Thursday, July 28, 2011

Wish We Were Elsewhere

I have a friend who is planning a trip to the Cook Islands. Long time readers may remember that Hubby and I got married on Rarotonga and had part of our honeymoon on Aitutaki. The island of Aitutaki is perhaps my favorite place on earth. The island of Rarotonga is not far behind. The Cooks are beautiful islands whose people seem to be almost universally friendly and welcoming. I cannot recommend a visit strongly enough.

So, needless to say, I am extremely jealous of my friend.

It doesn't help that the Cloud household has been the Black Cloud household lately. Both girls are having sleep issues- Pumpkin is suddenly having a hard time falling asleep and Petunia is having a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, and getting back to sleep after she wakes up.  Petunia is also even clingier than usual. She wants me, me, me. She's cluster nursing again- something she hasn't done in so long that I'd actually forgotten how annoying it is. It is not enough to be near me, she must be in my arms, preferably with her arm down my shirt. (And I thought Pumpkin's habit of wrapping her hands in my hair at this age was annoying!)

Hubby and I are short-tempered and sniping at each other over silly things. We managed to have another argument about chores, which in retrospect was even sillier than the last one.

I'd blame the heat, but I live and work in coastal San Diego. It hasn't actually been hot. It has been quite beautiful, really.

Whatever the reason for the general funk, I have found myself daydreaming about being back in Aitutaki, swimming in the warm and beautiful lagoon.

So I did what anyone who hasn't got enough time off for an international vacation and whose only free time occurs between the hours of 9:30 and whenever the baby decides to wake up for the first time would do... I dusted off the Zazzle store I set up to play with while I was laid off, and made a card that says what I'm thinking:




What? That's not what you'd do? Maybe that's because you've never been to Aitutaki. You should go. But don't tell me about it right now. I don't think I could take any more jealousy.

9 comments:

  1. I feel that it is brutally unfair that the person in the family with the highest sleep needs seems to get the least... in your house and in mine. I had the unpleasant experience last night of looking at the clock and registering it was 1-something, 2-something, 3-something, 4-something, 5-something and then time to get up.

    And why? Well, because my little demon likes to sleep with her hand on my chest. And I prefer not to sleep on my back - every time I rolled away, she protested. Ack.

    In other words, I really feel your pain and I'd rather be in Raro too.

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  2. Ug, I know the feeling. I'm really struggling with all the stress at the moment, and I really cant complain as I have a trip to Australia in under 2 weeks, but
    1. it is winter there
    2. its hardly going to be relaxing, visiting a city I've never been to on my own and then hanging out with my crazy brother and niece, and sister in law!!

    I hope there is more sleep in your house soon and the black cloud lifts!!

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  3. Do you ever hire cleaning help? It does wonders. We have a p/t nanny who does light housecleaning and it has helped us immensely. However, even with some cleaning help, there are still chores to be done like dishes, cooking etc..

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  4. Not getting enough sleep always makes the Hubbie and I argue, inevitably about really stupid shit. Case in point, last weekend the mini-me was up every two hours. The next morning we argued about his inability to find his long white socks and his belief that I was stealing them. Yes we argued about socks, the kind that are $4 for a pack of 8. Sleep deprivation is a horrible thing.

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  5. Well of course you want to go back! I've never been there and I still know it's my favorite place on Earth. I'm a beach person. Beaches and blue water calm my soul.

    At least you can "Remember when" with your DH and maybe, if you are still speaking, look fondly together into the future for another trip back. Gets you out of the present yuck for a few minutes either way.

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  6. Thanks, everyone!

    @oilandgarlic, yes,one of the things that made this particular fight about chores extra silly was the fact that after the last fight about chores, we increased the frequency of our housecleaning service to every two weeks. So we're arguing about the other chores.

    @PQA, I think you're probably right- the sleep deprivation makes you argue about silly things.

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  7. the milliner6:05 PM

    Ugh. I feel your pain. At least part of it. DS has been extra clingy for about the past 2-3 weeks. And BF way more than usual. This drives me more nuts now as at 3yo, I think we need to be weaning, not ramping up. Of course, the timing is not right and I'm not sure I have the (emotional) energy right now to start weaning. Just tonight DS stuck both his hands in my shirt and yanked my shirt, totally stretching out the neckline. Not amused.

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  8. Ah, you just made me look up the Cook Islands (I didn't even know where they were!) They do look beautiful.

    Sorry to hear about the general funk. Things have felt the same way around here. I just got back from a family vacation to a lovely lakeside location... but it was too short, and I was all snippy and restless and unable to relax. My youngest is clingy, and my older one is getting *uppity.* Doesn't make me look forward to the teen years!

    Anyway, the postcard looks nice...

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  9. "It doesn't help that the Cloud household has been the Black Cloud household lately" LOL - I feel your pain so very very much.

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