Nine Months!

I hear time speeds up as you grow older. Does this excuse the fact that a) I never post and b) my "regularly scheduled" posts are always late? Oy. I think I need a Mother that guilts me into doing things like this rather than my fabulous one who only encourages me when I do write. Hi Mom! :)

Ok, lets get down to it. What have we done this month? We started. First off, did anyone notice that I skipped a month? Not so much in content, but rather in number. Somehow I went from seven (December) to nine (January). Turns out (ahem), it's not true. So this is a repeat of "nine months," if only in title.

This past month started off with a bang. We were still recovering from B's 27th birthday (you are 27, right hon?), a fabulous pirate-infused bash. And, sigh, we were still on the fabulous sailboat. Ah, sweet memories!

So, we sailed for another day, I celebrated (at sea) my official four-year-anniversary with work (six days before my last day). I spent a day in Birmingham at work cleaning out my desk before driving back to Durham with B for the first day of his final semester of law school.

It's all about beginnings and endings for us this month, including the start of my new job(s): babies! Currently I sit for four families regularly: a 10-month-old, a seven-month-old, the tween/teenagers mentioned below), and a 14-month-old, plus a few other families (a three-month-old & a sibling set 3 & 1). It's been beyond busy and, truth be told, I'm working harder these days than I have in years. I didn't have to bounce or sway nearly as much at my desk job!

So I've loved the babysitting and I think B has enjoyed it too-- a little cash for us, fun things for me to do during the day, and, of course, fun stories for all (and my new knowledge of "snow that you sniff").

We've hung with my nieces a good amount, watching movies, painting, and playing dress up, and time with their fabulous parents-- definitely one of the best perks about Durham!

We got snowed in for the first time in forever (seven inches!) and suddenly school closings mattered for me too. I played (and reverse cheated) at Scrabble, a first for me.

We had B's new ring blessed by an amazing priest at Duke, who was so wonderful and sweet (more later, I promise, with B's blessing), and remembered how lucky we were to find each other, commit to each other, and have oh-so much fun together on this crazy road.

Now, for your warning: I'm gone for the next week, hanging with the entire fam on a Mom-inspired Mexican vacation. We simply can't wait. We're so excited and thrilled and teeming with excitement to get on board (or "on plane" I should say) and get out of here. That said, you probably won't hear much from (soon-to-be-tan) me. But I promise to post and catch up.