The Phoenix: Epicuriousmothering Rising

( Our hike on Saturday . . . and how we ended up after arriving back home--we hiked like crazy people up and ran our little fanny's off down . . . and that is why I am so sore and happy and sleepy) When asked to give Newlyweds advice, mine is always this:  If you find yourself in a bit of a disagreement late into the night, JUST GO TO BED.  It will, I promise, be better in the morning. I got lots of the exact opposite advice when we first got married:  Never, ever go to be angry. It turns out, at least for us, 99.99999% of the reason we are angry/frustrated/hurt at each other is because we are bone weary.  We can't see straight.  So if it's past 10pm when we start into a "discussion" as we like to call it in our house (which have been known to rattle the window pains), we just say, We will finish this in the morning.  John goes to bed and I go into the study and cry for about ten minutes until he comes and finds me and pulls me off the couch ...

This whole week--since last Friday--the weather has been stormy and gray and cold.  There is no hint of warmth except for the few minutes here or there when the sun peeks out behind the clouds and then it is only a brief warmth that barely makes you turn your head towards the light. March came in like a Lamb, there is no option it seems but to go out like a Lion. And this year, it is a sullen and grumpy lion.  And I feel like I can totally relate. These past three weeks of John starting a job have been worthy of gray weather and storms and fits and starts and moments when it seems the sun will shine,  only to get your hopes dashed with the gray clouds moving in.  There have been reprieves and I have been thankful for them, but overall, this adjustment time is challenging.  Last night, after the guest all left and I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep,  I was woken by my eye aching and the discovery that I couldn't really see out of it.  Instead ...