Homesick

Lately, I've been a little homesick for Cincinnati - which is a really weird feeling for me. Although I spent about 10 years in the greater Cincinnati area, I never really considered it home and I never really liked the city all that much when I was there. But, in the last couple weeks I have been reminiscing about all of the things that I miss about Cincinnati. 

For one thing, I miss my friends. I have some great friends in Cincinnati. Actually, they are way more like family than friends. We do an ok job of keeping in touch - reading each other's blogs, facebook, the occasional game of phone tag. But, it's certainly not like it used to be.  

I also miss my old church. I feel like we left Cincinnati just as some really cool things were happening at VWS and we kind of missed out on the payoff. I still listen to their podcasts every once in a while, but it's just not the same. 

I also miss my old lab. I didn't realize how good I had it. I like my new job, but at my old job, things just clicked. My old co-workers were great - again, more like family than just co-workers. My old boss was awesome too - well practiced at tough love, but she knew exactly how to motivate me to get the best out of me. 

I also miss little things about Cincinnati like my favorite restaurants. I went to the best Indian restaurant in Nashville the other day and it was good, but it paled in comparison to my favorite one in Cincinnati. 

Ok, I'm done whining now. I have a good life here in Nashville. I have great friends that really care about me and my family. I am thankful for my new church and my new job. I am enjoying a beautiful spring in a beautiful city. I'm not sure why I didn't appreciate Cincinnati as much as I should have when I lived there. I know this is a recurring pattern with me - overly critical at the time only to look back wistfully later. The bottom line is that I need to live more in the present and be mindfully thankful for my current situation. Also, I think I may need to make a trip up to Cincinnati in the coming weeks. Anyone want house guests?

Sick of Being Sick

My baby has ANOTHER ear infection. Well, maybe it's not another one. It's possible that the first one never cleared up and has flared up again. In any case, it's just not right that a baby should be sick this long. 

Lord, please heal Harper. I know that you hate the fact that she is sick even more than I do. I just ask that you will make her comfortable and that you will supernaturally strengthen her little immune system so that she stops getting sick all the time. Thank you for blessing my life with hers.  

Science Friday - Sheep Edition

Ok, so I am definitely using the Science Friday title loosely this week (but you have to understand, I get hate mail if it's Friday and I don't do a Science Friday post). I love this video for many reasons: 1. It's ridiculously creative 2. It's real 3. It's Welsh 4. It involves sheep... the list goes on and on. Happy Friday. Enjoy.

Snake Dream

Last night, I had the weirdest dream (I blame the Tylenol PM that I took to help me sleep). I dreamt I was trying to catch white snakes and was constantly being bitten by them. This morning, I looked up how the "experts" interpret snake dreams. Not good - malice, betrayal, struggle, anxiety... I've been a little stressed lately, but nothing out of the ordinary. And usually when I'm really anxious about something, I have a recurring dream that all of my teeth are falling out. Do you have any recurring dreams? What do you think they mean?

Tweet Tweet

So I recently started Twittering. Basically, I wanted to see what all the hype was about. So far, I've come to a few (very general) conclusions. 

• Twittering is just like updating your facebook status - it can be entertaining, but mostly people just share useless information that nobody cares about. 
  
• It can be fun to follow celebrities who Tweet (Ellen, Martha Stewart, Rainn Wilson, Tina Fey, etc.), but Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore Tweet way more than any person ever should. 
  
• For the most part, Twitter has become just one more distraction in my day - not totally convinced it's worth it yet.
  

What's your opinion of Twitter? Do you think that Twitter allows you to be more connected to your friends and family? Is Twitter just another platform for self-promotion? 

Let me know if you Twitter so we can follow each other. 

Tuesday Thoughts

I have a bunch of random things in my head today - none of which could pass for a post of its own. So I am combining them.

1. Sweet Tart Chicks, Ducks, and Bunnies are back for Easter. I love these and finally somebody listened to my suggestion and got rid of the nasty green ones. This year they only come in the 3 best flavors - pink, purple, and blue! And yes, colors can be flavors. 

2. Harper and I had fun coloring last night. Unfortunately, I pulled out the camera too late into the creative session and missed capturing her actually coloring. But, this video does show her commitment to hold all of the crayons at one time. She is truly dedicated. Eventually, she ate the blue crayon, which signaled to me that the activity was over. 

3. If your only reason for going to church on Sunday is so that you can get re-charged for the upcoming week, I'm pretty sure that you're missing the point. However, it's really nice when that's exactly what happens. I went to a very cool worship service on Sunday night and am still thinking about it. Oh yeah...and it really made me want to get a tattoo. 

4. I just wanted to let all of you know that my March Madness bracket is doing fantastic. I know that many (if not all) of you are rooting for me to win the 2 pools that I am in. Currently, I am tied for first in my friend pool and in 2nd place in my office pool. If any of you would like to follow along on my road to greatness, I will be cheering for Louisville, Kansas, UConn, Memphis, Pitt, Duke, North Carolina, and Oklahoma this weekend. I'll keep you updated. Thank you for your support. 

Daffodils and Dogs

Yesterday, Harper discovered daffodils and large dogs courtesy of our good friend Barbara. 

Inspecting the daffodils that she accidently trampled...

Harper found a small stick and began to cross-pollinate the flowers. 

Ahhh...my little botanist. 

There were lots of smiles

and lots of scrunched up nose laughs.

Harper did really well with Barbara's dogs - probably because Gertie, Rufus, and Gus are the most gentle, easy-going labs ever!

Here's Harper and Gertie

This was by far Harper's favorite part of the visit!

Thanks Barbara for sharing your pups and flowers with us.