I know, I know, I know...... it's more than about time! There are times I think my OL friends must think I've about died or been kidnapped with my scarcity on my regularly frequented OL places (my blog, fav forums, email, google reader has several hundred posts to "catch up" on). Scary I tell you how quickly time flies with a new family member in the house. What I can say about the last few months is that I've been very present in the here & now and relishing all these new baby moments we're likely seeing for the very last time. Letting the love soak thru every cell membrane of my entity as I watch our elder offspring interact with lil' J. I'm completely languishing in these days that all blend too easily together, for I know only too well they'll be a fleeting blur of a memory way too soon. 

So to refresh things around here I've made some design changes as well. I crave simple these days... that is what life is all about right now for me... SIMPLE-lifying! So the visual reminder is present here too. Looks like a refreshing dip in a pool on a hot summer day. Attempting to relish the last few days of the kids' summer break while getting ready for the back to school onslaught of getting reacquainted with our school routines, back to school shopping & re-cementing housekeeping/chores. Yeah most of that goes straight down the tubes by the beginning of July for us. 

This summer I've been floundering in the weird abyss of being overwhelmed and underwhelmed all at the same time. It is a very strange feeling that's for sure. Overwhelmed by how quickly our children are growing and realizing how soon they'll be leaving our family nest; overwhelmed by the sheer chaotic mess that we call home; overwhelmed by the long list of to do's that I know exist though I keep trying to avoid looking at until I have time to dive in regularly again; overwhelmed with a PT biz that seems at times like it's sucking the life force from our family; overwhelmed by my children's recent patterns of undesirable behavior, overwhelmed by the love of my family especially present towards our newest arrival, overwhelmed by god's grace in healing loved ones who've had some pretty serious health trials in the past several months; overwhelmed by the sheer blessing that is our lil J (so very sweet and such a good baby, she even sleeps like an angel) .... yeah it's all very overwhelming. Then there's underwhelmed... underwhelmed by the lack of willing assistance from my eldest children, underwhelmed with my level of motivation to get things accomplished... especially the mundane everyday things that need done the worst & most frequently; underwhelmed with the amount of time I'm able to dedicate to the simplest daily tasks and any project of the moment; underwhelmed with my drooping hydrangeas that still look like they are just waiting to expire at any moment after our attempt at a raised flower bed; underwhelmed with the potential in our home that I'm finding so hard to see clearly anymore... yeah underwhelmed & overwhelmed all at the same time. What can I say? It really is crazy weird!!! 

I'll be doing my best to be popping in more often with updates and backlogged postdates.