After nearly 15 years of marriage, I sometimes get reminders that Doug was never really a bachelor. He went from having his mom looking out for him to having me looking out for him. Some of those bachelor behaviors one might expect just never manifested. Today’s example… Doug made nachos. Now, I feel like enough people have made nachos over the years to know the basic idea. Take some chips. Grate some cheese. Combine. Cook somehow – whether that be over, toaster oven, microwave. Voila! Nachos!

I made homemade salsa, so I encouraged Doug to make some nachos to eat it with. I tossed some foil on a cookie sheet, confirmed the temperature he had picked for the oven, and left him to it. After a few minutes, he had me come to check his progress. Now, he wouldn’t let me take a picture of his first attempt, but let me just tell you that the ingredients were right. He had just opted not to use a cheese grater. Instead, the tray was covered in chunks of cheese. He figured he’d stir it part way through to get the cheese a little more spread around.

Cheese grater! Why would he make nachos using a cheese slicer? *shaking head* So we removed the slabs of cheese, and I used a knife to chop them up. Crisis averted! And Doug has learned a new skill.

It’s hard to believe the first month of 2012 is halfway over. Time can go so fast sometimes. River has one school visit scheduled, with another two to be determined. She’s been in rare form with her mood swings – one minute so sweet and loving; the next screaming and kicking. When we first talked about school visits, I wanted to avoid her “bad” times of the day. As an avid napper, she tends to get pretty cranky around 1pm. Wouldn’t you know it? Her first school visit is 1:15-2:30 on a Saturday. Thinking about it, though, I suppose it’s best they get a true picture of her good and her bad. If they don’t want the little girl she can be if she’s tired, it’s not the right school for her.

In other news, I’ve continued working on my health. I started a new diet the beginning of this year with a goal to be beach-ready for my trip to Hawaii in April. So far, I’ve lost 10 lbs, so I’m feeling pretty good about my chances of at least feeling more comfortable in my skin than I do now. I feel like I’m taking charge in a whole new way, and my body is liking it. Here’s hoping the next 3 months prove as successful.

Hazel is finally entering that stage of childhood where you start freaking out when things don’t go your way. She is actually pretty easy to reason with much of the time, but she’s getting more opinionated. She still comes nowhere near River when it comes to exerting her will. Still, it’s so strange to see our sweet little Hazel throwing a fit.

It’s currently snowing/icing/raining in our neighborhood. Hello, Winter! Better late than never?

Two years ago, Doug and I had visited a number of private schools that offered a preschool class for our soon-to-be 3-year-old. It was a daunting task, and honestly one we soon tired of. It’s hard to go from school to school trying to determine the best fit for your child when you’ve never had any experience with school as a parent. Plus, our goal was to find the right fit for River for the first several years of school.

In the end, we applied to only one school, and we were happy with our choice. River had an excellent preschool year with an amazing teacher. She is currently halfway through her Jr. Kindergarten year, and we have started the process of looking at schools again.

To be fair, we know her current school could work just fine for years to come. The teaching staff thus far has been very good, and we are particularly fond of the Kindergarten teacher. That said, we (ok, I) feel a need to make sure we are making the best decision for River. We have a different perspective now that we have almost two years of experience under our belts. We understand River’s learning style a bit more, and have a better idea of what we want from a school.

I read somewhere that choices are a good thing and a bad thing. It is so true! We have so many choices when it comes to schools in the greater Seattle area. All of those choices leave us with almost too many options to consider. There isn’t a right answer, but there could be a wrong answer. Ah, parenthood!

We are in the middle of the application process. Most schools are accepting applications through the 12th or 20th of this month. As part of these applications, we have to fill out a parent questionnaire. For one school, that was four questions. For another, that was twelve. It’s a ton of work answering questions about your child’s personality – interests, quirks, humor, attitude, challenges, frustrations, etc. Honestly, I’m at the point where I’m tired of talking about River. I mean, love the kid, but it’s a lot of writing about her. ;P

We still have two more tours including her current school. We decided it was only fair that we make sure we get as full of a view of the school she’s in as the new ones we’re checking out. Sometimes, a fresh perspective is all you need.

Who knows what will happen. For now, I have to finish telling one more school all about my wonderful child so they’ll consider her as a student next year.

I love them all, and celebrating the new year with most of them just reminds me of how lucky I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. I’m also reminded that I have friends who are willing to kick my butt as necessary.

My Christmas present from Christine was two books – Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland and The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes. Those close to me know that I have a desire to write, but have spent the last year avoiding it. I had this grand plan of trying new things, and it was derailed by my first task – write for a full month. I think I would’ve made it further in the process had that not been the first thing to come up. Instead of embracing the challenge, I was petrified. I pretended to try, but nothing really happened.

So, my dear friend, Christine, decided I needed a kick in the pants for Christmas, and I am grateful. I’ve started to read Art & Fear first, and am already feeling a little spark of desire and motivation to get to writing. We shall see what happens, but I have a good feeling about this.