I'm in the office, I mean office at work, 1:49PM, Sunday. I love the office on weekends. I'm cranking Taylor Swift (shut up) and finished more in the last few hours than I could do in a week of eight hour days others in the offices around me. I answered a slew of emails, both work and otherwise related, and planned way ahead. I'm ready for the week. The shades are down because the sun is so bright. Don't worry, cacti, I'll open them before I leave.

When did I write last Wednesday? Thursday was fine, teaching went well, actually, esp. with the afternoon group. I was concerned about them at first. They've got their rough edges put they're pushing hard. Friday morning I stayed home, I was busy, I don't remember doing what, then bought a Steelers hat at Bayshore and attended a meeting that felt like a baby shower all afternoon. Friday night M and I watched Castle. My pajamas were on by 7 and I was asleep by eight. Saturday was unexpectedly busy. That morning I hit the library (cute librarians and pages upstairs, score) with M and the oldest and youngest boys. S was off at a chess tournament. At 12 M and T left for a basketball tournament. N and I visited Sendik's for baking supplies and 100 calorie tortillas. We ran into the neighbor who dropped me from facebook (not sure why, mildly curious, but not entirely...she was weird at Sendik's, too) and almost ran into two other colleagues but we hid behind stacks of wine crates until the coast was clear. Then we stopped at Target so Nat could buy these...I don't know how to describe them...spinning lego guys. You're supposed to spin them at each other and see who gets knocked over first, kind of like rock 'em sock 'em robots but with spinning legos. You with me? Then we drove home, assembled the lego spinning guys, and competed on the wood bedroom floor until N was satisfied with his winning streak. Then he played video games and I watched another Castle. Later he and I read upstairs until S returned from chess. We had Apple Jacks for dinner (Saturday night, I'm not making a big deal out of dinner) and watched Wipeout, too. M and T didn't get back until close to eight, so the other boys and I read upstairs until they arrived home. I read a solid hundred pages from the Siberia book and fell asleep, believe it or not, without lunesta, but I woke at eleven and downed a little blue pill anyway. This morning I woke by seven, later than usual, and discovered that half the neighborhood was coming up over at eleven. That's why I'm here, listening to Taylor Swift. In a few minutes I'll change into workout gear in the bathroom and drive to the Y.

I'm doing pretty well. The sun helps. My dad always said the worst of winter were the last two weeks of January and first two of February. So far, so good. Within a month the coldest stretch will definitively pass. I'm feeling good. Yay solitude. More later.