Just a few thoughts...

Hmmmm. I haven't dropped a bunch of bullet points on you lately, have I?

Have you missed them?

No?

Too bad.

- My younger sister got engaged last week! I'm so excited for her! Also, I'm more motivated than ever to lose a little of my extra weight now, because she will be getting married on a beach somewhere, and beach dresses do not hide quite as many problem spots as church dresses. These are the things I think about, people.

- My youngest sister is seventeen today. SEVENTEEN!!!! What the hell, Mary? Would you stop with all of this growing up already? You're making me feel beyond old. Anyway, happy birthday to my favorite sister, ever. Just don't tell Jess, ok?

Side note: Brigid, you could do worse than using Auntie Mary as a model of behavior. Skip over the parts where we couldn't go out to eat when she was younger because she'd get nauseous at the sight/smell of restaurant food, and focus instead on how laid back she is. Once, when we went to visit Auntie Jess in college, we all went to a wine tasting, and Mary just hung out at the table, drinking juice, eating chocolate, and playing Sudoku. I'm going to be expecting that kind of patience from you, too, ok?

- Speaking of Brigid...we seemed to have misplaced one of her bedtime books. I know, right? What kind of parents are we?!?!? Anyway, in a pinch, I had to replace it with Brown Bear, Brown Bear earlier this week, and wouldn't you know? She loved it! So, last night, while Steve was getting her bath ready, Brigid brought the book over to where I was sitting in the rocking chair, made me turn on her table lamp (the one that we use for reading right before bed, after we've turned off the overhead light, even though, at this point, the overhead light was still on. isn't it amazing what becomes associated with what in their minds?), and backed her little butt up to me so I knew she wanted me to pick her up and put her on my lap. Which I did, because she doesn't offer that up very often, and I was not about to miss the opportunity. And we read until bath time. And there is absolutely nothing all that remarkable about that story, but it was just so sweet, and she was so excited to read the book, and she was so focused while I was reading. And I'd like to think that this is a moment I'll remember someday down the road. So, I'm making sure I'll remember.

- It has been cold and rainy and generally nasty in Atlanta the last few days. And my mood has seemingly changed to match the weather, which I don't like at all. So, this morning? I put Jimmy Buffett on the radio, turned the meditation app on my iPhone to ocean sounds, cranked up the heat, and pretended I was on the beach while on my way to work. And it actually worked surprisingly well. I was in a much better mood than I expected by the time I got to the office. Although, I'm pretty sure that my passive aggressive attempts at annoying the driver who had cut me off earlier by getting back around him and matching the speed of the person in the lane next to me, so he was stuck behind both of us may have helped things a little.*

Hey, I'll take what I can get this week.


* Hey, mom?  I didn't do anything dangerous, don't worry. I didn't even mean to get back in front of him, because, let's be honest, nobody likes driving around that guy, so I was perfectly happy to let him go on his merry way. And I didn't even realize that we were 'holding him back' until I saw him switch lanes behind me 8 times, trying to figure out which lane was the best bet to get him out in front. On surface streets. With stop lights. Where he wasn't going to be getting anywhere that much faster than the rest of us, anyway. Once I realized how impatient he was, I took the first opportunity to let him by. And then I proceeded to pull into our parking garage right behind him. Which made me laugh. Way to make time there, buddy...