Running Late

Confession: I am late for nearly everything.  Or else I'm really early.  Or I'm dashing in just barely on time but totally flustered and stressed out.  Luckily, people are kind to me and I mostly never miss anything truly important (see, sometimes really early because I'm super paranoid about being late for something!).  But apparently this even applies to my spring cleaning, which I'm just now starting in August.

Do you ever have those overwhelmed moments when nothing will do but to clear out a room and start fresh? I had that last week.  Life has been so crazy busy lately, and I'm often so tired that in my free moments I just don't have it in my to put away a load of laundry or mop the floors.  But instead of tackling the more mundane tasks, I decided to use my Saturday morning while the kids were with their dad to clean my room.  That's right, my own room, which hasn't gotten any love since I moved in here a year ago, except to jam more extra stuff in the closet and under the bed and anywhere else I could put it.  It seems like mama's bedroom can be a reflection of the rest of life, since it often gets the least personal attention and gets it last, if at all.  There were literally bags of papers and things hidden in there that I had packed haphazardly when I moved out of ex's house last summer that I had never opened, now a for a year plus.

In any case, it did take the whole morning.  And I wanted to quit almost as soon as I started.  But boy oh boy did it feel good to have a functional and clean space when I as done.  I got rid of two full garbage bags of old papers and junk, donated a bag of clothes, and put two more bags of clothes into storage until the winter (and/or until I lose 10 pounds, hah!).

And my kids came home and were so excited.  We all sleep in my room, and they love to play in there no matter what it looks like, but my daughter made sure to tell me that she was "so glad" I cleaned my room for them this weekend :) It's just one room, and maybe I'll run really late and wait until the actual srping to continue my cleaning spree, but hey, it's the little things, right?

Wild and Crazy

I'm off on a crazy new adventure-taking the kids camping on my own! I'm so excited to get away for a few days without work, laundry, and yes, computers and TV, as distractions.  I managed to break my smartphone a few weeks ago (electronics and I are allergic to one another!) and I grabbed a cheap and outdated replacement for the time being, so I will even be without Facebook and email easily accessible.  The kids are so excited to have mama all to themselves too-I've been stressed about money and picking up extra hours at work while we are on our "summer vacation" from homeschooling.

We are heading to the beach, sleeping in a tent, and planning lots of time playing, hiking, and enjoying each other's company (and lots of s'mores of course!).  I had never camped as a kid, and I've never gone as the only adult, but I am feeling proud of myself for booking the trip anyway and am ready for the challenge.  Cross your fingers that I have good weather and I'll check back in to let you know how it goes.  Happy summer!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

So, sad little neglected blog, it's been a while.  Like, a long while.  And a lot of changes!  First of all, my babies have gotten so much bigger!!!  They are 4 and 7 now and in danger of convincing me that they are not *gasp* babies anymore.  But even they will tell you that they'll always be my babies :)  Seriously though, it's kind of amazing to look and them and realize how much more growing and learning and changing we will experience over the next years.  And kind of scary for mama to realize how much changing and growing and adapting and letting go will need to happen-but now quite yet, with the letting go at least.

We are still homeschooling, heading into second grade and preschool next year.  We tried out an online school for the first half of this year and it was not a good fit for us.  We are back to a much more relaxed method, definitely closer to unschooling than anything else, though I have officially given myself permission to do whatever works for us without buying into the labels.

The biggest change is that I'm now a single mom.  It's been almost a year now since I officially moved out with the kids, and it has been quite the journey.  Like everything in life, there have been ups and downs, but overall we are all adjusting and happy.  I feel stronger and more capable than I ever have before, and that is an amazing feeling.  I still sit up at night worrying about the effects on the kids, worrying about how to make enough money while still being with the kids, and worrying about how to ever get enough sleep again, but overall, life is good.

I thank you if you are checking back despite the fact that I haven't written anything in 2 years.  And I welcome you if you are a new reader-please stick around and I promise to do so as well!  I really do love to write and share and I hope that at least a couple of you enjoy reading my random rambles sometimes.  Feel free to pop into the comments section if you have any questions or thoughts for me!