A Sunnier Version of Sweden

After a delightful New Years Day, it was back to work for me yesterday. Lucky for the kids, they still had one more day until they headed back to the classroom... or so I thought. As I was backing out of the driveway, I looked down the street and thought, why is the school bus here? Uh oh... Turned out, John was back to school yesterday; it was Caroline who had one more day off. The occasional differences between the public school calendar and the Xavier private school calendar catch me off guard! Thankfully, Justin was able to get him to school in time for second period to start, but the poor kid was exhausted by the end of the day. We'd let him stay up until almost midnight on the 1st, watching football, because we thought he could sleep in the next day! Mom of the Year, and it only took two days... After a mostly unproductive first day back at work for me - it's always hard to get the brain back in gear after ten days of vacation - I came home to the best part of everyda

I have high hopes - and high expectations - for 2019. I have learned enough at this point in my life to know that I should be wary of putting these hopes and expectations into specific words; instead, I will find the delights in each day, the big and the little, the 365 ahead of us. To that end, I think today was a wonderful way to christen the new beginning of 2019! I enjoyed my last sleep in of the holiday season before going back to work tomorrow, eventually rolling out of bed around 7:20 so that I could shovel the driveway one more time before heading to church. The snow was surprisingly light and powdery, making it quick work for me and Justin to clear a path for the car. We swung by John's friend's house where he'd spent the night, and I was pleasantly surprised that he was actually ready on time as we'd instructed him! When we got to church, I looked over and saw the choir there, and realized I'd forgotten about being there early! I debated for a brief

It's that time of year again, when we race toward the last day on the calendar and begin turning our thoughts to the opportunities that lie ahead when we flip the page. As I have for many years, I've been noodling on my goals and challenges to lay out for the next twelve months. I managed to finish almost all of the to-do's I laid out for 2018, and I continue to love the sense of accomplishment that comes with achieving these goals! I did, however, also place enough stress on myself with the recipe-per-week resolution that I'm rethinking the level of commitment I'm willing to make for resolutions in 2019. To that end, here is my plan for the last year of this decade: Improve my Spanish. I've already checked out some CDs from the library and I plan to listen to them while I get ready in the morning! I also have a Playaway audio book that I can use in the car, so Caroline and I may work on this one together on the morning ride to school. Learn and memorize a n