The Nelson Narrative

The girls have never been into dolls (other than Barbie and Monster High).  Ever.  One day about 4 years ago I got an American Girl doll catalog in the mail, flipped through it, saw the prices and thought to myself, "good thing they're not into dolls!". Fast forward a few years, and all of their friends started getting American Girl dolls and suddenly they wanted one too, of course!  So we thought about having them ask Santa for one last Christmas but decided it would be better if we actually took them to the store and let them pick one out, so instead of getting one for Christmas, we held off until their birthday, which is next Saturday.  But since their birthday party is that day, we went to the AG store today.  Paul's mom came with us and we met my dad and stepmom there, so it was a family affair. Kayley got the Girl of the Year, Grace Thomas.  My dad and stepmom bought her the matching outfit, and some other clothes and accessories. ...

A little late, but here are my goals for February: Lose 4.6 pounds Read 1.75 books (finish one I started in January and read one more) Make it to the gym (or walk/run outside) 3 times (3 times in a whole month is pathetic but it's just SO hard to find time these days) I sucked at my January goals, so maybe February will be better.

There just is no such thing as a nice, relaxing weekend anymore. Obviously, with kids they were few and far between anyway, but now that I'm working every weekend is jam-packed with errands, cleaning and cooking.  And at the end of every weekend there is a super long list of things I meant to do but just never found time.  We joined the Y about 3 weeks ago and I have yet to go work out.  I keep meaning to do a weekly meal plan every Sunday (or Saturday) but always run out of time.  We desperately need a new mattress but can't find time to shop for one, and the list goes on and on.  Then there's the girls' birthday party coming up on the 28th, and several family birthdays in March, plus a few stints selling Girl Scout cookies at a grocery store and so on.  And the girls aren't even in soccer or softball or anything involving weekend games/practices (they have gymnastics on Monday nights).  I can't imagine what weekends would be ...