1. I think you guys know me pretty well. We came to Charleston for a few days. Thanks to some help from my dear (and only) aunt, we're staying at the delightful Mills House Hotel. Those of you in the U.S. may remember seeing the Mills House back a few months ago during the Republican primaries in South Carolina. MSNBC's Morning Joe was aired from here. The place was crawling with Republicans then. It's not now. At least not patently obvious ones.

2. I think I love really decadently lovely hotels. I may need to stay in them more.

3. I think I'm a miserable packer. I know I'm an over packer, but a shirt I was convinced I'd packed for Callum is nowhere to be found. We once went to visit friends in Charlottesville and had to buy Callum pants! What's wrong with me? Maybe I need to rely on lists more than I do.

4. I think I've had a pretty crummy week. I think, all things being equal, it's actually been a pretty crummy year, but this week was particularly rough. My balance is completely off and it's affecting my home life. I do not like that one bit. Fortunately it was Callum's spring break, and he was pretty much on "coast," but I'm really feeling like I need to get my crap together. Plus, I've really missed you guys.

5. I think I'm just going to relax and soak up this weekend. This really is one of my favorite cities in this country, if not the world. I'll have all sorts of stories to tell you next week, but my intent is to slough off my sadness and just sink into being here and being with my family. We're having lunch with some friends we haven't seen in ages, and I'm so looking forward to that. Maybe things are looking up.

1. I think I know that everyone has been there, but I'm really struggling with balance and feeling out of control lately. Having Callum, then me get sick really threw me. I said to Callum at dinner one night this week, "This weekend we need to cook the Saturday dinner that we didn't get to make together last weekend." And then I thought, WAIT! That was TWO Saturdays ago. We lost TWO WEEKS. As if the year hasn't been messed up enough already. I'm behind in my work, I'm behind in my play (and let's face it, that's way worse), and right now there feels like no hope of catch up in sight. This too will pass, but right now I feel like I'm on a rocky sea.

2. I think I forgot to tell you, Neel fixed the dryer!

3. I think it's crazy that yesterday I had a conversation with a woman who was getting a foot or more of snow while I had my window open to 80 degree temperatures.

4. I think I'm going to start to take a lot of pictures very soon. And speaking of pictures. I'm so touched by all your dear comments on my Day-in-the-Life post. It was fun to do. Really fun. I didn't want to do words, but I asked and you people wanted words! Next month, no words. Also, quick camera lesson: RAW and .jpeg. I'm not even going to try except to say that by shooting in .jpeg, your camera does the processing to get an image for you. When you shoot in RAW, and you download the images, they aren't processed (therefore they appear flatter & less contrasty) until you process them. Shooting .jpeg takes less space on memory cards and is generally faster. RAW allows more room for editing, a lot more. But. All these pictures you see here are .jpegs. Even if I shot them in RAW, I process it and export it into a .jpeg.

5. I think that next week will be, by necessity, a light blogging week. I hate to do it. But it's Callum's spring break and we have work to do and breathers to be, well, breathed. Love you ducks. Happy weekend. xo

five things, march 9th edition

five things, march 2nd edition