Progress, Pompeii, and Pukefest 2011

I don't like to share personal information with people I know. Now... I can tell a stranger my entire life story and be fine with it. But, when it comes to spilling my guts to family and friends, I clam up immediately. Plus I am awful with keeping/hiding my emotions so I tend to isolate myself to avoid questions. Doesn't fool anyone, I know. It's obvious that I drop off the face of the planet when something is bothering me. So anyway, this explains the long break I have taken from this blog. Other than being a Mommy, I am also a wife and... get this... an individual! Who knew ;) I was working on those. I love my kids, but being their mother is not enough to make myself or my husband happy so... lots of personal growth going on.



Marriage is difficult. Anyone who seems like it's not is currently riding a high, but there are always lows... it's inevitable, but it's ok. It happens, they make you stronger if you get through them, and you learn a lot about yourselves as individuals and as a couple. Did a lot of that. In fact that's why I went to Naples last minute without the kids. We needed it. I needed to do it. Josh needed to see I could.





I was only there for a couple days, but it was amazing. I loved every minute of it :) I was there to see Josh so I took basically no pictures... except for Pompeii because you just can't NOT take pictures of Pompeii. It was so much bigger than I thought. Every wall in every house was painted, not just a color (like we do)... full fresco murals. Being an artisan back then must have paid well. There was so much detail put into everything. The floors were mosaics, the walls were carefully decorated, vaulted ceilings, patterned brickwork. They used volcanic rock as accent stones. The mountain views through the streets were amazing... hard to believe that's what killed them.





We didn't get to see any of the plaster casts of people because the exhibit is closed for renovations. They are trying to get the amphitheater up an running so that they can run shows for tourists, shows like they would have had in 79AD. Very cool. Naples is a dirty city, but the people are awesome. Mafia families still reign supreme and happen to be in control of trash pick-up so the city is basically being blackmailed by their own garbage. They won't come pick it up until it's "worth it" to them. So there are piles and piles of trash all over the place. Poor Naples.

Cappuccino in Italy is absolutely fantastic, as is pizza. I also had fagioli with clams (white beans), lamb, and rotisserie chicken with rosemary & sage potatoes and it all was a.MA.zing!!! It was a great trip! I miss Josh. He'll be back in July. He's going to try and come out for Brennan's 2nd birthday and we're planning a trip to Rome with the whole family for my 30th in June. Josh bought me a few new dresses for summer... for Rome. Excited!!! Hopefully he can get off work. It's been crazy out there.



So... I get back and Noah had puked in the bed, the kids were complaining about tummy aches. Pukefest 2011 had begun. Last night was the first night since I got back (Saturday) that no one threw up in the middle of the night. Hooray! I hope we're out of the woods. My stomach feels better today and I never did puke ::knocks on wood:: so... let's hope! It wasn't stressful and I'm not tired. After 2 days without them, taking care of my sick kidlets is pretty easy. Tristan's poop on the potty was a fluke, he hasn't done it since. I told him he has to change his own diapers from now on. His response "but I will get poop everywhere!!" yes, I know "and that's not my problem"... yeah he said that lol. I'm still working out and feeling super sexy and awesome. All good things! :) So that's the general update!