august 15th

So it really happened. This is me and my advisor. We walked the stage, shook some hands, received a degree. And that's great.

But as I walked in, I saw this little face leaning against the bars in the stands, and thought: that is really my greatest achievement, this degree is just extra.

in transition

We watched the movie "last chance harvey" last Saturday. It was an okay movie. An american goes to London to see his daughter get married, meets a wonderful woman, and decides to quit his (bad) job and just embrace this relationship. As the end credits start to roll, he is asked where he lives. He answers "I'm in transition."

I looked at my husband and said "when he says it, it seems romantic and hopeful," wishing that my transition could be equally so.

Update: We're looking for a place to rent to us for four months, while my husband finished. This would allow us to get out from underfoot of the angelic couple that is letting us overstay our welcome. We may actually have a lead. It would be great to be able to settle for at least a few months.

rays of light

I took Kiddo to the park that is behind our old home today. As we pulled into the parking lot she started exclaiming "yay! yay! yay!" from the back seat. She likes it there. As it had been raining for the most of the morning, it didn't take her long to find a puddle with lots of good mud, which she proceeded to splash all over herself (shirt, pants, hair, eyelids, etc.). I noticed what was going on a little too late, so just let her have fun. (So after we picked up dad, she went to Target without any pants, ahh, to be 20 months old. And called a lot of attention to herself as she dragged the basket around by herself. No help needed or wanted or allowed from the parents. Luckily we didn't need much.)

Later, she was going down the slide with the little boy that was our neighbor. As she would get to the bottom of the slide (it's about a six footer) she announced "fun. fun. more-one" as she walked around to the steps again.

She is no longer afraid of the dog or its barking, and is in fact getting just plain bossy to the dog. She calls out with me "aah-ee," when I call out "Allie" and tells her to "siit. siit. siit." all the time.

There are lots of things that are surprising, confusing, and just plain difficult in our life right now. Kiddo is our relief from all of that.

what to say?

We finally heard back from both jobs for which my husband was on the short list, and there is no job for him yet. I'm sure this is a blessing, because it allows him to finish up his degree this semester without having to also start a job, which would be complicated. Or maybe its not a blessing directly, but will become one as we turn our hearts and wills over to our Heavenly Father. At any rate, it will turn out fine. There are serious hurdles to be crossed with this news, namely where to live and how to pay for it, but hey, what's life without a little adventure? Plus I'm sure this will both increase my empathy for others, and decrease my likelihood of saying trite things to others who are experiencing significant trials. So you see, we're being blessed already.

In a book by Patricia Holland, she shares an experience of when she was pleading to the Lord to bless one of her sons in a particular way, and then she was prompted that the son was being blessed, just in the Lord's way, not the mother's way. I remember that frequently right now, remembering that I, and my family, are being blessed, even if it's in different ways than I expected.

two syllables

Kiddo has started saying two syllable words, like "open" and "airplane." I'm pretty excited for her.

We found our camera. Now it's just a matter of me finding the time and energy to 1) take pictures, 2) upload pictures, and 3) write about them.

Maybe tomorrow.

wouldn't it be nice...

...if I could find my camera and actually take some of the pictures I'd like to?

Like my daughter sprawled out on the floor watching Robin Hood, and enjoying all this space?

and here we are

Last week was a flurry of moving activities. On Thursday we packed all day, Thursday night 17 men showed up to help us pack our truck, then our storage unit. Friday we cleaned (and sorted and made much trash). And now we live in our friend's basement. They left on vacation today, and will be gone for most of the next three weeks. We care for their dog, water their plants, and eat from their garden in exchange. The long strange transition from our first to second home has begun. We stopped back briefly to check the mail, and I remembered how great it felt to move in, and be excited about all the space. I loved our little duplex. I miss it.

Kiddo has been a trooper throughout all the changes, as usual. She is not fond of the dog barking. It makes her cry a lot (of course, right now, so does putting on her clothes). In fact, crying a lot is a lot more popular in her life than it has ever been. I chalk it up to changes, and expect that it will settle out soon. She does like the large backyard and trampoline (I gently bounce her while she sits and requests more and more). It's good to have a place to sleep, and a roof over our head.

Kiddo's current favorite word is "mo-youn" which is her way of pronouncing "more one" or "one more." She says it all the time, to convince us that she requires more of whatever we're having or doing. It's fun to watch her vocabulary grow each day.

And, my computer hiatus is over (for a while) so that's good.