For my bestie’s birthday, we have several things going on. Yesterday was her actual birthday, but we started celebrating on Sunday. She had been wanting to try making macarons (an extremely temperamental item to bake) so she found a few recipes and we gave it a shot! (The one we drew from the most was from here.)
Stay tuned to hear about our upcoming BEACH TRIP this weekend! First time I’m leaving the kiddos with Hubby, and I’m pumped!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAUREN!
Forgive the cheesy title; at least it isn’t misleading! Too much? Okay, you’re right. I’ll think about it…
Last Tuesday, we headed on a long subway ride to the Bronx, because we had heard that the Bronx Zoo was way better than the Central Park one. It was indeed a long trip, but the zoo was great! J was a trooper (he didn’t care much about the animals) and EK loved it. 
By the way, babywearing at the zoo was the way to go. We rented a double stroller, but that thing was NOT user-friendly. EK couldn’t see from that low, and J wasn’t comfortable in there. A waste of $15 when both kids either wanted to be carried or worn, or in EK’s case, run around a bit. We just lugged it around the whole time, full of the diaper bag and our water bottles. But other than that, the zoo was great. We saw peacocks, monkeys, red pandas, camels, water birds of all sorts, and lions and tigers and bears, oh my! The kids expired rather quickly, though, so after we had seen about half the zoo, we headed back for a snack and a nap.
That evening, we met our dear friend Hope for some sushi (at Mizu, a restaurant of the same name as our favorite sushi place in Winston) and then traveled to Eataly for some gelato. Unfortunately, because it was getting late, we didn’t have much time in Eataly… that’s possibly my biggest sad note from the whole trip. That place was amazing. It took up about a city block, contained gelato, coffee, pasta, and wine (four of my greatest loves) and other wonderful and delicious Italian goodies. It should have been a whole day affair, and we crammed it into an hour or so. Ah well, there’s always next trip…
Be on the lookout for the last installment of Hsus Do New York! I’ll really be sad to wrap this series up, but maybe that means we will have another cool trip soon!
There’s nothing more American than family and friends, grilling burgers and hot dogs, drinking beer and playing games on the back deck. That’s exactly what we did today. And then after we had eaten our fill and were ready to cool off inside for a while, we all went over to my brother-in-law’s house to see my new nephew on his first day home from the hospital. It was indeed an incredible day spent enjoying the freedom that so many have fought and sacrificed to give us.
Here I am, sitting on my school laptop, on my very last day at school. It’s definitely bittersweet – with a little more bitter than I expected. Don’t get me wrong… it is SWEET! But I have a few tears in my eyes as I think about this part of my life drawing to a close. I have made some sweet friends here, ones I hope I don’t lose. I have gained a lot of experience, professional and personal, that I plan to be able to use again once my kiddos are all in school and I’m back in the teaching saddle. I love this school. I love the kids. I love the parents. I love the staff. But things are changing; there was bound to be an overhaul here, and I just happened to go out right at the time of the changes. Maybe the timing was for the best – God knows what I need, so I guess it really is.
But I will say this: It’s been long and hard. In some ways, it’s gotten easier (my feet are wet, I know what I’m doing, and I’m more comfortable in the classroom every single day). In a lot of ways, personal/family-wise (being a working mom, nursing while working, missing milestones, scheduling around my work and Hubby’s work) and job-wise (lack of job security in NC, frozen pay scale, more and more requirements with no return) it’s gotten harder every year. I’ve been out on two maternity leaves with barely any pay (if you’ve taught less than ten years, you don’t have much time accrued to spend on long-term leaves), I’ve breastfed babies after going back to work, one of whom (EK) didn’t nurse. I’ve missed first steps, giggles, get-togethers, and family time. Lord, how excited I am to be around for all of that. To nurse my baby several times a day instead of pumping all the time. To see J crawl, and then walk for his first times. To take EK to her first day of preschool instead of just hearing about it from Hubby. I’m going to be a full-time mom! Woo!
So, in honor of the day my life is totally changing, a toast. I likely will be toasting this with Hubby, with a drink in my hand, around 3:00pm today. Here’s to God’s timing being perfect, to working moms who are missing things, to stay at home moms who are sacrificing everything to be home with their little ones, to teachers in the trenches who do way more than they get paid for, and to my family, who supports me, loves me, and makes it possible for me to do what I love. Cheers.
and to the silly ones that make my life complete.
One thing that I feel personally blessed to have in my life is mom friends. Don’t get me wrong- my single friends, my married-without-children friends, my dude friends, I love them all. But there’s such a built-in sense of camaraderie, of “oh my gosh, that just happened with us, too!” with these women. Their kids are just as crazy as mine, they’re just as tired as I am, and they feel just as privileged to be raising their little humans as I do.
On the days that I get to have a “playdate” with one or more of these moms, I always feel a little better about how I’m doing as a mom, but not in the way it sounds. I don’t mean that I am a better mom than she is. I mean that it’s encouraging to see another mom, doing her best, loving her kids in her own way. There is hope for humanity.
One such playdate was on Monday afternoon, at my house. Two of my mom friends from church, Stephanie and Abby, brought their little humans to play together, and so we could hang out with each other. Total, there was a 4 year old boy, a 2 year old girl, a 1 year old girl, a 5 month old boy and a 3 month old girl. Even in the different stages of these kids’ development, they played very well together (or rather, some played and some just lounged around). And the moms? Well, the three of us get to share some stories (hilarious or sweet), complain about our difficulties (weird nap schedules and spit up woes) without fear of judgement, compliment each other on jobs well done (we all have cute kids, ya know?), and compare some parenting strategies (that day’s topic: using baby sign language).
Time spent this way is so valuable for moms specifically, but really for women in general. It’s nice to spend intentional time with people in the same stage of life as you. Whether that’s grad school, newlywed, new mom, first grandchildren or retirement, being able to sympathize and empathize with another woman who knows where you are, where you’ve been, and where you’re headed next is one of the most wonderful experiences. Knowing you are not alone. Knowing you will get to the other side of it. Knowing you will survive. Knowing you’ll look back and think (as my wonderful mother-in-law often reminds me), “That stage wasn’t nearly as long as it felt when I was stuck in the middle of it.”
I thank the Lord every day for the many women that I get to “do life” with. The women that encourage me. The women that I encourage. The women that I connect with every time we are together, even if it’s months in between those times. These are the women that I aspire to be like. Moms in the trenches, take heart! We’re doing life together. How did you connect with the women you get to do life with? How does it help you in your walk?
Book Reviews, Books, Bestsellers, Literary Fiction
Telling all sides of the parenting story
Almost Always Barefoot
For Guitarists, Musicians, and Travellers
writer | traveler | food❤️er | yogi | runnin' fool
Muddling through this Mom world making memories and sometimes mistakes but loving every moment.
welcome to the feel good lifestyle
real life with a side of snark
We're Only Hsuman... 