jumping ship

so after blogger decided i was spam and deleted my old blog, new blog, AND google/gmail account....lets just say i wasnt JUMPING at the thought of blogging again. so for now, just wanted to stop by and say im alive, all is well, i indeed am NOT spam, blogs and account are back up and running, and i may or may not have jumped ship for a few days...just to land on another ship with some friends for a ridiculous fabulous cruise.

 

{not our cruise ship, but we docked next to this one in cozumel and it was identical to ours}

 

i ate way more food than i needed to, ordered three desserts for dinner one night, drank adult drinks and had adult conversations without being interrupted.  i was responsible with sunscreen until i wasnt, ate the most wonderful guacamole and pico de gallo EVER in cozumel, acted like a child on a spinnaker ride {no pictures due to terribly unflattering photo angles...yikes}, read a whole book...in the shade...by myself, and slept in woke up early thanks to a roommate who was excited beyond reason that we were either a)approaching mexico, b)leaving mexico, c)moving in the ocean, d)on a boat {love you friend}.  i danced late into the night {circa midnight} in da clurb, purposely scared away twenty something bachelors with my "thirty with three kids" story, "got ready" with my college roommates in a tiny shoebox of a room...not unlike the good ole days at auburn, and posed for incredibly profound cruise ship photos

{thank you erin for snapping these illegal shots.  its a little unbelievable how many times we almost got kicked off the ship...who would have thought a bunch of thirty-somethings would be this undisciplined?}

 it was the perfect getaway to recharge my batteries...charge them up so that all i wanted to do was get back to the little people who so efficiently drain them dry. 

super dad was in full force {as bennett and emorys school informed me}, and my four + my parents + stephens parents pooled resources at the camp for the weekend.  i never for one second was remotely worried about my kids...but it still took me 36 hours to let go and begin the relaxation process.

 

{after a rose+jack moment on the bow of the ship}

its funny that all i could dream about for the past couple months was getting away on this cruise, then it took a full 36 hours to release my anxiety, and then almost immediately i wanted nothing more than to be amidst my rascals again. 

{normal}

mothering gets you to the core doesnt it? especially with three, when "balance" is a little more hard to come by, you think of a time when you could do whatever you wanted and go wherever you wanted and be whomever you wanted.  so you escape for a minute and, after the anxiety of being without your brood passes, you realize all you want to do is be with them and where you want to go is in their arms and who you want to be is exactly who you are: their momma. 

{emory in a baby stroller and a bucket hat, all self imposed}

{bennett showing me his "never clean" sign he made when i asked him to pick up his playroom}

being away from technology for five days made me want to be away from technology.  i did not miss a single part of it...save communication with my family.  ill still be stopping by here as i find the time, but i prefer to go where im needed.  and where im needed usually does NOT involve iphones or computers.

bennett asked me yesterday why i had to go away, and the only thing i could come up with was that sometimes mommies go away for a couple days so that they can come back and be even better mommies. 

that seemed to make sense to the both of us.