Starting 2016

I haven't been much of a blogger lately, but I have been slogging it out for awhile.  I'm entering my seventh year, though it has been much quieter around here since the kids were born.  It says something about my corporate job (and infertility too, I suppose), that the bulk of my nearly 600 posts came in those early years.  This outlet still holds a place for me that my other social media outlets don't and can't.  Facebook is not a blog (repeat after me) and neither is Pinterest or even Instagram.  And since I'm not selling anything over here (or anywhere), I have a little bit of a different take on each.

I'm finally getting around to reading "Quiet", which is amazing so far.  (Introverts unite!)  And looking forward to finishing it, so I can start on "When Breath Becomes Air" (you can read about it more on Cup of Jo and in the NYT) and then "We Should All Be Feminists" and "Between the World and Me".  One of my goals this year is to read more books...and actually finish them.  I've long been the queen of leaving books unfinished, and being on all the time for two busy preschoolers surely doesn't help.

The kids are doing great and we're all keeping busy.  We've done all sorts of classes over the years, but now we are trying to settle into a sport (dance for her since last fall, t-ball for him) and an instrument (piano for them both), though we'll mix it up come summer (tennis, soccer?).  We took a trip to the ENT to have Alistair's tonsils looked at and it turns out they are fine.  We are finally kicking whatever virus(es) have been plaguing us for the last few months.  Round and around it/they went...

If you aren't watching the last season of Downton Abbey, the last episode highlights that (spoiler alert!) having an incompetent cervix/infertility and cerclages are not new things.  And that others have had to move all the way to Boston to find themselves... I'm really going to miss that show (and yes I cheated and already watched the entire UK season online.).  Waiting for new Master of None and House of Cards (thank God for Netflix).

We just marked a decade in our house (and me in the burbs, the same amount of time I spent in Boston and Chicago combined), which means I've just now eclipsed even my childhood home for my longest tenured abode.  And we are finally almost done with the things we wanted to do here.  And in a few short months, it will be our tenth anniversary and my 40th birthday, which is all kind of crazy to think about.  So milestones and goals abound...

I still need to put together a post on our warm and wet holiday roadtrip to Nashville and NW Florida, so stay tuned!

Three months later...

Well hello there... Happy Spring!  It's hard to believe three months have gone by since I left the blog (and on a weird note, sorry).  Five years in and I still don't have a good blogging routine.  I wish I had a good excuse, you know besides life and twins and a kitchen remodel, but I really don't. 

The winter here was kind of meh (the kids or hubs or I were sick all of February), but March has been stellar, until this morning when we awoke to five inches of new snow (everything had melted and was a distant memory).  The kids are bummed because they just got new big kid bikes and have been loving the park and have dropped their last nap (life changing), but it'll be gone soon enough.

Before the snow...

 

Hope it is starting to warm up where you are!

Mr. Independent

It's been quite the first month of preschool...  We've had two cold day (as in freezing) cancellations so far and last week Mari started the family on the cold (as in snot/sneeze) train.  No biggie, though I worried how Alistair would do on his own for four hours after only having been there three times before, but it was also a good test to see.  He's never been at home without at least one of the three of us there, not mention out of the house by himself.  But I guess since they are our children and Mari is Miss Independent I shouldn't have thought twice.  He did fabulous, my brave little man!

This is really something since, as DH so aptly puts it, he is a level three clinger.

It is a good sized class, about a dozen cutie two to three year olds, with three great teachers.  The teacher that I spoke with when I picked him up said that when they were playing with bikes (there is a huge separate indoor room for winter play) he looked around a little like he was looking for someone, but no tears.  Their first, and subsequent, drop offs have been uneventful, which was a welcome relief even though we knew they were ready to get out without us, and when we went to visit they took to the place like glue.  I'm so glad we found a place they (and I) really like, finally.

Now we are faced with what to do for fall.  I'm considering keeping them there or going to one closer to home.  And I'm thinking of going back to work, so I'm debating how many days they should go (and where) if we hire a nanny.  And of course, I've also got scenarios worked out for other changes that might be coming.  So complicated, if exciting.  Thankfully they don't have to worry about any of this stuff...  I'm looking at Montessori and Waldorf schools, does anyone have any experience with these?

On the bloggity blog note, we are now beginning year five.  As most people have probably noticed, it seems like I'm not the only one who has less time to blog now than ever.  Even "professional" bloggers, who make money off their blogs, are disappointing me lately, but don't get me started on them.  I follow friends, but generally am finding the whole genre less rewarding.  I try to keep up with updates on the kids because, while I obviously have all the pics on my computer, keeping track of all the little fun things they do are prone to get lost in the everyday craziness that is the life of a SAHM mom of twin toddlers.  How do you feel about blogging lately?  I feel like by killing Blog reader, Google put a stake in Blogger.  Maybe it's just me.  Pinterest, Instagram, etc. are just not the same.

Another blog (The Traditional Progessive)

I try not to get too political on my life blog, not because my life isn't affected by politics (as all of our lives of course are), but because I have strong opinions about them (like most things) and it's polarizing and I know most people don't read my blog to read about that. If you are interested in what I think about politics and culture and society, you can tune in here to read The Traditional Progressive. I'm not sure how frequently I'll post there, but I figured having a place devoted to this would give me a parking lot for these thoughts. 

Thanks for reading.

Blogging and living

I was humbled to see that I already have some blog followers over on Bloglovin, which is where I guess I'm headed now that the brilliants at Google have decided to shut down Reader. 

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. We have lots going on, and I'm just not making time to write, though I try to follow along with all of you. 

Latest news over here is as the kids continue to thrive, I'm thinking of going back to work and getting a nanny and resuming the somewhat adult life that I always planned.  So if you have any words of wisdom on that front, I'd love to hear your experience.  I used to be a nanny (college summers/live-in/Hyannisport), which I could write a whole book about, though I don't think that makes it much easier to hire one to be honest.

Anyway, thanks for following along my (not so great lately) blog...  Reader will be gone come July.

Follow "The Life I Have Imagined" with Bloglovin

Three years, 13 months, and three days

I just realized that I've been blogging over here for three years...

I guess this brings up my overall conflicted feelings about blogging in general.  I started when I was neck deep in infertility treatments (which obviously by definition are very self centering) and involved in online networking with women in a similar situation. It made sense, though I will just never been a good ole AWing blogger. I used to have all the time in the world and it was helpful to me and hopefully helped some others who have gone through similar situations. 

Now we and many of them have families and many of them (and some others who don't yet) have stopped blogging.  Others have chosen to make a job out of it, leveraging their family lives into an income stream since they are SAHMs.  I find it funny sometimes when people say they blog for themselves or their children, because obviously there is something very exhibitionist/voyeuristic about the whole thing and it obviously takes time away from them.  But sometimes I look back at old posts and wonder if I'd remember any of it if it wasn't written down.  I follow a lot of design blogs too, but inevitably the southern sorority girl end up coming out of them and I find myself wondering why I even bother, since I already know what I like and we have nothing in common other than a natural inclination to pretty things.  So I don't know that I'm going anywhere, I guess I will remain conflicted.

The twins turned thirteen months yesterday. We had a quiet Sunday at home, though we took them out on Saturday for a rare trip to the mall with both of us and had dinner at the Nordstrom's cafe (which I love) which somehow DH had never been to. I hadn't been for a long time and they had a blast as always, devouring the better part of a Margarita pizza by themselves. They eat so much and are so skinny it is crazy, they must have inherited the tapeworm that my family always used to tease me about having as a kid. I thought this was funny as a kid too, until I looked up tapeworms in one of my mother's medical books, they are totally disgusting.

 We love these bibs, they are by Green Sprouts.

And the fish tank in the Nordie's kids' shoe dept...

DH just realized that he has President's Day off this year, and instead of suggesting we take a long weekend as a family, he told ME to take a long weekend. And since this would not happen with me at home, he gave me a pass to go away sans kids. So I got a ticket to go to NYC for three days. I am excited, haven't been there or anywhere w/o them for a year and a half, though I'm guessing that just sleeping in like would be so nice is not going to happen. I already get up before the kids. We'll see if I can turn off and have a short respite.

Happy Inauguration Monday!