Yeah, well...

I didn't do such a great job of blogging this week, huh?

What else is new?

This week has been a little crazy, and this weekend is going to be even crazier. And next week is going to be off the chain.

In short, this past week...

--Darryl and I DID have a modified date night last Friday...modified because we had to accommodate a prospective buyer coming to take a second look at our house that evening (more on that in a minute). We did dinner, but no movie...but our PF Chang's was really delicious!

--I ran/walk eight (yes, EIGHT!) miles last Saturday. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I was kind of proud of myself when I was done.

--I've been planning for a weekend church event for my 9th grade girls' small group. I use "small group" somewhat jokingly because 21 of them are planning to attend. That will deserve a post all its own, I'm sure!

--We've had a couple of house showings. I'm not sure I have mentioned on this blog that yes, we have our house up for sale again. We're hoping the third time is the charm, but we'll see. :-)

More later, for sure.

Friday Catch-All

1. Starting this past week, I'm working two days a week at my old school. I'm teaching a class that is supposed to help kids work up to their potential on the standardized 9th and 11th grade English tests that take place in May. I could only work Monday this week, and the school is out next week, so basically I worked one day only to have almost two weeks off.

It's a little money and I still will get to spend plenty of time with Amelia, so I think it is a good thing for the most part. Getting up at 4:45 a.m. this past Monday, though, hit me like a ton of bricks.

2. I don't know what exactly to say about the death of Whitney Houston. It's so sad, but at the same time...I wasn't really surprised. That doesn't make it any less sad, though. I know this is cliche and I've heard many other people say the same, but her songs truly do make up a good bit of what I would consider the "soundtrack" to my life, especially 5th grade through college. I can remember when my best friend in 5th grade, Heather, hit "play" on a new cassette (this was before the CD days, y'all) she had just bought by this new singer. We danced around while using hairbrushes as microphones and sang "How Will I Know?" about 427 times in a row.

3. I have started watching Parenthood on Netflix. It's so good, y'all. I love Lauren Graham, a.k.a. Lorelei Gilmore. (Ah...Gilmore Girls. Let's take a moment, shall we?)

4. I just started using Google Reader, and it might be changing my life.

5. A worship leader/singer for our church, Chris Cauley, is on The Voice this season. He's crazy talented and is on Adam Levine's team. (By the way, I'm thinking this show is much better than Idol, which, as I might have blogged about before, I broke up with when Taylor Hicks beat Katherine McPhee.)

6. Darryl and I are having a date night tonight (dinner and a movie) and I am PUMPED.

That's it.

Also while we were in Florida...

We were able to spend a little time with Darryl's sister and her girls. Amelia really enjoys playing with her cousin Avery, who is about six months younger than Amelia. Here's a pic of the two of them:


Amelia also enjoyed playing on the horse/tire swing in the front yard. It took me forever to get her off it.

We also got a chance to look at the new house Darryl's brother and his wife are building. They are hoping it will be finished in April, and I can tell it is going to beautiful. I'm so happy for them!

Valentines Are All Around

Last Thursday, Amelia and I went to Florida to visit family. My parents (especially my mother) had the Valentine spirit going full force -- they had put a "Valentine mailbox" on the kitchen counter, and it would have a surprise in it multiple times throughout the day. Here's Amelia checking the mailbox:


I had to make sure Amelia understood that this magic mailbox didn't work at home. :-)

Here's Amelia and Nana:

We (meaning Nana and Amelia) also made some Valentine's cookies.



Amelia also worked on Valentine's cards for her classmates:



It was a fun few days. (We also were able to see Aunt Ashley and the cousins, but I'm going to post on that later this week.)

Yesterday was a good Valentine's Day. Amelia went to daycare and exchanged Valentines with her classmates. I ran a few errands, and Darryl brought me these roses when he got home.



We had a yummy dinner of salad, steak, baked potatoes, and dessert (which I purchased from Whole Foods), and afterward we played Wii Bowling with Amelia.

It was a wonderful day!

Not Much

That's what's been going on these days. Not much.

I feel like a bad blogger lately, but honestly, I don't think you want to read, "Well, I went to Publix for groceries, and then I came home and cleaned the bathrooms."

I don't even have a photo of cupcakes to show you this week. :-)

And the runner on my weight-loss ticker went backwards again. As Amelia would say, "That's not good."

And I know I should have my healthy cereal for breakfast, but I really want a cookie instead.

Let me go on the record to say I LOVED Madonna's halftime show. It was obvious she was lip-syncing at different points, but I honestly don't have an issue with it because the production itself was so good. (The entrance was amazing!) I'm not even the biggest Madonna fan, but I liked that she mainly performed hits from the past while promoting her new single.

And Kelly Clarkson performed a very classy rendition of the National Anthem. Love her.

So while I couldn't really give a rip about who won the game, I must say "well done" on the entertainment.

And that's what's most important about the Super Bowl, right?