the heat faded with the leaves, and the slate grey sky of winter settled over the city. I hated winter in Nashville. It was always, always grey, always, always a cold seep-into-your-bones rain falling because it wasn't quite cold enough to snow. I had wondered if I would need it, but I was thankful for my coat. By that time, it had seen better days. A button was loose, but more than that, the satin lining had worn out in the left pocket. More than once I'd dissolve into a panic thinking I had lost my keys, only to find that they had fallen through the pocket into the body of my coat. (Why I never just put my keys in my purse is beyond me). When the grey lifted and the cherry blossoms bloomed, it went back into my closet, and I thought little of the holes in the pocket which, by that time, had worn through the bottom of my coat as well.

And really, those little holes didn't matter.

Then on a frigid December night in 2005, when 8 inches of snow blanketed Dekalb and the little towns around it, Josh and I went out for a fancy Italian dinner to celebrate surviving the semester, which had ended the day before. I had gotten my hair cut earlier in the day and dressed in my best dress pants and cashmere sweater. He came to my apartment, and I slipped my camera into my coat as we left. After all, it wasn't often that we went out for a nice dinner--usually the $5 special from Pagilai's was all our grad school stipends could afford.

We went to the Zsa Zsa Tratoria, and Josh got something he couldn't pronounce, which was endlessly amusing to me. Then we went for a drive to look at the Christmas lights, and on a little country road outside of Dekalb that had barely been plowed, he pulled over and asked me to be his wife.

When I could finally pull my eyes off of the beautiful ring he'd placed on my finger, Josh and I took pictures of our happy moment. Selfies before the days of Instagram, on old-fashioned roll film, because what grad student had money for the new technology that was the digital camera? I remember thinking I would cherish those pictures because it isn't too often you get a photo of the moment your life changes forever.

We stopped by my apartment, and then headed back out for a quick stop (though for what I don't remember) before coming back to my apartment to call our families and watch Bridget Jones's Diary, the only romantic comedy Josh had. And it was as we were settling in to watch the movie that I realized that my camera was gone. There was no finding it. The satin had given way too much, and somewhere in our celebration, it had slipped out forever.

In the 8 years since that night, I have sometimes mourned the loss of those pictures. I wish I hadn't put my camera in my coat. I wish I could see how happy we were--and how young. I wish I knew what they looked like. I wish I could show them to our daughters.

Last winter, I finally bought myself a new pea coat. It is purple and warm and fantastic, and I even have a nice fleece scarf to go with it. My reliable old black coat has been retired, holes and all.

I suppose, in the end, it doesn't matter. The beautiful ring Josh placed on my finger 8 years ago tonight has been joined by a simple gold band.

Every morning, I get to wake up with him by my side (though often Elaina and Ellie quite happily join us, especially on the weekends). Every day I get to share with him, the tedium of the normal routines, the miracles of our little girls, the pain that comes with loss and stress and fear, the day-in, day-out, dirty dishes and laundry and chores and laughter and deep conversations that never seem to run out, despite the hours and hours we've talked to one another since we met. And every night, I get to curl up into the nook in his side.

After all, promises are better than pictures, anyway.

Sunday's Storm

Sunday morning, we drove to church through driving rain and ominous skies. As we pulled into the parking lot, Josh said, "It almost looks like a tornado sky." The clouds were so low, and so dark.

When we dropped the girls off at DiscoveryLand, we were debriefed on where they would be taken should a take cover emergency occur. That scared me, to be honest. I was (and am) so thankful a plan was in place, but the idea that today might be the day they use it, that we would be separated from our girls during that time, was pretty unsettling.

But church went on without a hitch. We heard an incredible message by Bob Goff. And then we picked up our girls and ran out in the rain and went home. Leaves were all over the road, and the rain came in waves, almost like a carwash. But no tree limbs were down, no power poles on the road.

When we got home, we turned on the news, and then we learned that a tornado had hit Washington, Pekin, and East Peoria--all smaller towns just on the other side of the river. It is one thing to watch disaster strike some unknown town on television. It's a completely different thing when that town is home to your cousins, to your co-workers, to your friends. When people you know were a half block from the devestation. When they saw the tornado go by and heard its telltale roar. When the weather reporters you watch every day are on the national news because they had to take shelter during the storm.

Yesterday, the National Weather Service indicated that the tornado that hit Washington was an EF4, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 190 mph. The destruction is unbelieveable.

Please pray for all those affected by Sunday's storm, here in central Illinois, in Indiana, and elsewhere.

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Halloween Costume link up

Because Elaina's birthday falls two days before Halloween, I'm usually scrambling to find a costume for her and Ellie. This year, however, I planned ahead, and I couldn't have been happier with the results.

Elaina initially said she wanted to be a dancing flower for Halloween. But one day, Josh and I watched her playing at a park, hopping carelessly (and sometimes dangerously...) from one piece of equipment to the next, and we decided she was like a little spider. A few days later, I saw a Spider Girl costume on sale at Zulily, and our little superhero was born.

Coincidentally, Arcadia, the girls' cousin and Elaina's bff, also went as a superhero, so it was sort of a family theme :)

For Ellie, her costume was borne out of a nickname her Papa gave her. When she was little, he called her Ellie-belly, and then his little "belly-rina". A tutu and onesie from Zulily later, and her costume was complete. She loved being a ballerina and insisted on twirling for everyone. I loved asking her what she was going to be: "I'm gonna be a bawwereeeena!"

We took the girls out for Merchant Night the Friday before Halloween--in our small town, several businesses downtown and along the highway open their door for trick-or-treaters. They had a blast, and I'm so glad we were able to go, because Halloween night was something of a sloppy mess.

The cousins at Merchant Night

We stil went trick-or-treating on Halloween, first stopping at our neighbors', Hans and Jo's, to fill up on goodies. (They love the girls and the girls love them. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful neighbors.) Then it was off to Gramma and Papa's, where their buckets were filled again, and my tummy was filled with some delicious Mexican hot chocolate (made with the normal fixin's, plus cinammon and cloves). My camera decided to stop working right as we were headed out the door, so I didn't get as many pictures as I'd like to. We went up and down their street and hit another neighborhood before the rain and a tired ballerina sent us home.

This year more than others, I just so enjoyed experiencing the fun of Halloween through my girls' eyes. It is one of the best parts of being a parent--getting to relive your childhood and help make memories for your little ones. I think this year was definitely a success!

Scenes from Elaina's 4th birthday

Elaina turned 4 on Tuesday (when did my little teeny baby become such a big girl?). We celebrated with friends and family on Saturday, and Tuesday we spent the day as a family and visited a few favorite places. Here are some pictures from her big days!

The Party - Saturday, October 26th
Elaina loves unicorns and My Little Pony, so that was the sort-of combined theme. This may be the last year we have it in our home, so I was glad to have a theme I knew she'd love to work with. Elaina loves her family and friends, and each time the doorbell rang, she ran excitedly over to see who had come. Love her heart so.

Reading with Pampah before everyone else arrived

The spread (and a clean island!)

Menu board - We had bought Elaina a few My Little Pony books at a resale shop in town, and they were falling apart. Knowing that Elaina would be getting more for her birthday (thanks, Zulily!), I used the characters from a few pages to accent the menu board. I was pretty happy with how it came out, and Elaina had a lot of fun reciting the items (mostly, I think, because she could ask for a Ka-Boom candy (aka Skittles) when she got to that item!). In addition to the items on the board, we had unicorn and crown cutout cookies, chips, and soda and water for our guests.

Sweet baby girl and her unicorn cake (unicorns were cutout sugar cookies)

Nehemiah, looking adorable as always

 Before the games, we watched Elaina's birthday video. One of my favorite presents to make the girls is a video, to song, of pictures and videos of their year. This year, I used Lon Lon Ranch (from the Zelda video game series) because Elaina calls it the Pony Song, and Glorious Day and Our Love is Loud by David Crowder. I have used a David Crowder song in every one of my videos except for Elaina's first birthday, and I was a little afraid the well had run dry. Thankfully, I was wrong!

After the video, it was time for games!

This is the first time we had games at a birthday party. The idea was that the kids would have to earn "Cutie Marks" by completing certain tasks (if your world is as involved in My Little Pony as ours is, you know what I'm referring to). The first game was Rarity's Gem Hunt. I took what was left of Elaina's falling apart books and shredded them to create a "mine" and then hid little rings from Party City for the kids to find. They had a great time digging around for their treasure, and I'm glad I listened to Josh and put several more than one per each child like I had originally planned!

The second "task" was to Pin the Horn on the Unicorn. Josh drew the unicorn (even shaded it and colored the mane and tail!) and I made the horns out of leftover posterboard. We used one of Josh's ties as a blindfold, which wasn't ideal, but the kids didn't seem to mind. 

Once everyone had pinned the horn on the unicorn, they got their cutie marks! Rub-on tattoos did the trick quite nicely :). Then it was time for cake!

And presents, too!

Elaina's birthday: Tuesday, October 29 

Beautiful sunrise for a beautiful new year

 Though the girls didn't let us sleep in as much as maybe we would have liked, we still had a nice morning of relaxing before getting down to the serious business of present opening

A new unicorn book she had been eyeballing during a recent trip to TJ Maxx

MLP tshirt, books, and backpack. I bought these things from Zulily back in June and they've been hiding under our bed since. Elaina especially loved the shirt--she insisted on wearing it to Gramma's the next day!

Llama Llama Red Gee-ama, as she calls it

 For lunch, we went to the Happiest Place in Peoria County, also known as Chik-fil-A. (Seriously, the girls eat this stuff like they've never had a chicken nugget in their lives.) 

Waiting patiently for Daddy to bring the food. Elaina insisted on holding Ellie's hand.

After playing for awhile, we headed out to Wildlife Prairie State Park. The park holds a special spot in my heart because we took Elaina there on her first birthday, too. I think it's safe to say she had an even better time this year. It was a little chilly, but the sun broke out from its grey prison just in time for us to enjoy the park, and it stayed out until we left.

First order of business was to ride the train. Our sweet neighbors, Hans and Jo, who love our daughters and spoil them ridiculously, gave us tickets for the park and for the train. Well worth the time spent! We grabbed blankets from the car, and we were off! 

Daddy and his girls

Elaina had a blast with all the cutout figures. She insisted on sticking her head in as many as she could find!

Howling at the wolves. The wolves were rather nonplussed.

We got to see several animals--coyotes, a black bear, a silver fox, bison, cougars, elk, and of course, the wolves.

After leaving the park, we decided to try a new apple orchard to see how it would compare to Tanner's, since, after our last outing there, we had been left with something of a bitter taste in our mouths. Christ Orchard was only six miles or so from the park, and it was well worth the drive. Smaller in scale, but more reasonable in price, we came away happy with a bag of apples, a jug of cider, and some new jam to try. Elaina also got to visit the chickens, turkeys, and alpaca they had on the grounds. Unfortunately, Ellie fell asleep on the way there, so I wasn't able to take any pictures.

Overall, I think Elaina had a very happy few days to celebrate the coming of her 4th year. She is such a blessing to us!

On the night before you were born

Dear Elaina,

It is my guess that most of your life you will grow up hearing about the day you were born. About how I was actually in labor when we showed up for my c-section. (The whole time, I thought you were just headbutting my rib cage. Turns out those were actual contractions :).) About how your daddy tried to make me laugh to dispel my nerves, and how Pastor Tim and Debbie came and prayed over us before I was wheeled into the operating room.

About how Daddy held my hand as Dr. Teverbaugh pulled you out, and about how you, content with where you were, kicked her off (you have always known what you wanted, baby girl, even then.)

About how beautiful you were, and how loudly you screamed (so loudly, in fact, that they couldn't even test your hearing for another day).

About the look on your Daddy's face when he held you for the first time--we have a picture of that, thankfully.

You will also see pictures of what we lovingly refer to as "The Running of the Grandparents," when Gramma Rita and Papa and Gramma and Pampah raced down the hall to meet you for the first time.

You were so alert, and so little, and we were so much in love. (We still are, in fact.)

When you get older, you'll probably be able to tell the details of your birth day flawlessly, as though you remember experiencing them yourself. It is a wonderful story, full of love and excitement, but there are others you should know, too. So today, I want to tell you about another day--the day before you were born.

The day before you were born was a chilly, sunny Wednesday. I worked a little from home in my bright red fuzzy robe, alternating between watching The Today Show and listening to the new Selah cd. Chappu fought for a spot on my lap, but of course there was little room to spare--you were taking up most of it, and my laptop was taking what was left.(I think I have a picture of this on my old phone. If you want to see it someday, I'll try and dig it up.) When Daddy got off work that afternoon, we headed out to P & W to finish signing off on our house design--the finalized blueprints bear your birthdate, actually--and then picked up a very unsatisfying dinner from Arby's, mostly because we had coupons and didn't want to cook knowing we wouldn't be home for a few days.

By 9:00, we were both hungry, so we decided to make one last trip out, just the two of us, for a fast food treat. Daddy drove us to the McDonald's on War Memorial and ordered a sandwich for himself and a hot fudge sundae for me. Somewhere between the ordering and the paying, hot, silent tears starting streaming down my cheeks. I tried to wipe them away so your dad wouldn't think I was a complete lunatic (though pregnancy hormones can make you feel that way sometimes), but he saw and asked what was wrong. He took my hand and tears spilled into my ice cream, and I said, "It's just that everything's going to change tomorrow..."

It isn't that I thought the change would be bad, sweet girl. And it isn't that I wasn't excited that you were coming--you had been hoped for and prayed for long before two lines appeared on a pregnancy test one dark February morning. It was that I knew our lives were going to change in profound ways, and sometimes those changes, no matter how much they are borne out of love, can be overwhelming. (I think this is the same reason I started hyperventilating before walking down the aisle to marry your dad.) Your sweet daddy held my hand and told me everything was going to be okay, and he was right.

The next morning, when you were put in my arms for the first time, I was overwhelmed again. By love and gratitude and amazement.

These past four years have been a blessing that I can't even articulate, no matter how I try. They have been exhausting and busy and full of wonder. You have gone from a blinky little newborn to a toddler whose happiest moments revolved around Mercer Mayer book and your green paci, to a little girl who loves ponies and unicorns and makes up songs to soothe your baby sister and "reads" every book you can lay your hands on. (You were "reading" on the way to Gramma's this morning, in fact. When I turned around to look at you, you said, "Mom! I'm reading!" in such an exasperated tone. Such a big girl already....). You have amazed me and overwhelmed me in the best ways.

Things were never the same after you were born, Elaina.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Just about perfect

Note: I wrote this post Friday night and had every intention of publishing it then, but our functional but outdated laptop, combined with our less-than-stellar data plan (which prevented me from making updates to said laptop), prevented me from posting it then. The content still remains true, so I am sharing it now.

Today, in nearly every way, was a perfect day.

It came on the heels of a less-than-perfect week. Work was stressful, deadlines were impending, last minute changes had to be made, frustration was mounting...Josh said more than once I was acting like I did when we worked at API in Rockford, which was not complimentary but said out of concern, and honestly, he was kind of right. I was stressed, in a funk, and praying that the vacation day I put in for on Wednesday would be approved.

Yesterday, things started looking up. All of the "junk" that had been weighing me down was finally, blessedly cleared from my plate. My boss approved my vacation day (and one for December 23rd, because, really, who wants to work on Monday when Christmas break starts on Tuesday?). I finally scheduled my massage--the one Josh got me for Christmas. One of my very favorite bloggers shared some exciting, long-awaited news. And I found out that the cookie cutters I bought to make unicorn shapes for Elaina's birthday work even better than expected.

And then, today. Today I think I had a perma-grin most of the day. Here's a recap of successes:

1. Woke up at 5:06 a.m. Shut my phone off so the alarm wouldn't go off at 5:40. Fell blissfully back   to sleep until Josh's alarm went off at 6:00.

2. Both girls woke up in fantastic moods. Got to give Elaina a unicorn cookie before we left to drop them off for the day. She loved it so much she almost refused to eat it...almost. (Ellie got a cookie, too. She tasted it, told me, "I don't like this," and then proceeded to hold it the entire drive to Gramma's without taking another taste.)

3. Downloaded 2 of my favorite new worship songs while watching Good Morning America (10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman and O My Soul by Samuel Lane). Started to download a third which we sing often at church (Scandal of Grace by Hillsong United) when my internet connection went all wonky. So it's paid for, but not downloaded. (To remedy this shortly.)

4. Went for a run outside, in the fresh air and sunshine. My road time was not where it had been before I started primarily using the treadmill, but I still got my 2 miles in.

5. Got my license renewed. Didn't get lectured for doing so 2 months late. The wait wasn't too bad, and the new picture amazingly does not highlight the unfortunate pimple I have on my chin.

6. Went to Target.

7. Went to Target without my sweet babies.

8. Went to Target without a timeline.

9. While at Target, found glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces in the Dollar Spot. Jim and Diane had these at his retirement party, and the girls LOVED them. Also found adorable owl handtowels. Two promptly found their way into my cart.

10. Enjoyed my first Pumpkin Spice Latte. Definitely lived up to the hype.

11. Found the perfect handbag to replace my *ahem* vintage (ie, from college) purses. It's leather, it's soft, it's big enough to fit my camera, and it's a beautiful soft mustard yellow that will be great for fall and will go smashingly with my purple winter coat.

12. Found long sleeve shirts for Elaina, on sale for $5, new makeup, bath paint for the girls, and a few other odds and ends I always seem to forget about otherwise.

13. After Target, ran to the mall. Found exactly what I was looking for for Josh's birthday in the first store. Decided to wander around to the others anyway, and did so, mindlessly, for a half hour.

14. Resisted the temptation to have DiDoughs for lunch.

15. Did not buy a single thing at Crazy 8.

16. Went back, bought said gift for Josh as well as a pair of purple sparkly shoes for Elaina (who was quite sad to learn she won't be able to wear her pink polka dot flip flops all winter long). Found out we had points on our card from buying the treadmill, so got both items for $2.60.

17. Had Panera for lunch...the asian sesame chicken salad I've been wanting to try. Had the smaller size (healthy win) and the crusty bread that came with it (not so healthy...but delicious!).

18. Had my Chrsitmas gift massage, which was thoroughly enjoyable, minus the foot massage during which I had to use every bit of will power not to yank my foot out of the masseuess's hand in a fit of giggles.

19. Remembered that I wanted to color my hair, so I ran back to Target and in a moment of calculated carelessness, bought light auburn and thought, what the heck.

20. Came home and immediately started coloring my hair. Got the kitchen/living room more presentable and swept the floor while the color set.

21. Color came out perfect (Thank you, Clariol!). (I have tried a reddish tone both from a box and from a salon and have never been fully satisfied with the results. That totally changed today. There was a minor mishap when I thought for a moment I'd dyed my neck, too, but thankfully it scrubbed off where it shouldn't be and stayed where it should.) Josh noticed the new color first thing. And he likes it :)

22. Girls had a good day, and we had a mostly good evening. Mostly, because we were together, but not completely, because Ellie was super tired and therefore SUPER cranky. On the bright side, she didn't fight bedtime and was peacefully asleep by 7:08.

23. Finally got around to mopping the kitchen floor.

24. Josh indulged me with a mostly un-mocked viewing of Ghost Adventures, which is my Friday night guilty pleasure.

25. Still have two days off...including my sweetheart's birthday. We have no big plans for the weekend, except for me to take Elaina on a secret mission to buy her daddy a birthday gift, breakfast out with Josh's folks on Sunday, and church. Mixed in there will also be pizza from Fedora's for the birthday boy (definitely not my pick, but hey, it's not my birthday) as well as a blueberry pie made by yours truly.

The weather is supposed to be great, and the obligations are few. And the weekend is starting after today.

A perfect start to the weekend.

ETA: The rest of the weekend remained largely perfect as well. It was so nice that I couldn't even complain about coming back to work!