Dear Mother Nature-

I know you’re fickle. You know you’re fickle. But my kids? They don’t know how fickle you are.  You see, they are only 4 and 2.  This winter has been a long, long one here.  It started snowing on December 1 and it really didn’t let up until last week.  Now, snow December through February, I can deal with.  I can even handle the occasional snow storm in March- but snow every stinking day plus cold temps without a break means my kids are going stir crazy!  It has been nice enough for them to play outside doing something other then sleigh riding twice so far this year. That’s it.

One of those times was this past weekend. Sunday was a lovely, lovely day!  Sunshine galore with temperatures in the 50’s. The grass may have been dead and brown, but we didn’t care- we were outside.

The kiddos were giddy.  We pulled out their bikes only to find the Scorch outgrew his this winter. Bean? She still can’t reach the pedals of her big wheel.  Scorch and the Hubs got out all their lacrosse gear- net, balls and 5 sticks.  We kicked around the soccer ball- chasing it throughout the yard getting mud all over ourselves.

Then yesterday happened.  Yesterday was a horrible, horrible tease with temperatures in the 60’s- but it was accompanied by driving rain. Not the fun rain that you want to go puddle jumping in- this was the soaked to your skin after running from your car to your house type of rain.  And today? Well, today Mother Nature I think you crushed my kids hearts.

It snowed all day long.

So, Mother Nature- I’m putting you on notice.  Our summer and fall better be the best we’ve seen in years- I’m talking temps in the 80’s every single day with not a drop of rain except for at night.  You owe us.

Love,

Heather

Last week was a tough one.  The Hubs and I are facing a bunch of hard decisions thanks in large part to his job. Emotions were running high and we were both dealing with a lack of sleep- which doesn’t help a thing.  Things were just not fun in our home.

Then I woke up Friday to the news about the earthquake in Japan.  Talk about a quick dose of reality.  Yes, we have some big worries right now.  But my family is safe. My home is intact. We have food on our table and fresh clean water coming out of the tap.  My kids are healthy and whole and I know where each member of my family is.

So many in Japan still can’t say the same 4 days later.  The extent of the damage is absolutely surreal, I can’t get my head wrapped around it.

I urge you to please, please give to the people of Japan.

I have a love / hate relationship with Tuesdays.

Living in a small town, our options for activities for the kids are a little bit limited.  As it happens, all the activities we have the kids enrolled in are on Tuesdays.  Bean has a 1 hour gymnastics class in the morning, then a 30 minute swim lesson at night.  Scorch has school in the morning (including PE & 2 recesses), then 60 minutes of swim at night.  In a lot of ways, our Tuesday nights are a blast, especially when we’re at the pool!  The Bean and I attend her lesson for 30 mins while the Hubs and Scorch do free swim before D’s lesson.  It’s a great way to unwind and have some fun with the kiddos.

Getting out of the pool is a whole other ball game.

Tonight there was the fun of the last minute bathroom run for both kids. Ever try to shimmy a wet suit off a kid who is doing the pee-pee dance? Damn near impossible- but we made it, barely.

Then there is trying to get them both dressed as they are jumping around the dressing room singing “I am a Rock Star!” as loudly as they can while playing the air guitar.  (No idea where they got that from!)

On the drive home, Scorch tries (unsuccessfully, I might add) to talk me into stopping at the store to get him a treat (read: toy) because he “was so good at swim!”  Again child, good behavior is not rewarded with toys- when will he realize that?

After dinner, it’s bath time. The kids are clearly showing signs of being tired and it certainly doesn’t help that bath time is happening at what should be bedtime because we get home so late from swim. The Hubs and I made the tactical error of putting the kids in the bath together. This worked great up until a few months ago but now they are both too big, the tub is too small and they bicker over everything- who has the most bubbles, who plays with which toy, who gets cleaned up first, who gets out first.  We solved the last two problems by all cramming into our tiny bathroom and washing both kids at the same time and taking them out at the same time.

Well, I thought that would solve our problems. What that did is cause poor Scorch to completely go off the deep end and have a sobbing fest about how his day at school was so hard and how he’s so tired.  It’s was actually really pathetic- I couldn’t even get frustrated because I felt so sorry for the kid.

Finally, PJs were on, books were read and hugs and kisses were given.  As Scorch was going to bed, he told me that our family night tonight in the pool was the best time ever.  And that right there is why we’ll do this all over again next week.

I had a long day at work, so I decided to boycott cooking.  We met the Hubs at a local family-friendly chain for dinner and ice cream.  We go to this particular place at least twice a month if not more- it’s relatively cheap, kids are welcome and the food is good.  And up until now we’ve always had a great experience.

We got to the resturaunt at 6:05 and I finally had to ask one of the 4 servers walking by if they could send our server over at 6:25.  No one had greeted us after we were sat- no one took our drink order or told us they’d be right with us. I asked the lady very nicely and wasn’t at all rude.  The lady I flagged down went to get our server and I hear our server say (quite loudly)- “she’s lying! They’ve been here less then 5 minutes.”

Umm..yeah.

The Hubs was not happy with me. He doesn’t complain about anything when we go out to eat. His food could be cold and raw and he’d grin and say it was great because the Hubs does not like making waves. I think he’s worried someone will spit in his food back in the kitchen.

The kid’s food came out within 15 minutes of ordering. Which was great if the macaroni wasn’t cold and the hot dog burned. 10 minutes later the Hub’s food came out.  5 minutes later, mine came out.  The kids and I left 1 hour and 10 minutes after getting there, leaving the Hubs to order and pick up our ice cream because our server never came back to check on us.

Now I don’t know if the place was short staffed or if our server just had a bad day.  I didn’t say anything before we left simply because the Hubs would have died right then and there of mortification.  And honestly, I don’t like to complain. I know servers work damn hard and I hate getting people in trouble, but our experience was just plain bad today.

So I ask you- when do you speak up? How do you go about doing it- at the time? Sending a letter after the fact?

I read. A lot. I read an average of a book every 2-3 days. If it’s really good, I’ll inhale a book in a day. I’ve even been known to put the kids in front of the TV on a perfectly nice day just so I could read while they are getting their brains sucked out.

You can direct me to my Mother of the Year award any time. 😉

Since I work online 8.5 hours a day, I also read a fat ton of blogs. I have a dozen or so I read daily, but then I meander. Someone links to a blog, who links to a new blog, who links to another blog and I follow that bunny trail where ever it leads.

And man- there are some *amazing* blogs out there. People who have overcome so much. People who just lead the most interesting lives. People who are so creative them make my teeth hurt. People who make the world a better place.

And then there is me.

I haven’t overcome much- 3 years of infertility and 3 miscarriage were *huge* at the time. But now, they are a distant memory, thank goodness. My life is as laid back and boring as they come. The best thing I’ve ever created were my kids. I work to make my world better, but I’m nobody special.

And you know what? I’m ok with that. I’m blessed and so so lucky to lead the life that I do. To live my boring life in my little town with the Hubs and the kids. This is the life I always wanted and it makes me happy. I may not have a dramatic story to tell, but I do have two healthy kids to love up on.

I’m lucky.