17 reasons why I'm wound so tightly by the end of the day

Here is an in-depth explanation of why I am as prickly as a cactus by the time my sweet husband gets home. I don't think he gets it, so here it is...

1. My coffee pot wasn't working and caused 35% reduction in the amount of coffee. Yes, 35%, this is serious, people.
2. In an effort to get "me-time," I stayed up to do a fantasy draft with my girlfriends but I realized that I actually don't function when I stay up past 10:30.
3. The baby had a blow-out of epic proportions this morning in Target, so epic that it exploded all over his car seat and I can't figure out how to get the cover off to wash it and everything is covered in mustard poop. 
4. In an effort to help the 4-year old get more watermelon, I knocked over a 2 pound box of blueberries all over the floor and then stepped in them. 
5. The 7-year old has taken up baby talk to be funny and screeches like an unearthed mandrake for God knows what reason and I swear I have developed misophonia since having kids.
6. I ate lunch at 2 pm. Scratch that, 2:30 pm.
7. I'm trying to figure out how to manage working, actually folding laundry instead of tossing it on a chair/in a laundry basket/on a bed, and unpacking an entire house.
8. The day to try on pre-pregnancy jeans was not today. In fact, I'm thinking it might be sometime in the year 2018.
9. I have played referee all day to 2 lovely, sweet children who turn into crazed pscyhopaths when there's an iPad involved and they haven't gotten their turn yet.
10. "Can I spin the Pokestop?" Every. Single. Time. we leave our community. Whoever made the neighborhood fountain a pokestop deserves a cozy spot in hell.
11. I was on the receiving end of an angry bug who left a bite the size of a baseball on my butt cheek.
12. One of the baby's favorite times to scream at the top of his lungs is every single school pick-up and drop-off.
13. The 4-year old decided to scream at the most opportune time (3 minutes after we were supposed to leave to pick up brother) that he is too tired and cannot get up off the floor without my hand which is currently full of a baby car seat, diaper bag, purse, keys and a bottle of water. 
14. I heard "mom" 27 times on the 6 minute ride home from school this afternoon. I counted. 
15. There was a baby alligator in the community pool today and I don't even have to see it in person to decide that I'm good, no need to swim literally ever again.
16. I thought it would be "fun" to take 3 kids to dinner by myself.
17. Speaking of dinner, the 4-year old has decided that he wants a burger, but really he wants a bite of burger, 4 fries and then 18 cookies.

So honey, when I am pouring wine at 3:30 pm and practically throwing the baby at you when you walk in the door 30 minutes late, now you know.

I only post when I move

It appears that I only start blogging again when I move. I'm guessing it has something to do with fresh starts and whatever; this blog has seen me through Santee, (he)El Centro, Imperial, Mira Mesa, Washington...it's like an old, holey glove that I keep digging out of the bottom of my drawer.

Alas, here I am, yet again. This time it's Florida.

We spent a huge, lovely, jam-packed year in Washington. Added a kid to the mix and some grays to my head, went to Disneyland, Big Bear, Hawaii, San Diego several times, finished 1st grade and another year of preschool, added a bunch of friends to our lives and hearts. Good times.

And then, Adrian's company dropped the A-bomb.

I'm not sure how I feel yet about Florida. I wouldn't say we started off on the right foot, what with the two weeks' notice and you know, the newborn I had just birthed 5 weeks prior. The older boys who were plucked out of their summer 3 weeks early in order to start a new life across the country. Again, good times...

But we are making the best of it. We are filling shelves. We are making beds. We are flattening boxes and unpacking emotionally to settle into a life in this weird, strange little world. We are reaching out, saying hi and inviting ourselves to moms groups and playgroups and whatever groups will have us because that's how a house becomes a home and a neighborhood becomes a community.

As much as I am clinging to my life in Washington, I'm trying to remind myself that we have been here before. We know how to do this and we will make it happen again, just like last time. And the time before that. Except every time we build our resilience, stretch our bravery beyond what we though we could. We got this.

Our First Mariners Game

On Friday, Adrian called me around noon and surprised us with Mariner's tickets! A subcontractor had given his department 4 tickets and luckily, he was able to snatch them up. Since we had no Mariners gear, I put them in all the Seattle apparel we had and we hit the road to pick Adrian up. As you can see, our seats were AMAZING, right on the third base line. We explained to the boys that they were incredibly lucky to get seats like this; I'm pretty sure my first game was up in the nosebleeds!

The First Days of School

I'm not going to lie, I've always laughed at the women who say that they miss their kids when the go to school. I know that sounds mean, but let's be honest here...sometimes you need a break. Especially as a work-from-home mama, I need a little quiet time to work, make phone calls, organize myself, etc.

Blueberry Picking in Enumclaw

I did not realize that Washington was such a berrylicious state. Am I the only one? In July, a friend mentioned to me that the berries grow so wildly, you can stop off on the side of the road and fill bucket upon bucket. When my parents visited and we went to Rattlesnake Lake, there were berries growing along the pathways.

Then, the moms group that I creep on (and will someday participate in) went blueberry picking. So, the boys and I decided to make a morning of it and check things out.