Home.
It only took a little over a year. A year of feeling horribly homesick, irritated with all things Jersey, and reluctant to find anything good here, so far away from Colorado.

Then suddenly, things changed. I stepped off an airplane and inhaled the smell of… home. The sky, huge and blue, dotted with little flocks of clouds, began to look like my sky. The trees, in groves, clusters, copses, and forests, began to look like my trees.

Now I wake up some mornings and step outside to inhale crisp fall air. I wrap myself in a warm sweater and walk my darling girl to school through the park and think “This really isn’t so bad”. When I return home I curl up with my son, and my morning coffee, and I can unwind. I am unpacking boxes. I am settling in. It’s not so bad here.

There are orchards all over the place where you can pick your own fruit, and vineyards ripe with potential wine. I drive past farms on my way to the supermarket, and drive into national forests to go to the park. I can walk into town to our tiny little library, and have lunch (with Gelato) at my neighborhood coffee shop. The fall air smells like moisture and woodsmoke. There are turtles native to the area, just wandering around. (Devon found one in front of the house the other day, but thankfully placed it in a nearby park, instead of adding another pet to the fray.)

Maybe it’s not being in Red Bank, in a dark cave-like house, surrounded by angry yuppies wearing size 2 Prada jeans and pointy-toed heels. Maybe it’s just the passage of time.

Either way, this year is looking up.

Inspired by my love of the environment, a strong sense of frugality, and this article in Craft, I have decided to hold a contest!

Yes indeedy! I want to know what you all do with those pesky left over plastic grocery bags. Do you crochet them into dresses? Use them to leave yards clean while walking dogs? Create your own large scale parachute? Tell me!

Beginning on September 21st (our wedding anniversary) and running through October 21st, I will be accepting photos of you recycling those pesky plastic bags. After October 21st, I will post the pictures on the blog and let you all vote for the two most creative uses of pesky plastic bags. The winners will receive a recycled PET dual handled tote, made most appropriately out of recycled plastic bottles and containers.

The bag is made by ACME Bags. It is made of 98% post consumer recycled materials, and is a strong, durable, and lovely fabric. It is machine washable, and of strong enough construction to hold up to the grocery grind. The fabric used to make one bag reclaims about 10 recycled plastic bottles/containers. The company also donates 1% of all proceeds to the environment. Oh, and the bag is made with fair wages and labor practices.

So come join the contest! Email a picture of you recycling plastic grocery bags, along with a way in which you may be contacted to me at lawandmotherhood@gmail.com. (Only one entry per person please!) I will collect the photos and post them for vote! May the most creative use win!

Except it doesn’t damage your thumbs (if you are lucky). The various things you have to do in a day come falling down from the sky and it is up to you to move them into place before they stack up, causing utter and complete chaos. Note: You can actually play Tetris from my blog, just click on the game in the left hand column.

I love being a mom. I would never change my children, or go back to what life was like before they came along. I love being a wife, and I do not want to imaging life without my husband. I love my cats, and my dogs. I love their furry cuddliness (cats) and their unconditional love (dogs). I love being a lawyer, and I would not want to change professions. That being said…

There are times when I feel as though I have to run as fast as I can, all day long, just to keep all the balls I am juggling up in the air. I am often up late into the night just doing the little things I didn’t get to during the day.

My days start way too early, most of the time, and I am required to be alert and capable long before I am actually capable of doing so.

On weekday mornings I wake up about 6:30, feed Oliver, feed Marlena, change Oliver, feed Oliver again, dress Oliver, help Marlena get ready, make the coffee, bolt down cereal, scald my mouth with the aforementioned coffee, make Marlena’s lunch, insure her backpack is appropriately stocked, hop into the shower, dress, get Oliver in the stroller, walk Marlena to school, and walk back. It’s now about 8:40 am.

If Oliver naps, I can work a little, or blog a little, or drink coffee and stare at a wall. If he doesn’t nap I can nurse him and watch ER, or play games with him, or toss him in the exersaucer and work while he plays.
When Marlena is home there is snack to be made, homework to be done, errands to be run, and dinner to be prepared.
Laundry gets thrown in there at times, as does swiffing the house, changing the catboxes, etc.
After Lee gets home and the bedtime rituals are over I will put a few hours in on legal work, or housework, or our relationship.

The weekends aren’t much different, except that Marlena is here with us, as is Lee, and there is a lot more game playing. Today Marlena set up domino castles and Oliver and I knocked them down. I also did laundry, cleaned and vacuumed, organized old baby clothes by size for giving away, and tidied up.

I am sure I feel this more today because Oliver was up past one am last night and awoke before seven. Still, there are times when “flight of the bumblebees” feels like my theme song, and it seems as though there are miles to go before I sleep.