When I last hit enter on my blog post four years ago (!) I never intended to take such a long hiatus. But life happens, and indeed it has, to the tune of two IVF transfers resulting in our beautiful two babies, Charlie James (3) and Quentin Matthew Kai (2 months). I still pinch myself that we’ve been gifted these two incredible children and that I get to be their mom. Tim was awarded tenure this year, a huge milestone, and is excelling at all he touches at VMI. My work has taken up less of my days, but still has seen some fun website and branding work for local businesses and clients.
Life has also been incredibly hard this year, with the sudden tragic loss of my brother Matt, and a pregnancy full of complications that ultimately saw me deliver a month early. I’ve never experienced such a season full of deep pain, consuming stress, but also anticipation and glimpses of joy.
So here I am, four years later, two precious children in tow, our little farm full of love and maybe a few more weeds than before. We upgraded our goats to a flock of babydoll sheep, gifted to us by a neighbor. We navigated our first lambing season, we lost two, gained four, and sold three of them this summer for a nice profit. Their wool, smiles, and easy keeping natures mean they’ll probably stay a fixture of hidden meadow for awhile now.
Our chickens continue to give us eggs with the most beautiful yolks, and keep the bugs and ticks at bay. Beer has been brewed, parties had, trips taken, and life marches on, through the grief, the joy, and the sleepless nights.
Speaking of which, let me regale you with a story of our glamorous life lately. Our amazing Charlie started Forest School in August, she goes for two days a week, 8:45-2:30 and despite being one of the youngest and smallest, she’s really enjoyed it. That was why we were surprised to be a met with a full on “threenager” tantrum early Monday morning, full refusal to eat, get dressed, etc. These are rare for Charlie, even in the midst of so much change in her life, new brother, dropping a nap, and going to school, all in the same month.
We would have simply all stayed home, but had a full morning of meetings in town we couldn’t miss. So we somehow got her clothed and in the car, drove a little over the speed limit (!) and made it only five minutes late, happy to learn that other kids were also running late. From there we rushed over to the cutest little cafe in town, so I could make my first work meeting while Tim prepared documents for our second meeting, getting a passport for little Q. Im already flustered, makeup very questionably applied, and hair sticking out six ways for sunday, but I’m there. I offer to buy coffee for my client only to have my card declined, (weird) and so I use another one and make our way to our table. We discuss projects and strategy, and I only have to interupt our time once to breastfeed and run to the bathroom. Phew.
We then have to run to CVS to print out Qs photos and the real fun began. We’re still frazzled, unfed, and rushed. I have to change a diaper in the car and then head into the shop to help as its now time for us to be at the Library with photos and printed forms in hand, of which we had neither. Inside the shop we hear conflicting things, the main takeaway was that even if our white background looked a little blue, it would be fine as “they” (who exactly?) are more lenient with babies passports. So they printed them, cut them for us and sent us on our way. I had called to tell the Library we were running five minutes behind (it was ten, we all do this right?).
We arrived and Tim rushed over to email the forms so they could print them for us. Thankfully Q was sleeping so I just juggled him around as we headed back to the conference room to prepare the forms. Once we sat down, the library lady told us that our photos would actually not work, the background was too blue, AND his head was cropped off on one of them (thanks CVS) They told us we could take a chance but we didn’t want to risk it with a tight deadline, and not knowing if the government shutdown would affect things.
It was at this moment that something funny happened.
As we were getting up to leave, I reached down to grab my phone from my cardigan pocket, Id felt the weight of it bumping around there since I was first in CVS. To my utter horror, my hand did not find my phone, but a dirty diaper. The velcro firmly affixed to the bottom of my sweater, swinging like a wet yellow flag to alert all in my path to just the sort of day I was having.
I stifled a shout of laughter and embarrassment, silently counted all the people that would have seen it and opted to say nothing, and then as discreetly as I could, tore it off, wrapped it up, and stuck it in the conference room trash can. (I apologise to whoever found that diaper and wondered what sort of hillbilly left it there) It was me.
Things have to get better now, right?? SO back to CVS we go. Options are: lay him down on white poster board on the FLOOR of CVS, hope he’s not screaming or asleep, and trust the skills of CVS’s finest photographers. OR I edit the background as best I can with my limited software on my phone, frustrating, tedious, and possibly a little illegal. I opt for the latter, balancing a fussy baby on my lap, a fussy (understandably) husband in the front seat, as the precious minutes where we are toddlerless tick by with increasing speed. Finally, I get a photo edited that I think will be approved. We head back in, me looking around to see the heartless people who would have seen my dirty diaper flag earlier but didn’t intervene, me making pointed eye contact and swishing my sweater around to announce that the diaper is indeed gone, I’ve got my sh$t together now.
Yet another employee weighs in that this photo will surely be approved, we carefully supervise the cutting this time, and back we go to the library. Oaths are sworn, monies paid, and off it goes to the ‘they’s that may or may not be working. (Some passport photo cuteness below, who’d say no to these photos??)
Exhausted, depleted and hungry, we succumb to fast food and make the 30 minute drive home. We now have exactly one hour left till school pick up, do we laugh, do we cry? Tim rests and I try to work, He leaves for pickup, I lay down, the baby finally asleep, I close my eyes, and my phone dings. Our car is breaking down and he has to take it straight to the mechanic.
Somehow our good friend who works downtown was free to pickup Charlie from school, I drag my sleepy self up out of bed, splash water in my face, chug some cold coffee, and bundle Q back into his carseat. I pick up Tim, go to grab Charlie, and we decide a beer and donut in the sunshine is needed.
So that was our Monday, how was yours?
I promise not to let another four years pass now, but drop me some love to keep me motivated in my blogging. Love to you all.
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