Wow

It has been a LONG time since I have had anything important to say, apparently. I have been busy. I ran my second half marathon and am a mere few weeks from my next one. Hayden turned five and Violet is nine months old. Neil is working about ninety hours a week. Everyone in the house has been sick on and off since Christmas day, but at this particular moment, the plague has lifted and all is well.

Running is going great. I have the new Ipod and Nike + thing and I love it. I still run mostly with my group, but now, if there's a day when no one else can make it, I don't mind running on my own. In fact, I look forward to it so I can really work on my speed.

Hayden really is a five year old. More self control, less freaking out, which is very, very good news. We were able to get the enrollment process started at the Montessori Kindergarten where he will start in September. So, he's in and we're relieved. We have a parents' information night at the school this week, and I don't know about Neil, but I am fully aware that this puts us in a whole new realm of parenting. A kid in elementary school is like a real kid. Not little. Just kid.

Violet is a force to be reckoned with. She is freakishly strong and extremely coordinated. She lives for danger and refuses to eat anything other than breast milk, pureed bananas, and Ritz crackers. She crawls around, usually toward the stairs or electrical outlets. Her sheer strength allows her to pull up to standing using one pinky finger and any semi-vertical surface, and she even took a step a few weeks ago. She puts anything she picks up directly in her mouth, unless it's food, which she smashes up and drops to the floor. She never tips over, bumps her head, loses her balance, or slips. Like a ninja.

Neil passed all of his interviews and now has to get his store absolutely perfect before he meets with the CEO and is officially placed in his new position. Hence, the crazy hours. We agreed to six weeks of insanity to get things in order, so I have been bringing Hayden and Violet down to meet him for dinner, or lunch, or just to hang out for a while. I am back to the levels of necessary efficiency I perfected when he was in school. So, things are very busy, but actually, pretty good.