random glee.

during my bout of wallow & self-pity, i neglected to focus on what's good & what's important. duh. so, here i am, doing just that...focusing on good, important things. things that matter...

those two kids pictured above. what a candid moment. on the beach in hatteras, nc circa 2005. they are my greatest joy.

speaking of those two kids:

• aidan passed the first round of screening for the gifted program. he will be tested again in march to see if he just might be able to enter our school system's gifted program next year as a second grader.
• malia turns n-i-n-e next month! she's heading into her 'tween years quickly. i think we are going to have a bowling party for her. she's also doing ridiculously well in school. she's busy with the s.c.a. and tech club. and, she totally rocked her ancient greece project and got a A+ on the comedy & tragedy masks she made.

{source}

happiness really IS a warm puppy -- and i've got the best lil' puppy by my side, frisco. he's currently snoozing in his teeny bed {his big bed is in his 'house'} while i get some blog posts scheduled.

the fact that it's snowing outside is pretty exciting. three times in three weeks! that never happens here in coastal virginia! it sure is pretty to look at...i feel like i'm living inside of a snow globe! on the flip side, i'm quite thankful that we're not getting walloped like my parents did {and are...again!}. they are digging out of over 2+ feet of snow and they only live 2.5 hours away from me in fredericksburg. my mom wished for snow...i guess you gotta be careful what you wish for!

{today's snow so far}

my new desk & craft area is pretty awesome if i do say so myself. it's still very messy & in need of some good organizing, but it's coming along nicely. it's opened up this room quite a bit and i can't wait to get the rest of the room cleaned up this weekend. what would make me happy is if we could find a nice, cozy chair & side table. hmm...

our good friends, matt & steve, helped adam with every aspect of constructing the new desk from making the executive decision on which laminate counter top pattern to pick {because, really, what guy would pass up a trip to lowe's?} to making saw cuts to spray painting the pvc pipe legs to installing the ginormous desk onto my muraled wall!

this weekend there is a lot to celebrate:

• v♥lentine's d♥y
• the daytona 500
• chinese new year {it's the year of the tiger!}

coincidentally, all of these things fall on the same day - february 14th. so, on sunday, i'll be wearing a red shirt, sporting my dale earnhardt, jr. cap & eating peking duck.

and, after this weekend's fun festivities, this guy & i will celebrate eight years of wedded bliss on the 23rd:

{our happy little family in bah-ston, september 2009}

i found out recently - as in yesterday - that i will be moving to an office closer to home {as in, my 45+ minute commute will become maybe 15 minutes} and that i will become a full-time employee. when that will all take place...i don't know. but, it's guaranteed to happen some time this year. woo hoo!

oh, and did i mention that i have an etsy shop now? it's up & running. it's still very much a work in progress, but at least i did it. i hope to add more items to the shop this weekend. i have a feeling that i will be leaning more towards the pet paintings & painted glassware. however, if you want a custom topiary piece, please let me know!

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so, i guess that even with all of my complaints, life really IS good.