¡muchas gracias!

Hey!!

I owe you all a hearty applause of thanks for rising up and answering my plea for Apartment Therapy Award votes on Wednesday because the Camp was victorious!! I was down by 100+ votes when I posted the pathetic, drove Julia to preschool, and by the time I got home people had emailed that we were closing in and then ... poof! Pulling ahead. Thank you for being so kind and generous with your time ... I know it was a huge hassle to vote and I was floored by your dedication to the cause.

Simon says I can never ask you for anything ever again and I completely agree. Hold me to it! Please.

One of the very best things about blogging is getting to comb, wince, and cringe your way through your archives and I found myself procrastinating organizing the very scary pantry earlier today and doing just that.

Here are a few posts that I thought (wrong? maybe) you might like to read ... if you're new around here. And skip if you're a veteran. Or reread if you're both a veteran AND a glutton for punishment.

(you can click on the corresponding photos to get to the desired post because did you know I'm a blogging wizard?)

1. When I was 15 weeks pregnant with Julia I found out I had thyroid cancer (which sounds so much scarier than it should ... I think). Read all about the surgery that followed here. This was before I posted a gratuitous number of photos with every post so ... don't skip it.

2. When Simon is on his months of working nights (which technically is VERY early evening to what feels like LATE morning) I have to get creative with the neverevereverending evenings with the kids. And sometimes I make creative mistakes.

Like this one.

3. The other day Simon tried to bet me that I would feel some bizarre feelings of sadness and nostalgia when residency is over. He crazy. I wrote this at a pretty low point (maybe the lowest?) of the four years thus far and not that things are ever downright sunny in residencia but they've certainly felt to be looking up as of late. But in case I ever want to drag myself back down memory lane for a super fun little jaunt ... I always have this post.

He, like, hasn't changed a bit, right?

4. Well this is from just a few weeks ago but I was (pleasantly) shocked at how many kind souls commented.

I threw the slideshow together, showed it to Simon expecting him to give me the, "eh ... not your best work" line (which I do appreciate) but he urged me to post it and so here it is. Best work? Not at all.

5. That time that Sebastian was 11 days old and I had myself pegged as a ...

and things have only spiraled from there.

cackle.

6. And one of my favorite anniversary posts to put together ...

three years in.

Okay I could keeeeeep trucking but I'm exercising my one shred of self restraint here for the sake of your eye glaze.

I'm actually typing this from my perch over on Saturday night. Simon is going to finish up a 24 hour shift tomorrow (so technically today) morning around 7, race home, pop in the van where I'll be waiting with my mom and the (super chipper, I'm sure) kids, race to the airport, and see if crazyhorse Titan is going to let him, Theo, and myself fly out and onto our next great adventure on the conference circuit. My mom is staying with the older two kids and we couldn't be more grateful for her help and generosity. I'll keep you posted via loads of grammage if you dare to care and check if we made it to our destination. And you know I can't stand to stay away from a little post publishing action for long.

ciao far now.