Oh the noise, noiSE, NOISE!

I can remember so vividly when my kids were babies. I couldn't wait for the day, they uttered the words, MAMA! It was such an amazing sweet sound to my ears. Just the slightest whisper out of their mouths could make my heart swell. Fast forward eight years, and now ask me how I feel when I hear the word MAMA 50 times in a one minute interval. CRAZY! CRAZY! CRAZY! I feel like there are moments I could just explode. Don't get me wrong - I love my kids dearly but I seriously need some downtime. How am I going to get this time to myself? I was going to send my kids to daycare today and take a mental health day off of work - until I realized how much I truly have to do at work. Well, I guess that defeats my purpose. So, I guess I will have to wait until the middle of June when my friends and I hike Half Dome. I am going to fight off miles of uphill, battle the wilderness with a 10lb backpack, may encounter bears, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes - for what? All to experience true tranquility and peacefulness and to clear the noise I am feeling in my life. And then come back to reality and to appreciate the name Mama from the two sweetest lips that I love to kiss at night.