Recharge, Regroup - L-O-V-E -

The World's Greatest Husband and I had no kids for 45 hours or so.... I can't describe what this no children time does for us.  Simply put, it's like having a full tank of gas on a Monday morning.  The connection and time brings peace, strength and silliness that somehow seems to carry us through the noise and chaos on a typical day.

I am always amazed at what life looks like with no kids around.  We joke about what the future will look like without nightly dinner for seven and taxi cab service leaving every 25 minutes between the hours of 3:15 and 7:00 PM on any given weeknight.  I've typed it a trillion times before, our life is busy.  I've learned many things about myself and this journey over the years.  The biggest of all is... I know I couldn't have done this blended  family, second marriage gig with any other man on this earth.  The World's Greatest Husband rarely lets an almost 9 year old cub scout, two 12 year old tweens, and two high schoolers rattle him or us.  He goes with the flow - slow, allows for proper amount of space, knows when to shut up and give up.  He is more concerned about being married than being right and truly is the kindest man I know.  I, on the other hand, am detailed oriented, don't miss a trick observant, sometimes keep score, have a hard time holding back emotion and my tongue and generally do more negotiating, picking up and worrying before 8AM than most women. I navigate the role of Step-Mo with no real plan other than an open heart.  Together, our styles seem to compliment one another and we mostly have the home team covered.  Like I said, there is no other person I could be thriving and surviving in the blender with.

Now having said all this.... it only takes about 15 minutes after our little break of alone time to be with the whole gang and be on the verge of tears wondering "How the hell did this happen and what the heck are we doing?"  The noise as I type this post is overwhelming, lucky for us they are laughing and enjoying one another rather than ranting and raving like many blended families.  That being acknowledged, it's loud and wears on every nerve in my body.  Whoa - yippee - Only to be rescued in an instant........Ahhhh the World's Greatest Husband just stepped up his game and announced "QUIET TIME from now until 2:30 PM.  These are my peeps and I love them.  I think I will close my eyes for a minute and revisit the 45 hours of cooking together, long dinners, drinking wine and sleeping late.