Balance Sheet

In the "good" column:

• I conquered Day 5 of The Shred this morning with Jemma next to me using Veggie Straws as her hand weights.
• I washed, dried, folded and put away three loads of laundry today before lunch. (That last step, the putting-away, usually happens about a week after the first three steps, so this is a big accomplishment.)
• Also this morning, I got Annie off to school and then got to work making turkey lasagna for tonight's dinner. It was assembled and in the fridge by 9:30 a.m. I love being able to put dinner in the oven at 5:00 and know it will be ready 45 minutes later . . .
• I have a week of fun events coming up, including book club, a quick trip to see my nieces and frolic at a water park, and David Sedaris at DeVos on Sunday.
• After YEARS of procrastinating/ignoring the blue Rubbermaid container next to my bedside/being unable to even KNOW what I wanted, much less find it in a store, I purchased a pair of nightstands for our bedroom. I KNOW. It is exciting. Because a bedroom can never really look neat and cute when there's a dusty plastic container holding a stack of books and a clock radio from 1984.
• I'm working on a new article for Rapid Growth, and I'm so excited to be promoting a very worthwhile and unique project.

In the "bad" column:

• Jason and I suspect that Jemma recently underwent a personality transplant. For the last week or so, she's been throwing tantrums left and right, culminating in two very special ones today about shoes and a NutriGrain bar, respectively. Each involved several minutes (AT LEAST TWENTY) of jumping, crying, and falling to the ground.
• My spring allergies have escalated to the point that I blow my nose 87,000 times every morning when I wake up, sneeze constantly throughout the day, and have a strong desire to gouge out my own eyeballs. Zyrtec, you are not cutting it.
• Bees have made themselves at home in the myrtle that grows along our yard and driveway, causing Annie to FREAK OUT each time she steps foot outside our house.
• I got my edits for the aforementioned Rapid Growth article back today, and I have not felt so much like a C- student since that single time I received a C- on a paper from Mrs. Bengelink in 9th grade. The last story I wrote was printed exactly as I submitted it. This story? Full of all-caps-highlighted-in-yellow ADD MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS and WHERE WILL THIS BE HELD and WAS THERE ANY CAUSE AND EFFECT SO FAR? and THIS STORY HAS NO HEART. Yeah, that last thing isn't making me feel any kind of pressure to go write it completely over right now . . . yeah. That's where I'll be, with my Kleenex and my wounded pride.