Since we last spoke…

Posted On November 7, 2011

Yeah, I realize we have a LITTLE catching up to do. Please know, dear readers, you have oft been on my mind. You were, however, also the one thing I felt I had control over for a while, and I had to give something up for a bit or else risk losing it completely. So for everyone’s sake, I chose sanity and hoped you would understand when I came crawling back on my hands and knees, holding a yellow rose for friendship in my teeth.

So here we are, and it’s that awkward place where it’s been a little too long and I’m not sure where to begin. And you’re not sure what to ask.

[Insert uncomfortable silence here]

And, true to form, I’ll start blathering now just to fill the silence. Go ahead and just nod if you’d like.

These things have happened since we last spoke…

We moved back to our hometown, moving our kids from one of the biggest school districts in the state to a school where everyone knows everyone else’s name, parents and possibly the last five people who lived in their house.

We downsized from a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom two story that we custom built to a 3-bedroom 1950s ranch with 1 bathroom on the main level that we all have get to share.

I began collecting unemployment and realized it is almost as fun as collecting Beanie Babies or McDonald’s Happy Meal toys. Except I don’t get to go to any fun conventions.

I took the initiation into “the poor club” by asking my sister-in-law to color my hair and my sister to cut it for free. (Actually, I’m getting more compliments than ever. They may have found their true calling!)

I had the insurance company tell me I’m “too old” to need a prescription from my dermatologist for my incredibly flattering cystic acne outbreak. I considered faxing them a photo of myself and telling them to “say it to my face!” Seriously, could they please pour salt in my wounds, or, in this case, my zits?

I lost 30 pounds and went down two jeans sizes.

Gotcha! Just wanted to make sure you were awake. (In other words, I have the skin of a teenager but am still strutting the body of a middle-aged Twinkies taste-tester.)

I experienced a full-bladder complete peeing of the pants in a hotel lobby while already feeling pretty hot in some sexy gray sweatpants.

Wish I could say, “Gotcha!” on that last one, but sadly, ’tis completely true.

I discovered Pinterest. Didn’t sleep for days.

We have a new baby. His name is Herky (or “Turkey” if your hearing is like my father-in-law’s). He’s got big ears, a smashed-in face and is pretty hairy, but we love him anyway. Except when he bites or tries to hump our leg.

I bit it leaving school conferences and sprained an ankle. Husband and I concurred that walking just isn’t “my thing.”

I survived as a sports mom running to games for one fall baseball league, two football teams and a soccer league. (And yes, if you do the math, that’s 4 sports and only 3 kids.) Boy #2 won the Super Bowl, though, so that made it worth it, since for me it’s all about the mom glory! (We’re making the other two sleep in the driveway.)

In a nutshell: The boys are doing great in their new schools and have adjusted well, we are really enjoying our new, albeit smaller home (especially the lower house payment!), we added a puppy to the craziness and, despite some setbacks and stressors, life is good. Really, really good.

More to come soon. Promise.

 

Yellow rose image credits