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We’re near the end of Day One in Orlando, and it feels like we’ve been here a week. Boy, did we need this vacation. We’re loving Grande Lakes, and tomorrow we’ll be loving Mickey’s Place. Happy, happy, happy, y’all. And did I mention: I love my husband.

Complete: #58 See Ani Difranco live!

The most incredible live performer ever, hands down. Beautiful. Passionate. Powerful.  This was my first time seeing Ani live, and it won’t be my last. Hearing her play live the same songs whose lyrics I have belted out from my heart, whose rhythms I have yielded my body to, whose melodies I have let wash over me without resistance… ohgod, it was amazing.

Laura and I saw her at the House of Blues in New Orleans on Sunday. We were on the balcony directly over the stage, and we were right behind a row of VIP seats inhabited by what I assume was some of Ani’s family, as they were passing around her baby! Yep, we got to see Petah Lucia DiFranco Napolitano, who is adorable and looks like a little blond Ani Difranco.

So, yeah. It was amazing. And afterwards…

Progress: #85: Stay in 5 nice and/or unique hotels. Blog them. (1/5)

We stayed at International House, a few blocks from the French Quarter. I won’t over-blog it because, frankly, you can look at the website. But I must comment on:

1. The bathtub. OMG. It was knee-deep from the inside, and the baths were magnificent. I took two. :D

2. The alarm clock? An ipod dock. Yay!

3. When we got back from the show, the entire lobby and lounge were dimmed and candlelit. It was so like a little fairy kingdom! Course, that might be two glasses of Merlot talking. :P

All in all, two thumbs up.  (The hotel’s fabulousness was totally reinforced by the fact that I spent the next two nights at a Best Western in Eunice, LA, for a work conference. Best Western’s rooms were bigger, but that’s about all I can give them.)

 I posted pics of AB at the duck pond, taken last Friday. Find them on Flickr here.

“That fish needs a Mommy.”

2. Get AB accepted at Montessori School for Shreveport.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! <—If you’re not sure how to read this, imagine me  jumping and dancing triumphantly around the house and squealing with glee when we got the call from the admissions coordinator. Our baby is going to the best school in Shreveport.

She’ll have an “interview” with them in the coming weeks for classroom placement, but I think she’ll be placed in the 3-6 year old classroom.  I am SO excited about the opportunity for AB to be in this environment. She is really going to thrive there, and I can’t wait to see it! I’m excited, too, about being a part of this community of parents. We went to their biggest fund raiser of the year last night - a silent auction - and really enjoyed meeting and mingling with other parents and teachers.

Now we just have to finish our potty-training by August. No pressure. :P But you know what, we can do it! Right now I feel like I could do just about anything.

It snowed in Shreveport today! We had some good strong flurries, but of course it wasn’t cold enough to stick. Still, it was beautiful and soothing. And it got me out of work at noon. :)

Since I had the afternoon off, I cooked dinner from scratch, which I rarely get to do these days. I made My Mama’s Potato Soup and cornbread, and it was exactly what my body and soul needed. This is an old-school recipe that has been passed down through generations of women in my mom’s family. It’s a deliciously self-indulgent meal that comes from a time before anyone cared about carbs or fat and is made up of the best of both. Potatoes + onion + butter + milk + bacon may not sound like much, but oh my is it ever. I was delighted that AB ate her way through two bowls. She’s got her Mama’s blood.

I did some cleaning this afternoon, too, which I also needed. Maybe I will be able to get the house ready for Joey’s family’s visit in April after all.

The agenda for this weekend? AB’s gymnastics class, buying a new fridge, the Montessori School for Shreveport’s Art Auction, and LSUS’ production of The Woolgatherer.

Bring it on!

I’m glad I saw this after clearing my conscience with the library!

In unrelated news, I am so stressed out that I’m grinding my teeth at night, which means that by day I have jaw pain which feels like someone is repeatedly piercing my inner ear with a sharp knife. (Unfortunately, I didn’t have to reach too deep for this metaphor. This is exactly what it feels like.) I need a vacation. On top of the full time career and three classes I am going out of town twice in the next month (New Orleans/Eunice and Orlando), hosting Joe’s sisters and Grandma in April (in a house that is SO not ready for visitors), trying to get Annabelle into our dream school, and just all the everyday junk that comes with life.

I had to get to work early this morning, and Annabelle broke my heart by completely melting down when I left. I feel so damn guilty for all the days when I don’t see her from the time I drop her off at Mimi’s in the morning until the time I get out of class - way past her bedtime - and come in to kiss her sweet little face and rock her to a deeper sleep.  For the times when I should be playing with her, enjoying every moment, but instead have to study or work or cook or clean. How did I get from being a full-time stay-at-home Mommy a year ago to this Deadbeat Mom I feel like now?

I need to find balance. I need to reconnect with my family. I need to remember what’s important.

Well. This is not the direction I planned to take in this post - obviously - but there you have it. It’s certainly something to think about.

#61. Research and understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I mentioned this goal to my friend Laura, whose Dad is Palestinian by birth, and she gave me this book. Of course it won’t be the only book I read in pursuit of this goal, but it’ll be the first. I read a couple pages this morning while Joey was in the shower. So I guess I’ve officially started on this one. :)

Also, it’s a little thing, but I should mention that we went to an auction last Friday night, so I’m 1/12 done with #89 Attend 12 auctions. We didn’t buy much - a brass balance scale for the top of a bookcase in the alcove, two folk art plates that I’ll hang in the guest bedroom, and a sundial which I’ll enjoy finding a place for in the garden this summer when we landscape.

We bought a new computer desk Saturday to go with Joey’s new computer. His old desktop computer was fried in a storm not long ago, even though he’d turned everything off and even flipped the switch on the powerstrip. Hell of  a way to find out that that particular outlet is not grounded, eh? Fortunately, all our pictures and music and household documents are on my laptop, and all Joey’s anime is on the external hard drive, which was disconnected at the time. Plus, we really needed a new computer anyway, so… still, we need to get that darn outlet fixed, so I may soon be accomplishing item #12, which is to get the outlets with reversed polarities fixed. You know, as long as we have an electrician in the house anyway. :P

I had two tests today - Statistics and Economics - and spent a lot of the weekend studying for them.  I had decided to forgo coffee with visiting-in-town friends, though I knew I would enjoy seeing them, because I felt like I really needed to spend that time studying. I was super-duper happy when I happened to be studying in the right place at the right time and ended up having coffee with them after all when they showed up at the Barnes and Noble where I sat muddled in Economics. It must have been fate. :) I lurve Laura and Scott and Adam. *schnuggly-wuggly-wugs*

*Ahem* Yeah, so I’m off to bed. Night night. :)

In the car today on the way home from Lowe’s and Target, where we had completely tired ourselves out, AB was chattering to herself.

AB: Don’t want to take a nap. Want to take a bath! Don’t want to take a bath. Want to take a nap!

Me: So, you don’t want to take a nap because you’d rather take a bath, and you don’t want to take a bath because you’d rather take a nap. Does that about cover it?

AB: Yes! No!