Last week was marvelously warm. The snow gave way to ice, which gave way to our gravel road, which gave way to mud. Yes, mud multiplied by twelve paws that like to run in and out of the house is a drag, but I?ll take mud and sunshine over ice and snow any day.

Last week was also my foray into a new semester and damn, it?s a challenge for sure. Love my color theory class but I literally spent six full hours yesterday working on my homework assignment and I am only halfway finished. Gah. I am also taking a drawing class which I knew would kick my butt, it?s just that I forget how much it sucks to have your butt kicked.

All of which is to say, NO, I?m not looking for condolences, as T remarked over the phone as I was driving home Wednesday night, utterly spent after a 12 hour day with one 45 minute break following a night where I got exactly 2.35 hours of sleep,

?You can?t possibly think I have sympathy for you.?

No, I don?t. I feel more resonance with the experience of my friends who are parents. They want the baby more than anything. And then, it turns out, having a baby is a hell of a lot of work and exhausting and overwhelming. They LOVE their baby. The joys and thrills and excitement of having their baby completely outweigh any discomfort, but still, why does it have to be all or nothing? Why can?t they be thrilled with their baby AND say, holy hell, this is hard.

There?s so much more to tell you about, but it will have to wait?a storm is about to hit. The word on the street is 12" - 14".

Another snow day? Bring it.

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