Wrap around porch

It makes absolutely no sense to my skin cancer paranoid self that I am more tan after living on Long Island for 8 weeks than I ever was my 12 years in Hollywood. Granted, yes, I have young children now that REQUIRE outdoor time to fill their lungs with fresh air and sufficiently tire them out for a good nights sleep (haha...more on that in a minute). But you want to know something? I look better with a tan! I feel healthier when I look in the mirror! Yes, I had over $3000 in insurance claims paid out in May to remove 5 scary moles, but hey! it's all about my vanity, right?

Sleep. It is 8:30pm and everyone in my family including my husband and the dogs are sleeping and have been doing so for over an hour. The only reason I am still wide eyed is I consumed a 5 hour energy drink at 4 pm. I should be coming down off my vitamin B high soon enough to join the family. Why are we so sleepy? Ben woke up at 4am, I didn't get to him fast enough to quiet him down which means he woke Emma up. They were both WIDE awake until 6am, when I finally separated them, making Emma sleep on the couch. She would only agree to that if I, too, slept on the couch (thank you sectional sofa!). The kids then slept until 8:30am, but mommy and daddy just kind of tossed and turned. Joy of Joys.

I don't know if it was the lack of sleep or the 5 hour energy shot, but I needed a Brenda night tonight. Not a mommy night, or a wife night, just a me, myself and I night. So after the kids went to bed, Daddy cracked open a book and I grabbed a book and my keys and drove to the marina where I was greeted by a summer concert series I wasn't expecting as the sun was setting and a cool breeze was coming in off the water. In LA I was happy to live in the hot stinky valley because I never wanted to be near the ocean and it's dreary daily gloom that took ages to burn off. But here, I spend as much time as we can in the park by the port or at the beach. Maybe because it is just so convenient compared to LA (3 minutes door to door!), but I have found it to be truly "healing." Whatever was bothering me that I needed time for me dissipated within 90 minutes of fresh Long Island Sound air and I might have to insist that when I decide it is time again for us to buy a home, it is one right on the water... with a wrap around porch... and lots of spare bedrooms so you all can come and visit me.