just stuff

*On New Year's Eve we were channel surfing and landed on one of the countdown specials. I got to hear Justin Bieber for the first time ever. And I was very unimpressed. The chorus of the song he was singing said something like, "If you loved me, we could be starving, we could be homeless." Excuse me? Is he serious? I wonder how the many starving and homeless people around the world feel about that?

*Pinch me, because I think I might be dreaming. Peppy and I will be married seven years on January 14th. We had planned on taking a weekend ski trip to celebrate. But he got a wild hair to go on a cruise (and we did a bit of finagling) and *I think* we are going to go on a weekend cruise to the Bahamas over the long Martin Luther King weekend. And did I mention it is going to be child-free vacation?  I am already feeling anxious about leaving my kids when I will be in the middle of the ocean and unable to be contacted right away if there happened to be an emergency. But I know my boys will be in more than capable hands. And I fully believe that parents deserve to take a break from their duties from time to time. We were husband and wife before we were parents. We will be husband and wife when our kids move away. We've got to put ourselves first every once in a while. (I was pretty astounded at how cheap some of the weekend cruises were. We found some 4 day/3 night trips starting from $149!) We haven't been on a cruise since I was pregnant with Owsley. I can't wait!

*Last week we were getting off the interstate and there was a man standing there with a sign that said he was homeless and asking for money. I rolled down my window and gave him five dollars. When we drove off, Gage asked me what was going on, and I explained it to him. He started to cry, and said, "If I could have one wish, it would be that everyone had a home to go to." I am raising a very compassionate little boy. I am so proud of him.

*I went to the eye doctor and made the switch to daily disposable contacts. I feel like a new woman. Throughout the years, my contacts have become pretty incompatible with my eyes. In high school I would wear them for 12+ hours a day, but now my eyes are just so dry. The only time they would be comfortable would be when they were brand new. I only wear contacts about twice a week anyway, so these are perfect for me. Unfortunately in the past two years since visiting the eye doctor, my vision has gotten worse. I'm at around 20/1000. (-7.5 and -7) I hope neither of the boys inherit my 'profound vision loss.'

*Gage went back to school today. The last two weeks actually went by much faster than I imagined. Yes, there was a lot of bickering and not sharing, but I really think Owsley is going to miss having Gage at home. And I think we have all gotten used to sleeping in until around 7:30, instead of having to get up at 6. This year for Christmas I got my parents to buy us season passes to Early Works/The Train Depot/Constitution Village. Yesterday I took the boys to Early Works. I have a feeling we are going to get a lot of use out of those passes this year. Afterwards we met up with Peppy and had donuts for lunch. The employee accidentally gave us an extra red velvet donut, so me and this smushed little guy are about to make some magic happen.