Blog crush

Every once in a while, I start to think I have a pretty good little blogging thing going. And then, I go read sites like this one and I am completely blown away.

Ann Voskamp is one of those rare, rare talents. She's the kind of writer who can share her stories and make you cry, laugh, and feel stronger in your faith, all in one post. An amazing woman.

At home

It has been really nice to take a couple days off this week. For once, I'm not staying home because of a sick child, half trying to manage pressing work concerns while dealing with fever or flu.

It's a double edged sword for me, though: Staying home makes me realize just how much needs to be done around the house. Men everywhere may laugh, but home keeping (don't even mention child rearing or I'll cry) is a full time job.

Never mind the cooking and general cleaning--these past few days have been a chance to catch up on all the chores that have been languishing--

I beat back the laundry pile, rotated the girls' wardrobes so they have weather appropriate clothing to wear to school, and ordered fall/winter clothes for Miss Bee because she evidently grew about three feet this year! (I finally broke down and bought poor Cheeks McGoo a sweater so she would have something that wasn't a hand me down from her older sister.)

Sorted through endless paper: artwork, advertisements, statements , magazines, newspapers--I think I could heat my home for the winter on junk mail alone.

Swapping out Miss Bee's book stand with fall books and fall animals. (Okay, not really a serious chore but she gets so excited when I put out her "new" books.)

Having the upstairs carpets professionally cleaned. Because they were filthy.

Having the furnace serviced. (The man who came today ominously told me it was time to have the furnace replaced. Dear husband will be so excited because he loves shopping for that sort of things.)

Baking bread. It's not really a chore, but something that if I could stay home full time--I would do it every day. Cheeks and Bee helped me make bread yesterday and despite a few fraught moments, it was largely a success.

Do I really have to go back to the office tomorrow?

I know it sounds like a cliche but

it really is possible to have too much fun. Poor Ms. Cheeks proved that last night after a wonderful day at the water park, shopping in the afternoon, and dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant. (As in, the food was so good I was planning on marrying my ravioli halfway through dinner.) Dear husband and I were eating and encouraging Cheeks to eat her spaghetti, which she adamantly refused to do.

Clearly we were completely oblivous to the issue at hand because upon arriving back to our hotel, Cheeks threw up everywhere. (And why, oh why, do my kids always throw up on me and not my husband?)

But on the whole, despite having a sick little person, I had a fantastic weekend. It had been too long since our little family had an adventure together, and Great Wolf Lodge was just the right speed for the girls.

quelle horreur

So, my flight from New Zealand to Los Angeles was 12 hours, not that I noticed. I boarded the plane, watched a short movie, ate a very unmemorable dinner, folded my seat into a flat bed (oh the heaven that are business class seats) and promptly passed out for nine or so hours.
I slept through dessert. The duty free cart did not wake me up. I missed the sunrise. I slept through breakfast. I finally woke up about an hour before landing. It's a good thing I didn't sleep all the way to the gate.

When I finally woke up, I looked and felt a complete wreck. No problem, though, I am a frequent traveler and prepared for these contingencies. I went to the airplane bathroom, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and here is the key piece, people, changed my clothes.

I went back to my seat, feeling like a completely new person and congratulating myself for really pulling it together. I was busily organizing my luggage for landing when one of the flight attendants sidled up alongside. He asked, "Honey, did you do a complete change just now?"

Wide-eyed I looked at him and gasped out a "yes..."

He nodded seriously in reply and mock whispered, "Then I think you left something behind..."

I whipped my head around for the offending article of clothing. He just shook his head and handed me my unmentionables wrapped in a paper napkin.

The horrible question, that will forever remain unanswered, is where exactly did I drop them?

I didn't dare ask for breakfast after that.

Jumping the rainbow

Me and this blog, yeah, we almost broke up. But I think I finally might be able to start writing again.

You might have guessed that August was rough. My poor dear husband was stuck single parenting for weeks while I begged for "just one more hour at work, please."

And then to top it off, at the very height of the madness, I had to take a business trip for eight days. To New Zealand. I love New Zealand! But-- it's a really, really, reeeeally, long way away from here.

I owe my husband big time. And my mother. And my father. And my in-laws. Family is amazing. Family steps in and takes the wheel when you're too tired to drive.

It wasn't all bad though. On my very last day in New Zealand I spent the afternoon with friends. We went to a local grocery store and picked up fresh bread, hot roast chicken, and salad. We ate outside, savoring the early spring sunshine. (Because in New Zealand, the seasons are reversed, crazy, right?) Afterward we drove down to a little beach and hiked up one of the many bluffs that surround Auckland harbor. And as we rounded the bend a rainbow pierced the sky, as if on cue.

I arrived home just after midnight on Monday evening to a quiet, sleeping, house. The crickets were chirping, the fan was humming, and dog was snoring and I slipped back into the fold unnoticed. The next morning, when the girls piled into bed and smothered me with kisses and hugs it was like Christmas and my birthday all folded into one.

It is so good to be home.