For Jessica. You asked for it.

I'm beat. Exhausted. Burning all 9 ends of the night. Did you know there were that many? Let's count.

1. School.

2. New Job.

3. ...which require studying, too.

3. 1/2 marathon training

4. Housewife...to myself.

5. Dog owner

6. Sister/daughter.

7. Social life (minimal, but scheduled weddings count) and March Madness.

Okay, I exaggerate. Only 7. But those are my current hats. Or things on my plate, or balls in the air. And you notice that dating isn't on my list. Sorry for that, friends, my upcoming posts will have nothing to do with the antics of my forlorn love life.

Nope, just how busy I am. Admittedly, I'm better at being busy than being bored and miserable. (Please see all blog posts from 2010 to rehash what I'm like when that happens). I'm blissful right now. I love my life, I love my job, and I love my dog and family even though they are honestly the ones suffering the most in this list of my dedications.

I'm exhausted. Not like a working single mom, but like a crazy over-committed single gal. And so now I present a list of things that have made me cry this week.

1. Running a 10K in 1:04.32. I was so proud of myself I cried the entire last mile

2. Extreme Home make-over. Obviously, it always gets me.

3. A video of a dog owner trainer CPR to a dog. (I immediately made Crosley promise that he would never do that to me). Watch here...warning, animal lovers this is hard to watch.

4. Tasting gluten free pizza that didn't taste like cardboard while sitting in a pizzeria. Seriously.

5. Parenthood, Modern Family, and Dead Poets Society.

6. Deciding not to drop either of my classes.

7. News that a dear friend (one of my oldest at that) is blessed with the news that she's going to be a (great) mommy!

8. My niece reading to me.

9. News that a guy I went to college with lost his new-born child to Trisomy 18.

And just like that I'm brought right back to Earth. I am busy. But blessed. My plight does not compare to the reality of the nightmare in the Middle East, Floods across the US, or losing a child.

I am AMAZED that I am lucky enough to have loved and lost, to know what it's like to see the sunset over a mountain, to have a trip to Vegas booked with mi'ladies, to have a roof over my head, a dog that still gets excited to see me even though I'm a terrible mother, my health, my family, my job, my education, my friends, my goodness...

Especially when I'm sent not-so-subtle reminders like a FB post for a funeral for a 1-week old child. My heart aches for my college buddy. Please hug your children for me...even the furry ones.

With MUCH heart ache and tons of love,

xoxo

Gage~

PS, for the record, JSF, I do have two other light-hearted blogs in the works for you. But this hit me pretty hard today. I promise jovial anecdotes the next time we meet.