All is well.

Bullet lists are one of my favorite things...

• Somehow, through some miraculous occurance, my body is settling into a rhythm... The last two nights of getting up with the dog haven't been any easier, but I'm falling asleep much more quickly when I crawl back into bed and I'm waking up in the morning refreshed. I'm not going to try to figure it out. I'm just going with it.
• Gracie is growing before my very eyes. I was only gone three days over the weekend, but I swear she's an inch taller. Every time I look at her it's like she's bigger. She struggles now to fit on my lap and I've had to loosen her collar twice already. Unbelievable. Strange to think that in a few months there will be a dog where there used to be a puppy. She is so sweet - full of kisses and love for the whole family. There is simply nothing cuter on the face of the earth than her little short tail wagging back and forth a million times a minute. I can hardly remember life without her little wrinkly face.
• K. has decided to grow his hair out. It's all I can do to not sneak into his room at night and prune the bush that is growing atop his head. It's a fright. The kid has really thick hair and while it's not curly, it's got a ton of texture and body. Which, when allowed to get longer, tends to look like a bear coat. Granted, E. has the title of worst hair in the family, but K. runs a close second with this new coiffure. I'm trying really hard to be a good Mom and not make a big deal about hair - after all, ya gotta pick your battles, right?
• The very expensive dog food = much fewer dog farts. That's a very good thing.
• While on my little weekend getaway I bought a new "Oregon" sweatshirt. I only attended U of O for one year, but still consider myself a Duck. The sweatshirt I had was one I bought in 1987. I still wore it fairly regularly until some guy came up to me at Costco awhile back and said "I used to have a sweatshirt like that..." Geez - it was at least 17 years old at that point - what the heck was I doing wearing something like that out in public? And the clincher is - it was one of those cool 80's statements where the whole thing was made inside-out. You know, where the fuzzy side of the sweatshirt is on the outside? Dang - obviously I was in some sort of fashion time warp denial. Freaky. Now I have a very fresh, new hoodie that is decidedly more modern and hip. It's even brown instead of green - with really current wheat colored letters. Sad thing is, I still can't bring myself to throw away the other one - although I will never wear it out of the house again. I promise.
• I've been thinking a lot about the post I wrote before I left last week - about my phonophobia and how much easier it is for me to connect to people through my blog than it is in real life. I was blown away by the comments you all had and how prevalent a feeling this is for us. I'm hoping to post more on that soon... I LOVE the dialogue we had going.

Thanks for coming.

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for commenting.

Loves to you all.