McClumpha Park

Had a great dinner at the Baker's last night - Ryan invited us for fresh caught walleye. This morning, my children allowed me to sleep in late, both of them snuggled on either side of me. Then we lathered on the sunscreen and met up with Brooke, Harrison and Sylvia at McClumpha Park. Although we go there regularly, I've never ventured beyond the big playscape until today, when we discovered a nature walk, baseball diamonds, a big pond, and another picnic area - such a great place! Eli loved going down the slides all by himself, and Nolah was content to hang out in the front carrier. I caused some drama this evening when I was about to leave for my office to give a Trauma, Grief and Loss presentation and discovered that my office key was not on my ring. In a complete panic, I emailed everyone at work begging for somebody to call me immediately to let me borrow a key (of course I have nobody's phone numbers because I had lost my cell phone awhile back). Thankfully, Erich found it on another keyring that I must have. I'm completely losing my mind lately. So the training went okay - I felt a little unprepared but not sure what time I had to get anything ready. Off to a finalization hearing in Macomb County in the morning and looking forward to visiting Frankenmuth tomorrow evening.

Weekend update

After a great visit with Holly & Alex last night, we turned in early with plans to visit the Detroit Zoo in the morning. It's essential to get there as early as possible to maximize the time between arrival and the pre-nap meltdown. We were up with the sun and doing the standard running around trying to get out the door, which is becoming increasingly nightmarish as Nolah has entered the "don't you dare put me down" stage, which is accompanied by the "I dare you to walk out of the room" stage. Anyway, we were finally off and arrived at the zoo (which is looking great now that it's tax payer funded, by the way). Eli enjoyed the animals (particularly the peacocks) until about 1:00 pm, when the forementioned tantrum began. Nolah was her usual self - smiling and giggling at anyone who would look at her from her frontcarrier. We came home and spent the rest of the day weeding and planting the front and back yards. Also of interest this weekend, my brother Wes paid a visit. He's just graduated with a pharmacy degree and is entertaining some job offers in the deep South. So, between visits and projects (etc), we had to make a point to leave some things undone, leave the house a mess, and take off to wander the zoo with the kids for a few hours. It was actually pretty hard to make that choice, but I think it's important. It's so easy to get caught up in the tasks in life and ignore what's really important.

Hair Cut

Today was the big day! I reunited with my hairdresser for a cut and highlight. I arrived, was seated in her chair, and after the usual discussion about how much to take off (etc), she said, "So, how's your baby doing?" To this I responded, "Which one?" She looked puzzled for a moment, then said, "You mean, you have more than one baby???" Then it hit me - I had not seen this woman since before I was pregnant with Nolah...which means, I have not had a haircut in over a year and a half. Before having kids, that would have NEVER happened. I routinely had cuts/highlights/manicures and pedicures, always scheduling the next appointment before leaving the salon. After giving me a great cut, and a stern lecture about taking time for myself, she sent me about my day. But I scheduled my next appointment before leaving the salon.

The Best Cup of Coffee

My husband just asked me what is the best cup of coffee I've ever had. I didn't even have to think...it was the cappuchino we had on our last day in Rome, in a neighborhood near our hostel. Sounds so romantic - I can't believe that was less than 3 years ago, a far cry from my cup of coffee this morning, which occurred only after dragging our two year old out of bed, getting into an epic argument about which cereal he would have (Kix or Fruit Loops), changing the 6 month old's diaper, and having the dog once again roll in something dead in the yard and then sprint through the house. We've yet to identify what he is getting into each morning that smells so rank - it seems like we would know about any dead rodents in our postage stamp sized backyard to which he is contained. But back to the coffee...

I'm fairly certain that I felt more content, more fulfilled, and more in love this morning, gulping down my Folger's from the pot than I did that day in Italy, at an outdoor cafe in one of the most romantic and exciting cities in the world. I think that the people, the ones who are cynical about marriage, sometimes maybe don't believe that love really does grow, and gets better with time (as cheesy and clique'd as that sounds). And this all brings me to my point. Today, my husband gave me a brand new laptop for which he spent hours researching and shopping for what would be absolutely perfect for me. He is wonderful in that way. So...I've decided to give blogging another go, if only to provide myself with a record of this moment in time, the best so far.