Winding Down.

I was raised with two older brothers. For my entire childhood, they had me by height, weight, gumption, everything. I was never on the receiving end of any cruel treatment (well, if you don't count my bike being dragged down the street by a car... thanks Mike!), but I learned to stick up for myself. Add to this years and years of playing sports (on girl's teams nonetheless, which I still hold to be more brutal than any guy sports out there), and what you have are lots and lots of head injuries, one which actually drew blood (tackle soccer, anyone?). I never worried too much about them, because why else would your skull be so hard if not to protect your brain? But I think all of those bumps and bruises are catching up to me, because I cannot for the life of me remember that we have about two weeks before we move to England. And only one week before our movers come to take away everything we own. I look at the calendar about 5 times a day, and every time my eyes pop open and my jaw hits the floor, because, OMG, two weeks.
In preparation for the big move, I've been pilfering through everything we own and setting aside some for a garage sale this weekend. Anything that we have not looked at since we've moved back from England? Gone. Baby stuff? Gone. Those size 10 pants I've been holding on to with lofty dreams? Gone. I refuse to take anything with us that we will just have to find a place to store, if only because storage space and England do not coincide. My days have been busy, going from room to room and pulling out memories, deciding whether or not they are valid enough to be shipped. It's an exhausting task, both mentally and physically, but Saturday will come, and the plan is to have the bulk of the work done by then.

All this being said, those bright and shiny moments of relaxation are welcomed with open arms, one of which was my birthday.

Breakfast: Homemade pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup, courtesy of Paul.

And then... surprise!

I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. I've already put it to use, making some pita bread. And not having to knead dough for ten minutes was so, so wonderful.

Times are busy, and soon they will be even more busy, but I am lucky to have my family to help ground me every once in a while.

Speaking of family, I went through about five tubs of baby clothes yesterday, and I put every single thing in the garage sale boxes.... except.... these two. The teeny tiny shirts they both wore at the hospital and for the majority of their first few weeks of life. I surprised myself with my inability to toss these away. I'll just stash these away in a small box in the back of my closet, taking them out every once in a while to bury my face in their newborn scent. My, how fast they grow.