New news newsy news in 2014

not really NEWS in any grand sense, but I guess since I haven't really updated SINCE LAST YEAR some of this will be news. but not really if you follow me on instagram or facebook or twitter or four square. but for those that don't! here's what's the what in my corner of the world.

joaquin started "school" on monday. he is starting with half days monday, wednesday & friday to ease him in. we drop him off around 12:30p, they put him down for a nap, he wakes up, snacks, goes outside, goes inside, plays, listens to music, listens to stories interacts with other toddler-types, etc. etc. his first day went well - he napped from 12:40 - 1:55p which is a very good nap in joaquin terms, and then he was charming and awesome the rest of the time. we picked him up at 5:30p and he was in a great mood and lovely.

so. we're hoping day 1 wasn't a fluke as i anxiously await news of day 2. (we pick him up in 4.5 hours...)

i'm very excited about this school. it's really a 'child development center' which to me just means a very structured daycare for this stage of life. however, as he grows and evolves, they start to really focus in on skills he will need to prepare for pre-school; and then once he's in the pre-school, they will focus on the skills he will need for kindergarten. i'm all about getting him as prepared as possible since he may be the youngest squirt in his grade (his birthday is 8/29 and the kindergarten cutoff is 9/1). hopefully, we will be able to wait a year before he starts because in an IDEAL world, he will be the very oldest squirt in his grade.

so there's that. it's quite exciting to finally have him on a schedule. while it was amazing having aaron's mom watch him for the past 12-13 months or so of his life, she was starting to get busier and less consistent in terms of her available hours and this just feels much more ... um... predictable for lack of a better word. and all the books and experts seem to say that kids thrive when they are on a schedule because it helps them anticipate what's next and thats just better for everyone. ESPECIALLY crazypants highenergy toddlers such as our 'quin. "gigi" will still watch him on tuesdays & thursdays, but we are going to work on phasing those out as well.

but damn, 'school' is expensive, yo! part of the reason we wanted to start with half days MWF is because FULL days MWF = almost double the cost (which makes sense, but not CENTS). also, it's just a lot more than what we were paying 'gigi.' she was a bargain rate caregiver.

so. in other news, i was supposed to be on a plane to the east coast today to present the findings of a research project, but our client is a terrible human being and a giant asshole, so the presentation got pushed back so we could get it more 'up to his standards.' this dude is THE WORST. never in my life have i dealt with someone so condescending, so obtuse and so ... MEAN. i can't wait for this project to be over so we never have to deal with him ever again. but as it stands, we will be flying out in a couple weeks to present and so the torture lives on for a bit longer.

but in general, work is super busy & steady and all of our other clients are awesome and cool and sweet and NORMAL. so life is mostly good in that area. 2014 is off to a CRAZY start so far. hopefully more excitement to come.

in terms of 2014, my 'resolution' was NO EXCUSES. this mainly applies to working out on a regular basis and not making excuses for neglecting general 'self-care' items. so far i've maintained my goal of 15 minutes + of working out per day. most days it's 30 minutes, and whenever possible, i sneak in 60 minute workouts. but i'm already losing holiday weight, feeling much better, yadda yadda yadda. so YAY!

this weekend aaron and i have a date night scheduled- we are going to see Volcano Choir (for those in the know, it's the lead singer of bon iver's other project). we also just purchased tickets for coachella which will take place april 18-20. i'm so incredibly excited about this year's lineup. (Arcade Fire, Muse, Beck, OutKast, Broken Bells, Girl Talk, Solange, Lana Del Ray, Lorde, Sleigh Bells, Kid Cudi, Aloe Blacc, etc. etc.) really, really excited.

what else... i think that mostly captures the here and now. hope everyone's 2014 is off to a fantastic start so far!