Ballerina dance

I had nothing to do with this. Evelyn said she needed her tutu and sunglasses so she could dance like "The Beauty."

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On why kids are pretty cool

Evelyn woke up this morning and told Jon he was her best friend.

In the mornings when I'm getting ready for work, Evelyn asks if I can come sit on the couch with her, just because.

Yesterday afternoon, after returning from her grandmother's house, the first words out of Evelyn's mouth were, "Mama! Let's Play!!"

Before bed, after reading books, Evelyn asks me to sing her the "Evelyn song" and tell her a story about Princess Evelyn. Last night she wanted a story about Princess Evelyn and the daddy and mommy dragons.

In the mornings she often asks how we slept, and then asks if we are all happy. She always says she is happy, too.

Always, in every situation, she wants to be "together family."

I love my daughter.

If I was a good knitter...

If I was a good knitter (as in a good girl, not a skilled knitter):

• I would not be sitting freezing in my office with my winter coat over my shoulders because I would have knit a gorgeous alpaca shawl.
• I would not be rubbing my hands together every 10 minutes to warm them up because I would have finished that second fingerless glove I have languishing in my "to be completed" pile.
• I would not be so cold my nose is running, because I would have brought a lovely scarf with me to work.
• I would not be so freakin cold because I would have completed a lovely cardigan sweater that I could leave at the office for overly AC'd days.

But since I'm not a good knitter:

• I haven't picked up the needles since before the holidays.
• I have designs on knitting gifts that never get started.
• I start gifts that never get finished.
• I am cold.

So there you have it.

Growing out

I am embarking on a journey that will be difficult and painful, but it has to be done. No, I'm not talking about my re-entry into low-carb living (which I am doing again), but something much more difficult. I am letting Evelyn's hair grow out.

You probably think I'm crazy saying that letting Evelyn's hair grow out will be difficult. It will take all of my energy, some weeks from now when her hair is all shaggy over her ears and her bangs are in her face and she looks like a hobo, NOT to take the scissors to her head. I haven't been able to resist so far. But Jon and I think she will look absolutely smashing with a little bob, and it really isn't that much more work than the pixie/boy cut she has now, so I'm going for it.

It is weird that I have so much anxiety of Evelyn's hair. Sometimes the crazy comes in high and fast and there is no rational explanation. But I really only have a couple more years of being able to dictate her hair style, so why not make it a cute one?

So we'll see. Right now all her hair grows out in a fan shape from her crown, no part, no length on the sides, nothing. Talk to me in a month and see if I was able to get through the "growing out" phase. Maybe then, finally, people will stop thinking she is the cutest little boy around (even when she is dressed in all pink).

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Said by Evelyn from the bathtub last Saturday, "Mama, leave me alone! You make me so crazy!"

The sass, my god, the sass.

Boxing

Two Saturdays ago, I joined a boxing gym near my house. It is so very no-frills that I love it. Just a boxing ring in the front, a set-up of about 30 punch bags in the middle, and a handful of weight machines, treadmills and stationary bicycles in the back. There is a good mix of men and women, serious boxers and newbies (like me), and everything in between. It is a HARD CORE workout, and I feel like melting into a puddle of death afterwards, but in a good way. Various internet sites say I'm buring between 900 and 1100 calories per hour (including the warm up, ab work and stretching). That is ridiculous! No wonder I feel like dying!

To be fair, I can not keep up with the class yet. It is hard stuff. But I have learned that I am stronger than I think. I can keep up 75% of the time, and that is pretty decent. I also learned that I have absolutely zero abdominal muscles, which isn't surprising given that I haven't tried to exercise them since they were all stretched out and preggo. I am working on it, though.

I really like going to the boxing gym and I think it is something I'll be able to keep up better than just the YMCA or 24 Hour Fitness. Working on the elliptical for an hour to burn 500 calories just doesn't compare to this workout!

Oh how I wish I had a picture

For the past two days, Evelyn has picked out her own clothes. both days she picked fairly similar outfits, and both days she looked like a crazy hobo. I honestly don't care what she wears at this point in her life. As long as it is (relatively) clean and fits her, who am I to smother her budding fashionista?

Both outfits looked something like this:

• A normal shirt (Brown/blue long-tee or purple sweatshirt. She doesn't seem to care about the shirt. We can pick that one out.)
• Capri pants (Yesterday was black stretch pants that are just way too short, and today it's green and white polka dotted capris. She just really doesn't want to wear jeans. And she prefers striped pants, when available.)
• Striped knee-socks (To cover the exposed leg. Another parental decision, since if she had her way she would never wear socks ever.)
• Red cowboy boots

Like I said...budding fashionista.

Dream Home 2011 (or 2012....2013...)

It is 11 degrees below zero outside right now (-32 with the wind chill!) and I am dreaming of home ownership. I got this new job with this new salary and I started to think, "yeah...maybe we can buy a house this year!" We have a long way to go to be sure, but it is possible. This year, well, that might be a stretch. But DAMN I don't ever want to move again and if my current landlords decide to sell their house (which they want to at some point), we want to either buy this house OR buy our own house.

When it is so ridiculously cold outside, however, my desire to buy this house is pretty low. This house is 50 years old, with 50-year-old windows and 50-year-old insulation. The insides of all our windows are iced over. The curtains have frozen to one of the windows. You can feel the freezy cold air seeping in all over the house, and it is sad. That $200 heating bill we paid last month? Yeah, I'm expecting another one of those.

Since getting it in our heads that we might be able to buy a house someday, Jon and I have been talking a lot about what it is we would want to buy. The house we live in would be good for the right price (a very right price), but it needs a lot of fixing up. Like, oh, that pesky foundation/settling issue, or the aforementioned windows and insulation. Also, tiny rooms, one bathroom, old kitchen, etc.

What would my dream home look like? Jon and I have discussed the gloriousness of:

• Three decent-sized bedroom, including a larger-than-tiny master.
• An en suite bathroom to the master bedroom.
• A ranch-style home.
• A little more house than we need, because we aren't interested in a "starter home." Ideally, we'd really like to live in our first house for the next 30 years, have it paid off by retirement, and then be mortgage free.
• In a good schol district. Ideally Littleton, but maybe Cherry Creek or Douglas County.
• Yard for the dogs and Evelyn.
• Updated (if not super fancy) kitchen, bathrooms, windows, roof, insulation, etc.
• A gas range in the kitchen.
• Lots of counter space in the kitchen.
• A garage or shed or some sort of storage area.
• Lots of natural sunlight.
• Nothing scary so I feel the need to call in Mike Holmes for a "Holmes Inspection." (Oh, HGTV, you are killing me with that show.)

So there you go. A short list, in no particular order. If I look at this list, the house we live in now fits half the list (and really the most important parts). Too bad it is driving me crazy!