Heading to Riverside

The company I work for has a quarterly leadership retreat that we call "Riverside" (it use to actually be at a conference center that was located on the riverside).  Anyways, it is a great chance to network with other folks from different divisions and the presentations are always great.  But it is also hard to leave home for a night without my family.  It is a bit of "homesick" with a bit of "missing you" and a part "feeling left out" from whatever may happen in the 24 hours that I am away.  Surprisingly, it is also a lot of work making sure that my hubby has everything that he needs to keep Nat happy while I'm out - clothes laid out for school, groceries in the fridge, etc.  And then I have two days worth of emails and phone calls to catch up on when I get back into the office.  So, quite honestly I'm not all that excited about going aside from the fact that I get a queen size bed all to myself and the chance to sleep in a little bit.

I'd like to go to sleep please...

I haven't had a good nights sleep in almost a week (I feel like I did the first week we brought Nat home from the hospital).  I keep waking up around 3 am with thoughts of stuff that I need to do flooding my head - emails that I need to send out, phone calls I need to make, groceries I need to pick up.  I have absolutely no problem falling asleep-just staying asleep. Work has been crazy busy lately - so I know that is part of the problem - but there aren't any signs of it slowing down until maybe the middle of May.  The worst part is, that I know it is affecting me emotionally now.  At first I was just physically tired - now I am emotionally drained too - and I feel sorry for just about anyone who has to deal with me during the day because I know that I am grumpy (and that it putting it politely).  All I really want to do is go hide in a cave somewhere for about 12 hours and try to "catch up" on the whole sleep thing.

May I be a blessing...

Lord, thank you for all of the blessings you have given me in my life; a wonderful family, great friends, a job a love, and the ability to express my creativity through my art.  Please let me be a blessing to someone today.

I am working on an art project for my church...here are a few sneek peaks.

Easter Week....

So my daughter got to go to 4 Easter egg hunts this year and as such we ended up with more candy than ever before.  Mommy and Daddy have done their best to help consume the confectionary culprits but I just can't bring myself to eat those dang marshmallow bunnies wrapped in colorful cellophane or Peeps (quite frankly I think that they are just plain nasty).  And I don't dare let Nat have them because the "sugar demons" (a phrase my mother-in-law is very familiar with) keep her up all night.  Next year I am hoping that the Easter Bunny will have a kinder heart and just put stickers or money in the eggs...Don't get me wrong - she had a great time and we appreciate all of the effort it took to coordinate the hunts -- I just need a little time to come down from by sugar binge.  We had a blast visiting with family, playing games, and partaking in various culinary treats (my family are big foodies and there is always an assortment of snacks, dips, and deserts).  We look forward to seeing everyone again soon.

My mom and my adorable niece

Daddy Darren with Nat and my sister with her girls.

I tried very hard to get a decent shot of Nat - but the eggs were just too enticing. 

Papa Fred (my dad) was quick to help Nat into all of the goodies.

My niece was a very avid hunter this year and wanted to have "the big basket" to get ALL of the eggs.

That eventually developed into her having 2 baskets with ALL the eggs.