Friday, March 27, 2009

Sigh of Relief

I hate to say anything and jinx it, but I think we may finally be done with winter. Shhh!!! I don't even want to type it, for fear it will come roaring back, holing us up in our little apartment again, virtually climbing the walls, desperate for some room to roam.

I have a friend who lives in Texas who is constantly singing the praises of the balmy Texas winter and beauty of the fresh early spring warmth. She waxes poetic about the glories of 70 degree days at the beginning of February, about throwing her windows open and soaking up the fresh air, about the lift to her spirits the spectacular weather brings, about her kids running willy-nilly through the backyard, reborn at the dawn of a new spring. I read all of this while sitting in my apartment, bundled up in a sweater, stuck inside for the (seemingly) 750th sub-freezing day, while Cameron pulls every bowl out of the cupboard, every book off the shelf, every toy out the box, desperate for a change of scenery...and knowing we have weeks, WEEKS left of winter.

And then, today...the birds began to sing, the light began to dawn, the heavens opened up, and upon us miserable Northeasterners a 65 degree day was bestowed. We saw the first tree in Central Park with buds on it...real, green buds that will some day soon (barring another freeze) turn into real, green leaves.

Cameron and I spent nearly 2 hours at the playground. He crawled and climbed all over the playground equipment, slid down the slide 37 times, ate handfuls of sand, and generally was blissfully happy. He probably would have run willy-nilly around the playground if he knew how to run. Let's just say he was crawling with enthusiasm.

I feel like a new person. Like we have survived the endless winter again, and spring is our reward.

I hear Cameron waking up from his nap (man, was that kid exhausted when we got home from the park!). Gotta get back outside and enjoy the rest of the afternoon...'cause who knows how long it will last.

Monday, March 23, 2009

If you don't have something nice to say...

And apparently I don't. I haven't so much as looked at this blog since the last post in November. It has fallen way down the list of things I find time to do...somewhere well behind re-roll the toilet paper roll that the Mini has unrolled...again, and empty the towering pile of recycling. I have an epic list of things to accomplish every day (I know...don't we all?), and putting "Update Blog" on the list merely sets me up for failure.

But here I am, with something like an update. And why do I find time now? Kevin is still at work, the Mini is fussing in his bed 30 minutes after bedtime, and I really don't want to do any work. Makes for an inspired writing session.

Cameron turned ONE in January. Though he has only aged one year, is it possible I have aged 3? I think it's gotta be something like dog years. But I will say, 14 months olds are WAY funner than 2 month olds. Yeah...funner. He is a sponge, picking things up at a terrifying rate. He is taking steps all over the place. I'm sure he will be climbing up the walls by next week. Currently, he is trying really hard to grow some more teeth, and teeth have been his nemesis since the first one started bothering him around 6 months (though didn't make an appearance until 8 months).

Please tell me someone else out there has a kid who had teeth struggles. All my mom friends around here say, "really? My kid never seemed to notice he was growing teeth." Is this one of those things moms conveniently forget about 3 weeks after it happens? The sweet Mini has cried, drooled, and painstakingly chewed his way to 5 teeth, with a 6th apparently on the way. They have been battles hard fought. And he has 15 more to go. We are living on Infant Motrin and Orajel (don't judge).

Kevin is still consulting. I am still full-time Momming, part-time assisting, though my boss says she may have to be my assistant before too long. As I'm sure you all know, the to-do list gets longer and longer, and the snippets of available time in which to do it get shorter and shorter. The Mini only slept for 30 minutes this afternoon. This is not enough time to do, well, anything. By the end of the day I am exhausted from entertaining a cranky tooth-growing Mini all day, and still have a dozen things that need to get done, yet inevitably don't.

So do I do them? Do I pour myself a fortifying glass of wine and tackle the pile on my dining room table? Nope...I blog.

On a fun note, we are also house hunting. We have been renters for 9 straight years. We have never owned a single piece of real estate. We are the only people for whom this current housing crisis is an absolute blessing! We will be buying our first home (God willing) without having to sell a home. For those of you who thought that someday we would be leaving this heathen land and returning to God's Country, all I can tell you is, we thought so too. But God, in all his infinite wisdom, gets a good chuckle at all our so-called plans. We are glad we're here to entertain Him.

Anyway, that's all the comings and goings in our lives. All of my nearest and dearest out there in blogland are so faithful to update me, I thought it was time I returned the favor. I make no promises about consistency...all I can say is, I'll do my best.