Liberated

I had an epiphany this week. A huge epiphany. Sunday morning I left for work and realized about five miles down the road that I had forgotten my phone. Mild panic set in. I almost turned around, but something inside of me said just keep going. And so I did. Surely I could survive eight hours without a phone. What I learned was very eye opening. Lately I have been wanting to remove distractions from my life. Going back to simpler times, back to the basics. I found myself constantly on social media, aimlessly scrolling one post to the next. For what purpose? Absolutely none. It was a habit born from boredom. Waiting on an elevator, looking at FB. Eating lunch, looking at Snapchat. Watching tv, looking at Instagram. For some reason cell phones have made us wired to constantly feel the need to be doing SOMETHING. Whether it be, internet shopping, playing games, texting, emailing, or surfing social media, cell phones have placed the world at our fingertips. Constantly entertained by something other than actual human interaction.  All the while, missing out on what life is really about, the moments made outside of a glass screen. When you don't have your phone you really realize how much people's lives (including mine) revolve around that little hand held piece of technology. Everybody, except me, was looking at their phone. I feel like the art of making good conversation is becoming extinct, being replaced by a glowing tiny screen that will never talk back to you (except when annoying Siri, who never understands you, offers her assistance). That day I noticed I had WAY more meaningful conversations with people. Conversations I never would have had if I would've been glued to my phone. Not only was it nice to have good conversation, it felt good to have no restraints. Not feeling the need to immediately answer a text or phone call right away. The times we are in now, everybody is literally just a text away, offering instant gratification. It felt good to go "rogue," off the map for a day. I had been liberated! Liberated of all the constraints a cell phone had placed on me. And it truly felt good. I paid attention to people more. I made conversation more. I felt uninterrupted more. All positive things. I'm not a big believer in New Year's resolutions. I feel they are a huge waste of time, and 99% of the time they don't stick. But I am a firm believer in working every day to make yourself a better person. I think spending less time on my phone will be my every day resolution. Since then I have looked at my phone way less. I don't feel the need to have it on me 100% of the time, that anxiety is gone. I don't feel the need to check my social media accounts all day long. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of things that are wonderful about cell phones, but only in small doses. Cell phones shouldn't replace people. I've always thought the "old timers" were crazy for revoking the evolution of technology (my father-in-law literally just got a cell phone- for emergencies only of course), but I get it now. I really do.

A whirlwind

The last couple of weeks have been COMPLETE chaos. Every last moment was spent doing something. For starters, we officially got an offer on our house and we accepted. We were extremely happy with the offer, answered prayers for sure! So now we wait until closing. That being said- our house still had A LOT of stuff in it. Primarily the attic and the kitchen/bathroom cabinets. Chris and I were a two man show with two monkeys trailing behind us at all times. Two monkeys who were entertained in fifteen minute increments. Good times. I think as part of the perks of having a realtor they should offer babysitting services during the packing process. I kidd (sort of). Every minute we had a little free time, we were busy packing the last seven years away. Boy- did that attic have some memories! There were sombreros, pack and plays, blow up swim pools, old rugs covered in dog piss, toys galore, and the list goes on and on. Seventy five percent of it got trashed, much to Chris's dismay. He is quite the little closet border. Apparently anything I told him to throw away in the last seven years went straight the the attic. "We'll use it someday." Right. Though, he did say the man at the dump stashed back quite a few items. Anybody that goes to the dump knows THAT one dump operator that thinks they're going to strike it rich or "fix up" every piece of crap that comes through. Oh let me not forget to mention that- Saturday thru Wenesday my kids were pouring snot. And on Wednesday the stomach bug hit the Morrison compound (by the grace of God this is the first time we've ever had to deal with this with a kid). With sweet little Evie. Let me go ahead and tell you, green gatorade looks the same coming up as it does going down. He hurled every bit of his guts up in the "sold" house. It was his parting gift. I really felt like I would cry during the whole packing process. My soul is attached to that house- there's just something so special about it. We LOVED and still love that house. We started our family there. There are so many memories attached in those walls. Any part of that house I can look at and tell you a memory that's connected to it. But once again, it's not the house, it's the memories attached to it. Luckily, there was no time to think, just time to pack and move. I do think I'm going to leave a little note to the new family and wish them all the happiness that we experienced. Enough of that, I'm tearing up. We will miss you house.

Ethan had his end of the year bash and also end of the year program, Both equally special. I'll write more on those at a later date. I feel like this entry would be a mile long if I talked about every detail of those. I will say, which I've already said before, Ethan's school is such a special place. The love in that place is so strong. When Ethan first started going last year, I was a nervous wreck. Not that I didn't have faith that others were capable of taking care of him, but that I would miss that special time. Those six hours a week would be given to somebody else. To some that may sound absolutely ridiculous, but to me I have always valued the time with my kids. For one day (very soon) those six hours a week will turn into eight hours a day, five days a week. Do the math on that. Yep, I'll be on the hot mess express that first day of Kindergarten. Those feelings of nervousness have long been gone, because I feel like St. Paul's is part of our family now. They love Ethan just as much (or pretty close) as I do and want to see him succeed as well.

In the midst of the great move and end of the year shenanigans, Mother's Day makes an appearance. Pretty much that day the only thing I didn't want to do was pack, move, or clean up vomit. Score on all three. I had a great Mother's Day! My brother and his sweet little family came in town. Which the boys absolutely love their cousin, Baby Jax (even though he's technically not a baby anymore). He'll be twenty-five years old and they'll still be calling him Baby Jax. The first two days they came in town we were quarantined, which was torture for the boys. All I heard was "can we go see Baby Jax, can we go see Baby Jax?" Finally the curse of the stomach bug had been lifted and they got to see their Baby Jax. They watched Mickey, they rode power wheels, they swam, they had an absolute blast. In typical Louisiana fashion we had a crawfish boil Saturday night. And boy were they good! There's nothing quite like a Louisiana Saturday night crawfish boil. Sunday we had steaks at Mom's for lunch and burgers at Chris's sisters house that evening. The food for the weekend was on point, definitely didn't help my waistline considering summer is literally right around the corner.

On a very sad note, our sweet puppy passed away Tuesday. He was pushing fifteen years old. The last year had been rough on him. Unfortunately, age had taken it's tole. As humans we are pretty much always guaranteed to outlive our fur babies. Which sucks. Because to so many, like us, they ARE our family. I had gotten Peppi about a year before Chris and I met. Peppi took to Chris immediately. From then on out, Peppi was Chris's. Peppi experience every phase of life Chris and I experienced together. He watched us fall in love, he watched us learn how to be husband and wife, he watched us fight and then make up, he watched the late night parties we had on the back porch, he watched us experience the greatest joy in our lives- having our babies, he was there every step of the way. He had a ridiculous love for milk bones and "going for rides." He was feisty as all get out, Chris still has a scar to prove it. He was the ultimate cuddler. He never truly wanted to get out of bed. Gosh how I miss him! But I know all dogs go to heaven and one day, he will be there to greet me. 

I am hoping with the approach of summer that life will slow down a bit. I love those late summer nights where the kids stay out until dark. No plans. No scurrying about from here to there. Just stagnancy. A tranquility that can only be brought by the peacefulness of no movement. Welcome sweet summer time!