Normal

Tonight for the first time in I don't know how long, I felt normal. Just normal.

It was unexpected. I didn't really realize how "off" life has been until I felt that sense of normalcy tonight. I mean, I know we've been in transition and uprooted, but I just had an overwhelming feeling of "*this* is how life should be" tonight.

It all started this morning with a trip to IKEA with Darlene. I had found a bookshelf that would fit in a downstairs closet that would hold our board games. So we got that and this afternoon, Mike and I put it together and got it in the closet. Then I had the kids go through the boxes upstairs in the game room to pull out the board games. I loaded up the shelf and before long, the kids were asking me to play a card game: The Great Dalmuti. (We like this card game. Come over and play with us anytime!)

After a few hands (the hands go quickly), Reid asked if I was making anything for dinner. And it so happens I was planning to make french bread pizzas. So I started them, but Mike did most of the work finishing them. The kids and I laughed a lot during our game.

Just something about hanging out with the kids, messing around in the kitchen, and just having fun felt so good.

And now Mike is upstairs watching a movie with them. I got Kira in bed and just wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on how nice it is to feel grounded again.