Spring!

SPRING has begun making an apperance this week in the valley, and I couldn't be happier.

I am spring's number one fan.  For real.  If there were Spring Fan Club t-shirts, I would have them.  One in every colour.  Ask my husband.  I, like the thing that have been hiding under the snow all winter long, come ALIVE in the spring. 

Truth.

So, the subtle signs of the arrival of spring have been cause for celebration.

BBQing without a coat on!  Playing in the puddles!  Hanging out in the sunroom again! Cleaning up the front porch...even SITTING on the front porch for a few minutes today. 

This is exciting people, I'm excited.

(With some cute three year old thrown in for good measure.)

Tonight, it rains.  By tomorrow morning, the river will be raging, living up to it's name, and the snow left on the ground will be way way less; whereas I will be one step closer to not wearing socks, and putting the screens in the windows, and getting my fingers in the dirt, and soaking up the sunshine; which is all one step closer to swimming in the pond, and fresh tomatos off the vine, and drinking beer on the porch.

I do not begrudge a single day of this winter.  I have enjoyed winter more this year than I have any year in the past.  But holy hell am I ready for this next step.

Bring on the spring!!

Foiled by 140 characters.

Ugh.  I've been bitten by the bug of writers block or something these days.  Aparently I am only able to compose smart witty updates in 140 characters or less, or in 2 sentence facebook posts, or via a clever photo on Instagram.  Blog posts?  Too long, too much commitment, too daunting.

So how to fix this?  I MISS this blog.  The other night, I spent 45 minutes with Griffin going through the old blog and looking at photos after photos, and giggling our fool heads off.  This was all back before twitter and facebook and instagram, and I look back on it all and TREASURE those words that I took the time to write and save.  Facebook posts?  Not so much retrievable.  I can't go back and look at every single one of those the way  can with this blog, and a few years down the road, I'm going to miss that. 

I guess I just have to commit to this.  I sure am "commited" to Facebook.  (Damn that Facebook.)  And Instagram.  (That one I love!) But this, dear old Blogger, this feels somehow antiquated.  And writing - I'm out of practice.  I feel like I can excel and rock the short updates but the long ones feel difficult.

Anyone suffering from the same phenomenon?  

Old School

Last night, around 5:30, I had a little boy who wanted nothing but snuggles. I wanted nothing but to cook dinner for the 6 year old (who was quickly going off the deep end) and me, who was starving! So we compromised. Kicked it old school, with the trusty old sling. Totally awesome, totally snuggly, totally reminded me of the old days - Griffin and I used to rock that thing daily at dinner time. Sweet memories!

Intentional Silence

It's quiet in here.

Last night, on Facebook, I complained about the noise levels in my house.

"Boys are noisy." I wrote.  "Will they always be this loud?"

The general consensus was yes, indeed they will, and they might even get louder.

Good lord help us all.

It's funny, the more that I've spent time learning about Griffin and Aspergers, the more I've also learned about myself.  There are so many aspergers traits that I see in myself when they're all written down in a list, and while I don't think that I myself land on the spectrum, I certainly have more in common with my eldest son than I might have originally thought.

Sensitivity to noise is a biggie.  There always seems to be some sort of noise going on here.  The children are hollering and yelling, the dog is barking, some annoying cartoon character on Netflix, the list goes on.  I'm not a big music listener, preferring the sound of silence.  When I'm working in the basement I'll usually put some music on, but when the sump pump kicks in, or the water filtration system does it's big once-daily flush, the noise (music) on top of noise is just too much for me.  Now, sitting in the quiet of my living room, with one child at school, and the other burrowed in my bed (hopefully heading off to napland) it is mostly quiet.  But even the constant whir of the fan on our fireplace is annoying me and putting me on edge.

Still, if I can tune that out (which I mostly can) and be alone with myself and the silence for a few minutes, I can usually reset.

We are always busy.  Not just in this house, oh no, in EVERY house it seems.  All of us lead such busy lives, coming and going, dropping off and picking up and running errands and so on.  I've learned in the past little while, that for me, I NEED silence each day.  Sometimes it's in a few stolen moments mid-day, sometimes it's in an intentional hour long walk in the evening, but I need it, crave it even.

Silence is golden they say.  It's so good for us to turn off and tune out and be comfortable in our own skin with the sound of our own breath and our own heart beating.  If we can't be comfortable in the silence of our own selves, how can we be expected to be comfortable out there in the big bad world each day?

Seek intentional silence.  And then revel in it!

(This moment of stolen silence is brought to you by the distracting powers of Netflix on one certain preschooler,  in a room on the other side of the house.  With a pillow over his head.  Don't worry, he put it there, not me!)  ;) 

Winter fun

In all my years of living out of the city, I have never enjoyed winter like we are enjoying this one.

I don't want to wish away a single day of this beautiful season (however...a little dirt under the fingernails, and a few less layers will be more than welcome in a few short weeks.)

We got off the bus in 2010

I feel like there is a key part of my life that is missing right now.

I feel like there should be one ultimate organizational tool out there, that can keep me on top of shit All. The. Time.

I need there to be a master grocery list, that both my husband and I can access anytime either one of us finds ourseves at the store. 

I feel like there should be a master calender, with everything on it, that we can both see from anywhere, at any time.

I know, I know, google calendar, shop-shop, app-app, whatever. 

Here's the problem:  I like pens.  And paper. (Especially if they're pretty pens and/or paper. Or colourful.  Or...*shiny.*) 

*swoon*

!SNAPBACK!

I also love big calenders, painted on the wall in the kitchen.  I like writing things down in notebooks. Ah, I love a good notebook! (What can I say, I'm old-school. I'm still putting two spaces after a period, for gawd sakes.  OLD.(space)(space)SCHOOL.) 

Where was I?  (Sorry, distraction is also a serious problem for us geezers.)

Right.  Technology, vs paper and shiny pens. 

Alas, dear technologically advanced world, there is no way to combine the two.  There is no way in the world to have me write things down in a notebook, and have them appear on Steve's "pick me up in the grocery store" app on his phone.


I feel like we got off the technology bus around 2010.  And we need to get back on it, or we're going to get left behind.

Or one of our KIDS needs to pick up the keys and DRIVE THE BUS!  (Not literally, please, children.) 

I feel old.  I guess I'm ok with it though.  It's not even in a "hey you kids, get off my lawn" way.  Just in a "can someone please make the CLOCK STOP BLINKING on the VCR!!" kind of way.  Except it's the iPad, instead of the VCR.  And if I play my cards right, the three year old might just be able to fix it for me.

Oh lawd, help us all!

Love it or leave it, it's here to stay! 

The calm after the (snow) storm