1/23

I talked to an old friend, Cassie, on the phone for a while to catch up. She's one of those special people in my life, who will always be in my back pocket, and I call her when I need a pep talk. She became like a second mom to me when we were in Columbus and has been a dear friend since. Each time I talk to her, I come away feeling "Man, I have a long way to go." Cassie is just about the most generous person on the earth, and has not had an easy life by any stretch. But I never hear her complain, only praise The Lord for her blessings and always offers to help someone else. Some of the greatest wisdom I have received as a mother has come from her. It's been almost 2 years since I've seen her, and I'm dying to hang out. We need to rendezvous somewhere over the summer.

Duke and I spent the day hanging out together. It was lovely. No tv. Just us. We played play doh, made cookies, mopped the floor, did the dishes, read stories, made valentines. I asked him who he wanted to send a valentine to and the first person he said was Grandma Zoo. Such a pleasant reminder that she's still very much a part of their lives and I'm sure they feel her often.

1/24

There was an ice storm and school closed. It was pretty weak, but I didn't mind having a day off with the kids. I thought I'd take them to get hair cuts, but the barber was closed. Then we went to the library and it was closed too. Basically the whole city shut down because they have no plows. We ended up playing with Malcolm and Aubrey, then headed to Chick Fil A with Beth and her crew. It's always fun to catch up with Beth at Chick Fil A!

That night I went out to dinner with Erica and Marco, our friend from our summer at Johns Hopkins. It was so so so fun. I hadn't really been "out" with friends in a long time and I realized how badly I needed it. We ate Indian at the Clay Pit and then had donuts at Gordoughs. Lovely evening:)


The view of the "storm" from my window.



Gordoughs is served out of a trailer, in a food trailer park. Totally Austin.

1/25

I woke up feeling like I had a hangover from the late night before, but we dragged ourselves to the gym and then to the church for the YM basketball game. The boys loved watching the game, and our YM rocked it. They are such a great group of kids. Duke was happy to sit and watch the game with his tray of donuts. Classy.

We also discovered some new Duke-isms... Hoot aka hoop, and squito aka skittle. Love that kid.







1/26

Duke was sick all night puking. I was up with him most of the night and we watched sports center and Jimmy Fallon together. I was wasted, but took Will to church because I still needed to teach SS. Cort stayed home with Duke because its so rare that they get one on one time together. I know they both enjoyed having the afternoon together.

Spent the afternoon throwing rocks, then came home and had dinner and watch AFV. It was a good night:) I flipped to the Grammy's a few times and each time was so disappointed in the quality of talent, I just couldn't keep watching it. Why do they always give Grammys to the worst artists? I think there needs to be a separate awards show for people with talent.