Flight of The Gypsy Bird

Today, I'm thinking about this afternoon when I'll trapped in the car with my kids who have been cooped up in a classroom all day with no permission to speak freely.  I'm thinking about how many times I will hear "Momma!" or "Mommy?" or "Mom, Look...Mom!"  And can I be honest? My skin starts to crawl a little.  From the time I get the first child in the car at 2:30pm to the time we get home after picking up the Senior from Cross Country practice at 4:00pm, I will have been fielding non-stop "Mom!" questions for a solid hour and a half...With no break. See, I have 5 kids at home now, so when one inquisitive mind is satisfied, another thinks of something they want to know...and most times, they are so lost in their own quest for the ultimate knowledge that they demand my attention before I'm even done answering the first one....I need coffee...or wine...just thinking about it is giving this hermit-ish mama anxiety... ...

I can't think of a better description for the last 5 weeks of my life other than...Complete hell. Well, at first it was. Now that I'm in a rhythm, it's actually getting to the point that I am remembering why I loved working out 5 years ago...But it took a minute, lol. As I was dying the other day, I happened to look up at the screen of my computer where my workout for the day was in progress. I was sweating and grunting and almost crying from pushing through each round of torturous exercises and my eyes landed on "The Modifier".  You know that one....That one person in the group of badasses who is a little fluffier than the rest. The one who does a different exercise than the rest and lifts different weights than the rest. The one that makes it ok to be complacent with your workout program and commitment to yourself. I know, I know. They are there for those who, like me, were and are not at the fitness level to completely go all in with the exercis...

"WYATT! DON'T SASSINATE ME!!" "Okay." (gun fire) "WYATT!! I SAID DON'T SASSINATE ME!!!" (no answer) "You have ta let me sassinate YOU!" "You have to earn your assassinations." As I sit here, computer in lap...working on a completely different blog...I hear this exchange between a very frustrated Nacho and his older brother, and I look up from my blogging and watch them.  I see the almost desperate face of my 6 year old as he whole-heartedly petitions his brother not to "sassinate" him and I see the utter calm and resignation on the face of his older brother, who is unmoved by his pleas and unceremoniously "sassinates" him. "WYATT!!! LET ME SASSINATE YOU!!" Nacho demands desperately, but unfortunately his brother is not feeling benevolent. "No." (Whining) "THAT'S WHY I WANT TO JUST PLAY BY MYSELF!" As a mom, it's tempting to intervene on behalf...

I've been a little off lately.           A little quiet.                  A little snappy at times.                        A lot thoughtful and reflective.                                A little...hermit-ish. Noise gets on my nerves...which makes navigating my day with 6 kids an adventure. O_O I just want to be left alone these days.   Crazy, huh? To love people so much and yet just want to be away from people... In the stillness.        In the quiet.              Alone with Him.                       In our garden...just the two of us. Complexity frustrates me, when it used to not bother me one iota, and I find myself asking...