Hey, where've you been for four months?

OK, so I'm not the most diligent (or interesting) blogger. I gave it a big ole rest after the last post. If you read that one, btw, I am happy to report that my test results were all good. I have exactly the number of kidneys I'm supposed to have, and they are in the right places, hooked to the right stuff. So that's a relief.

As the time has passed, I've been made busy by exactly what you've probably guessed (if you were interested enough to guess, that is): work and family. The kids are doing great: Padraic turned 4 in mid-January and Henry will be 2 in mid-July. Every stinking day they wake up a little bigger, a little sassier. I personally believe that Henry learned to talk early just so he could talk back. But they're cute little devils, all the same, and that keeps them from getting into *too* much trouble.

I'm soaking up whatever love I can get from those two because some day it's gonna click inside their heads that it's not cool to be lovey-dovey with Mommy. Then, poof! No more hugs or snuggles, barely a grudging peck on the cheek. That'll be a hard transition for me, having given over my life to raising them and loving on them. I bet I'll make a pretty crappy empty nester. Ken'll kick me out for driving him nuts!

So work's the other time-sucking beast. The travel that's involved is a strain on our family, but I like to think we're adjusting. And I hold firm to my position that if Ken were the one doing the traveling, no one would bat an eyelash and life would go on. It's that the MOM is doing the traveling that upsets the applecart. But my job is a good one and one that I enjoy, and we just keep on dealing with each trip as it comes. Better to do it that way than look at our lives as an endless stream of Mommy absences.

Right now is one of those gone-Mommy times. I'm at a conference in Reno and will be back home Saturday night after the boys have already been tucked in. I'll still sneak into their rooms and whisper to them that Mommy is home. They may hear me and smile in their sleep. And on Sunday morning they'll pile themselves all over me, until I start to lose track of arms and legs and start thinking I might have 4 or 5 children, what with all the chaos. And then we'll gradually slip back into our normal routine. My taking Padraic with me to do the grocery shopping while Henry naps and Ken either naps or putters around the house doing whatever can be done without waking Henry. Then we'll play outside if it's nice or inside if it isn't, and we'll eat dinner and maybe watch Bolt before getting the kids in bed and getting ourselves ready for the inevitable Monday.

Our daily routine is fairly exhausting, but I do miss it when I'm out of town. There's something very comforting about it. Something that says, This is my family. We belong together, and these are the things we do to help each other.

I'm hoping I can continue being a good mom and good employee for many more years. I'm sure there'll be no shortage of feedback from either side should I start to slip up with either job.