So I’m spring breaking at my parents house, where it’s (usually) a lot warmer than where I live.  Of course, in a cruel trick of nature, the temperature is now the same in both places.  Whatever. I’m enjoying the sunshine anyway.  Something about vacationing (and especially staying with your parents) makes you think differently than you do on a routine basis.  Here is some of the mind-boggling, random, and admittedly shallow stuff I’ve been thinking about.

1. My parents have a lot of mirrors in their house. Every time I go in or out of a room, Yikes, there I am again.
2. I’ve been getting up early in the morning to go to the gym with my dad.  It doesn’t sound very vacationy, but it’s kind of nice to have a little getaway and leave the kids behind with my mom.
3. There may be a direct correlation between #1 and #2.
4. Socks are my nemesis.  I think carpet grows them because I find them everywhere.  One of my favorite things about summertime is sandals for everyone.  And no socks.
5. The terrible threes are formidable.  I totally escaped the terrible twos with Natalie, but she more than makes up for it now.  It’s like demons sprout out of her head, shrill and angry.  Ten minutes later, the demons smile and bat their eyelashes.  Heaven help us.
6. Moms and dads grow up and get old.  It’s a little weird.  I also see more of my mom in myself than I did before, which is also a little weird.  The combination of both concepts and the whole “circle of life” stuff is weird too.  Translation:  I’m getting old and I’m turning into my mother.  (Long awkward pause where I’m trying not to use the word weird again. . . . )
7. I was long overdue to get my children’s portraits taken, so I did.  Seriously now, I know they’re not your own kids and usually that means you would have to fake some kind of caring, but really, I mean really, aren’t they adorable?
8. My NCAA bracket picks were HORRIBLE.  My only consolation is that probably everyone else’s picks were bad, too.   What a surprising number of wins by the “underdogs.”  Fun to watch, but I feel sorry for anybody who put money down on their picks.  (Luckily I only wagered my firstborn. Sorry, Grant.)
9. American Idol is totally underwhelming this season.  I keep waiting for a “wow,” but nothing.  And I’m way easier to please than Simon, so it shouldn’t be that hard.
10. Mother Teresa rocks.  I’ve been reading her biography and I’ll blog more about her later, but here is one of my favorite quotes from the last chapter I read:

“Let us love Jesus with our whole heart and soul.  Let us bring him many souls.  Keep Smiling.  Smile at Jesus in your suffering. . .  There is nothing special for you to do but to allow Jesus to live his life in you by accepting whatever he gives and giving whatever he takes with a big smile.”

Well, that’s all I could come up with from a brain on Spring Break.  Enjoy Conference this weekend, everyone.  Click here if you still need some conference activities for your children.  Happy Spring, Happy Easter, and here’s wishing you happy sunshine.