So we took this second trip.

It was fun and crazy, but most of the times I felt alive, like I could see colors brighter, words clearer – my children full of life. Perhaps it’s my hormones. I don’t know, but I’m happy to enjoy it for a bit.

I laughed, I yelled, and I whispered to my girls. I watched them sleep in the dim light of my Navy lodge room, partially awake from fear that I’d wake up in the morning with brown sheets instead of white because an ant colony moved into our beds.

Military lodging facilities leave something to be desired, and southern climate lots of bugs crawling around.

But we overcame the insects situation and our days were full.

We fought and told each other that we were mean.
We watched Nina take her first steps. We watched Livia being terrified of the water despite the fact that she was wearing a life-vest and floaty. We watched Anna trying to get her level six dismount on the uneven bars. Not yet baby! We saw Luisa and Eva learning trapezes’ skills.

Sometimes I seem to wait for the next thing to come around, bigger paper, more articles, more money.

But I think that this is the next thing, the best time of my life, best because it’s happening right now, with permanently stained shirts, trying to lose 3 pounds – yes, you got that right, 3 stubborn and ridiculous pounds – with my husband deployed and my family living in Italy.

Just life at 102 degrees in our old minivan which always seems to have so many crumbs inside no matter how often I try to clean.

Me and the girls living life the way it comes, one fight, hug and laughter at a time.