joey bologna

Josephine starts daycare Monday.  She's scared to go to "school" and I'm sad she is scared.  She picked out a new lunch box yesterday.

Joey calls all juice apple juice unless it's the carton in the fridge that my sister buys for herself, that one is called pineapple juice.
She likes to tell you exactly when she'd like to do something.  Later. Right Now. Usually, Right Now!
The sleeping in her own bed thing is slow going but I'm OK with that. 
We went to an aviary last weekend and it was better than Disney World for Josephine.  She would like to go back there Right Now!
Other magically wonderful places she'd like to go to Right Now!:

• The "swings and slides" at the playground of the new elementary school down the road.
• The grocery store
• Outside to play baseball
• Down stairs to watch Mickey Mouse
• The garage to get some "apple" juice (usually the V8 fusion juices)
• The beach

I've been writing my Life List. Please write one too and share it with me, I'd love to be inspired by the things you want to do. I'm putting my up in a tab that you can click on if you wish.

to sleep

Remember when I spent a night in Denver a month back? I went out with my girlfriend that night and when we got back to the hotel I saw Josephine was sleeping in the giant comfortable bed with my parents and the teeny tiny lumpy pull-out couch was all set up for my friend and I.  I decided that I'd let Josephine stay in her luxurious sleeping arrangements rather than have her kick me and my friend in the head all night. That night was the first night she has ever slept without me in bed with her. 
Sure, she's fallen asleep with other people before, she's even woken up with my sister a couple of times when I had an early morning class one semester, but she had never spent the entire night without pressing her head on my shoulder for a snuggle and then flipping around and rabbit kicking me in the gut or back of the head.
Josephine has her own bed, a beautiful wooden bed that my grandfather made for me when I was that little.  She naps in her own bed wonderfully but when I bring up spending the night in her own bed she gets sad and I love my snuggles.
Last night the idea of earning a treat was enough to try sleeping in her own bed all night.  She made it to 5:30.
I got much less sleep because I was constantly checking to see if her door was open or if she was wondering around confused and tired.  Also, I missed my snuggles.

training

Want to start running again after a looooooooong time away? 
 Try running with a jogging stroller up and down the hills of your neighborhood.
 Give up and just walk as fast as you can while still answering all the important questions from the extra 28lbs you are pushing around.  What's that? Where are we going? Who's that guy?
Finally, after the sun has gone down enough that it is no longer a million degrees outside, find a babysitter and leave the stroller in the garage, bring only your ipod.
Run! It's so easy now!

I'm not ready to call it yet but it's not looking good for Utah.

I debated bringing books to read on this road trip.  I usually don't get around to reading much in the car, but this is a nearly 10 hour each way drive and surely I'll have time.  I ended up shoving a couple of books in the back seat and of course never cracked them open.  No matter how long of a drive it is, if it's through these mountains every moment I'm looking out the window I feel like I'm missing something awesome.  And I am. I feel so lucky to be living in this part of the country. 
All weekend Colorado was teasing me about Utah.  Colorado, a lovely state for sure, started by showing me how she is just as aesthetically pleasing as Utah.  It's true, the Rockies are amazing, but I had to remind Colorado that I've driven through her eastern half, her kinda boring looks like Nebraska half.  So what Colorado?  I have awesome hiking trails in my back yard too and I don't do any winter sports anymore so I don't care about your ski hills.
We stayed our first night in Denver where I know some awesome people that I got to meet up with.  Colorado was all look at me, filled with your friends already, don't you love me more than Utah now?
I'm not sure why Colorado has this grudge against Utah.
Anyway yes, Colorado you have a point, but I have friends in Utah that I'd miss if I was in Colorado so again it's a draw.
My friends and I got a beer at Chipotle and sat on their patio to catch up.  We didn't order any food because it was late and we'd already eaten, and then Chipotle closed before we had finished but didn't care than we stayed.  Colorado gave me a knowing look.  Utah law says you can't order alcohol without ordering food first unless you are at a bar.  I'm sure there are some nice bars in the state, but the ones I've seen in Ogden don't look like my style.  OK Friday night gives one point to Colorado but only one because how hard is it to order an appetizer right?
The next day was my aunts birthday party and it was lovely.  Josephine charmed everyone with her stories and dancing and fell in love with one of her older cousins by the end of the night.
Finally, Sunday we headed for home by driving though the tiny town of Leadville because we had lived there 15 years ago and it's always fun to travel through time.  We had lunch in the cute town of Basalt and the people that owned the cafe we stopped at had a three year old boy, Jack, that was their PR person.  He sat with us while we waited for our food and played with Josephine, it was cute.  Colorado gave me a wink.
We got back home around 8:30 last night, got some tacos and drove around to look for a place to watch the fireworks.  We eventually found the leftover signs the city put out yesterday to keep people out of the cemetery because it's a fireworks drop zone.  OK, Utah, minus 100 points for you.  Independence day cannot be shared with the more important Sunday holiday, church. 
I don't have the means to pick up and move right now, but if I did...

sometimes i want a fast-forward button

I get it, really, Joey is learning something important. 
Her brain is so busy working on whatever it's working on that she is having a hard time remembering words and paying attention when I'm talking. 
It is frustrating for me to have to repeat everything a million times and then watch to see if she is actually doing what I asked her to do...but it must be one hundred times worse for her to spend 10 seconds trying to remember that it's called a fork right after I handed one to her and said "here's your fork".