randoms

1. A co-worker of mine introduced me to Pandora this week, and I think I might be in love. I've been looking for a way to listen to music and/or podcasts in our dining room/living room (which is where Jude and I spend most of our time, and where the bulk of my Serwa Chic stuff is done). Pandora is absolutely perfect - especially for while Jude's napping. I just type in "Norah Jones," and get to listen to all kinds of soothing music by her and that sounds like her while I sew (or in today's case, press snaps). My mind can get the best of me when left to its own devices, and the obnoxiousness of the TV only angers me. I'm thinking Jude's nap times will quickly become my time to hang out with Norah Jones and sew.

And also, I know that Pandora is years old and most of you probably already know how wonderful it is. I thought it was something you paid a subscription to, so I steered clear. But free music?! Heck yeah!

2. Shawn, Jude, and I drove to Welcome, NC to watch one of our students get his black belt. Those ceremonies are for real, my friend. Everyone is very quiet and reverent, and they can last up to three hours. Three hours of quiet reverence isn't really Jude's thang, it turns out. He and I ducked in a side room where he "helped" a maintenance man unload chairs for awhile. Soon another Mom with a seven month old daughter joined us, and I got to see Jude's first interaction with a "baby." My heart is still melting. He crouched down as low as he could get, got close to the little girl's face, and started babbling to her and pointing around the room. When her Mom laid her on her belly for some tummy time, Jude laid down on his belly with their two heads almost touching. He'd talk to her, get up and run around, and then come back to do "tummy time" with her. It was all very sweet and very endearing, and gave me hope that maybe he won't try to throw this baby across the room.

3. The weather here has remained beautiful, though it's cooled off a little. I'm amazed by how much nice weather makes a difference in my mood. Jude and I usually go outside a couple of times a day if it's nice, and I am continuing to love the change of pace for him. We got him some sidewalk chalk and one of those swings that you install into a tree for him for Easter, and I'm having such a hard time waiting to bust it out! Not that you guys asked, but I think we'll handle the Easter Bunny the same way we handled Santa Claus, which is to say that we'll tell our kiddos that he's a really fun character that we pretend hides eggs at Easter. The Easter basket will be from Mommy and Daddy and we celebrate on Easter because we're celebrating the awesomeness of the Resurrection. We'll definitely decorate eggs, and I think it'd be fun to hide the kids' Easter baskets and play "hot and cold" with them to find it on Easter morning. Hmmm...or maybe Easter afternoon since Shawn won't be here in the mornings.

4. I honestly thought I had more than this to write about when I started this post, but it turns out that I don't. Either that, or the beautiful weather is calling my name and I'm skipping out on writing the rest of this post because I want to be out there. Maybe.