Bits & Pieces

I am stuck on caffeine again. Erik's been making lattes with our cheap little eBay machine and I started to enjoy the ones he made me on the weekend so much that I had him show me how to use it. Now I have to have one everyday. The other day I didn't have time to make one so I got one at my favorite red coffee stand. Later I got a horrible headache and I didn't figure out until the next day it was because my prepaid card said 'decaf latte' and so I didn't have any caffeine that day. *sigh* So, I'm back on it. And although I feel kind of bad about it, at least I make them (about 90% of the time) at home which means I'm saving money! I still don't like being stuck on it, so I think once I've completed the half-marathon I'll do the cleanse and go off caffeine again. Hopefully this time it will stick!

We went up to the lake this last weekend to spend it with Erik's folks. On the way up we talked about how long it had been since we'd gone up, marveling that we hadn't made the trip as a family since January. By the time we got there, about 2 hours later we remembered why that was. Driving w/ two kids sitting right next to each other in the backseat of Erik's truck w/o the entertainment of the portable DVD player is pure torture. But once we got there it was great, here are a couple of images of the girls from the soggy weekend that was spent mostly inside except for a few random moments like this:

Remember my new hobby (read: obsession)? Maybe I forgot to mention it, I have been busy, but here a few pretty sights to see regarding it:

I know, I know, just what I needed was another hobby, not like I have enough time to really do the other ones I have, but I keep telling myself that "someday" I'll have more free time....
I am fighting a cold and its a bit frustrating, I am determined not to let it get in the way of my training, so I ran this morning even though I felt awful. I feel a bit better now so we'll see. I have been dealing with some "yucky" things in life so I wonder if maybe the stress is showing itself in my ill health.
School is over on Thursday for the summer, which means we have Kindergarten graduation that day. Erik was joking today about that line from "The Incredibles" about finding new ways to celebrate mediocrity, which is kind of true. I mean how many graduation ceremonies do we really need? I don't remember celebrating those when I was that age....but then again I don't remember much! Anyway, I am still looking forward to it, it will be a nice way to end the school year. I almost wish L's teacher could be her 1st grade teacher too, she's been soo wonderful, but maybe she'll be there in 2 years when Kera goes! :-) But this week is busy with all the non-academic things they do to end the year like field trips, fun days and such, should be fun in a busy sort of way. :-)
I need to go make cornbread for a big ol' family dinner tonight to celebrate my baby nephew's father's birthday! Shh...don't tell them but its gonna be compliments of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix!!!