Seven Quick Takes: April 5

1. M is in San Diego, CA right now. He keeps on texting me pictures of palm trees, sunsets on the ocean, and panda bears. So I texted him a picture of an ugly bike rack in St. Paul. I won't complain about our weather here because the high has been above freezing for about a week now, and many days above 40°F! He is in CA giving a paper at a conference, which he has to do to get tenure someday, and sightseeing with a college friend who lives there. I think he is having fun.

2. We are having fun here as well. While M went to the San Diego Zoo yesterday, we went to the Como Park zoo today. When I told G we were going to the zoo, she asked, "Are we going to meet Daddy there?" It would be kind of cool if each zoo had a secret connector to another or something... Also, at the zoo there were a couple of families with at least 6 kids and I wanted to stop and ask them if they were Catholic and home schoolers, but I did not of course.

3. My wonderful mother-in-law is in town to help me manage the wild take care of the children. They are extra active and willful with their father gone. Tomorrow I have to put them all to bed alone since my help is leaving at noon and M does not get in until 9pm. I am contemplating declaring it movie night (their first one!) for the big girls until I have the baby asleep because I will have no other way of preventing them from knocking down my bedroom door repeatedly (as they exit their own room and beds) as I am putting the baby to bed.

4. I started running again this week for the first time since I was about 15 weeks pregnant with F. The weather is finally warm and I decided that I had no more excuses for putting off running. I had forgotten how much I enjoy running and how it adds in a positive way to my mood.

5. Four months is the magic age for good sleepers to become bad sleepers. I am now wishing that babies were born with all of their teeth (though I am thankful they are not during the first week of nursing). Anyway, lets just say that the only positive thing for me in F needing me next to her to stay asleep at night is that I have been going to bed at 10pm (after her first wake up) instead of 11pm.

6. I hope this is not too complainy of a post. I am feeling pretty tired and cranky today. I have not yet read the thing everyone is sharing about the Pope talking about not complaining...

7. I have been eating a lot of Easter candy this week. Let's just say it is a good thing that running increases my appetite. I am sure the sugar intake is not helping with my stress of being husbandless for the time being, but it is a temporary relief I suppose. When M was away interviewing last winter I spent a lot of evenings with a daiquiri, so maybe candy is a better stress reliever than rum?

Head over to Jen's blog for more quick takes!