There was a time that I journaled daily – even multiple times a day. I now see that it’s been three months since my last post. Three months! How have I let that much time go by?
The simplistic answer is that we’ve been preoccupied with life. There’s such a qualitative difference between three kids and two kids – in time, in logistics, in energy. We were so lucky to have J’s parents come for a month in January (J’s dad retired at the end of last year) and having those extra hands was such a blessing. Nora has been a great sleeper at night – pretty much sleeping from 7pm-3 or 5am. And she’s now settling into somewhat of a routine during the day, which makes everything so much easier. Annika and Savita dote on her, but we wonder how they’ll be when she’s old enough to grab their toys.
I’ve taken a special glee in getting rid of stuff as Nora outgrows them. The bassinet and swing were early causalities, discarded from our lives since the need for them will never arise again. (Made sure of that!)
A few trips up ahead for us. We’re headed down to Florida in May for A.’s wedding, which involves all of J’s family. Then in July we’re heading to Chicago for the long weekend to meet A(2)’s family (wedding next year!) And then in August we’re set to take a long weekend with my family, still need to finalize a place within driving distance that has something for adults, and kids ranging from 2-8. Looking at lake and mountain properties, as well as beach ones.
We’re also redoing the kitchen in a (relatively) small way. We’re expanding our island by adding a cabinet and then replacing our countertops with granite. We’re also replacing our original (15 year old?) cooktop and redoing the backsplash. In a happy surprise, this might be less than what we had budgeted which means we might take a stab at one of the other projects (bathroom or backyard), but that remains to be seen.
Personally, I’m overdue to take a little bit of time to focus on myself. I’ve been neglectful and focusing my energies outward, at a personal cost. The relative isolation of work does take a toll, but the tradeoff is a work life balance I haven’t minded paying it at all, but this needs to change. How that manifests itself remains to be seen, though. The first part of that has to be refocusing on staying healthy, including adding a mindfulness practice somehow.