As I write this I’m hiding with my laptop in my bedroom, door locked, and lights off. Considering retreating even further… perhaps into the closet, but not yet. The quiet beyond my sanctuary is deceptive, and I’m positive you’re both beginning to realize I’m not there, and wonder where I am. Very soon the hunt will begin.

For 2 weeks over the Christmas holidays and into the new year you have been my constant companions. You’ve treated me to a symphony of questions, impromptu concerts (thanks, Teen, for showing Wee One how to plug that mic into your guitar amp.), audiences whilst I showered or spent any time whatsoever in the bathroom, and a general cacophony of sound that rivals any public institution during a riot. You’ve proven how talented you are as actresses in how quickly you change moods! Highs and lows on a seemingly momentary basis have kept me guessing (and hopping), and all the while, my work hasn’t gone away, or changed at all. Usually I’m able to get that work done during my hours of quiet during the day, but of course that hasn’t been the case. We’ve spent an entire year together, this past 2 weeks.

Let me preface the next declaration with these facts; I love and adore you both, immeasurably. You are the apples of my eye (eyes?). You are the dimples in my cheeks, and the glow on my face. I would give my life for either of you, in a heart beat. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you both safe.

So you’ll understand and forgive me when I say, simply… please, please leave me alone.

I’ve developed an eye twitch. My patience levels are at an all-time low. I feel a great need to open a bottle of wine, and not share. All this will go away once Monday, in all it’s glory and radiance, arrives! Mommy will lose the wild look in her eyes! Mommy will once again smile when she hears you call for her. Well, that might not happen until Tuesday, but I have confidence.

I’m sure your teachers miss you both. I look forward to experiencing the same.

All My Love,
Mom
XOXOXOXO

No really, let me tell you.

Back in March, I set up a blog for the Main Street-ers to collaborate on. They’d been hanging around here for a while at that point, submitting haiku faithfully every Wednesday, and generally doing it just to make me happy. That’s how they roll, and why I love them.

I digress.

I already owned the domain, and it was sitting there unused, so I figured “why not?”. My friends have wonderful stories – the three of them have had (and continue to have) some fantastic adventures in their lives, and I love to hear about them. They have a lot to share, and I want to share them with you! So I set it up and did the big reveal to my darling friends ShaMoo, J-B, and Knarf shortly after.

There was a resounding sound of… silence. A few nervous smiles. Finally I believe it was J-B who said “You know it ain’t gonna happen, Jenn… right?” No matter, I had faith they’d come around. Eventually. It has taken a while, but I persevered and didn’t push them. Well, didn’t push them hard, anyway. More of a passive-aggressive poke every so often, when the subject arose. A while ago I started moving their haiku posts over to the other blog. It only took them… what? 2-3 weeks to notice? ;)

I knew ShaMoo would be the first to come around. She’s guest posted here several times, and I knew it was appealing to her! She snuck one in last month when her in-laws were headed her way. You know, I don’t think she even did it to shut me up make me happy, either. She’s a natural, my best friend. Last week she slipped another one in, and then the cheeky gal wrote the boys to issue a challenge!

Alright boys… consider this a challenge. I’ve just posted my second non-haiku entry over at brain fart… I’m on fire!!! Haha…

Who’s next?

Big hugs,
ShaMoo

See, if there’s one thing our group is (besides being the best of friends, and fantastic people all-around), it’s competitive. Knarf wrote back quickly to say “oh no, it’ll have to be J-B, I don’t like what I write…” blah blah blah… and only a couple hours after that wrote again to announce he’d put his very first blog post up! I giggled. I texted ShaMoo (who was camping)…

“Knarf Blogged!! Knarf Blogged!!”

I was very excited. I definitely tee-hee-hee-ed out loud. If I hadn’t been alone at the time, I might have even gloated, but I was, so I didn’t.

Ok, J-B, it’s all on you now, Sweet Pea! What pearls are you going to delight your fans and readers with? We know you’re full of it. Errr… stories, charm, and wisdom that is.

Folks, there was one other monster I’ve created. Probably the one I’m most proud of, which of course is natural since I grew her myself. You remember how excited I was when I posted this video? Hubby and I went away for a few days last week to Thunder Bay, and when we came home, it was to a totally different Wee One. This new Wee One was doing the front AND back crawl! This new Wee One was leaping into the water unassisted… and even better? This new Wee One was DIVING! I’m not kidding! All along, she’s been learning all of this just by watching us from the sidelines. She has always known how to swim; she just didn’t know it! We spent the afternoon in the pool with her on Friday, and she was swimming along side me in the deep end, torpedoing under water, and having the time of her life.

Wee One; nouveau mermaid!

Yesterday, I finally got all my ducks in a row, and bullied no, coerced managed to get the Hubby to agree to go with me. So we packed the dog and Wee One up and off we went. Umm… I might have forgotten that Hubby broke his toe the other day. What a trooper!

Ok, Knarf was right – it was a gorgeous forest. Only… we managed to get lost within the first 20 minutes in the bush. We were trying to find the water falls that were in the middle of this forest, but we took the wrong trail. And then we took another wrong trail. And BOY was it muddy in some areas! We climbed over fallen trees and huge boulders to get around the biggest mud pits, but Sadie plowed right through, adding about 15lbs of mud to her coat in the process. Fortunately there were creeks to cross, and most of it was washed away…

All around us, the most delicate wildflowers were growing in abundance – how amazing that something that small and delicate could thrive in a dense forest, and push its way through inches of decaying leaves!

No matter though, we had a great time and managed to find our way back to where we were parked without too much trouble. Never did get to the falls, but I think we were on the right trail towards the end of our trek when Wee One started to complain that her legs were sooooo tiiiiired!

So we turned back. Next time we’ll have a better idea of where we’re going!

Sadie sure is getting old – she did really well, but I knew she’d pay for it later, and this morning I had to help her get her back end off the floor so she could use the potty (ok, the grass in the back yard).

I think the four of us from Main Street are going to hit the trails this coming week, with a kid or two in tow. What a hoot that will be!

The Teen was not fixing herself a cocktail – there really were eggs hidden amongst the bottles. Apparently he wasn’t thinking about appearances when he breezed through the house late last night! Silly rabbit, drinks aren’t for kids!

ShaMoo, my “BFF” and sister in song, spent all day Good Friday making Paska with some other Ukrainian friends, and yesterday I was the happy recipient of a very pretty and utterly yummy loaf. The picture sucks because I took it with my phone… I was too lazy to fetch my Nikon and we really wanted to eat it…

I’ve never had it before, so it was quite a treat for me. Of course it tasted even better because it was made and given with love (and I didn’t have to do any of the work)! ShaMoo tells me that I’m now 1% Ukrainian as a result. The remaining 99% Irish is absolutely ok with that!

You know we don’t celebrate Easter as a religious holiday – we’ve been through that before, so I won’t expound on it any further. For us, it’s a fun family weekend where the kids get to hunt for cool stuff, and a reason to eat ourselves stupid. However, and for what it’s worth, I hope all of my friends (online and off) have a wonderful Easter weekend spent in whatever pursuits make them happy and fulfilled.

What a beautiful weekend! The snow is melting, the sun is shining, and all is right with the world.

Wee One was tickled to be outside with just a light jacket, and able to swing in the sunshine. (We’re also tickled that her two bottom teeth are finally coming in!)

Please, Mother Nature… let it stay! We’ve all had enough of winter.