What Ana Does

You know when you're away on vacation and, sure, the first few days you're getting completely relaxed as you sit in a lounge chair and stare at a pool ... but after day three the mind wanders to house projects. Or is that just me? We went to Cancun, Mexico at an all-inclusive resort . Pluses: Menus with no prices and no checks to pay at the end of each meal; breakfast buffets; lots of drinks; many pools. Minuses: No beach; bad pedicure. We didn't leave the resort for any excursions or sight-seeing, so all my pictures feature the blue sky, a pool and whatever I was sitting under drinking a frosty beverage. My daily views: But I can't just sit there and NOT make a list, so after day three my mind wandered all over my house, inventorying all the tasks and to-dos I want to get done once the girls go back to school. Let me tell you, it was A LOT. And happy list-making was just about all I accomplished in the seven days we were away. And a super tan. R...

Here's one for the scrapbook. It's Sunday afternoon and Leah's at a sleepover and all is quiet in Alice's room. I'm puttering around the house and Dave is watching football. I love quiet afternoons like this. Alice has been down a few times for supplies, including a coach pillow she needed to have in her room "forever." Later, I'm getting her ready for bed and finally enter her room. Here's what I find: Three pillows set-up with blanket "chairs" and a swatch of doll hair taped to each pillow. There are hair brushes on each pillow. The Barbie is set up on a "desk" ready for the demonstration of how to correctly brush hair. Nearby, three dolls now have much shorter hair. Is it wrong that I just laughed and laughed? Anyway, she quickly enrolls me in her hair brushing class, which I pass with flying colors -- I'm happy to add. Alice is an excellent instructor and shows me a few times the right technique. ...