A pre-weigh-in check-in

Lots of hyphens in that title, huh?

Ever need a day off to recover from your day off? I usually do! I guess because I don't get to take a day off very often, I have to try to cram as much into them as possible.

Tuesday morning, Anna Marie mercifully didn't wake me up until 7:30 a.m. (Later would've been better, but I'm not going to split hairs here.)

Speaking of hair - we both got ours cut Tuesday. Well, she's still trying to grow hers out, so it just got shaped up a bit, but I probably lost like half a pound of hair. Sharon is so good with that thinning-out tool thingy!

We went to vote, and then took a trip 15 miles north to the nearest Kroger to get in on their awesome sale on chicken.

(Man, you know you're a mom when a sale on chicken gets you stoked!)

We also stopped at Subway for a sandwich. Never go to the grocery store hungry!

When we got home, it was such a nice day (as opposed to the six inches of snow on the ground over the weekend) that she played in the backyard whilst I put a roast in the crock pot and deboned chicken breasts to go in the freezer. After half an hour of that (including cleaning up) she beckoned me outside, where she'd set up a circuit of activities.

She'd make a great personal trainer.

We hit a baseball. We played catch. We kicked soccer balls into her goal. We threw wee tiny footballs. We played basketball. And we played field hockey, using a small fabric ball and some sticks.

Whew!

Add to that the two loads of laundry I put up, and I was done. I mean, stick a fork in me if you'd like - I was too pooped to go on. I just kind of lay around until Jason got home and it was time for dinner. Thank God for the crock pot!

I was still pretty exhausted yesterday, but I managed to make it through. And then, Jason brought me this, courtesy of Amanda:



Bet you can't guess who that is. Or who this is:



That's right! It's AM!

I had no clue about this, and truthfully, if I hadn't been told the cover photo was of her, I never would've guessed. The interior shot, of the polka-dot dress, was easier.

A friend of Amanda's was designing the cover for this album by JT Page, saw the pictures on her Flickr page, and asked to use them. They're perfect, especially since the album is called "Olivia's Dance." The title track was written in honor of the artist's granddaughter.

I'm listening to the album now - it's sort of jazz-meets-church music. Not bad - I don't know anything about the artist, except that he attends a Presbyterian church in Memphis and dropped a couple of copies of this album by Amanda's house last week in the middle of a blizzard.

The picture on the cover was taken the weekend we moved into our house, when AM was just about to turn 3. Once Jason told me who it was, I immediately remembered the outfit and the photos Amanda took that day. The inside image was taken not too long after that, because I think that dress was a size 3T.

I can't even explain the sense of pride I felt when I saw this, because really, what did I have to do with it? Amanda took the picture. Her friend saw it and designed the cover. And this Page fella recorded the music.

But, it's my child, all the same, and I guess its that connection I feel with her, that makes me happy when something like this happens to her.

(By the way - she didn't seem too impressed. Maybe when she's older she'll appreciate it!)

Now, I have a full day of work to look forward to before weigh-in tonight. I really wish there was some other time, besides the end of a deadline day, that I could do this!