It was Pride Day in the Happy Valley, arguably one of my favorite days of the whole year in my little neck of the woods. It's just... well, I've lived a number of places and I've gone to a whole lot of Pride celebrations but there is something very special about the HV and I guess the best way to explain it is that Pride is just so... normal here. And what I mean by that is that pretty much everyone in the universe is into it, and sometimes it seems like the straight folks like it more than the queers!

One of Punk's friends was having a birthday party today, and when they sent out the Evite, pretty much everyone's comment said something like, "We're glad to come, but we have to leave early to go to the Pride parade." In fact, the party hosts eventually bumped up the time for the party to accommodate! In what other universe does a kid birthday party have to be rescheduled because of a Pride parade??!?

I freaking love it here so ridiculously much.

(Mama pride business. Feel free to skip.)

I wanted to take a minute to try to think of the words Tuke is saying regularly these days. He'll be 18 months old on the 18th. I made a similar list for Punk back in the day. I don't know why, but I just kind of assumed he would not be as quick with the language as she was, I guess because he's so physically minded and because boys talk later and blah blah blah. But so far that is not the case. I'd say he is pretty much exactly where she was at the same age - big vocabulary, putting two words together regularly, occasionally three. One thing Punk had over him is that her pronunciation was always really good, making her sound a lot older than she was. Tuke definitely talks more toddlerese and sometimes is difficult to understand, uses more sound substitutions and leaves the ends of words off. But he still says a LOT!!

( Tuke's words: )

Sometimes I get bummed out that I don't get enough credit for things at home. I'm basically the reason almost everything gets done. If I'm not the one doing it, I'm typically organizing the doing and providing reminders. And that's usually fine with me, because I'm just naturally organized (read: Type A) and I have a good memory.

But every so often something goes above and beyond "don't forget to run the dishwasher." Jen was supposed to attend her future SIL's bridal shower. She had the invitation and she was going to take care of it. It's this coming Sunday. I was going to stay out of it but I couldn't stand it and finally asked tonight if she'd made plans to go, or RSVPed either way, or anything. And suddenly tonight she is last-minute RSVPing and ordering a gift and she's going to show up in NJ with the gift and be a dutiful future-SIL and blah blah blah and what I'd really like right now is a resounding, "THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY ASS JUST NOW." And maybe a little token of appreciation.

Because really? I deserve it, dammit! ;)

It's just day after day after day after day around here. But right now we're on school vacation so at least that shakes things up a little bit, which is nice. The weather has been perfectly gorgeous which makes for an excellent April vacation. We spent the entire afternoon in the back yard. It was lovely.

I joined the local Y and have been partaking of the exercise while the kids enjoy the child care. Aaaah, a gym with child care. Most excellent. I've tried out a number of classes and they have all been good although the first one I did totally kicked my arse and I was kind of worried that maybe I'd gotten so ridiculously out of shape and feeble. And then I took the others and realized that the first one was just really, really intense. Whew. I am not as feeble as I thought.

I'm leaving on Thursday to spend three days in Seattle visiting my cousin and her girlfriend. I haven't seen my cousin since we were 17 years old. 19 years ago. Hot damn. I am excited. (Also, it is kid- and wife-free.) I am beyond excited.

Random post is random. Hi.

Punk's school is closed, so I got a free day off. "Free" is the operative word because I don't get paid. BOOOO! But we are having a relaxing morning and later we're going to lunch and to go see The Lorax. Good times!

Received a mailing from my town's public school district welcoming Punk to the Class of 2025. Whee! We're kindergarten bound in the fall! Yippee!! FREE SCHOOL.

Now I'm just hoping they have something to stimulate my little reader. She's probably doing an end of first-/beginning of second-grade level right now. Gulp.

She is always reading my Facebook. So be careful! :)

Next week is school vacation week. My mother is coming to visit at the end of the week and Jen is having gall bladder surgery on Friday, a week from today. I'm more than a little concerned about the lifting restrictions. She said she was told not to lift anything more than 10lbs for 4-6 weeks. 4-6 weeks of no help with the toddler? Are you freaking kidding me?

Trying to figure out how not to freak out.

I've been having a lot of conversations with myself about who I am and the life I have been living. Overall, I think I live a pretty good life and do good by others. I mostly live a life of service and I am pleased with that as it is in my nature. But I have watched parts of myself completely slip away, and I don't like it. I'm not sure how to get them back, or if it is even possible in my current situation.

I don't love my job but it works for now. It is convenient and right now convenient is a priority. And it gives me lots of time with my children. But it comes at a cost - literally. Part-time, seasonal work pays like part-time, seasonal work.

My children are amazing and I love parenting for the most part. Of course there are bumps in the road but I feel successful and think I am doing pretty well by my children. I worry, though, that those parts of my life that are lacking are going to creep into the haven I have built for them. I really can't stand to tolerate that.

I am thinking about deleting this whole journal. For the first time in 10 years, I'm not a paid user and I don't have all of my user pics. And I don't even care. Do I want a chronicle of the last 10 years of my life? I'm not even sure.