Calm After the Storm

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I've been able to spend the whole day organizing, cleaning, sorting through closets, binning up Chris' "save" clothes (not to be confused with "for Nick and Marty to wear" clothes), and gathering four huge black trash bags of clothes to donate to Nancy and Elly (our cleaning ladies who love the hand-me-downs for their families and friends).

Having a whole day of quiet is super calming for me. Actually, maybe its not so much the quiet, but the structure. When our teens are driving age, they're coming and going even during school hours. Especially their senior year when all three kids took a home release. (Courtney practiced the piano, Marty slept in, and Chris took several home releases -- one to sleep in and two in the afternoons to ski.) Somehow having comings and goings all day and often being suddenly surprised by a whole gaggle of kids made it difficult for me to focus.

My friend just texted, "The boys were always at your house. Does it feel empty?" Well, yes it does. But in that good, "the party is over, it was a blast, and now I need to rest" feeling. Essentially a four-year long party. Ha! (Just remembering the house-building and contractors coming and going added to that as well!)

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change a thing. I feel like I'm good at embracing "the now" with my kids and cherishing each stage because they don't last. But as my mom always says, "Babies are amazing, but you wouldn't want them to be a baby forever. Same goes for a two-year-old, three-year-old and on!"

I've also made two good dinners using ingredients in my fridge, cupboard or garden. Our freezer is bursting with things that need to be used. Cooking for three is a cinch! (Especially when there's time to plan meals ahead.) 1) Shrimp scampi on zucchini noodles and wedge salad; 2) Chili verde chicken enchiladas w/ beans & rice. Both were SUPER easy and delicious.

I swam laps on Wednesday afternoon. Then I left the pool open because it was too pretty to cover up!