Bookstore employee flashback, starring Nora

"I want you to get me this book, it's about a pig and a bull. What do they do? I don't know, but there's a pig, and there's a bull. Oh! They love to paint. The pig loves to paint, actually. Well, both of them. Their names? No, I don't know their names. And I don't know the title of the book, but Ms Kristen has it. Can't you find it for me? Actually, I do know the title. It's 'Somebody Meets Somebody,' except nobody's name is really somebody. And they LOVE art. Do you know what that book is? Can you get it for me, please?"

(Yup, I found it...)

Nora is 5!

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I can't believe my baby is 5. I was 5 once, and I remember it, too!

I love her so much. We are kindred spirits. I'm so thankful to have her in my life.

She started back at her beloved school last week.

We had playdates in parks with dear friends, enjoyed a pre-first-day-of-school dinner at the local app & tap, and ran a bunch of errands. We borrowed 5 lemon juicers so we could make the freshly squeezed stuff at Nora's birthday party. It was a hot, sticky good time.

Anneliese is finally walking and has the most infectious laugh! We're looking forward to going back to library storytime now that big sister is back in school.

Now I'm looking ahead to fall. Cooler temperatures? Please?

It's the little things.

I had the best day.

Last night I apparently collapsed in a heap on the bed after my shower (and after nursing Anneliese before bedtime), never to get up again until early this morning. I woke up feeling pretty good, which is really unusual for me since I am not at all a morning person.

Nora and I read books before Anneliese woke up. (Not much EVER happens before Anneliese wakes up, most days.)

I made a cup of coffee IN THE AM. (Doesn't happen often since I stopped using my pod coffeemaker.) I also made cold brewed coffee concentrate for iced coffee, which I will try tomorrow.

Anneliese took an early nap, went down easily, slept a good long while, and woke up happy. She started walking YESTERDAY and is a delight. When she pummeled Nora while they were playing (that part's not delightful) and I told her to stop, she said, "Ow! Ow!" and when I said "gentle," she said, "doh-dul." Which is her way of saying "gentle." I think.

We went to Glenlake pool. How have we never been to that one before? I don't know, but it's actually much more awesome than I thought it would be.

We had delicious veggie enchiladas for dinner.

I sold a few things on ebay and one thing on Amazon and I made a profit, which is great because it was something I've never used and was just taking up space.

What a wonderful day!

Now I have to go to bed. I'm excited about iced coffee in the AM.

Sticking with it.

I finished my first 12 week Jeff Galloway session last week. This week, I started the next session. It's been pretty amazing. I've improved so gradually that I barely even noticed how much harder I was working every week.

Being part of a group has been outstanding for me. It makes the workouts go by so much faster and easier, and it's just nice knowing that somebody will notice if you're there or not.

I'm supposed to go out by myself at least once a week, and that has been gratifying in it's own way. I try to use those sessions to push a little harder, so if I'm huffing and puffing more than usual I'm not slowing anyone else. I bump up my intervals so I'm doing more running and less walking. During the runs I sometimes get so frustrated. Tonight was a super short one (I'm following a training program that dictates the number of minutes I run). I was really unhappy with the way I was feeling, telling myself that this was way harder than it should have been and it must be because I have not been trying hard enough lately. I actually felt so bad that I had flashbacks to my first week
and wondered if I had made any progress at all. Then I got home and looked at my GPS running app.

2 minutes, y'all. I shaved two minutes off my usual pace. Yeah, it's likely because of that interval bump and the fact that this was a shorter run than usual, but it's just the beginning. I'm still making progress. I saw a number I have never seen before.

I remember being in labor with Anneliese, struggling and thinking about how I'd like to quit. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. At just the right moment, my doula looked at me and said, "You're doing this, Blair." Such a simple statement, but it brought it all into perspective for me.

I am doing this.

Turntable

One of my recent preoccupations has been the new site Turntable.fm. It's a streaming music site where you can play DJ in one of many themed "rooms." I like hanging out in the folk rooms, but there's a room for most varieties of popular music, and if you don't see one you like, you can create one.

The selection at Turntable is currently very user-driven. You can even upload your own songs if the ones you want to play aren't already in the system. The site is in beta right now and I suspect it will be greatly more restricted by the time it's all said and done, but in the meantime, there's a great energy there, and a spirit of genre-bending and exploration. I'm more excited about listening to new music than I have been in a while.

http://turntable.fm

Happy July 4

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If you're On CST, I still have time to wish you a happy day.

Mine was filled with sweetness. And other stuff, but mostly sweetness.

Anneliese's first blog post

Anneliese is clearly adept with technology as, at the age of 16 months, she has written and published her first blog post AND included a video. When my friend Dara e-mailed me and said, "That video
of Anneliese is cute!" my first response was, "What video?" I searched my phone and found a rogue video apparently recorded under my computer desk. The next question was, "Where?" I didn't see it on Facebook. Turned out she used Posterous to post it here. I'm just glad it didn't feature me (Nora takes horrifying digital photos of me, often undressed) or any of the more embarrassing parts of my house.

Speaking of Posterous, i never did figure out what the deal was. After hearing an NPR piece about Tumblr I feel like it may be more my style, but I'm afraid if I move everything over there it will suddenly go the way of MySpace. I've been reading or writing blogs since before they were called blogs. I've never been very prolific but I have seen a lot of platforms cone and go.

'tis all.