To Blog or Not to Blog?

I'm almost afraid to blog right now because I worry that my readers (all eleven of you) will be severely disappointed if I can't find the inspiration to blog with any regularity. You'd probably all finally given up on me, hadn't you? Stopped checking in on the Z family. Moved on to other websites. And here I go blogging again, raising your hopes, and sending the Internet into a flurry. Or not.

I can't promise to keep blogging, but I'm going to try. I sent Kyle off to his first day of First Grade yesterday, and my afternoon free time has been reinstated. (This is also known as 'naptime' if you're speaking to Brandon or 'rest time' if you're speaking to Natalie. Don't make the mistake of calling it the wrong thing to either kid unless you want to be mocked or set off a crying jag.) I have very strict rules that prevent me from doing any work during naptime, and blogging had started to feel like work with Kyle running in and out of the room every five minutes to tell me 'one more thing' all summer long. Now that Kyle's back in school blogging might feel less like work.

I wish I could say that the summer was full of blog-worthy happenings, but it was really a short but relaxing summer. The weather finally warmed up after Canada Day. I read a ton of books, courtesy of my Kindle. We spent two weeks in New Jersey at the shore with a ton of family members. Shaun's mom and my sister both came to visit St. John's. Shaun and I celebrated our anniversary, and I had a birthday. The end.

Perhaps the biggest news of the summer was that I had to brave Newark Liberty International Airport twice, and both encounters went off without a hitch. That probably deserved a blog post.

Anyway, I'm back for now. Stay tuned. We're heading into holiday season, and that's always good for a blog post or two.

A Good Time Was Had By All

Well, the grandparents returned home today, and I don't think 10 days have ever passed more quickly! There were horsey rides, bicycle rides, snow, sun, cupcakes, Easter eggs, and more. We all had a blast.

Week one of Kyle's Spring break flew by, and I now get to spend the next week detoxing the kids. No more dessert every night, no more endless board games and Barbie movies, no more all-day pajama-wearing... starting tomorrow. I guess I'll be detoxing myself, as well, since I'll have to stop ignoring the laundry, I'll have to start playing with my own kids again, and there will be no more trips to New York with Shaun.

Oh well. It was fun while it lasted!

What's Going On?

I've been neglecting my blog for over two weeks now, as my mother so helpfully pointed out to me yesterday. There has been a ton of stuff happening that is totally blog-worthy, but I've been so busy just trying to keep up with everything that I don't have the time to blog--not coherently anyway.

I've also been entirely overwhelmed by the weather. It's been raining for more than two weeks now, with the sun making an appearance for approximately eight total hours in this two-week period. The grand finale to this two-week sogginess occurred yesterday in the form of freezing rain, sleet, and howling winds. Rain and wind weren't a big deal before I had children, but spend a few moments imagining me carrying Brandon in one arm, holding Natalie's hand with my other hand, herding three more kids across a busy street and then across a busy parking lot, followed by an attempt to speedily secure all of them in a mid-size SUV. This involves buckling five squirmy kids into two carseats and three booster seats and a vehicle determined to be just not quite wide enough. Now cue the drenching rain and blustery wind. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

When I woke up this morning there was a strange light outside the window, and I was confused until I realized that's what sunrise looks like when St. John's isn't entirely blanketed by clouds and the sun manages to peek through. The sun has been out all morning, and it even seems like the hurricane-force winds from last night have disappeared. It's pretty cold out there, but I'll take it.

Maybe now I can start blogging again. I hear it's supposed to be nice for a few days. Here's a list of a few things I probably should have blogged about but didn't get around to because of my laziness:

• My mom and grandmother came for a visit to St. John's (It rained the entire visit, but I believe a good time was had by all--despite the extra night in Newark that Mom and Mom-mom were treated to.)
• I did the Run for the Cure (Someone should have warned me that street of St. John's are a far cry from my lovely, hill-free treadmill, but I still managed to do the 5k in 31 minutes, so I'm fine with that for a first attempt at a 5k.)
• We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving before Halloween seems a little strange, but Kyle had a nice four-day weekend, sparing me a few trips to school and, therefore, a few drenchings of the sort described above. Happy Thanksgiving!)
• Shaun turned 30! (I made a cake. The whole day was about as exciting as my 30th birthday, which was spent primarily in the Newark airport. Shaun is having trouble believing he's 30, but this is alleviated by the fact that I had to turn 30 first. Happy Birthday, Shaun!)

I really hope to revisit some of these subjects, but don't hold your breath. The sun's out, but I'm still incredibly lazy. Okay, to give myself a little credit, it's not possible to be totally lazy when you're running around in circles taking care of a toddler, a preschooler, a Kindergartener, a house, laundry, the finances, doctor's appointments, birthday parties, snowsuit acquisition, vacation planning, and meals, just to name a few things.

I am, however, completely lazy for approximately one and a half hours each day during naptime--I'll try to allot some time to blogging between episodes of Dr. Oz.

Fun With Grandma

When I returned from NYC last Sunday night I brought a visitor home with me--Shaun's mom, Lois (aka Grandma)! I loved having her to travel with since it made the extra two hours we had to spend on the tarmac at Newark Liberty International (have I mentioned how much I love it there?) much more tolerable. I did not like having a witness to me spilling salad dressing all over myself on the flight, but therein lies the tradeoff to having a traveling companion.

Lois has now been awarded the title of Our First (and only) Visitor in Canada. I'm hoping the 'only' part will have to be rescinded soon. There are no guarantees, though, since once Lois returns home and the guest room (the couch in the playroom) situation here becomes public information no one else may want to visit.

The kids have been keeping Grandma very busy in the week she's been here. Princess performances are scheduled practically non-stop courtesy of Natalie, and attendance is mandatory for grandmas. Brandon is enjoying yelling 'Boo!' at Grandma every time he turns a corner and sees her. Kyle looked forward to forcing Grandma to play Wii until she beat him--now he just spends his time talking her ears off.

We've also been treating Lois to a sporadic tour of some of the local sights, including Signal Hill, Cape Spear (where she got to see whales, and where I also FINALLY got to see whales), the Johnson Geo Centre, Moo Moo's ice cream, George Street, Water Street, and Hawthorne Cottage in Brigus. Newfoundland has also been treating Lois to a little taste of what the weather is like here. I'm pretty sure she's seen it all (minus the snow) this week--rain, fog, wind, sun.

Thanks for coming to visit, Grandma! We sure are going to miss you when you fly back out on Wednesday. The kids are going to miss having you around to play with, and I'm going to miss having someone else around to entertain the kids while I'm doing important Facebook-related chores.