Just in case you were wondering...

-what I did last night:
Made chocolate chip cookies from scratch! This is highly overrated by the way. I remember doing this all the time with my mom and sisters when I was in high school; and last night, amid all of the flour and mixing bowls, I was thinking to myself, "WHY in the world would anyone do this!?" It was a crazy mess, I had to borrow a mixer from our neighbor because ours started smoking, and in the end, the cookies didn't even taste as good as the break n' bake ones! It was a moment of insanity for me. Never again.

-what makes me really happy:
When Chase eats a huge, healthy meal! Like tonight, he ate salmon, squash, zucchini, and brown rice. And after each bite, he clapped like it was something really yummy, like the oatmeal cinnamon cookies I gave him for dessert! (The cookies were from a box... I didn't make them!) There's just something really exciting about watching your kid eat a lot of good food.

-the last really good book I read:
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. My mother-in-law loaned this to me at Christmas and it took me a few weeks to get started on it, but once I did I couldn't put it down! So good.

-the last movie that made me cry:
Namesake. If you don't live near your parents, it'll make you want to give them a call and tell them how much you love them.

-the verse I read this morning that is buzzing in my ears:
Romans 5
"We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise!"

It makes me think of standing in the middle of Kansas, with nothing in sight except for flat ground and blue sky. Or at the top of the alps in Switzerland, staring across a huge valley... a big wide open space. That feeling of freedom is so exhilarating. So different than our every day lives where we might feel closed in, shut inside our houses or cars. I was glad to be reminded that all I have to do is "open my door to God" to recapture that feeling of freedom! Life is good.

-yesterday was a really good day because:
Eric and I ran in a local 5K race and I ran so fast. It was the first race we've done since last May and I was a bit worried because we were both sick this week. Along with just about everyone in our neighborhood (and a lot of people in other parts of the country, from what I hear!), we had the stomach bug. Fortunately it was pretty quick, but it left us feeling weak and not at all in top running shape. Somehow, though, on Saturday morning I just took off. I haven't run such a fast time since high school! I loved it.

-what I'm looking forward to:
Going up to Baltimore at the end of the week! We haven't been back since we moved last April and I'm excited to see family, friends and former coworkers. Can't say that I'm excited about the cold weather, but I'll get over it. I'll be nice to have a little change of scenery for a bit.

-another thing I'm kind of looking forward to... but kind of sad about:
Chase is still nursing but my plan is to wean him while we're in Baltimore. He'll be 11 months and 2 weeks old, so it's been a good run. We're already down to just 2 feedings a day and I'll probably take him down to 1 once we get there. Then Eric and I are going to stay at a bed and breakfast one night while Eric's parents watch Chase. So that'll be it. I'm hoping he won't even realize what he's missing since I won't be there. I'm looking forward to the extra freedom that I'll have once he's done nursing, but at the same time, I'll miss that time with him. As I've said before, he's not really into snuggling and cuddling, so that's really my only time to hold him close.

-what I'm enjoying lately:
The music channels on tv. You know, the ones that are up in the 600's on digital cable. I never really paid much attention to them before, but it's nice to turn it on and listen to hours of music with no commercials or anything. I like the fact that there's a good mix of songs I love, ones I like but have never downloaded or bought on CD, and ones that I've never heard before. Right now I'm listening to the "Today's Country" channel.

-I voted yesterday.
Florida's primary isn't until Tuesday, but for some strange reason they have "early voting" here. It's different than absentee ballots... you can just show up at the library any day during the 2 weeks before the primary and go ahead and vote. Seems kind of weird to me, but nice at the same time. No lines and pretty convenient since I go to the library regularly. I voted for McCain just in case you were wondering...