Bloomington was so so so wonderful. There are so many people around to help!! And boy did I take advantage. I got a massage, went to a yoga class, ran, and went out with friends multiple times. But I finally feel a little bit human again. I had been in ‘mom’ mode so much lately, that i kind of lost ‘amy’ for awhile — I was feeling like a shell of a person. I had completely lost my sense of humor. I lacked the ability to detect sarcasm — seriously — i would just stare blankly at people not getting the joke. But in bloomington, Char took the big kids for 3 nights, and my parents would watch Zevin, allowing me to stay out with adults and sleep-in in the morning, and I think i’ve found myself a little bit. I just need to hang on to this version of amy for as long as i can. Or, I just need to find a better balance – find a version of myself that is a more attainable hybrid version of amy/mom so i dont feel like jekyll and hyde all the time. i think thats why i’ve been hanging on to work so much, since its a true version of myself that isnt tainted by kids/family/life. So even in the craziness of life the last 8 weeks – when works pops up – I prioritize it. And even if the deadlines are stressful, it feels good to be ‘amy’ while I’m working.
sorry if this blog has been all about me, by the way, i think I am echoing a few of phil’s sentiments. he at least is able to spend some time with adults each day, but it cant be easy to work 40 hours a week and then come home and be ‘on’ the second he walks in the door. somehow he seems to be handling it wonderfully, and I appreciate his help, attitude, support, love and encouragement so much.
Anyway- back to bloomington – it was great. Celia came over and met Zev, we saw BJ and Macey at Lennies, Phil went to Camp with Loren, and we did trivia with Andrew and Jessie and friends, where Jimi made a surprise appearance (and Phil ended up playing with chainsaws and campfires until 4 in the morning!). We also did plenty of fun family things. We made it to ‘The Cabin” with the Wozniak friends. Phil and I took Wil and Evie to Wonderlab one afternoon. We went to Christmas Eve mass followed by the wozniak polish ‘wigilia’ dinner, and then game night at the Watkins. We had a great Christmas morning with my brothers’ families’ (and got to snuggle with baby Cole!) It was truly wonderful. Everyone was happy and relaxed all week. At the wozniak wigilia dinner, we go around the table and everyone wishes each other a specific thing for the upcoming year and wil wished for me to ‘not be so mad all the time’. It was sad but sweet. But that is my goal! I’m aiming to be a happier, more relaxed parent in the coming year. Christmas vacation was a big step in that direction.
So thanks to everyone again who went out of their way to help us, visit us, gives us gifts, etc. We had a great week. Ive been thanking a lot of people recently, just like thanksgiving — which is a great thing to do, obviously, but — lets just say – no one is thanking me these days, haha. [Except!! I did get a very nice gift basket from work for my efforts on the recent manuscripts we submitted. That was very unexpected and appreciated.] I mean, our parents are wonderful in ‘thanking us’ for coming to bloomington for the holidays – but really – they did all the work and watched all our kids. Someday I would truly like to do something for someone else again. Hoping by next year we can start giving back.
Here are some more pics of our awesome week:
Woznation 
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