Updates

On Sunday, Jon took Lilly to the circus. Because it was either the circus or the Nutcracker, and we thought she'd like the circus better (she's been to the circus in New Zealand twice, but hasn't been to one since). (The Nutcracker was only on the radar because Suri Cruise went last week, and the girls are just a month apart, and have so much in common so you know...) Anyways, Lilly liked the circus, but was actually disappointed a little because she had anticipated going to Broadway (as all 4 year olds do on their Sundays out with daddy?). At the house before they left, I told her she was going to see the lions. She said "Lion King? Yay!!!" And during the actual show, she got up from her seat and started to walk out. Jon said "Where are you going, Lilly?" She replied "Mamma Mia." *Sigh* I guess we have refined her taste just a little too much.

In other news, Lilly is a teenager. She went to bed at 7 pm last night, and was still sleeping in at 7:30 this morning when I had to drag her out of bed. She would sleep well past 8 if I let her, as she did every day of her winter vacation. (Not that 8 is super late, but in 4 year old land it really is; she's been a chronic 7 am wakeup little girl since she was a baby. Plus, the school bus comes at 8-8:15ish so it really is too late!) But the funny thing about her sleeping in is that, she doesn't hop out of bed ready for the day. She lounges around, sticks her head under the covers, tries desperately for those few extra moments of shut eye. Meanwhile, every weekend day she is up at 6:30 popping out of bed like popcorn, ready to enthusiastically start her day.

And not Lilly related: I have become a chef at Casa de Sherman. In other words, I am cooking every night, and it is really inexpensive (especially compared to our standard NYC takeout and restaurant eating that we were formerly used to), nutritious, and has actually gotten us out of a food rut. Being a vegetarian, we were used to just a few things that I'd cook every day. But lately I've been cooking so much variety and even the non-veggies in the house (Jon and Lilly) are happy. Miss Lilly is actually eating veggies and trying new things each day, which makes mommy happy. Saturday night we had Shepherd's Pie, Sunday night we had veggie Sloppy Joe's, and last night we had a fantastic salad and chunky tomato soup.

Finally, for those of you anxiously on the edge of your seats waiting for us to make a decision on The Next Move: July 2011: I think it will be announceable by January 17, so mark your calendars. As for any hints: we still have 5 places up in the air as possibilities - each time we're about to rule one out, it comes back as a better option, and vice versa. (I've compared it to a Whodunit murder mystery on a soap opera - when everyone knows that Erica Kane has most likely pulled the trigger in the end, they go back and forth about it a million times with false leads, new evidence....) But anyway, it will be nice to finally "know" for all of us so that we can start planning the next phase of our lives. In the meantime, I will be daydreaming about another Disney vacation...