Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name

Today was a fractured, frantic day which included:
• a vase-breaking incident while at Primary Presidency mtg (guilty party: one mischievous, tow-headed toddler)
• the 3rd trip to the grocery store in 3 days...forgetting onions EACH time...will I EVER finish this blasted canning of salsa???
• running hither & yon for the fetching & ferrying of kids; school pickups, guitar lessons, etc.
• helping with party cupcakes and breaking Ali's hand mixer
• almost ruining frosting for said cupcakes
• sitting with vase-breaking toddler in the car for 60 seemingly endless minutes while waiting for kids in guitar lessons
• reading Cinderella to Mimi 3 times in succession (which I admit was fun)
• and...
•
•
• dropping into a chair at Chili's, surrounded by some of my favorite people on the planet, being served 2 Diet Cokes at once by our Best Waiter Ever Zach--whom, by the way, we set up on a blind date & successfully married off--
• and...
•
•
• laughing our guts out for 4 hours about life's various idiosyncrasies including, but not limited to: Bert & Ernie, facebook, kids, movies, books, Disneyland, weird people in the general public, tiki torches, near-misses, Thriller, missing teeth, mutual disgust of dogs, Christmas present cleverness, the Swedish subway, Beatles Rockband and husbands.

Thanks girls.

(please note my mandatory bowl of lemons &
2 simultaneously-served Diet Cokes.)

* Not pictured: Ali & Ann, who were late.

Sunday.

I got a few boxes of peaches last week and over the course of the week did a lot of peeling and cutting. And snacking.

...and lots of stirring...

...with a break to watch Jack pop peas in his mouth.

This was my first time making peach jam and the aroma was intoxicating! For some reason, the aroma reminded me of the old Strawberry Shortcake doll named Baby Apricot--remember her? Anyway, i kept leaning over the pot and inhaling deeply and my kids all thought I was weird.

I stopped to admire my new pot, which was a result of burning my first batch and fusing the boiling peaches to the bottom of the pot. I love the deep red color. It's just a cheap walmart pot, but it's HUGE.

And here is tonight's payoff! Why are kitchen activities so cathartic to me?

My weekdays are taking on a delightfully predictable routine and I'm finding I am snapping photos of the same moments of each day; kids launching off to school, morning hair-dos, Baby on our morning walk, naptime sweetness, etc. More on that tomorrow. And Mimi had a birthday; more on that tomorrow, also. Happy Monday tomorrow, everyone!

Oh, and also--I watched this video today and it lifted my spirit.

It's got a glimpse of the amazing Stephanie Nielsen in it, which brought the message that much more poignancy.

I'll be finding a way to load it on my ipod and go for some time alone up the canyon.

"Oh sleep! It is a gentle thing."
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Max, 9 yrs.

Isabelle, 7 yrs.

Mimi, 5 yrs.

Jack, 4 mos.

What I'm Doing at 2:45am

It's 1:40am & here's what I'm doing: I'm playing on the computer and eating Cocoa Krispies, the ultimate insomnia food!

Mike & I watched "Atonement" tonight and it got me all kafuffled and now I can't sleep. That is a seriously intense movie. I should've watched "Dan In Real Life."

It's Friday Night, Baby

Cheers! Here's to Friday Night, kids in bed, watching a dvd with The Man and MY FAVORITE TREAT....brie & pears. Bottoms up!