31 January 2010

a beautiful blur

North Shore Sunset
I'm positive I have entered some sort of swirly in-between stage in my life. My kids need me all day and that sounds like it could be stressful, but it's really not 95% of the time. It's just a fact. I am a mother all day long and it's totally what I signed up for.

And then at night I get to collapse in a heap of exhaustion and that sounds pitiful, but it's also not 95% of the time. Just another fact. It's a good collapse that comes from a day of giving yourself to two little boys who love you so much.

If I had been blogging the last couple of weeks I probably would have told you about

the whales we saw on one of our favorite family hikes last week

or about the time Ambrose threw up in the car twice in a row on the way to Thai food last night and said, "My burp came out" over and over in a really sad little voice instead of freaking out as we scurried to clean him and his seat up in the coldish rain on the side of the road in Haleiwa

or that I can make fondant now and it's not so hard

or that I have papers to grade but the tests are done

or that Thomas and I hand-stitched a 90x90 bedspread for our new room while listening to episodes of This American Life for three nights in a row

or that I went surfing with my friends on Friday and caught my first wave in like six years, but I rode it on my knees with my arms outstretched like a big, excited, dorky bird and then got worked over and over and eventually knocked in the back of the head. It was awesome. I'm going to regain some upper body strength and paddle out for more.

or that Asher got his third tooth this week and it has been a looooong time comin. The other three surrounding it on top are threatening to either break through soon or ruin his life forever.

or that the dry wall is done on the apartment but now it's going to take even longer before we can move in because my in-laws decided to put in a brand new kitchen and that's a-ok with me because they had me at "dishwasher." Thanks in-laws!

or that I'm signed up to run the Great Aloha Run in a couple weeks but haven't been training at all. And I'm really really looking forward to it.

or that I haven't sewn anything on my machine in over two weeks and don't know when I will ever get to again. Such is life I guess. Betty Jeanne the Machine is a best friend of mine. I know when I get to return we'll pick up right where we left off as old friends do.

OR OR OR that our "my cup of tea sewing society" membership cards arrived weeeeeeks ago and someday we'll have fun with that

BUT

right now my life is a beautiful blur of all these things and the most important point of focus is enjoying each chubby cheek, timeout, block tower, laugh, cuddle, tantrum, treat, nursing session, story time, playdate, baby chuckle, teaching moment, whine, early morning wake up call, piece of toddler logic, and everything in between.

15 comments:

melissa said...

the tiny bit of jealousy is mutual.

Carrie said...

Best post ever. It is always nice to hear an update after a longerish break.

And if you have any tips for fondant I'm all ears... :)

lorieloo said...

oh friend. how I could claim about 90% of what you wrote and rewrite it for me. I miss my sewing machine. I miss blogging. I miss showers by myself. But I would trade any of it for a pile of legos and baby giggles.

and seriously. you can surf too? is there anything you DON'T do? =)

J and Christy Brown family said...

Hey! Stephanie is your cup of sea still accept new member because I got a sewing machine for christmas and start to sew now. It is a sweet post I enjoy it and have you seen New in Town J and I watch it on Saturday it was good. We love it and I think you guys would.

Kahilau said...

Beautiful! Great to see you are enjoying this thing called life!

Damaris @Kitchen Corners said...

oh how I loved this post.

I am a huge-o fan of this american life and car talk and the story and all things NPRish

liko said...

what bliss, my friend. and i'm sad i didn't get to witness that wave you caught, i would've been your personal cheerleader on the beach. seriously.
love you.

sheila said...

well, that was just the best recap ever.
Being a mom, a good mom, is the best thing too. I admire you. And I also think that I'll be asking for a lot of advice soon with the whole two-kid thing.

laurel said...

So much has happened. I'm impressed by a lot of it. The ending was the best part. But really it was all great.

lizzie said...

Amen amen amen about the collapsing at the end of the day. That paragraph summed up my life these past few weeks quite well. It is lovely to feel that hard-earned exhaustion feeling.

ashley said...

i think you have a great grip on your life and if you don't feel like blogging it, so be it (although sad for us faithful readers!)! i am happy hearing about your happy life!

j,d and little b said...

great post stephanie.... i kinda feel the same! life is such a blur! Can't wait to go surf with you and your awesome self on friday!

.Ang. said...

sounds perfect!

it was SOO good to see you today!

Anna K. said...

Yay! Your life sounds so much fun right now! I'm happy you got a chance to surf....good job on your first wave! I wish I was there to run the Aloha run with you...sounds like you are living life to its fullest!

diana palmer said...

you're a beautiful blur----in my memory, sniff sniff sniff. i agree with carrie, this was a great post.