jeff left for atlantic city on thursday night for his youngest brother's bachelor party. used to be that when he went out of town, it was traumatic. the kids were little, jack wasn't sleeping through the night and i was exhausted all the time.

but now.

now the kids are 22 months and 3 and-a-half. they sleep until 6:15am (which, trust me, is much better than when they were waking up at 5:30 am) and they can amuse themselves for stretches at a time. i'm sitting at the kitchen counter with my laptop, looking at photography websites. the windows are open, the breeze is blowing and best of all, the kids are upstairs napping. i can't believe i feel this peaceful with jeff out of town.

it's nice. i feel like i have my life back. it's a completely different version of my life than it was before kids, but it's a life nonethless. it makes me happy.