The glass

The last couple weeks have been either really wonderful or really horrible - depending upon how one looks at said weeks.  I have been running a lot as I am training for my first half marathon (which seems really long since before I started my training I had never run more than 3 miles) and I find my long runs full of ups and downs - and I am not talking of the hills.  Alone with my thoughts and without the need to keep up the "things are fantastically awesome facade" I find myself ruminating about the thunderhead which seems to be looming and about the clouds that have found us.  However, just as I begin to get super glum, I start to think about everything that is going well for us - and really, when one gets down to it, things aren't super cloudy and the thunderhead isn't here.  In fact, much of the time things are downright sunny.  The reality is that right now I think our glass of life is filled just to the middle - half full or half empty, depending on the view.

What I find quite is amazing is that while I am exhausted, the kids are wonderful.  Their resilience is astounding.  They continue to dance their way through the day, continue to spend their day pretending to be tamarind monkeys, and continue to welcome new friends and new faces into our lives.  And they do this with smiles.

And, as I said, there are many things we have to smile about.  We have been spending as much time as possible at the beach - even heading there after work to have picnic dinners.

And we have been revisiting fun places, like the zoo in York, Maine.  The zoo really is a great zoo.  My favorite part is the deer.  Davis liked the bear cubs.  Henni the ducks and Oliver - the scorpions.

We've also been doing a lot of exploring and hiking.  Charlie, now a solid 85 pounds, is a formidable addition to our excursions - we are thinking we may need a bigger car and perhaps saddlebags.  The bigger car so as to fit Charlie and all of our gear, and the saddlebags so Charlie can help carry all of our snacks -- Henni has become a crazy eater - I think she must have two wooden legs, and a couple wooden arms.

And another wonderful thing...Oliver AND Henni have both slept through the night 4 nights in a row.  What this amounts to is that, for the first time since June 30, 2008, I have slept through the night - actually, slept through 4 nights.  Furthermore, we are now on day 4 of Henni not nursing.  This is another milestone as I began breastfeeding on July 1, 2008  and with the exception of four months (and I was pregnant during said four months), I have been breastfeeding.  Sleep.  Getting my body back.

Things are good.  They really are.