Good Eggs

Today, after three years of membership and two failed attempts, we finally made it to our church's Easter Festival in time for the egg hunt. In fact, we arrived 45 minutes early. Luckily, Landon is a preternaturally patient 3-year-old.

With the extra time, I attempted a picture. Neither child was interested in looking at the camera, but I kind of love how the imperfect result captures the way the two of them interract.

Landon wanted Claire to get eggs with him, and even tried to coach her on egg finding basics, but she decided she'd rather chew on the eggs after he found them for her.

It was a good plan, though in spite of being the first kid in the field, Landon only came back with four eggs. He wanted orange ones and then he wanted to open each egg before picking up another. The other children were less picky and simply grabbed everything in sight. It was all over in 60 seconds.

Landon seemed please with his booty and shared all four eggs his with his sister. He also gave her the plastic cross he found inside one egg- I think it really adds something to her outfit.

More fun was had:

And then it was time to go home for Claire's nap, Landon's lunch, JP's swim lesson, and my work. I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow- Landon is so excited about the Easter Bunny. He's a little concerned the bunny might hop in to his room, so he told me to make sure his door is closed really tight. We've baked two kinds of cookie and one type of muffin and plan to meet a law school friend of mine who just happens to be visiting Austin for dinner later today.

Every time I write one of these recap type posts- posts I can't imagine many people find interesting, but which I must write because they give me a record of these days that go by so quickly and which prove to me months later that we did more with our free time than go to the grocery store, put away groceries, and clean up after making use of the groceries-- every time I write one of these, I always find myself wanting to end with "Life is good". Because really, when I look at the overall- the simple fun that makes up our every days, it is exactly that. I think that's why I find blogging so restorative, even if I frequently have to do it at the expense of sleep. It reminds me that in and among all the small stresses (my job, my loans, my in-laws), and even the big ones (JP's job, JP's job x 1000), the day-to-day is truly good. And when the stresses are keeping me up at night, blogging the mundane before bed keeps this at the forefront of my mind: We are happy, healthy, and whole. We are blessed. Life is good.

Happy Easter/Passover/weekend to everyone!

The Last 5 Days

After a weekend of family, baking, entertaining, and working, I billed 12 hours on Monday and 16 hours yesterday, so it's been pretty busy around here. On the plus side I've worn two of my three new dresses and received more compliments in those two days than I normally do in a month, and it turns out feeling good is even more effective than caffeine at keeping you going on very little sleep. On the minus side, I missed family dinner last night for the first time ever because I had to stay at the office. I did not like it, but it's so rare that I really can't complain too much. I made it home ten minutes before bedtime, gave the Biscuit a pat on the head, read Landon a book, and then logged back in and worked until 12:30.

But back to this weekend. We've been investing in our great outdoors. Two weekends ago we ripped out a bunch of overgrown plants in our front yard and I gardened for the first time ever, planting 20 beautiful orange flowers that I have grown very fond of and check on every day. We also tore down the playscape in our backyard, which had rotted in the years since the original owners put it up. We posted the gravel on craigslist, offering it free to to anyone who wanted to shovel it, and after 5 takers and 8 truck loads, it was finally gone. On Saturday morning JP and Landon tilled the area, shoveled dirt, and planted sod.

Our backyard now looks 5x bigger. I love it.


Also love? JP's arms. Just saying.

While the boys were working hard outside, I baked the world's most delicious carrot cake inside. Then Landon and I ate cream cheese frosting by the spoonful until JP interrupted the fun and started rambling about cavities, so we moved on to decorating.

The top cupcake is for Papa Stan; adding the letter was very important to Landon

Then we decorated the rest of the kitchen for Papa's 55th birthday party.

After Clairebear woke up from her 4 hour nap (yes, 4 hours! It is awesome and yet I miss her so much by the end- I'm fine at work all day, but knowing she's just right upstairs and I could be playing with her makes me want to go up and make a bunch of noise outside her bedroom door), she finger-walked all around the kitchen table and then tried to rile the honey badger.

Badger Baiting

My parents and siblings arrived and the birthday celebration was simple and perfect. We had pizza and salad and my dad's favorite cake. He loves having all his kids under one roof, so when you have that plus an adoring grandson and a smiley granddaughter, you get a very happy Papa.

We took my parents hiking on the Greenbelt, which they loved. Landon was an excellent little trail master and Claire suffered quietly through the immobility of the baby bjorn when all she really wanted to do was this:

Zombie Baby

Yes, the Biscuit is vertical. She stands up all on her own, in the middle of the floor, and can hold her position for over a minute. If you call for her, she squats down gracefully to her hands and then takes off in your direction, with a face that flips between great joy and fierce determination. But sometimes, when properly motivated, she will take a step or two before making her controlled descent.

All in all it was a lovely weekend, and even though I worked 6 hours on Sunday, I got to do it from my kitchen table while watching my two little ones giggle and play. And they really do play. The interaction between the two of them continues to be the very brightest spot in what was already a pretty bright life. I'm exhausted, but can't help smiling right now just thinking about them.

Alright, I've caught up on my DVR'd shows (Glee was a huge disappointment, I agree with this review completely), two missed glasses of wine (not a disappointment), and my pictures and blogging, so it's time for bed. I need to rest up for our next discovery deadline and my upcoming Easter Bunny duties! I can't believe there was ever a time I really believed that a giant bunny hopped to my house and hid my Easter basket and eggs, but Landon is totally on board and I can't disappoint.

A Borrowed Mother's Prayer from a Busy Mother

I have way too much work to do on way too little sleep to write any of the posts buzzing around in my head, so I'm going to cop out and post something someone else wrote. A famous, funny, and awesome someone - Ms. Tina Fey. You may have already seen it, but my co-worker sent this poem to me last week and it made me giggle on an otherwise crappy afternoon. Hopefully it will do the same for you (or, even better, make you giggle on an already awesome afternoon).

The Mother's Prayer for Its Daughter
from Bossypants by Tina Fey

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered,
May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half
And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her
When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the nearby subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock N’ Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance.

Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes
And not have to wear high heels.

What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.
Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long,
For Childhood is short- a Tiger Flower blooming
Magenta for one day-
And Adulthood is long and Dry-Humping in Cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever,
That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers
And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister,
Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends,
For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord,
That I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 a.m., all-at-once exhausted,
bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.
“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck.
“My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental note to call me. And she will forget.
But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.

May no tattoos stain her tender haunches.

(Has anyone read the book? The reviews are really good and my dad loved it; it may be my first non-fiction book purchase since I was in school and forced to read them.)

Spring Spree

That should say "shopping spree," but I didn't quite want to admit that's what happened yesterday, and since I also did a whirlwind closet clean-out from 8-9:30 pm last night, this could also be "spring cleaning," so I'm going with Spring Spree. It's really most accurate.

It started when I was reading my morning emails in bed yesterday (I prefer not to rise until I know what I'm facing for the day) and saw that Ann Taylor was having a "40% off the whole store" sale. I go through phases with Ann Taylor. Nearly everything I've bought from there has been very well made and has lasted a long time, but it's very expensive and I frequently go months without liking their collections. Lately though, it's just been "on" for me. I stopped in at lunch and ended up with 12 things in the dressing room, all of which I loved and which looked really great on (and I am a very tough critic). In the trying-on process I realized I was back to my smallest size and felt I should celebrate by spending money. I walked out with 5 things -- 3 work dresses, a blazer, and a woven shirt. Two items were already on sale and everything got an extra 40% off, but wow, that's still a very unusual amount of money for me to spend at one time. But I was GIDDY. I absolutely loved every single item and I felt prettier just carrying them around the mall. I was giggly all afternoon, gave JP and the kids a fashion show, and then, once the kids were in bed, embarked on a full closet clean-out, organization fest just so my new dresses would have a nice place to stay.

The end result:

I go through my closet regularly, but now that I realized I could fit in to all my old clothes, I pulled out all the in-between-sizes I had lurking around for early pregnancy/postpartum and ruthlessly removed items I used to love but haven't worn in years but keep around because I think there must have been some reason I loved that shirt and maybe I'll want it again. My goodwill pile is enormous and will make some career-oriented woman very happy. I know no one sees your closets, but it makes me happy on the inside to know everything is hanging nicely as it waits for me to visit.

Someone asked how I organize my shoes in a blog comment a few weeks ago, and this shows most of it. We had this flat wall in the closet next to the door frame that you really couldn't do anything with, so I nailed 2 big shoe organizers straight to the wall. I keep almost all my daily heels there, my flip flops/sandals are in a laundry bin on the floor, my boots are lined up along the back wall, and my fancy dress shoes are in their boxes on little shelves in JP's half of the closet (he loves that my pink satin rhinestone pumps are next to his suits, it adds some brightness to that corner).

This morning, as happens when you've realized your body is different and whole new sections of your closet are either opened up or closed off, it took me forever to get ready. I was trying on things I hadn't worn in two years. Even though I could hear the seconds ticking away in my head, I had so much fun- so many new outfit combos are available to me! Clairebear helped. I finally settled on this: jeans, crazy striped asymmetrical shirt that is really so unlike me I can't imagine what made me buy it but I love it, my new blazer, and black pumps. I've never had a blazer that wasn't part of a suit and I just love this one. It's hard for jackets to look good on me because of the broad shoulder, narrow hips, wider waist issue, but I think this one does.

I even rolled up the sleeves to reveal the black and white polka dot lining and show how much I'm pushing my fashion boundaries (I think I generally look put together, but I am very boring). I love clothes that make you feel good all day- this jacket does that and I can also wear it over two of the dresses I bought (and a million other things of course, but I'd never mastered the jacket over dress combo until these items). I really can't wait to wear my new dresses, I love them so.

As an extra part of the Spring Cleaning part of my Spring Spree, I also put photos in these frames I bought at Marshall's a few weekends ago. I felt our living room walls were still a teensy bit bare, but I didn't want any shelves or knick knacks or anything like that, so I went for pictures. Plus, we didn't have any in that room. The frames were very inexpensive and go perfectly with our light fixtures and general downstairs decor. JP had a heck of a time hanging them (there was lots of cursing and glaring- apparently cheap frames don't hang so well), but they look great now!

I read your comments on the bluebonnet post and picked the photo of the two kids just looking at the flowers because you're right, it's so sweet, and then I added the "good" picture and the fraught picture. The two larger prints are my two faves of Landon and Claire and while I initially said I'd update them in a year or so, I'm no longer sure I will.

My parents and siblings are coming over tomorrow to celebrate my dad's 55th birthday. I'm baking homemade carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and a few other things. It's going to be fun and delicious, and I'm totally going to make them admire my new dresses.

My Chicagos

I woke up in Chicago today- woke up in a Four Season's hotel room, with a full view of the lake, with the bright sun bouncing off the water and straight into my eyes. I sprang out of bed and slammed the black out drapes closed, but there was at least 2 seconds before I realized how early it was and how little sleep I'd gotten and how scratchy my eyes and throat felt, that I just felt happy. And now after two extra post-sunrise hours of sleep, I'm back to pure happiness. I really truly love this beautiful city.

I flew up yesterday morning to attend a 1L recruiting event at the law school. I went to this event last year at 6 months pregnant, and while that was fun, it was a whole lot more fun without the big baby belly and with the drinking of alcohol. I love recruiting - love talking about being a lawyer, love talking about my firm (which, even if I have occasional bouts of job dissatisfaction really is a fabulous place to work), love talking to law students, love excuses to be back in Chicago on the corporate expense account doing all of the above... I only wish I could stay longer. But I made the trip count- I flew in early so I could meet two of my best friends from law school for lunch, one of whom lives in Chicago and one of whom lives in NYC but was here with her own firm for the event. I wish I could force all my law school friends to move down south- law school gave me the closest group of girl friends I've had since middle school and I miss them so much when we're scattered around the U.S. (and we really are scattered: Chicago, NYC, DC, Boston, LA, Austin). But at least I'm comforted with our regular visits and the fact that time disappears any time we're together. After lunch I spent over an hour walking around my city. I miss walking and I really miss living in a city with a bustling downtown.

I headed to the southside at 4, and at some point during the cab ride I realized that I've now been out of law school for just about as long as I was in it. That struck me for some reason. I'm really a lawyer now, and I like it. I've never looked at the law students and wished to be back in their shoes. I miss my friends, I miss the life of a student, and I now have an appreciation and almost awe for just how much the University of Chicago taught me how to think about the law, but I'm quite happy on this side of the JD. The event went very well. I was by myself because the UChicago hiring partner couldn't make it, but that was just as well because I got to be much less formal and just have fun chatting with all the students who came by my table. After the event I took two of our future summer associates out for dinner. It was a Tuesday night, so I assumed most restaurants would have plenty of tables, but no, apparently lots of people eat out at fancy places at 8 pm on Tuesday. Given my usual Tuesday night routine of working on the couch while watching Glee and maybe enjoying a small glass of wine, this kind of blew my mind. A mid-week social life, what?

Dinner was lots of fun. I like our two summers a lot, though neither of them will be in the Austin office. We finished up at 11:30 (11:30! pm! it was madness) after a dessert of warm brownies with homemade chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (We ate at Gilt Bar- if you live in Chicago, go there and order the roast chicken, it's insanely good. I've never had my mouth water over a chicken entree, I'm a steak girl all the way, but this was pretty much the best chicken I've ever had in my life). I've been sleeping terribly the past few days- getting 4 and 5 hours of cobbled together tossing and turning, so I took two strong sleeping pills, crawled in bed, and prayed for some rest. And I got it- at least until the sun came up.

So it's been a good trip. I loved being back in the law school- without the stress of being a student, it's really a lovely place. Several classmates were there with their firm, so it's a mini reunion of sorts, and I got to see a few old professors. The only downside is losing an entire day and a half of billable hours, but it was worth it. And now I'm heading home in an hour to my little Clairebiscuit, who I really missed, and my Lanman, who no one could believe is about to turn 4. I can't either. In my mind, the time since I've graduated always feels like about a year, it's really hard to believe it's been three.

Bluebonnets: an attempt to be Texan

For those who don't live in Texas, it is a requirement of state citizenship to place your small children amongst a patch of bluebonnets (our noble state flower), and take pictures to post on your fridge and facebook feed. The flowers grow in mass around here, particularly along roads with very high speed limits, so the highways in and around Austin are littered with people snapping photos of their color coordinated children bravely trying to smile as cars fly by at 85 miles an hour. It might not be our smartest tradition, but it's an important one, and the flowers really are pretty.

We never attempted these photos with Landon- he's not a native Texan, something I'm inordinately proud of, and I just never felt the need. But now we have our little Texas cowgirl and suddenly I felt compelled to get a picture of the two of them in a bed of blue flowers. I spied a patch of them in the little field across from Costco (really, drainage ditch; climbing down was not our classiest moment, but I refuse to take them next to the highway- the Biscuit moves quickly and without warning), so we stopped by yesterday evening on our way out to dinner. It didn't go quite as planned.

Setting the scene: Landon has been promised fruit snacks if he behaves and smiles; Claire has been promised nothing but is usually a reliable smiler so no one was worried about her.

Landon: Look I'm smiiiiliiinnnggg, I'm smiiiliiinnnggg!
Claire: Um why am I on a bunch of prickly green stuff? What? Smile? I have never been expected to perform under these conditions.

Landon: Clairebear, it's okay, just smile. I've got fruit snacks riding on this.
Claire: No, seriously, what's going on here?

Landon: See Claire, this is so fun, you love it.
Claire: I do not.

Landon: Yes you do! So much love!
Claire: Can I eat them?

Landon: Actually, I'm not sure.

Mommy: Lets move to a new spot.
------
Claire: I hate this.
Landon: The fruit snacks are going to be worth it.  The fruit snacks are going to be worth it.

Claire: Why do you keep saying peek-a-boo?  Get me off this grass!
Landon, to self: What if the fruit snacks aren't worth it?

Landon: Okay, this is itchy, I don't want my fruit snacks.
Claire: I hate fruit snacks.

Mommy: Please guys, just one picture!

Landon: Okay Claire, we can do it, just one picture. Do it for my fruit snacks.
Claire: I am fraught.

Mommy/Daddy: Peek-a-boo!! Cheese!! Please just smile!! ... Landon why is your foot in the air?

Mommy: Whatever, I'll crop it out. That's a wrap. Fruit snacks for everyone!

The Mighty Biscuit

My little Clairebear turned 10 months old on Monday, bringing her within two mere months of her first birthday, and making her mommy very sad about the swift passage of time. Because I don't know how it's possible, but our little baby Biscuit has gotten even more lovable and full of fabulous and I need her to freeze in this baby, pre-toddler stage for at least 3-4 years.

At 10 months, Claire is busy. She has no regard for her own safety. She is constantly moving. She has much to say. She will not be ignored. She is playful; she will chase you. She will crawl straight off your bed, fall to the ground, and keep on crawling. She hugs. She wants to help. She will smile over her shoulder with a mix of joy and devilment before crawling full speed towards the nearest electrical outlet, yanking out your phone charger, and popping it in her mouth. She can do anything anyone bigger can do, and probably do it better.

She falls asleep in seconds, she wakes up happy. She eats everything, including many inedible objects and every food product we have given her. She grabs at her hair when frustrated. She squawks when she wants the food on your plate. She smiles all the times in between. She wants to do everything her brother does. She does everything her brother does. She loves her dogs. She adores her daddy. She stands unassisted. She tries to walk. She falls down smiling. She giggles. She wants to bump foreheads. She is fascinated by the shower. She alternatively loves and hates the bathtub. She likes music and bops up and down to the beat. She wants to be chased. She likes to be held, except when she wants to go faster than speed at which you are carrying her. She is fierce. She loves her mommy.

She is the mighty Biscuit. And she couldn't be move loved, nor could she love us more in return. For all my amazement that she's already ten months old, most of the time I just can't believe we've only known her that long.

Sick Day Number Whatever

I have strep, again. I felt fine all day on Monday, and then Monday night around 9 my throat started hurting. By 10:30, as I was trying to finish QC'ing a production set, my throat was very swollen and my eyes were tearing up every time I swallowed. I went to bed with ibuprofen and hoped I'd wake up feeling better in the morning (despite mounting evidence to the contrary, I'm still pretty sure that ibuprofen and a good night's sleep will cure anything). And I did wake up feeling a little better, but my throat still hurt when I swallowed. I didn't have a fever and I really needed to be at work because we had 2 new contract attorneys starting at 8:30 am, and as the person in charge of this huge, ridiculously confusing scientific doc review, I needed to be there to lead the orientation. So off I to work I went, with "throat coat" tea and lots of honey in hand (a little remedy I got from Citations one of the many times I had strep in law school). I made the new attorneys sit at the opposite end of a long conference table from and I drank tea and talked until I was hoarse.

By noon I felt really bad and my eyes were constantly tearing from how much it hurt to swallow, so I wrapped up the orientation and gathered up my laptop and my work and headed home. By the end of my 7 minute commute, I felt bad enough to turn the wrong way into my neighborhood and head to the local urgent care. Thirty minutes later I had amoxicillin, a strep throat diagnosis, and a recommendation to talk to an ENT about getting my tonsils out. The doc said it might be premautre, but it wouldn't hurt to start working with a specialist keeping track of how often my throat swells up and gets infected, something that has been happening a lot since I had a terrible bout of mono in college (I was in the hospital a total of 7 days, for mono, which is just ridiculous; my throat swelled almost shut and I couldn't eat and it was very bad), and it's been happening with increased regularity since I've had children (probably due to day care- they never get sick, and none of the kids in their class are sick with strep, but there's a probably a single strep bacterium floating around and it's enough to take me down in 15 hours).

So I called JP's ENT to set up an appointment (an ENT he no longer needs because his ear problems are CURED! I still find it strange to see him swim without a cap and a bright orange ear plug, but it's pretty awesome). It might be too soon to actually schedule a tonsillectomy, and from what I hear, the recovery as an adult is awful, but I can't keep getting strep every couple months. It hurts, it interrupts my work, and I have to quarantine myself from my kids (do you know how hard it was to not hug the Biscuit last night? SO HARD. She kept crawling after me and stopping to hold out her arms with a big smile and I had to walk away and it was terrible. Landon understood since he was older, but his only memorable experience with sickness was the stomach virus from a few weeks ago so he just watched me warily out of the corners of his eyes any time I ate solid food).

I went to bed last night at 8:30 after taking ibuprofen, amoxicillin, my vitamins, and two sleeping pills. I woke up at 9 a.m. this morning feeling much worse, but now after some waffles and fried eggs, more ibuprofen, and lots of tea, I'm feeling about where I was yesterday morning. I still have to work, which sucks, but questions from your eight attorney review team in a complicated IP doc review wait for no one (and no bacterium). At least I can do it from home, in pj's, with the food network on, but a tonsillectomy is sounding pretty good right now.

Angel Food Cakes Illustrated

My Grandma is turning 81 in a few days, so we made plans to travel to San Antonio on Sunday for a celebratory brunch. A few minutes and one google search later, I had also made secret plans to surprise her with a homemade version of her very favorite angel food cake. Now I'd never made angel food cake before, but I'm an excellent reader of directions and the science of baking is usually a good fit for my need for precise, don't-you-dare-stray-from-this recipes. I printed off a recipe I found online and made plans for angel food magic on Saturday afternoon while JP was coaching his swim lessons.

Here's my step-by-step, partially illustrated guide:

Step 1: Find your resident superhero and task him with keeping the kitchen clear of bad guys so you can focus on the separating of eggs, because you just re-read the recipe, and holy crap there is a lot of egg separating required and you can't have any distractions.

Step 2: Find your sous chef and tell her about her new job - doesn't she look excited?

Step 3: Gather your ingredients. You'll need 1.5 cups of egg whites, 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1.25 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup of flour, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar. You will also need a special Angel Food Cake pan, which I ran in to Target to buy on Friday night on our way back from dinner, something to sift the flour and sugar, and something with a motor to beat the egg whites (you could probably do it by hand, but you would have to be stronger than me).

Step 3.5: Tell your sous chef to stop crawling on the dogs; your hands must be clean to bake a cake.

Step 4: Separate your egg whites until they total 1.5 cups and let them sit at room temperature. Combine your flour and powdered sugar and sift it 3x. After time 1, hit your powdered sugar bag so it falls over and looks like either snow or powdered cocaine, depending on who you're asking.

Step 4.5:Take a break and clean it up before your sous chef, superhero, or dogs get high (on the sugar).

Step 5: Now that everything is clean and your vacuum is clogged with powder, continue with the sifting. Add your flavorings to the egg whites and get everything organized to start beating them while slowly adding the granulated sugar. According to the recipe, stiff peaks should form.

Step 5.5: Tell your sous chef to stop sucking on the cabinet knobs, the powder is all gone, and send your superhero upstairs to take his nap.

Step 6: Settle for semi-stiff peaks.

Step 7, not pictured: Gently fold in the flour and powdered sugar mixture and spoon into ungreased angel food pan. Put in 350-degree oven for 40-45 minutes.

Step 7.5: Note that your sous chef is falling down on the job. Fire her, give her big hugs, and tuck her in bed.

Step 7.75: While cake is baking, get email from Grandpa saying Grandma is super sick with stomach virus so visit is canceled. Send Grandma lots of love and wish you'd procrastinated a bit on baking the cake.

Step 8: Remove cake from oven and immediately flip upside down on something that will allow air to flow under neath while cooling (I used a raised cooling rack and it worked fine).

Step the Last: While both kids are sleeping and husband is still coaching, eat cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Praise your ability to follow directions and vow to never eat store bought angel food cake again.

The Sequel: Grandma is feeling much better today, so we're planning the birthday visit for next Saturday afternoon. Angel Food Cake part II will be happening next Saturday morning- hopefully skipping the part where I spilled all the powdered sugar, but keeping everything else the same because the cake was delicious!

Ebb and Flow

Thank you all, a lot, for your comments on the last post. Right after writing it, I left to get queso for lunch (in part so I wouldn't be tempted to pull the post down) and then sat in my office with the door closed, eating chips and melted cheese and finishing up the new BDB book on my kindle. I felt down and detached. As I tried to force myself back to work, I got an email from the receptionist telling me I had a cookie delivery. I made my way down to the first floor and found a Tiff's Treats box with a dozen chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies, still warm, and a sweet note from our very own Academomia. As I clutched my little white box, holding back tears in the elevator, I realized what a tenuous hold I had on myself. I'd never cried at work, and now I appeared to be crying over cookies and the overwhelming niceness of the person who sent them to me.

Then I ate four, and it helped.

I snuggled with the Biscuit when I got home and that helped even more.

Then JP had two great interviews this week and that helped most.

In a lot of ways, things were actually turning up this week. JP finally got some positive feedback in his job hunt. The flat rejections come so quick and sting so much, but after some time and a lot of meetings, calls, emails, and resume submissions, encouraging things are happening. And it's then, when things are looking better, that I let myself admit the hard in the past few weeks and get choked up in an elevator two bites into my first snickerdoodle (and start freaking out over what it will be like to have him working full time...).

Overall things are so good. We're so blessed with our kids, my job, our home, our daycare, our life. And I love working and I love my job (at least when I'm being the corporate and securities litigator I'm supposed to be), and most of the time, this life works so well. But I don't ever want to pretend that things aren't sometimes hard at the same time.