Listening to the clock

Tonight I dined to the tick tock of the clock on the wall in our living room. I made a simple salad of arugula, olive oil, grana padano, sea salt and lemon juice. I read a magazine at the dining room table. When I was done, I took the time to empty the dishwasher and made a cup of tea to eat with chocolate covered goji berries. I did not drink alcohol, I did not play music, turn on the tv, check the blackberry or use the phone. I dined, read, and wondered if other people do this all the time.

It was nice, but remarkable enough and so uncommon in my life that I needed to capture it. Tom will be home soon but for a little while, with the lucky circumstance of sleeping boys, it was silent enough in my house to hear the clock tick tock.

List making so that I can focus on what I really need to do

While waiting for some feedback at work I have decided to make lists:

Things that are distracting me TODAY, maybe even just this moment, but here we go:

diapers.com storewide sales, electronic coupons and the fastest delivery ever
theminisocial.com one of those discount members only shopping sites but just high end kids brands
paperlesspost.com was introduced to this yesterday and have already sent out Charlie's birthday brunch invite and will send Max's birthday party invite out shortly.
@PopTech a friend consults for them and she is one of the smartest ladies I know ... it is no wonder ... they are web casting live right now
blueprintcleanse.com just finished my third yesterday and am carefully eating my way through today
tipsyparson.com cannot wait to go to friends and family tomorrow night at Julie's new place

Ok, back to work.

On being a full time mom

So due to my nanny having an injured back, I was a full time mom for the last two days. Of course the only way I have found time to reflect and blog on it, is that I am back to work today.

A couple of observations:

1) As I suspected, I am too type A to stay at home and not drive myself and my children crazy.

2) I can do many loads of laundry and yet the basket continues to self-fill, I swear!

3) There is no way that the SAHMs (Stay At Home Moms) sit around and eat bon-bons, I barely sat, let alone ate. Thank goodness our playdate yesterday came with a smart, lovely mother who brought sandwiches.

4) Max is delightful but reactionary; we need this age to pass.

5) I am delightful but reactionary; this ship has sailed.

Overall, it was empowering, challenging, exhausting and fun to be at home with the boys.

And boy, do I love this here desk ...

Home

Got in last night from Chicago where I attended a great conference. Charlie seems huge and I would know because I thought it would be a great idea to wake him when I got in at 10 pm. Silly mommy. He finally stopped crying around 11:45 pm and Max woke up at 5 am declaring that he was no longer tired and could he please have his light turned on and be provided a book. Um... really? Could I be anymore tired?

This afternoon our new nanny (who I love) took Charlie to his first solo music class while Max was in school. When she asked if she could make playdates with the other children, it took me time to process the fact that Charlie might like to have some friends of his own.

Poor second child with mad rhythm.