Thursday Ten: Wanderlust and Spring Edition

1. As y’all know, I was in and out of Dallas this weekend – what some of you might not know is that I am extremely petrified of flying. The thing is that I had two pretty okay flights this weekend. I didn’t sweat, cry, or hyperventilate. In fact, I don’t BELIEVE I showed any outward signs of fear (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Were you on the plane? No. THEN YOU DON’T KNOW. I was probably TOTALLY OKAY.). Now? I totally want to go EVERYWHERE! I have a couple trips on my calendar already – but I want to ride the wave of not feeling throw-uppy about being up in the air. I have always wanted to see the world – see more than my own backyard. I would love to travel more.

2. Guitar lesson this morning went fabulously. Funny what happens when I actually practice. Ah, yeah. I was struggling with a piece of the music (That’s nothing new) and my teacher had me break it down measure by measure – at one point playing one measure probably ten times in a row. By that last time, it was becoming instinct for my fingers to just know where to go next instead of my brain and my fingers not cooperating and missing several notes. It’s funny – this morning, I couldn’t do it, couldn’t play it… now I can. Whee! Success!

3.  Sometimes I read something and it really resonates with me – today that was Austin Kleon’s “How to Steal Like an Artist” – definitely worth the read if you want to pop on over there (after you’re done with this extremely interesting list, of course) and read it.

4.  Spring break starts tomorrow – hold me. We’re gonna have to get creative with the schedule around this casa in order for everyone to stay sane and for me to get work done while the kiddarooni’s are off for the week. Everything will work out – but there may be some Netflix streaming of Pinky Dinky Doo involved so I can get my work done. We’ll get it. We’ll be kicking off the break with The Princess’s friend spending the night tonight. I picked up some Freschetta pizzas (Blissdom sponsor love – I hate frozen pizza, but this is good stuff and it means I don’t have to do real cooking tonight – which is REALLY good!) and maybe the girls will watch Tangled… Again.

5. This is one of those weeks where I’ve looked at my iTunes library, gotten twitchy and then pleaded with people for music recommendations. I’m still in my big puffy heart love mode for Ryan Adams (and his cover of “Wonderwall”) – but also on my radar now is Frightened Rabbit. I downloaded two songs from their “The Midnight Organ Fight” album – and really enjoyed them. Worth checking out.

6. I attended parent-teacher conferences at Pumpkin’s school the other day – and was pleased that her teacher noted – as I had – just how much she’s progressed in the past few months. When Pumpkin was in preschool, she had a pretty rotten preschool teacher who told me at one point that she didn’t think my daughter would be ready for kindergarten this year – and I really put a lot of thought into making the decision as to whether she’d go into Kindergarten or Young Fives this year. I followed my gut – and Pumpkin’s teacher said that she has no doubt in her mind that Pumpkin is more than ready for first grade in the fall. Reassurance, for sure.

7. As I type this, I’m eating a precisely measured mixture of Special K Vanilla Almond cereal and regular Special K (really, not at all precise. A bit of one, a bit of another, a quick toss with the spoon – voila). Nobody grocery shopped this week – and yesterday, in lieu of buying REAL food I bought about four boxes of cereal (I also bought five boxes of Kleenex and a can of Suave’s new dry shampoo that smells a little too sickly-sweet-fruity for me to use on a regular basis). If I could live on cereal, I probably would.

8. This morning, I opened my eyes at 7:15, looked at the clock and about jumped out of bed. AFTER SEVEN?!?! I thought for sure Pumpkin would be downstairs sitting on the couch, eyes glazed after having snuck in 90 minutes of television but it turned out… she was still sleeping. I think she’s still sleeping off this double ear infection because for her to sleep past six is nearly unheard of. Nice, though. Is it too much to hope she repeats it tomorrow?

9. For a lot of people, today is kind of a big deal. Something to do with baseball or something? Snort. Yeah. I’m not really a baseball fan, so for me – it’s just Thursday… but happy day to those who are excited about the next several months of baseball. (My favorite part about baseball is… Oh wait. I don’t think I have one. But hey everyone! Have fun with that!)

10. Finally… I try to not overwhelm y’all with mentions of it, but in ONE HUNDRED DAYS (holy cow – only 100?), I’ll be in San Francisco walking in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I’m 56% of the way to my fundraising goal – and every lil bit helps. If you want to support me, please click this link to donate. If a friend or loved one is fighting breast cancer or has lost the battle and you would like me to walk in their honor, you may message me – I’d be honored to wear their name on the shirt I’ll wear during the walk.