Happiness

Today's 100 words:

My son's birthday party went really well. Even though our party hosts at the play center seemed to rush us all out of our private room pretty quickly, the kids all appeared to enjoy their pizza and cake and had a great time playing after they ate. My husband and I (and the other parents, too) spent several hours watching the kids climb and bounce and bike. It was tiring to try to keep up with them as they raced from one side of the center to the other, but the smiles I captured on film were worth the exhaustion.

I took several pictures yesterday, but two are really special to me. They show my son jumping off a slide and starting his sprint across the play center, the widest smile I've ever seen stretched across his just-turned-five-year-old face. Remembering that moment makes my mom-heart melt.

In the game again

It's true what they say about vacations: you need one to recuperate from the one you just took. Ever since we arrived home late Saturday night, I've been unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning, and taking the kids to appointments and storytime. Yesterday I even managed to catch up on some of my writing. (Yay!) I've been busy.

And I am exhausted.

Returning home from vacation is always difficult for me. If I could, I would move back to Michigan, back to my small town with its small-town way of life. I don't dislike living in a large city--I certainly appreciate all of the opportunities living here presents to me and my family--but I miss the atmosphere of a smaller town and the sense of community and belonging that usually goes along with it.

And then there's my family. We've always been close, and it's hard to be away from them, especially when I know I can see them only once a year. I wrote a 100-words entry about this shortly after arriving back home:

I've been back in New York for only two days, yet I'm already homesick. Although I can think of many good things about living in a large city, I still miss the small town I grew up in. Mostly, though, I miss my family. Neither my husband nor I have relatives close by, and that's really a lonely feeling. I'm not the type of person who has a large circle of friends, and even though I've made one close friend since moving here--a friend I would miss so much if she weren't in my life--the loneliness doesn't subside.

But enough of the sad stuff. What I'm happy about is being back here, blogging and interacting with my online friends! It was hard to be away for so long, and I'm very glad to be back to the world of writing.

So what's up next for me and my blog? More writing and more writing about writing--just more of doing what I love.

And I can't wait.

Dazed, disheveled, and utterly confused

Today's 100 words:

I've been oversleeping so much lately, which isn't like me. I must be more exhausted than I thought. I know I haven't been getting enough sleep since my second child was born, but I didn't realize how utterly weary I'd become.

I remember oversleeping only a few times in my life. Once happened in graduate school. I was a teaching assistant with an 8 a.m. composition class. I'd stayed at Rob's apartment the night before, and for whatever reason, the alarm didn't ring. Somehow, though, I made it to class on time, dazed, disheveled, and utterly confused.

Knackered

It's nearly 11 p.m., and we just got back from taking the kids to the Lilac Festival. We enjoyed the food and the rides, but we're all exhausted and want nothing more than to sleep. The kids are in bed now, and I think that's where I'll be headed in a few minutes. I hope you all enjoyed your Saturday and have a fun and productive Sunday!