Lately

- My schedule is much more regular and, by extension, feels less busy and crazy. I work every morning from Monday to Thursday, work three days a week with the triplets (either Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday or Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday), and I teach every night from Monday to Thursday. And this is new - when Thursday classes end, I'm bummed. I go nuts waiting for Monday night to come so I can coach again. I dragged Ruth to the pool today for fun and ended up troubleshooting her strokes. I can't help myself.

- We bought tickets for our trip to Florida next month! Maggie, Cris and I will soon be zipping off on a whirlwind trip to Crystal River to swim with the manatees. I can't wait; I love traveling with these girls and I'm looking forward to soaking up some sunshine and warmth. I never thought I'd catch myself saying this, but I can't wait for summer to come.

- Speaking of summer coming, here's a huge blessing: it's February and I'm not dealing with seasonal depression. Like, at all. I'm not even tired or fuzzy-brained, and I'm feeling happy - buoyantly happy, even - and I'm managing to stay on top of everything and even - sometimes - to get a little ahead. In fact, except for a brief (and brutal!) period around Thanksgiving, I've not dealt with depression symptoms at all this winter. I'm so thankful. There's no explanation except God's grace.

- I'm obsessed with coffee. My latest caffeine of choice is a grande flat white in a venti cup (since I like to add a packet of Sweet-n-low and stir the foam into the cup, plus I'm as clumsy as it's possible for a human to be, thus the venti cup), which comes out right about 75% of the time. The other 25% of the time, it comes out as a real venti, and the barista seems to think she's doing me a favor by giving me a venti for the price of a grande. Folks, if I wanted a venti, I'd buy a venti. What I really want is room. I've explained this 100 times. (And don't say "Just pour some out" - that's precious espresso I'd be wasting!)