My neighbors won't shut the fuck up. I'm annoyed because (a) I'm worried they'll wake the kids, and (b) I'm jealous, because they sound like they're having fun. Some grad students (I guess) live in the far side of the two-family house next to our building, and they spend most warm-weather nights on their porch, socializing... loudly.

We had a fairly loud storm tonight, just as the boys were being put to bed. So as soon as I'd settled down with my laptop to work on my studies, I heard Dannyman screaming for me at the top of his lungs. Benjamin got riled up by Danny's hysteria and was jumping up and down in his crib. And Jacob was talking about the biggest lightning bolts he'd ever seen, sending Danny into a clammy sweat of fear.

I changed the music from the somber Bach to the upbeat Jack Johnson, ran to close the open windows and grab a flashlight, and went back into the boys' room. Danny crawled into my lap, and I sat there on the floor with my back to the crib, singing along with Jack. I stroked Danny's fuzzy teddy-bear haircut while the baby gently played with my curls through the bars of the crib. If it hadn't been so freaking hot and humid in there, and if Jacob could stop talking and at least pretend he was trying to go to sleep,  it would have been quite the lovely moment of peaceful mommyhood.

Maybe 40 minutes after the initial hue and cry, the storm had faded out over Lake Michigan and Danny was sleepy enough to want a pillow. I was able to get him to crawl back into his toddler bed, with promises that if the storm returned, I'd come back in.

It's been a wacky couple of weeks. Our last group of traditional, in-residence grad students had their graduation two weeks ago, and since then it's been one end-of-school-year fete after another. Between the Fun Run at the elementary school, snack days, soccer practices, baseball games, pictures, and Danny's graduation from preschool, I've been a mass of Goldfish crackers, juice boxes and gifts. Luckily, the students being gone means that I'm not required to work in my office full time, so checking in a few times a week while getting work done at home is okay with my boss.... which is more than okay for me! I tend to do most of my work in the morning after Danny goes to preschool and then at night after the kids go to bed, but the freedom to attend my kids' various activities is so heartening. I could never be doing this if I were at my old job.

Tomorrow we have "Baseball Fest," so I'm praying that tonight's storm has gotten everything out of it's system, because being stuck outdoors all day trying to keep carnival games working in the rain does not appeal to me. I'm already looking forward to the beer with which I'll reward myself at the end of the day.

Is that so wrong?