120/365

This all occurred the week I started my new role as a full time stay-at-home mom. (Please note: I am still working -- grading, writing, editing, doing two new course preps -- oh, and we have to pack our entire house and move in a couple of months.)

119/365

Training for the 2028 Olympics has begun...

118/365

Today we visited the National Arboretum to see the azalea collection.

We go every year, and it never disappoints. The colors are amazing.

117/365

Last night we had dinner at our friends house. After dinner, K and her friend, A, disappeared for a period of time. When they finally came downstairs, they were covered in marker. K had a full beard and mustache on her face -- red. They had spots on their stomachs, backs, necks, and legs. K went so far as to color her legs, which you can see here. Most of the marker was washable and came off simply with a wet paper towel. The marker A used to color K's back was not washable. She's going to have orange dots on her back and neck for some time.

We've created a new rule in our house: no drawing with marker on your body.

116/365

K didn't have school today. We ventured downtown to visit the dinosaur museum (better known as the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History). After the museum, we had snacks on the National Mall. We rode the carousel. C did not enjoy it. We had a picnic lunch under a big oak tree. And then we walked over to the Sculpture Garden. That's where I snapped this picture. K lead the way to the fountain. She took really good care of C.

I hope they are this close in 20 years...

115/365

114/365

Closed: Washington Monument. Damage from the earthquake in August 2011 will soon be repaired.

113/365

This pink plastic vacuum has brought much joy to our home. The sidewalk in front of our house is cleaner than any other in DC.

112/365

Our weekly menu.

SUNDAY CONFESSIONAL

Truth be told...

1. Yesterday I had a glass of wine and bowl of granola for dinner.

2. I'm a little behind on laundry. In the past 24 hours, I've done seven loads, and I'm not finished. Everything is folded (which took a good chunk of my time); however the thought of bringing all of those clothes up two flights is more than I can handle. Laundry is SO much work.

3. In addition to my laundry piling up, I'm behind on grading papers. I have more than 50 position papers to read and grade. The end of the semester is brutal on teachers. To compound the problem, our school switched email servers this weekend and students are clueless as to what is going on. Numerous were unable to use their school email accounts this weekend and probably won't be able to do so for weeks to come.

4. K has been sleeping on a mattress in our room for months now. We set up the little bed so she wasn't bothered by C, but now that C is sleeping through the night she still needs to sleep with us. I don't know how to break the cycle. She doesn't like sharing a room with C and even if we get her into the bed in her room she always ends up on the floor in ours. With everything else going on, I don't have the time or patience to break her of this habit. Instead I'm putting it off until after we move. Her bedroom will be right across the hall from ours in the new house. I'm hoping that such close proximity and a new bedroom -- all to herself -- will get her out of our room.

5. I love Neil Diamond. Watching him perform at the Red Sox game on Saturday brought tears to my eyes.

111/365

Red bud, how I love you...

110/365

Spring is finally here.

D has been away all weekend. Yesterday I had high hopes of getting a lot done - laundry, work, cleaning, food prep. I did none of it. Instead we played and hung out with friends. We went to brunch at church. When we should have been inside folding dirty laundry, we were out doing this....

K was on her scooter; C pushing a pink plastic vacuum.

It was a wonderful day. Capped off with mac 'n cheese for dinner. Kids were asleep by 8:30. I  did three loads of laundry after they were in bed and did a little work.

This morning we were up at 6am. Instead of squandering that time, we cleaned the linen closet out. Interesting items found... pain killers from my first c-section (2008), more hand lotion than any family of four should have, D's retainers, six empty glasses cases, three socks (no matches), and more loose q-tips and cotton balls than I've ever seen. Needless to say, we had a huge garbage bag of stuff to throw away. We also mad a huge dent in the laundry.

It's been a good couple of days.

109/365

My afternoon did not go as planned. C woke up half an hour into his nap and needed to be rocked back to sleep; K slept for about 5 minutes; I got little work done; K had a complete meltdown. By the time I started getting dinner ready I was at the end of my rope. I wanted a quiet space and a glass of wine.

D had no idea what kind of afternoon I was having; however, his text made my day. He didn't need to tell me about the guy at Rite Aid, but he knew I'd get a kick out of the purchases. And I did. I giggle every time I read it.

108/365

We don't own a TV. Running water - in the sink or bathtub - is our babysitter. If I need him out of my way, I turn the water on. Doing so guarantees me 15 minutes of alone time. It also guarantees me a one year old who needs a dry set of clothes and floor that needs to be dried.

107/365

I haven't spoken much about our upcoming move. To be honest, I haven't had much time to reflect on all that has happened in the past six months.

Long story short, we are moving. We are moving to a small town. We are leaving DC. The emotional toll of this move is going to be huge. DC has been my home for more than 11 years. I'm going to miss it.

But this post isn't about the sadness. This is about the excitement. On Tuesday we made an offer on a new home. On Wednesday we came to an agreement with the sellers.

We have a new home!

(You'll also note that my mom and I have profound conversations. The fact that she found Connect 4 is huge!)

106/365

Like many in the running community, I wore a race t-shirt today and got outside. The events at yesterday's Boston Marathon make my heart hurt, but I will continue to run. And will probably be sporting blue and yellow ribbons in my hair during my next race in honor of those who were hurt or killed yesterday.

Thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was at the Marathon or in Boston yesterday.

105/365

Just a typical TAX day...

Not only are we finishing our taxes, but we're making an offer on a new house, looking to buy a new car, and thinking about renting new office space for D in our new hometown.

Heaven help us...

104/365

There's no place like home.

This photo is awful. But it is truly significant and meaningful -- and not just because our trips home to DC are numbered. Seeing the Welcome to Washington DC sign last night after more than five hours in the car was magical...

We are driving a 14 year old car with 125,000 miles on it. And, well, our little car is on her last leg. The trip to and from Pennsylvania required four quarts of oil -- yes, four quarts. The car is burning oil fast and hard. We are also having transmission problems. The combination of these two issues results in huge plumbs of white smoke coming out of our tailpipe as we go up large hills. We also have a loss in power and cannot get the car's speed to increase.

Things were bad on our trip to Pennsylvania. And worse on the way home.

We will not be taking this car on another road trip. We're praying she lives long enough for me to get through the semester. We're also praying that we can get at least $1,000 at trade in.

Obviously we are shopping for a new car. More on that to come...

103/365

Driving through Pennsylvania

102/365

That's my friend, Janelle, on the cover of the Washington Post! An employee at Sojourners, Janelle was part of the team that organized this vigil highlighting gun violence on the National Mall. So proud of her hard work and just love the picture of her with the cross and the Washington Monument. The photo below captures the vigil in its fullness.

Photo credit.

101/365

View of Rock Creek Park from the bridge at the National Zoo.

To saw that I'm going to miss running in RCP is an understatement. I love this place. I love the sights, sounds, trails, paths, people, bridges, flowers, and animals. I love that they close Beach Drive to cars on the weekends and give the road over to us runners, bikers, walkers, and in-line skaters.

This picture also bridges (pun intended) my running life and professional life. The little brick tunnel at the bottom of the page is an outlet for storm water. Because DC has mixed/shared storm and sewers, when there is large amounts of rain not only does a flood of rainwater flow out of these tunnels, but sewage comes out, too. Lovely. It is a huge source of water pollution; making these waters dangerous for wading or playing in. If you take a close look at this picture, above the drain there is a yellow sign. This sign alerts people to the dangers of raw sewage in the water. And instructs visitors to the park not to play in the water for health reasons.

As much as I love RCP, it breaks my heart that playing in the Creek is not an option due to sewage contamination. It really makes you think about the value of clean water.

100/365

Peak bloom is magical

99/365

White-ish cherry blossoms

98/365

Pink cherry blossoms

SPRING?

Dear Spring,

Are you really here?

Is that really you?

Are you here to stay?

This morning I went out for a run at 6:00 am. The temperature was 55 degrees. I wore capris and a short-sleeved shirt. And I sweated. It was fantastic. BUT.... it is hard to believe you are here to stay. Last week I went running at the same time and needed a hat, gloves, long-sleeved shirt, and vest.


What is your plan spring? Are you here for keeps?

The little weather-person inside me phone says you are here to stay.

I hope you are here to stay. Getting up in the mornings when you are around is delightful. The flowers, colors, smells, and critters that come with you make me happy.

XOXO.

97/365

Wine and chocolate

SUNDAY CONFESSIONAL

Truth be told...

1. I have had more Bordeaux wine in the past 24 hours than I have had in the past 35 years. D got a free bottle from our local grocery store yesterday. This evening we tried another. I'm loving the rich flavors. I'm looking forward to trying the other bottle we have in our pantry.

2. There are moments when being a parent sucks. Take tonight: I snapped an amazing picture of C naked looking out the window. It was a priceless shot. While I was uploading it to Instagram, C took the biggest poop ever on the floor. Then he proceeded to step in it. The thought of cleaning it up made me want to scream. I yelled downstairs and asked for D's help. And bless him for saying he'd clean up the poop while I got to give the kids a bath.

D earned a spot in heaven today for offering to clean up the poop when it was totally my fault and my mess.

3. I'm not sleeping well these days. My mind is a swirl. I cannot stop thinking about: where we are going to live when we move; when are we going to move; how am I going to get stuff done over the summer without child care help; will K get into the school we want to send it to her; will I find the papers I lost last weekend; can I coordinate logistics for the NYC Marathon and APHA next fall. The list of thoughts crossing my mind goes on and on...

4. We canceled Easter last weekend. D was on-call, and we didn't want to risk D being called away during dinner prep or the meal itself. It could not have been a better decision. K skipped her nap (yes, my four and a half year old needs to nap daily). Both my kids were in the bathrub at 4:30, we ate hard boilded eggs and broccoli for dinner, and both were in bed by 7:30. K woke up covered in vomit at 8:45. Obviously, D had been called away to work before dinner. When I heard K crying, it was another moment where being a mother sucks.

5. I didn't shower Wednesday or Thursday.

96/365

Picnic lunch

LASTS

As a parent, I'm always thinking about firsts... first steps, first birthdays, first words, first time sleeping through the night, etc...

To be honest, even with a little guy, I haven't been thinking about firsts much these days. I've been thinking about lasts...

Last weekend was our last time celebrating a major holiday at our church.

The DC Rock 'n Roll half marathon was likely my last DC race as a DC resident.

Soon I'll have my last class at Mason. Then K will have her last day of pre-K.

I'll have my last run through Rock Creek Park; my last run with my running group.

I'm thinking a lot about lasts.

I don't want to miss one. I'm going to miss DC.

In addition to thinking about all of our DC lasts, we're also creating our DC to do list. In addition to visiting all of our favorite haunts, we hope to take boat ride on the C&O Canal, visit the Udvar Hazy Center (to see a space shuttle and Concorde airplane), get family photos taken - in either Rock Creek Park or the Arboritum, visit all of the museums, and visit Rock Creek as much as possible!

95/365

Beavers. Finally saw the beavers at the zoo.

94/365

93/365

Spring, are you really here?

92/365

Commuter college. This view makes me want to throw up a little.

91/365

 

Yes, that is an electric toothbrush in the bathtub. Best.Parent.Ever.