It’s been a weird day.

Weird in a not-so-good way, so I’m very thankful that today is almost over and I get

to start again tomorrow.

Thanks, God, for your new mercies. I will be intentionally soak

ing them all in tomorrow.

To be honest, I would love to have a virtual coffee date with you all right now. Unfortunately, I’ve reached my max for caffeine with an Americano and a Diet Coke, both since 2:00 today, and I need to sleep tonight. Enough said.

Instead, we can just talk while I finish up my late-night, day-off snack of tortilla chips and melted, buffalo flavored Velveeta. Seriously, it’s good, but I was also raised on processed cheese, so I think it always tastes good…I think certain friends I have who were raised on dairy farms would disagree with my thinking.

😉 I will tell ya, though, that over in Indonesia, I missed Velveeta so badly that I once had a friend bring me a huge two pound block of it when she came back after Christmas one year.

It was glorious. And I didn’t share…at all.

I’ve been trying to pull three mile runs in the mornings when I go out.

That’s almost double what I was running for so long that it feels like a lot. The good news is, I think I might actually be ready to run this 5k next weekend. I’m not looking forward to running in the cold…or being cold, in general, but I do like the whole chocolate everywhere thing. I WILL run for chocolate.

And as a bonus, since packet pick-up is only Thursday and Friday, and since I also have praise team Thursday night, Tobin took Friday off.

We’re gonna trek downtown, pick up my stuff, then go check out an Indonesian restaurant…possibly the only one in all of Chicago. Bring on the sate and rendang and pisang goreng…woohoo!

I could not be more excited about Indonesian food.

And I NEVER got excited about it when we lived there. Funny.

While I’ve tried to not obsess on the blog about weight loss, today was monumental.

I’m a pound UNDER my pre-baby weight.

I saw a number on the scale today that I thought I might never see again…and I loved it so much that I went for a three mile run…and then ate a bagel. (It was worth it, since I know you’re all wondering!) And tomorrow night at my weekly workout with friends, we’re gonna celebrate with these.

If you’ve never tried one, you should. For an energy bar, they’re pretty amazing. And I like that they’re not full of grainy stuff…I don’t feel like I’m eating cardboard.

So I love my daughter.

Really. But somewhere between Tuesday and today, she decided that one hour naps AND shorter nights are enough for her. She has been giving me about an hour nap each afternoon and sleeping about an hour less at night, too. I am not sure what to think of this… it kinda makes me grumpy if I think about

it too long. I always enjoyed my afternoons when she was napping because I could catch up on blogging and squeeze in some strength training and shower before she even woke up.

Life as we know it has changed.

Thankfully, she is generally JOYful just to run through the house and get into things. I love that about her, minus the getting into things part.

😉 And just look at what she built all by herself today…she truly amazes me.

Every year I spend $1 in the Target Dollar Section.

(Ok, ok, so I spend a LOT more than a dollar every year, but THIS dollar is for something specific…) I joke that it’s the best dollar I ever spend…but that might be true. I buy a little day planner that’s the perfect size…I write my life in it and take it everywhere I go. I actually bought one at Michael’s a couple weeks ago because Target didn’t have theirs out yet, but as I was wandering through the Dollar Section today, I saw this.

And I totally spent another dollar because it’s way too perfect.

Think God is trying to remind me of something

?

After a day like today, JOY is hard. My heart is not ok, and I’ve cried more than I want to admit. I feel broken, I feel lost…and the only thing remotely salvaging tonight is the fact that I know God is there…and that He’s able to fix broken and find lost.

And His mercies are new Every.

Single. Morning.

Praise Him for that.

I need to wind this up…long, emotional days require extra sleep, and you don’t need to ask me twice to sleep. 😉

G’nite.