Sprinting to the finish, everyday.

Yowza. Time is flying by. I hardly have time to sit down and breathe, let alone write for pleasure. On the plus side, work is awesome. The projects I'm working on are fun, exciting and make me happy to get up in the morning. And that's all I'm allowed to say about them for now.

On the family front, I feel like I'm doing a better job of balancing my family time and my work time. I am leaving work at a decent hour. I am also making it a point to run after work a few days a week. These two things have helped me to have more time at home, and to be in a better mental place once I get there.

The kids are getting into the swing of things as well. Lennox is a charming little lump of giggles. He is getting so big and starting to do things on his own, and he's trying to scootch about already. Meanwhile, he's so chill. He will let me do anything I need to get done, so long as he can sit in his little bouncy chair within sight of me. Warren is working really hard to listen and help. His fit throwing has gotten so much better these days. I don't know if I'm learning better ways to deal with his emotional breakdowns, or if he is just gaining the ability to cope better, but either way, things are so much more pleasant around here these days.

All of which is crucial right now, since Xtian is working incredibly insane hours. At least twice a week he's stuck at work until after 10 pm. Yes, that is rough on everyone. He's tired, I'm overwhelmed by being solo parent all night, and the kids miss him when they go for days without seeing him.

As always, our saving grace, is Cory. The kid just picks up the slack, and steps in when I'm about to lose it in one respect or another. Whether it's distracting Warren, holding Lennox, doing the dishes, or even just chatting with me (oh my god, adult social interaction! Yay!) he's just there, exactly where I need him to be.

The only place that is not settling down is the whole "spending time with your spouse" thing. It's just a lack of TIME. Even on nights he's home at a reasonable hour, by the time we get everything put together, kids fed, bathed and put to bed, and have everything ready for the next day, I'm exhausted and brain fried. So, even when we have an hour to spend together, I'm just DONE. And he's about the same. Even our weekends are discombobulated lately. We each have separate obligations or plans, or are busily trying to get all the household chores or errands done... it's been a little rough.

But, once June is over, we should have a little bit of a break, and can hopefully spend a little leisure time together.
This whole parenting thing, is like being in a constant strategic battle. But at least we're mostly having fun.