back from my respite

so my respite from family life hath come to a close. it was SO SO AWESOME. not that it's a negative commentary on my kids or husband but i have not had a solid chunk of alone time pretty much since before i was married. i mean, you probably can't (well, some of you can) imagine what it's like to never ever go do simple errands by yourself. my children are wonderful, curious, beams of light but let's be real. solo grocery shopping > grocery shopping with children. i treated myself to lunch at chipotle and was in such a good mood i bought myself a second burrito to enjoy for lunch today. i enjoyed hot cups of tea without interruption, finished three movies!, read a big chunk of a book i've been enjoying, and slept as long as i wanted. i was torn between my inclination to seize the opportunity to clean up, wash and fold laundry, return library books, clean out the car, etc but instead i vied to do nothing like that. those are all things that i do on a regular basis and i was on vacation! so for around 24 hours i had quality jenny time and it really reenergized me!

this morning my crazy car wouldn't start because it was pretty cold. silly me forgot to plug in the block heater and that car gets downright cranky if it dips below 20 without using it. below 10 and it sometimes doesnt want to turn over even with the block heater! hovering around 0, there is no chance of leaving the house. good thing ohio is that cold, though that is relative i suppose. texans probably think im nuts and my canadian friends probably think im being dramatic. and speaking of cold, i have a really nice wool coat but on a whim i put on david's and OH MY WORD his is so much better. although mine is from jcrew (his, gap) it doesnt zip as high up as you want when it is blowing cold and the hood doesnt even cinch which renders it mostly ornamental. though it is a good addition if you are already wearing a hat or in my case a harf. david has this crazy crazy cycling jacket that literally feels like a mid weight windbreaker but that is all david wears (well and some arm warmers underneath) and he swears he is roasty toasty while riding. that man is a hardcore cyclist. we are expecting 2-4 inches of snow today on top of the already present 1 inch and yup, he puttered off to class and work like it was a calm spring day. anyways, so my dear friend karen (kjames) had to pick up augustine and take him to preschool. wouldnt you know it the car started later. at least ill be able to pick him up now.

augustine got three pairs of slammin' new shoes from my parents. they also went sledding while they stayed the night at their house. olive had never been and well... im sure you can imagine her batty response to high speed descent through glittery snow. :)

ive been enjoying our one on one time