a tired metaphor. (actually, simile.)

What can I say, other than that this weekend was like a carousel? I chose the horse with the creepiest expression, because those make for the best pictures, and hoisted myself into the saddle. Up, down, high, low, through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

********************
THE HIGHS

Friday night, the horse rode high. Rowan and I were invited to dinner at our friends' beautiful new house. (J.J. was invited, too, but he had to work late.) Their boys were so gentle with Rowan, who loved every minute of kicking their soccer balls around and dismantling their Lego creations. Plus, they gave her her first Spiderman guy, who hasn't left her side since. On the drive home, way past her bedtime, my girl exclaimed over and over, "A sunset over there! And there, and there, and there!" I said, "It's everywhere! Isn't it gorgeous?" (It really was - better than any I've seen, even in Hawaii.) And Rowan replied, "Yeah, gorgeous, just like Mama." I swear I'm not making that up. High, high, high.

Clearly doesn't do it justice, but it was unreal.
(Edited to add: MLive actually posted an article about the amazing sunsets lately.)

Saturday morning, I was still cruising high. Rowie randomly cried out at 6:15, which jolted me out of a sound sleep, but she fell quiet again. I took the opportunity to go online and check out my. very. first. published. piece. of. writing. holy. SHIT. Undoubtedly the highest high of the weekend, something from my brain (MY BRAIN) appeared on the Scary Mommy website. I had to keep knocking my inner critic off my carousel horse all day Saturday, even though she kept jumping up to remind me that I wish I'd phrased that one part differently, and to question whether I should email my contact about the copy errors or just stay mum, and to laugh in my ear, "Too bad you still need to get a REAL job, sucka!" You all - my friends and family, my People - were ridiculously supportive, though, sharing the link and commenting with positive feedback, which basically felt like taking a swim in warm apple cider. (That should SO be an attraction at Three Cedars.) (And here's the link to my article, even though if you're reading this, you probably already saw it: 11 Toddler Games That Are the Worst.) High, high, high.

I had dinner with my long-lost (as in, we haven't hung out in a couple weeks) big sister on Saturday night. We have a propensity for making each other cry-laugh repeatedly, the conversation devolving into tears streaming down our faces as we snort and gasp for breath between peals of laughter. A couple hours of that, over garlic bread and eggplant parmesan? Good for the soul. High, high, high.

We went to an adorable tailgate-themed birthday party on Saturday morning and an awesome nature-themed birthday party on Sunday morning (at the Leslie Science Center - it was spot-on for our group of two-year-olds! So fun). At the Sunday birthday party, which was for one of the kiddos from my new-mom group, we lined our toddlers up in front of a fireplace and snapped photos of them, just like we used to do when they were little babies. Two years now I've known these mamas, and I'm seriously thankful at least once a day for them and for the kind of supportive, loving mothering community I never knew I could have. High, high, high.

^^ Has basically been on a birthday-cake-induced sugar high for a week straight.

********************
THE LOWS

It's the nature of the carousel, right? The horses go up, the horses go down.

On Saturday afternoon, juxtaposed against a birthday party and a dream come true, my sisters and I went home to clean out my mom's closet. 

And I know. I know my mom would be proud of me and excited for me about the Scary Mommy article. But what I want to know is exactly what she'd say about it. 

Oh, and there's a fucking rodent that's nesting in the dead ceiling space between our family room and Rowan's bedroom. So obviously it's eventually going to scritch-scratch its way either straight down onto the couch (where I'm sitting to type this right now), or through the floor of Rowan's room to play with her in the night. I hate that rodent.

********************
Somehow, over the course of the weekend, the horse was all the way up and all the way down at the same exact time. And that sensation, in the end, is exhausting.

Thankful for donuts, hot cider, Sunday night, and my partner right now. (And the Fear the Walking Dead finale, where maybe something will actually finally happen but probably not.)