On my mind this week...

Dental work - My secret shame these days is that when I finally got around to taking Gideon to his first dental appointment in early March, he had 2 cavities - on each side of his mouth.  Four in all.  How did this happen?  It appears to boil down to two main things - we weren't flossing and we hadn't taken him to the dentist earlier.  Please, someone out there tell me I'm not the only one who thought taking a one-year-old to the dentist, not to mention flossing a (2-, 3-) 4-year-old's teeth, was overkill.  Gideon was a model patient during our first visit in March - behaved perfectly.  However, this week, when we returned to have the left side cavities filled, it didn't go so smoothly.  It didn't go at all.  We never got passed the nitrous oxide mask.  So now we have to return (it's an hour's drive to the office) not once but twice still and use an oral sedative (which means no breakfast before and grogginess after).  Parenthood continues to be an ongoing lesson in humility - and hygiene.  As of last night, we are officially flossing Gideon's teeth every night.

Aging - There's so much to say here, but for now I'll just say a couple of things.  This week, while visiting with another mom during Gideon's preschool's St. Jude's Trike-a-thon, I said something about being an old mother.  Her response when I revealed my age (37, for those of you who don't know) was not, "That's not old," but rather, "Wow!  Really?!  Your skin looks great."  Now, I know in the grand scheme of things, I'm really not old, but I do prefer listening to talk radio over music in the car, I wake up every morning with a stiff neck and shoulders, and my 20th high school reunion will be next year.  College still feels so close that I (misguidedly) think I could still pass as a college student, when in reality I left that world 16 years ago!

St. Jude's Trike-a-thon

The Earth Expedition - We got a letter in the mail this week from my cousin, Ryan, who is obviously still in that college world and, therefore, will be hiking 1250 miles across Australia this summer to raise money and awareness for project Active:Water.   Easy access to free drinking water could arguably do more to liberate oppressed, impoverished groups around the world (especially women) than any other advancement possible.

The Lady Aggies Basketball Team - WHOOP!  Gig 'em.

School - For me, not Gideon, this time.  On Monday, I will register for two online education classes at a community college for this summer.  And yesterday, I turned in my admissions application to St. Mary's College of Maryland in order to enroll in more undergraduate education classes this fall.  All pre-requisites for St. Mary's year-long intensive MAT (Master's in the Art of Teaching) program I hope to enroll in starting next summer.

And, from our snow last Sunday morning (the accumulated snow was almost completely gone by mid-afternoon):

The start of a snowman

Daffodils

Apple tree

Forsythia and backyard