brand new day

Today is a good day.

It might have something to do with the fact that the new baby is almost 2 weeks old and things are slowly getting back to normal.  The mere fact that I have something as mundane as Cleaning Bathrooms on my to-do list instead of just Nursing and Surviving proves it.  Whether or not I actually get to the aforementioned bathrooms is beside the point.

It also might be the little face laying in my arms.  There's something about a wrinkly forehead and pursed little lips that make the world seem fresh and new.

Not to mention after having rain off and on all last week, the sun is shining bright today and it finally feels like summer really, truly is here to stay.

I suppose the *cough*zoloft*cough* probably doesn't hurt much either.

So, when I heard Joshua Radin's Brand New Day on my Pandora playlist, I couldn't help but smile and sing along.

Here's to a brand new day for us all.

ps-here's a link to the official video.  I find it amusing and it's worth the watch, but it was the lyrics that make me so happy, hence the video I posted

Sometimes...

...my children just wear on me. They'll start in with their shrieking, whining, and bickering...and a weight on my chest will settle, dragging me down. They exhaust me. It makes me want to go hide in my room under my covers (which, in fact, is exactly what I do sometimes). I'll find myself begging, pleading with them to please, please just stop and listen to me, unable to muster the energy to push myself into the cacophonous fray. They'll cling and pull on me, crawling up my legs and into my head. Sometimes, I just want to peel them off like uncomfortable clothing, fold them nicely up, and stuff then in my closet. I'd take a deep breath and then go out to lunch, followed by some leisurely shopping. all. by. myself.

...for now, however, I suppose I'll just continue to rely on the occasional popsicle and the insistence that they must eat it outside.

I'm putting myself in Time Out.

I realized last Friday afternoon (which is the time I typically start pulling my hair out and screaming like a banshee) that I haven't been completely and utterly away from my children in over a month. With having my beasties with me for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the last month (including 2 weeks of said month when I was husband-less), needless to say, I've been feeling a bit more stressed than normal. Sounds like I'm due for a time out.

I don't know about y'all, but for me, a month without alone time is a really. long. time. Whether for church meetings, dessert with a girlfriend, or a craft fair with my mom and sisters, I usually leave the little ones with my husband at least once a week. I'm one those girls who really, truly value their Me Time. I'll be honest, some days, I live for it.

As I normally don't neglect this facet of my life, I was pretty shocked to realize how long it'd been since I'd gotten away, but when I got down to it, I realized it was, in large part, due to my recent move. As I'm naturally a social creature, 99% of previous Me Time was spent with someone else. Move me away from all of my "someone else"s, and I suddenly forget to have some oh-so-necessary alone time. Soon after I realized my lack of childless activities I informed Spencer that sometime in the upcoming week, I was having a kid-free evening. So...now that I have a time-out on the schedule, what's a girl to do? It's been so long since my alone time was actually spent, well, alone, that I seem to have forgotten how. What do you do when you have an evening (or afternoon or morning) all to yourself? Eat chocolates while sitting in the car with a romance novel? Go shopping? Hit on younger men? (I'm joking, really. REALLY!)

Spill it, ladies.