All in a year...

Well the proverbial band-aid has been ripped and Jaclyn is officially Florida-bound. We all got together for one last sushi and sake dinner on Thursday night and video-taped all the kids bouncing around, for posterity's sake, of course. Saying farewell was difficult, but lucky for me, my oldest is more dramatic than I could ever hope to be, so her sobbing and carrying on was a wonderful distraction from my own heartbreak.

I was in such a funk yesterday knowing that it was all coming to a close, and realized something in the midst of my funk: it was exactly one year ago, yesterday, that we closed on the sale of our house in Maryland. We were at Jac's house during the actual settlement so we could use Brian's fax machine to finalize the HUD sheets, and then we grilled and boozed and celebrated that we were all back together again.

How much things can change in a year.

On happier notes, I was contacted by the potential employer with whom I interviewed on Thursday for work references. I am hopeful that this means something good and that I didn't sound like a total idiot when we spoke. I thought the interview went well and I know that I really, really want the job. Fingers crossed. And it was my fab mom's birthday yesterday and the girls and I were able to spend the afternoon with her. It was primarily spent trying to navigate our way through Wegmans with three cracked-out kids who love samples, but it was spent together, nonetheless.

I drove home from her house, realizing that it had been exactly a year since we moved back, since we were staying in Pete's parents' house for the week between selling and buying, since Lizzy was teeny-tiny, sleeping in a pack -n- play and eating only from baby bottles and jars of food and baby cereal. A year since Erin and Meghan had felt settled, since none of their earlobes were jeweled and they both had training wheels on their bikes. A year since Pete had started his new job, and since I was able to really put the pieces together to start building a professional life of my own. During my drive, I was feeling sadness and a sense of loss, but did feel a slight perk upon feeling all this other stuff. My family is settled here, my kids are thriving and growing and we are exactly where we want to be. It's so hard to say good-bye. But who knows where we'll be this time next year. They could be back. We could be gone. You just never know where it's all gonna take you.

Today will begin with a run (if I could find my freaking iPod. And I'm sure that when I do, the battery will be dead and that will suck.) But yes, it will start with a run. Then weights, abs, legs. And then I will hope that all that sweating and endorphin-boosting will shake these friggin' grumpies out once and for all so I can be the young, fun, (1-lb. lighter! the scale finally moved!) mom I know I am.