Life, the update.

Avery either marched right into a cold or is experiencing lingering symptoms of the flu sans fever. Her behavior has been a bit puny so I know she's not yet feeling 100%despite being back to school, attending birthday parties, and going to lunch with me today at Subway.

Thankfully, her sister has not gotten sick. I'm quite confident it's my worrying that has kept it at bay because really, whatever I worry about never happens.

This Saturday found us up and at 'em early. Julia woke me up at 6:30 with a shreik because she'd just had a bad dream. In a fog, I hadn't looked at the clock when I stumbled into her room. It felt like it was the middle of the night so I snuggled with her and then went back to bed. Then I looked at the clock and realized it was 6:50am and I would not be lying there much longer.

No matter, we had places to go and people to see. Julia had a play date with a friend, my husband went camping at the coast and I took Avery to a birthday party for one of her classmates. I liked this party a lot because 1) everyone was invited (nobody was left out) 2) The theme was fun: alphabet, with great activities 3) There was a book exchange. I remember when I was teaching one of my favorite students ever told me I was, "Hot with parties" but let me tell you, this friend of mine that put on the birthday party is the one who is hot with parties. I found myself thinking today, who puts on amazing parties that she gets to attend?

Anyway, the afternoon progressed with a trip to Joann's for art supplies and then some time at home creating and mess making, followed by my stab at savory pancakes for dinner (with shredded zucchini and garlic). We watched Dennis the Menace which is a pretty hilarious movie the kids seemed to enjoy, then settled in for some serious reading. Julia read to her sister and I from a Minnie and Moo book and then I read them the last four chapters of See You Around, Sam. The Sam books are true favorites: All About Sam, Attaboy Sam, See You Around Sam, Zooman Sam. They are GREAT. I read these to my class when I taught and they just loved them as much as the girls have. I just love Lois Lowry. She is amazing. I've been reading her blog tonight, too.

Then there is now. Now the house is silent except for the heater and the rain. The kids are asleep. My husband is in a tent somewhere on the Oregon coast probably being blown all over. My kitchen counters and playroom are messy and I have absolutely no energy to tackle it. It was the kind of day where you see it messy, getting messier, and know you will not be capable of keeping a handle on it. If it's still messy at night, I won't worry about it until the morning. I get some of my best chores done in the morning after breakfast. Let's hope I wake up fresh as a daisy tomorrow.

I also have to jog tomorrow. I've been doing at least three jogs a week and walking at least two or three days, too. Jogging is not as hard as it used to be and I'm proud of myself for sticking with it. Last week when Avery was at school I spent an hour working out at the local rec center (using up our 20 passes from the auction) first running on the treadmill for a half hour then swimming a half hour. It felt SO GOOD! Unfortunately, I have hit those days in my cycle where it's both impossible to exercise and impossible to stay away from sugar. Case in point: I'd made a goal to avoid fast food all month and to eat applesauce or suckers for dessert but broke that this week with a trip to Taco Time and making oatmeal cookies all on the same day.

I am excited to watch SNL tonight as I mentioned I have a celebrity crush on Joseph Gordon-Levvitt, the host, who was just coming out of his mother's womb when I was a fourth grader learning about ocean life and perfecting my cursive.

The kids and I were playing with our chins the other night. You know, you draw eyes on your chin, then cover your nose/face and they watch you talk upside down. This is something that can make me laugh so hard if I let it. The girls LOVED it, too. It was a golden moment, indeed, one they have tried to recreate again when I'd already moved on. I need to go back with them, to draw eyes on my chin again and again and laugh.

As I ramble on I find myself wondering who really gives a *bleep* about the mundane details of a mother's Saturday. Yet I feel like this blog often skips over the little day to day updates, failing to yammer on enough about the way a day plays out, so it's sort of fun to do it, even if it's boring, even if I lost you all at the word sick in paragraph two.

My blog was born in November four years ago(!!). It's four, it could be a preschooler, this blog, sitting at story time and eating goldfish for snack. It could be Avery's playmate, lining up colorful bears in a pattern on the rug. It could have just been the star of a birthday party, one where there definitely was party hats and horns. I will help it reach five, keep reporting on the mundane mushrooms growing in our yard, and the major milestones, on nothing and everything. Whether I have ten readers or none, I will always be glad to have this little glimpse into now.