visitors

We have some new neighbors...

honk honk 

they flew off for awhile...

The kids love them of course... they are fun to watch, and blue heron has been hanging out lately too. Our landlord isn't so fond of them due to their messy poo, but hey, we're in the country! we'll see how long these guys can hang around :).

This winter has been strangely mild. Warm some days. And we usually get ice storms at least a couple of times... and a good dusting of snow. Not this year :(. And I really don't think we'll get any if the temperatures hold steady at 60. So weird!

But this doesn't ever get old:

backyard at sunset

at least the winter skies decided to make an appearance this year :). 

We're having a good week... just lots of tests and keeping our heads above water, so to speak. I definitely catch myself thinking "I could do better" at just about every area of my life. Sure I could... If I was ONLY a mom or ONLY a wife or ONLY a social worker or ONLY a student. Combine them? Not so simple and sometimes overwhelming. But HELLO! The combo makes life interesting, and I don't have time to self-loathe or feel inadequate or have a pity party. Being busy has its psychological perks... I'm too busy to think too much about it :). I'm most proud of the "down time" I have built in for the kids. They really just need to chill and play outside after a long day at school, so that's what we do. I even cheat and let them watch cartoons sometimes before homework (hey, if I want to have time to blog, why shouldn't hey have some time to rest their brains too?). In 1/2 Marathon news, I feel stronger and stronger. I'm getting faster and running further (did 9 miles this past saturday, and increasing the lengths of the during-the-week runs). I'm tired but it's still a nice challenge. Running is fun and I hate it all wrapped into one emotion. Not sure what the verdict is yet... I'll keep you posted.

Okay. off to do laundry. So. Much. Laundry.
Then, off to study. So. Much. Bacteria.