The Case of the Disappearing Blogger: The Month that Got Away

Man, life moves quickly. Here we were at the beginning of January preparing for more change and then suddenly it’s nearing the end of February and I suddenly remembered I haven’t posted a blog in FOREVER. You ever have times like that in your life? Out of the blue a month is gone and you don’t know where it went? Happens to me a lot. But I think I remember a few things…

Studying in his man-corner

home with one of the many colds he caught over the last month

Little Man started school. So did my husband. One is in pre-school and the other is finishing his MBA. Did I mention this was in the same week? Ok, so Little Man’s take home work is mostly coloring and practicing his songs while the Hubs has a couple of hours of reading and test taking each night, but change is change.  Little Man was fine one week then the next refused to walk into the classroom and then the next was fine again. Same with the weekly dance class he’s attending (he likes to shake his booty booty, as he will tell you). My husband struggles to find privacy in our small house; a quite place where he can work without hearing children scream or pound on doors. It has taken some time to get accustomed to the new demands on the family, but finally, after a few weeks we are getting used to things.

why eat berries when you can squish them?

Baby Girl is flourishing with all the one on one attention she gets now. It’s funny to see who my children are when they don’t have to compete for attention. She loves to play alone and, as long as all the lotions and creams are out of her reach, I am happy to let her. She is fascinating to watch. She giggles with her toys, alternating between playing tea time and being a dinosaur/princess (that’s a thing, you know). She even went pee in the potty for the very first time today and suddenly a life without diapers flashed before my eyes. Who knew you could be simultaneously happy and sad about something like diapers?

Fanny and Manny

During all of this change, I threw in my participation in the base dinner theater production, Fanny and Manny Tie the Knot. I played a young unmarried, pregnant woman from Miami. Twice a week for five weeks I spent time without kids, without my husband to do something fun and just for me. Theater is a passion that seems impossible to let go of; I was so glad to join such a great group of people and even made a few friends. Sadly, Tokyo was hit with a couple of completely random snow storms in one week causing us to have to cancel two of the show nights. But somehow that made the one night even more special.

Is that a penguin beach ball in you Spanx, or are you just happy to see me?

the morning of what would have been our second performance

Sprinkled throughout the weeks of classes, errands and, well, life, we even made it out of the house for a couple of adventures. On one we drove through the mountains on an ill-fated quest to discover some local limestone caves. The harrowing drive (no seriously, it was nuts how twisty and narrow the roads were) took two hours. We even drove on a road in a tiny village that I’m still not convinced wasn’t a sidewalk. The kids were tired of being in the car, my husband and I were slap happy recovering from the nerves we felt during the drive only to discover the caverns were closed…until March. While Baby Girl was livid that she had to get back into her seat, Little Man was delighted that his bathroom break took place on the portable potty we have sitting on the passenger seat in the front. It’s the little things, people.

this is a two way road. no, seriously. 

 But back to life- I’ll try to keep it short and shallow: a month is gone and I don’t know where most of it went. Trying to make every moment a memory is simply impossible and feels like so much pressure. I see these posts filled with pictures of laughing children warning parents not to take any second for granted but it’s just too much to expect that every moment will be filled with laughter and adventure. Sometimes dinner has to be made and toilets have to be cleaned (you’re welcome for that image).  But I will attempt to write again before Easter. I promise.

in memorium: crock pot, 2006-2014