My Least Favorite Month

I am not a fan of January. Usually, it's kind of gloomy and cold - well, cold for southern California. This January is not like that at all. We haven't had any rain since mid-December, and the days have been hot and dry. This is called a "Santa Ana condition", and high winds are also part of this weather condition some days. Last week the governor announced that we're in a drought. Not good. It leads to things like horrible wildfires in our local hills. I do hope we get some cooler weather and some rain in the weeks to come. March can sometimes be very wet.

One of the things I do like about typical Januaries is that it's a good time to cook soups and other comfort foods. Being that this is a three-day weekend, I had hoped to do some of that before going back to work on Tuesday. However, with temps close to 80* I really don't think I will turn on the oven this weekend.

I'm keeping up with my Couch to 5k. I took two weeks on Week 1 of the program as I tried to figure it all out. Turns out, running with a stroller is really hard. Turns out we're having a heatwave, and running in a heatwave is a deterrent for wimps like me.  So, I've been using a pass to my dad's gym the last three running days instead, and that's worked out well. I'm thinking about joining a very affordable gym in the neighborhood with childcare so that I can continue to run despite the weather, and without Michaela and the stroller. However, I would like to work up to running with Michaela and the stroller in time. When the time comes to run a 5k, I'd really like to run it with her if I can.

We are making really good progress with potty training. For a while there I could get Michaela on the toilet when I caught her at just the right time, but she really wasn't letting me know when she needed to go. When I went back to work, another teacher said that she had little books about going potty that her daughters had read when they were training. I came home that day and ordered two of them. Once they arrived, we began reading them and they made a big impression on Michaela. In the last few days, she has been very good about saying when she needs to go. I'm so proud of her! She receives gummy bears each time she uses the potty successfully, and she knows she will get a play kitchen when she's in big girl panties all the time. We're both excited about that!