Sure Signs of Spring

Allison is constantly pointing out things that are a "sure sign of spring." For instance, today we were sittting in the grass and she saw our shadow. "Shadows are a sure sign of spring," she said. It doesn't matter what she sees really. If she sees it during springtime then it's a sure sign of spring. So, in honor of spring and Allison's uncanny ability to notice all the signs of spring I thought I'd make a list of the "Sure Signs Of Spring"



1. Seeing your shadow

2. Warm weather

3. Dandelions

4. Frogs

5. When birds tweet

6. When leaves grow

7. Playing with sidewalk chalk

8. When worms wiggle

9. When you can take your jacket off

10. Flip-flops

She's constantly adding more to this list. We are having lots of spring weather this week, actually it's more like summer! We'll take it!

I've discovered that I like shooting hoops. The girls got a b-ball hoop last weekend and I have found myself out there shooting baskets when no one else is around. It's great excersise and FUN! I don't want to play 'around the world' or 'horse' or whatever other games are out there. Just me, shooting hoops. No competition. I've told you before that I'm not competitive-it's true.

Shop Talk: I haven't done great at writing everyday. I will say that I've spent a few minutes each day doing something related to writing though. I probably only missed one day of actual writing. I need to go to Barnes and Noble and get a writing prompts book. Our B&N here is tiny and the writing resource section is almost non exsistent. They are more than happy to order me anything I need with no obligation to buy it but sometimes it's about browsing. Kind of defeats the purpose of browsing if there isn't anything to look at! I'm anxious to turn my baseball research into an article. I've been thinking it may have picture book potential too. PB's kind of intimidate me because I know they are very hard to get published. I've heard so many rejection stories. In a book I'm reading about the baseball Hall of Fame it says that every book ever written about baseball is there. Does that mean picture books about baseball too? Can you even imagine having a book you've written at the Baseball Hall of Fame? How cool would that be??

It has been a long week. I think I feel that way because I only had one morning while Allison was at school to accomplish anything. Monday is the whole library/lunch/recess thing; Wednesday was free; and today Allison's class had a field trip that I went on. Then of course Tues. and Th. Allison was home and I feel a bit guilty for saying things like, "Mommy needs to do some work." So a week like this leads to a tiny amount of mommy burnout. I love my little miss as big as the whole wide world but this mommy needs a few moments of time to myself - and here's the real issue - without feeling guilty. When she goes off to kindergarten in the fall it will feel as if part of me has gone with her each day. I will miss her terribly and long for the unroutined days we've had together. I will long to hear her voice HOLLERING for me every single time I step into the bathroom. And I'm sure I'll sit down to watch Noggin all by myself just because it's been part of our days. Today, however, I need a break. Just a short one. I don't need Calgon to take me away or anything. Just some guilt free mommy time. Big sigh...