I haven’t been spending much time tending to this ol’ blog, and it’s looking as neglected as my bikini line. Time to do something about both. Mercy.

We have been living full days around here: Steve has been rushing around like a crazy fox, trying to get all the last-minute things done to our house to have it ready for the post-renovation final inspection. Then he sprained his ankle. The orchard is in full swing and there is so much to be done with the acres of apples. I have, shockingly, potty-trained Karenna. I thought it would come down to another eleventh hour stand-off, the night before her first day of preschool where I’d have to chain her to the can until she pooped, but she finally figured it out. And Brinley is (I’m scared to even type this, for fear of jinxing its beauty) SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT. I am getting consistent sleep at night for the first time in five years. It feels like I’m HIGH all the time, it feels so good. And also, it makes me wonder how on EARTH I made it through the past five years feeling as craptastic as I did. Seriously, I was a freaking zombie, with this year, by far, the worst. Throw in three kids, boot camp, the real estate course and I realize that I am either AMAZING or REALLY STUPID to have taken that all on.

Pardon the all-caps…I have so much more energy now that I’m sleeping again that it makes me want to TALK WITH MUCH EMPHASIS ABOUT EVERYTHING. Because I have energy again! I can tidy up my kitchen after dinner and not feel like I’ve just run a marathon. I can mop the floor and not want to weep in an exhausted heap of desperation afterwards. Things are LOOKING UP!

I don’t have any recent photos to share since I just cleared them all of my computer and put them on my external hard drive. Just imagine my eyes REALLY WIDE OPEN in all of the shots, big and awake, taking in my surroundings with a newfound interest in more than simply surviving.

Karenna and Avelyn still fight for most of everyday, but both are perfectly delightful on their own. Is this normal? Will it be like this forever?

I read my first recreational novel in a year and chose “Room” and it was as great as everyone said it would be. Any other good literary suggestions out there for my summer reading list?

We’ve been having dinner on the deck every night and I love it: looking over the lake, kids chattering away about all kinds of nutty stuff, Brinley shoveling fistfuls of ANYTHING off her high chair tray into her gaping maw…life is really good, you know.

Hope your summer is off to a great start.