"Ils sont parti!"

• Pooh-yie! There's nothing like starting a race with the crazy horse leading the pack right out of the gate. I will begin by apologizing to everyone that suffered through reading my inaugural post. I guarantee that I proofread it four times before I published it, yet somehow failed to notice that it was a jumbled mess (complete with run on sentences, missing words, etc.). No Sleep + Alarm Clock Telling Me to Get in the Shower + I'm So Excited to Write My 1st Post = Not the Best Time to Establish Yourself to the Blog Universe. That little nugget of advice is free of charge. No need to thank me. Nevertheless, I've since corrected it. To anyone that is still following me after that less than stellar kick off, much love and gratitude goes out to you.

• Now, to further demonstrate why I had no business publishing anything early this morning, I present to you "Cray Cray Exhibit B": My oldest son, Jackson, had a 7:30 a.m. orthodontist appointment this morning. This required all five of the human beings that reside here to be awake, fed, dressed and on the road for 7 a.m. If this is not a painful and daunting task for you and your family... WHATEVER!... Go reward yourself with a cookie while I speak to the rest of the class. At 7:10 a.m. it was apparent that we had failed miserably, seeing that our 2 year old daughter was still in her nightgown, sporting the equivalent of a bird's nest in her hair and eating waffles so slowly, she may have actually traveled back in time. The hubster graciously advised that Jackson & I should head out to the appointment while he stayed behind and tended to our two younger offspring, (both clearly share a common genetic code with the sloth family of South America). Thankfully, even though we left later than planned, we reached our destination ten minutes early. Feeling proud and accomplished, we waited for the staff to unlock the front door. Before that could even happen, an employee just arriving, spots me and asks, "You're not here for Jackson? His appointment is tomorrow morning." I shake my head "no" as I quickly search the calendar on my phone to confirm that she is wrong. Sure thing. There it is, hilited in bright green: ORTHO APPT./ FRIDAY, JANUARY 24... Whomp-Whomp-Whooooomp! With Jackson's sleepy eyes now searing into my brain, a very nice ex co-worker chimes in, "Oh well, you were just practicing for tomorrow." We all chuckle (except for Jackson) and I make sure to tell the dental assistant to write a note on tomorrow's appointment book that we arrived early today, just in case I'm running 10 minutes late tomorrow. I called Marty to make him aware of the mix up, we meet up so he can deposit the rest of my crew into my vehicle and I shuttle the boys off to school.

• On the bright side, while rushing out the door at the crack of dawn I did manage to get a picture of this amazing sunrise over the river. So, all was not lost with this morning's memory malfunction.

• Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do my best to convince my daughter to settle down for an early nap. Even the voices in my head are starting to doze off.