from my hotel room

I'm working out of town, spending my first night away from the baby. I miss her, but I'm imagining it could be a lot worse. I'm thankful that she's successfully weaned and I'm... um... pretty much physically recovered from that, too. we tapered off like everyone says to do, but I was still surprised it seemed to take so long (to me) for my body to get the message.

anyhoo. facetime is a lovely thing - thanks, apple product, for letting me see and talk to my family on the phone tonight.

we've been in our car a lot lately. for all the travel, I think we've all done extraordinarily well. we've managed to stay both pretty genial and mostly healthy, and we've really had a lovely time seeing family and making the most out of opportunities for work. huge thanks to mom & dad, mrs. mary, and grandma for putting us up. thanks to you all, we had nice places to collapse at the end of the day. :)

hotel shots:

I started my new eating plan right before this stretch of travel, and I feel really good about the choices I've made. I'm also feeling better in general... I think the combination of eating more regularly, making a few adjustments in food choices, and being physically challenged is helping me stay very 'level'. it's kind of a lame word, but that's how I feel. on-kilter. kiltered? level.

we were at Kevin and Linda's when we flipped the channel and learned that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. the public's varied response to his death has sparked a lot of conversation about how Christians should react to things like this. I think these are things worth talking about. I have more to say, but I'm so sleepyyyy...

a phew photos. (I wrote it that way with the 'ph' without thinking and decided to leave it. just so you know that I REALLY KNOW HOW TO SPELL.)

miss kaitlin michelle

did I mention that MY middle name is 'michelle'?

my brother's is 'michael'... we're both named after our father.

my rockstar sister-in-law and her girls:

a quick snapshot of the three girls after church last Sunday:

Kev and I, and our pretty progeny:

bath time!

kaitlin was very good about looking at aunt lu:

meggie peeping from the carseat:

munching on another favorite blanket... grandma made a bigger one for her and this one for her dolly for christmas:

our first doll baby:

I just like this one for the great view of all four teeth:

we got to go celebrate opa's birthday @ hickory hollow:

and pause to do a little cuddling on our brown couch:

we took brother J to see Arcade Fire last night for his birthday, and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. the music was great, the band is fun to watch, and their visual show is cool, odd, and ofttimes mesmerizing. I'm really glad we got to see them. note to self: when mgb and I form our band and tour, we simply MUST have a rad visual element. I would also like to wear a twirly, sparkly, majorette dress sometimes.

a fun clip... they only sold seated tickets (so there was no crowd back on the hill), and everyone there seemed to have a blast. I saw distinctly unhip, older people out there clapping and singing along with all the hipsters, and I think that's a testament to the band's appeal.

...aaaaand, I can't get the video to play. sigh. oh well.


home again tomorrow night. I can't wait to totally unpack my bag and go buy vegetables to cook with the hubs. this was me today, in my arcade fire t-shirt:

borrowing The List from JR:

I'm thankful for abundant blessing, and ample opportunity to use gifts.
I need to do more cardio.
I think I'm allergic to walking lunges.
Mother's Day's coming up!
why is it so hard to remember to drink water?
tomorrow's session is almost guaranteed to be a throat-ripper. I'm glad it's almost the weekend.
I have about ten phone calls I need to make. I'm failing in personal communication.
I wish the scale would reflect the way I feel. for now, I'll just enjoy my looser clothes.

-m.y.