1. First of all – I didn’t get a chance to give a little shout out to J. last week. He was promoted. He is now a VP, although he has always been a ViP to us. We are proud of you, Daddy – good work!

2. In other (almost as exciting) news…my new lens came! Woo hoo! (Thanks again J., girls, and Mom & Dad – one of the best birthday presents ever!) I have been in a bit of a camera coma lately. Pretty much just “recording life,” not really “seeing it” through my camera. I ended up getting a Tamron 28-200mm Macro. I really wanted a macro lens, but also needed something between my kit lens and my 70-300mm zoom.  This lens seems to have a decent (enough for me!) macro, but some versatility as well. It isn’t too heavy and I’ve had it on my camera for the past two days and have been able to shoot all kinds of stuff. I feel like my photography mojo is back, and I want to pick up the camera to learn and experiment.

Some I shot while the girls were playing at the park tonight…

Eeeeee! So fun. I feel like a five-year old on Christmas morning! Let’s go to the park! Let’s go out into the garden. Let me get my camera!

3. J. is on the road again until tomorrow. He is presenting at a conference tomorrow morning. What does that mean to our household? Mmmm….cereal for dinner. Girls in bed early. And an uninterrupted, guiltless evening full of sewing.

4. Because when he gets back we have all kinds of TV watching to catch up on. Holy cow! We are so behind. Like an entire month behind on Lost!

5. Speaking of catching up on TV… Oh.Em.GEE! Did you see last week’s season finale of Grey’s? I won’t say anything just in case you are further behind than me…but I will just tell you, I sobbed for 10 minutes last night. We are not talking a little teary-eyed – we are talking full-on weeping. I think I scared J a little bit. He actually closed his computer so he could just hold me.

What the…? And now I feel silly, quite frankly. I mean it is A TV SHOW! And I’m not even hormonal, pregnant or postpartum. Sooo…not really sure what was going on there.

6. And speaking also of postpartum, (What? Weren’t we?) I just finished Dooce’s new book that I got for my birthday (Autographed! Niiice.  And thank you very much Jeff & Wendy!). Heather is quite possibly one of the most evocative writers of our generation. And flippin’ hilarious, as well. Seriously. Although I don’t think my post-partnum blues were even on the same scale as hers, I cannot tell you how connected I felt as I was reading about her struggles (and triumphs!). I found myself nodding in agreement, laughing out loud, and even crying a little with her. (I know, big surprise, right? See#5 up there!) I finished it in one day. Granted, I am a really fast reader, but it is one of those kinds of books that you want to keep reading to see what is going to happen, but you don’t ever want it to end because you are enjoying the ride too much. Highly recommended. Plus her dog, Chuck, is just darn cute.

7. So, we just got Addie’s forehead healed up, I don’t know…I couldn’t tell you what she did, but she had a pretty little cut up there. She was supposed to be “resting” this afternoon and she calls down, “Mama, I think I have a little bump on my head.” So she comes down to show me and…UM….

Yeah, so that is not a little bump! Can you see it? Underneath the lovely purple bruise and cut? A big ol’ goose egg. I tried to figure out how she did it, and I still can’t tell you how it all went down. Apparently she was trying to get a new dress out of her closet and had a run-in with the hanger and closet bar? I don’t know. Again.

I do know that it goes together so beautifully with her purple/pink stained hands…

I do know how she got those, though. She apparently painted her hands at school. Of course. Crazy kid.

8. I just had to (like, right this minute!) check the earthquake site, because it felt a little shaky in the living room here. But, I am either deliriously dizzy from hunger – or a large truck just rumbled by. The site doesn’t seem to think it was a quakey quake.

Nonetheless, I’m going to go get some dinner cereal (mmm…the best kind!) and check to make sure our earthquake supplies are not too buried in the garage.

And I’ll leave you with another of my favorite photos from the park (and the new lens!)…