what to do... what to do

I just got in from work and my kids are not here. The house is empty and eerily quiet for 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It's odd. For a brief moment I found myself at a loss of what to do... Yup. That's what happens when you're used to having four arms flailing and four legs dashing towards you every time you come through the front door. The reason I decided to write a little note here, I must admit, was the inspiration of a book I've been listening to on my i-pod as I take the subway ride home from work called "Still Life with Children". It's funny and very "my life" right now. I find that coming home from work and reading most books (I'm speaking of fiction, here) on the ride often puts me in a dreamy head space, and switching from that to the intensity of having to cook dinner, hold Stella, answer all of Kaspar's questions, check phone messages and emails and get the kids bath ready and so on... it can be a little like shock therapy. However - this book puts me right in the head space for home and with a good dose of humor at that. If you have little kids - you should read it. If you're a grandparent you should read it to remind yourself of what it used to be like. If you're about to have kids - definitely read it. If you never plan to have kids - read it to laugh with and at all the friends who do have kids. I plan to buy myself a copy just to keep for the days when I want to cry out of frustration. At the very least, it should put a smile on your face!

My kids are at the airport seeing Steve off to another European tour and it seems to be taking longer then I had anticipated. Or maybe I rushed home from work a little too soon? It's been a crazy month with one flu following another and all four of us, in tandem, feeling bad and very bad and even worse from one day to the next, but I think as of yesterday I can say that we're all back on our feet.

In the mean time we have managed to accomplish a few milestones personally and work wise and around the house. To list just a few - the kids seemed to have had a growth spurt, Stella has learned to feed herself, Kaspar has learned to write most of the letters of the alphabet, Steve and I have learned to switch operating systems from PC to MAC like a pair of pro's, I have closed books for 2008 at work (this is a big one for me!), Elliott Brood has been nominated for two Juno's and we have bought a new washing machine (it's still pending delivery, but I have a feeling I will be just as happy as I am with our new (used) i-mac). Life is good! Except for the part where Steve leaves for tour. But should be good by the end of the week, when my mom arrives to take on Stella and Kaspar during the days. Phew! But now, I better make some dinner and get ready to receive my pair of plane watchers home!