Thursday Highlights

Because I am a spoiled brat whose husband only works four days a week, I always look forward to Thursday. It's like Friday for us - the last day of the workweek, the last irritatingly frantic night of preparing family dinner without a spouse around, the last long day by myself with the kids. We usually have a beer with dinner or after the kids are in bed, watch The Office or some Food Network TV, and talk about what we want to do with our weekend. Right now, Jason's off with some neighbor guys (they rode their bikes to the bar . . . I am so sure) and I'm trying to accomplish a few things before passing out with a book in bed. Before that, a few highlights from our day today:

-pushing the girls in the jogging stroller this morning and actually having a GREAT run in spite of the heat, humidity, and Jemma trying to rip Annie's barrette out of her hair while they were in the Chariot.

-Annie's awesome, enthusiastic performance at dance class today. She was 100% into it - listening well to Miss Amy, doing all the "moves," and later, pointing out which poses were plies and which were arabesques in her Angelina Ballerina book. It's so nice to see her enjoy something, learn about it, and be good at it.

-Making some grown-up plans for the next few weeks, including finalizing plans (read: food ideas) for my college girls' weekend, gearing up for our neighborhood canoe trip (!), and taking Jason's parents up on their offer to host the girls for almost a week at the end of the month. While part of me hesitates (I've never been away from them for more than 4 or 5 nights at most), I found a summer writing seminar that coincides perfectly with the week they'll be gone. Plus, Jason and I would love some downtime here at home to get some long-procrastinated cleaning and organizing done, sleep and talk more, go out for dates, and just hang out together in our house - this never happens! So, I'm excited.

-My conversation with Annie in the tub tonight:

"So Mom, how old are you, now?"
"Thirty"
"Wow. That's a lot of years."

-Drinking my morning coffee with a new appreciation for the way a little bit of caffeine really gets me through the day. (But stop me if I try to become one of those little old ladies who drinks 42 cups of coffee all day long . . . )

-A guilty Thursday pleasure: the Dear Prudence advice column on www.slate.com. I am strangely drawn to advice columns (always have been; I read Ann Landers faithfully all through high school . . . I'm such a nerd) and get a little excited when I realize it's Thursday again. And another Thursday enjoyment is the Thursday Morning Wood post on the Sweet Juniper blog, which I highly recommend as well.

Now, like the abbreviated Doublestein workweek, my random ramblings draw to a close.