VACATION IS OVER!!!!! Is it possible to jump for joy and collapse with relief at the same time? That’s me today. Last week was the best of times and the worst of times. For three days we had four kids, which it turns out is five times harder than just having two. So my already tenuous grip on the principles of math is now officially severed, and March (aka, the month with no school vacation) has become my very favorite.

I’m exaggerating. A little. The full story is that it was incredible to see the relationships between my niece and nephew and The Cherubs grow, even if in a group of teens/tweens someone is always disgruntled or unhappy. (At one point I called them all into the living room and told them in my most pissed-off voice that I’d had ENOUGH of this moodiness and they’d all better FIGURE OUT A WAY TO BE HAPPY. Surprisingly, it worked.) It was also great to sleep in and have no homework, take on the ropes course/zipline at Jordan’s Furniture, and compete in a scavenger hunt at the mall that kept us entertained on a day where the temps were in the single digits.

Still, I’m glad it’s over. I like normal life.

Other highlights:

We watched The Big Year, starring Jack Black, Steve Martin & Owen Wilson. Only these three could make bird watching both compelling and funny. Seriously, I cared who won this challenge and how things turned out for these characters, and I don’t even like birds. Highly recommended.

I read Sloane Crosley’s long-awaited debut novel, The Clasp. Her writing was as witty and acerbic as in her non-fiction collections, but the characters were sort of unlikable and I didn’t care about the plot. That said, I loved it for what it was: a fun escape read. I’m glad that if she needs a break from self-revelation, she’s still willing to apply her comedic genius to imaginary people.

We did something new at church, with stations for different ways to experience God. I started out tense and just stressed, but an hour later – after I’d read part of this book, contemplated this wild scene from the Bible, stared out the window, and made some art – I felt so much better.  Like this Jesus thing might be for real. Go figure.

We also had one miraculous day where we drove to Maine to see my parents and neither Cherub bickered. At all. At any point. We had a great visit, ate chowder at one of our favorite restaurants, and watched a gorgeous sunny sky over a cold beach. I kept waiting to wake up, but it was real.

I’m not even sure what to write as a summing-it-all-up statement. I’m learning that adoptive parenting is just more tension filled than “normal” parenting, because there are land mines everywhere. But there are also miracle days, and entertainment escapes, and cousins who figure out how to be family.