just realized my upcoming birthday is the first day of Lent, an official day of fasting and abstinence for all you Catholics out there.

that should make for a fun party.

i could blog about our last crazy weekend of hockey tournaments or the day big j and i were able to sneak in a day of skiing or the risky drive my friend and i took across the state in a blizzard warning BUT instead i will take a moment to tell you that it is once again SHAMROCK SHAKE SEASON.

mcdonalds serves them up every march but they have started early in most locations.

belly up.

for once in my life, i decided to be pro-active. about a week ago, i bought valentines for both kids to hand out along with candy at school. i figured we would have the whole holiday licked by the weekend. hurray!

yesterday, notes came home from teachers.

apparently, little j needs valentine cards WITH envelopes and instead of candy we are supposed to send an ingredient for something they are making on Valentines Day.

and apparently, big j's class is avoiding bringing ANYTHING that may have ever touched a peanut because a boy has severe peanut allergies. which probably leaves out the reese's peanut butter cups i bought.

which just proves what i knew all along.

procrastination is the ONLY way to go.

thought i better hurry and take down that steelers shot. a sore subject in this house right now!

so, for those of you following along at home...

remember last spring when i wrote about the Girls on the Run program and how i approached the director to see if she would ever consider bringing the program to mitchell? well, since then, she and i have actually gotten the program off the ground here! she was able to get the Mitchell United Way on board and i have been able to recruit about 10 volunteer coaches to start at 3 schools in march. the coordinator is signing girls up here in mitchell today, and we have a coaches training session in a couple of weeks. the whole thing starts march 15 and i will be coaching girls twice a week for 10 weeks.

pretty cool, huh?

this is a shot from about two years ago but the steeler passion is alive and well for big j. sorry to all you packer fans, but we'll be cheering hard and loud for pittsburgh.

GO STEELERS!