1. I'm going to my first-ever yoga class tomorrow, with my sister. It's at this cute new-ish yoga studio downtown, Love Yoga. And I'm excited about the whole thing--should be fun, nice to get some exercise, the studio looks cool--but I have to admit I'm a bit nervous about looking like a dork. I normally do yoga at home, in my sweatpants, with a video. No actual teacher, no mirror so I can check out how I'm doing, and so I have no idea how well I'm actually mimicking what the leader is doing in the video. I am not the most flexible person, nor do I have good balance (though my at-home yoga has improved both those things, I think). And when you're doing a type of exercise where the *goal* is actually to stick your butt way up in the air like this, I think looking like a dork may just be a given.


2. Tonight is hot dog night. This may not sound like a big deal to you, but it is for me. Here's why: Long ago, when I had no kids yet but some of my friends did, my dear friend Connie told me about hot dog night. The idea is: you feed the kids hot dogs, let them watch a movie, generally just make them super happy and then put them to bed early. Then, after the kids are in bed, the real fun begins. A fancy, home-made, grown-ups only dinner and some wine for Mom and Dad. We kind of wanted to go out for a date, but we hadn't planned in advance for a babysitter, and even if we just went out for dinner and came straight home, it would be $30 for dinner and another $20 or $30 for a babysitter. It adds up fast. A package of hot dogs and a bottle of wine from the grocery store = significantly easier on the pocket book. But I'm just as excited about it!

3. My daffodils and tulips and bluebells are all poking their green stems above the ground. On these rainy, grey, dreary and cold days we've been having, it sometimes feels like spring will never come. But the flowers know better.

4. I've signed up for the Corvallis Half-Marathon in April, but other than that it's the only race I've got going on this year. I am not sure I really want to do a marathon again this year, and we're not signed up for Hood to Coast, either. A friend of mine wants to do the Warrior Dash, but I'm like: jump over fire? Are you crazy? I'd like to have some other challenges for myself this year, though, because I've found that I stick with my exercise the best when I have some event coming up that I am committed to. Ideas, anyone?

5. Today my silly 2-year-old came up to me and said, with a big sigh: "I miss my crib."

So, I pulled out the Pack N Play for her, set it up in the living room, and stuck her in it. She played there with her stuffed animals contentedly for more than half an hour.

When a 2-year-old voluntarily asks to be confined into a small space that she can't get out of...you go with it. You just go with it.

6. My 4-year-old received a marshmallow at school today. They've been doing letter M all week, and today they had mm-mm-mmarshmallows to cap the whole thing off. But she was so disgusted by it that she wouldn't touch it, and her teacher put it in a bag for her and she brought it home to give to Evie.

Why was she so horrified? Because marshmallows bring back memories of the Great Camping Puke-Fest of '10. Neither Beth nor Lucy have been able to look at a marshmallow without gagging ever since that night. None of us will ever forget it. It will live on in family legend (and eating preferences) forever.

7. Books: Still working on Snow Falling on Cedars, and ordered Manhunt off Amazon today. Reading list 2011, I will conquer you!

For more quick takes, check out Conversion Diary.