...I have no regrets...

...and it's a new world...For the first time in two months I have two functioning hands. While I am grateful that I can wash BOTH hands, I look, however, like I'm in a pro-bowling league. I have a four year old daughter. I have a second grader and a fourth grader. We have a hard-fast plan to what our weekly on goings will be, every thing from 'big breakfast Saturday' to Lego Night. We are settling in, seemingly without incident...however, you know that it is never that easy...

We had our first birthday party here last Sunday. At some point in my tour-of-motherhood-duty, I thought it a good idea to tell the kids that they could have a birthday party on their even birthdays...sounds like a nice way of not having an EXTRAVAGANZA x 4 every year, right? Well, I didn't do the full math, and this year? Yep, they are ALL turning an even number...all I know about party planning is to make sure I have some form of cocktail for any adults in attendance...I have a lot to learn. Nora was the first to christen our house with a Mermaid Birthday Party, complete with decorations, mermaid costume, and cake...she grinned from the time she donned her costume until she went to bed the next night. I asked her if she had a nice birthday, to which she said, "the best!!". I asked her, how it felt to be four years old? I asked her if she thought she was ready for this new year of her life? To which her response was, "...I have no regrets...". I was quick to ask her what she had just said, as I didn't even know if she knew what it meant. The next thing she said to me was, "....ssh, we're having a moment..."

Turns out, the Talls, had an adjustment getting back into the swing of school, ever so slightly. The boom as been lowered that indeed, showering is necessary...daily. They love their teachers, but one of them were quick to point out after we met the teacher, "...how do I know she's not just being nice because you're there?" The thought process of an evil genius? Maybe. Oscar's biggest problem, has been that he can't get to sleep...he's a night owl, and a bear in the morning. He actually asked if he could set an alarm, as he was sure that he was going to have issues waking up. I literally hysterically laughed at that comment. I said, "...Sure, you know you already have an alarm clock? It's your kid brother in the room next door to you...If 5:45 isn't early enough for you, than you are out of luck..." to which I think I mumbled something to myself about not having a need for an alarm clock for the last NINE years...someday, I suppose.

The kid brother, who worships the sunrise? Well, I can only see about two weeks out with that one, anything else, I fear would terrify me or drive me to the liquor cabinet too early in the day. He is starting to talk, and I realized today, after whispering/saying 'damn it' after every jag-a-bin thing that he does...that's probably the next word out of his mouth, and he won't be whispering it, that's just not his style. Running,then stopping when he's up to no good to look at you and grin...insert warm fuzzy thoughts of the liquor cabinet. He is going to be my biggest challenge, and I'm already mentally picturing what he looks like in an orange jumpsuit with the letters DOC on the lapel...

This madness, this craziness, this lunacy, this delirium...this is my life, this is my work, these are my blessings. I get to sit back in my pretty little corner, chew on my non-existent hair, and know tomorrow will just about the same, if not better...