Ha Ha Ha

Did we say spring???
 

Welcome to Spring

We are celebrating this momentous occasion with a county wide weather advisory, complete with several inches of snow expected over the next 48 hours.  We're doing our best to hope for rain instead, since we are also celebrating by closing on, and moving into, our new house during the same time span.  Perhaps a more appropriate celebration (of the season turning) would have been the near 60 degree weather we enjoyed at this time last week, topped off with the relaxing walk we took through our neighborhood.  At the time we'd been assuming there would be more of those, but with the recent weather changes and the move looming large before us, the odds aren't for it.  The nature in our neighborhood is likely to be the one thing we miss after we leave: the rabbits, muskrats, foxes, coyotes, ducks, cranes, geese, and abundant avifauna.  There is a small pond in our new neighborhood, and we border a large expanse of farmland where we are sure to see deer at the right time of day or year, but we had come to look forward to our nightly walks when we visited with the ducks and the muskrats in the well developed (drainage) waterways of our large neighborhood planting.  We plan to make at least one trip back this way to visit the baby ducks after the first hatching of the year.

Moving right along...

No, we're not talking about the Muppets (although, several boxes and two paint jobs later we might be wishing we were).  Instead we are talking about that rite of passage that is punctuated by the acts of leaving and of coming, and is recognized by myriad boxes between.  Yes, we are moving.  Although we aren't going far, just far enough to put us smack in the middle of a good school system and a welcoming neighborhood, the short distance of travel doesn't seem to have shortened the amount of stress and work any.  Last week we were elbow deep in our own possessions, deciding what needed to stay put, what wouldn't be missed in the three week interim (which we boxed), and what wouldn't be missed at all (which we gave away).  Many boxes and a handful of tape rolls later we moved on to calking, sanding, painting, and cleaning nooks and crannies we didn't even know we had in all four years of our residence here.  Now that the dust has settled we are asking ourselves why we didn't fix that squeaky door years ago?  Or that shoe molding?  Not that any of those things truly bothered us in the past.  In fact, we've really enjoyed our first house immensely over the past four years, but this is a good move for us, getting us into a house and a community that leave us room to grow, and we are actually looking forward to moving day, which is only a week or two away now.

We could use an extra day

We fill our days to the absolute brim with work, eating, sleeping, and yes, even a little playing.  We stretch our days to the very last possible minute, falling into bed when we can no longer keep our eyes open, then drag ourselves into consciousness as early as we can possibly stand to do so (or maybe as late as Calvin will let us) the following day.  Our lives are bursting at the seams, and we absolutely love it, but there is just not enough time in the day to work in everything we want and need to do.  That is why we strongly advocate the use of Leap Day, February 29, as an official national "extra day" holiday.  Think about it - no one will miss it!  We base nearly everything on a 365 day year, and when leap year rolls around we have to put into effect special circumstances to make up for it.  What better way to celebrate life than to just take it off.  It could be a national day of ecological and economical awareness - no stores would be open to entice unsuspecting citizens into spending money they are hoping to get from stimulus packages, and the TV wouldn't be on to broadcast mind-numbing programs into our supposedly peaceful homes - everyone would just have to go outside and enjoy the trees (since the grass in this area is under several inches of snow).  We think it's a great idea, and we celebrated this hopeful new holiday in the same way we celebrate all other holidays - by taking lots and lots of pictures.  Enjoy them, because this holiday won't come around for another four years!
You can see more Leap Day pictures in the Feb 08 album. 

Amazing

Absolutely every day with a toddler is amazing.  We continually find ourselves asking "did you know he could do that?" or "has he done that before?" the answer to which is more often than not "no," sending us down that great spiraling path of utter amazement.  Calvin is growing so fast, learning so many things, and gaining so many skills right before our eyes.  He has boundless energy and a growing imagination, and every day is a completely new adventure.  We know that sounds cliche, but the longer we live, the more we find life to be full of those.  After asking his age, people invariably respond with "oh, what a fun age," and yes, we agree, but besides being fun, it's also absolutely amazing.  Every day we are reminded to count our blessings, and there certainly are many of those.