This and That

It's been a week of ups and downs:

Up--last weekend J helped me get extra down time so that I could finish The Shadow of the Wind (and The Tales of Beedle the Bard) and start my next book: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley.

Down--J left on a week-long business trip

Up--Evie stopped needing a middle-of-the-night bottle, for now (although she's still needing pacifier replacements in the wee hours)

Down--Evie decided that napping is for wimps (I'm thinking this is directly related to the previous up?)

Up--We enjoyed unseasonably warm weather and were able to spend time on our screened porch

Down--Our washing machine broke, with a full pail of diapers waiting in the wings

Up--Our friends Will and Holly came to my rescue; they took me in and gave me love, adult conversation and the use of their washer!

Down--Our washer couldn't be fixed (we paid almost $800 for it and it lasted 5 years) and we had to buy a new one

Up--Evie sat up by herself for the first time, for a couple of minutes

Down--Her diaper rash is back (we're pretty sure it's yeast; feel free to leave advice in the comments; right now we're using Monistat on it and trying to air it out when possible)

Up--I made plans to fly to Baltimore/D.C. to visit friends next weekend

Down--A front is moving through, sweeping out our warm air and making J and I miserable with allergy and sinus symptoms

Up--I have been productive! The house is getting spring cleaned, I'm finding time to read and scrapbook, and I finally pulled out my supplies to try my hand at making hair bows for Evie

Down--I am still not getting my butt in gear and working out the way I need to

Up--I'm finally getting this blog post finished

Down--It's 1 AM...oh, crap, it's really 2 AM

Up--Evie is such a sweetheart of a companion these days! Here she is in our Mayan hammock that we brought back from our anniversary trip this summer. I hung it up for our nice weather:

Gina of On the Road to Baby, nominated me for the Sisterhood Award, which recognizes blogs with great attitude and gratitude. Gina nominated bloggers who have had an impact on her and I'm touched that she thought of me. She and I actually live fairly close to one another geographically but haven't met in person...yet. :)

I'm not good at picking people, which is why I never do it for memes. I hate to leave anyone out. But for this I am going to mention some people I love. None of them are the type of blogger to have awards in their sidebars, so I don't expect them to add this one. But, this is a "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" award and my pants are traveling to see them all next weekend. So:

Jen is my BFF. She and I met as undergraduates at U.Va. and shared apartments for two years. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and I was a bridesmaid in hers. I'm her son's godmother. We have the kind of friendship that has survived so many ins and outs and ups and downs that we can (and do) tell each other just about everything. What I love most about Jen: she is capable of switching gears from a sarcastic comment to giving great advice to swearing like a sailor to comforting me to listening and then back to sarcasm...within 5 minutes. Being her friend is never boring and I love that she makes me laugh, cry, groan and love her more every time we talk. She's one of the friends I'm visiting next weekend and I can't wait to see Eric toddling around!

Deanna is a wonderful friend. We met online as fellow writers of iParenting Preconception Diaries. Our TTC and infertility journeys had many parallels and we recognized each other as kindred spirits. We proceeded to keep in touch via Fertility Friend message boards, a private message board set up by a mutual online friend, and then via e-mail and her blog. She e-mailed me a photo of her BFP last January and I called her last March when we got "the call." Deanna is the reason that this blog exists! When I called her last year to tell her about Lucy, she suggested that I should start a blog about the adoption. Two days later I pulled out J's laptop in our New Orleans hotel room and he helped me come up with "Clio." I make a point of meeting up with Deanna every time I'm in the DC area because I enjoy her company so much. What I love most about Deanna: she is a rare jewel of a person...genuine and authentic...somehow she manages to be smart and snarky and at the same time thoughtful and generous. She is an excellent writer and has a beautiful son. I can't wait to meet him next weekend!

Safire is an online friend who's about to be a real life friend. We are going to try to meet up next weekend and I'm thrilled to meet her and her adorable kids. She is a blogger that I've known since our iParenting days and it's been fun to watch her family grow over the years. She's a faithful blogger and does a great job of documenting her kids' lives the way I try to do as well. She has a very honest voice, too, and from reading her blog so long I feel as though I already know her well. What I love most about Safire: she is an honest blogger who writes about the good, bad and wacky aspects her experience with motherhood. She doesn't exaggerate or gloss over. She's also great with a camera and is a wonderful storyteller. And her kids are precious!

So here are the rules:

Put the logo on your blog or post.

Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude.

Be sure to link to your nominees in your post

Let your nominees know they have received the award by leaving them a comment on their blog

And be sure to link this post to the person who nominated you for the award.

So, I broke a couple of the rules. C'est la vie.