Random, sort of

Well, Shirtless asked awhile back for 8 random pictures I've taken. Now, my random picture selector seems to have a slight bias lately towards a particular subject, but here's what we've got:

1. Tweetie discovers the open bag of O's while Momma was packing up at the Taylors'.

2. The block on which Tweetie cut tooth number 7 (most of that was done in just over an hour!) Tooth number seven arrived the weekend we came home and she's now working hard on a molar (ouch!).

3. Some pretty sights along the Taylors' driveway.

4. Our future engineer (one of a number of vocations she's trying on for size)

5. Bleach keeping the Bear's bed warm.

6. The cabinet-maker assists me with assembling the bookshelf.

7. More pretty driveway things.

8. Proof that our basement is at least half an inch too short. (We'd love to add about 2 feet, really)

9. Yes, that's more than eight, but there's always room for Dr. Seuss!

Renesting

Well, I'm down to the last few days of my mat leave, and there's something oddly familiar about the sense of urgency I feel with my to do list. Much as there were many things I hoped to have completed when we were awaiting Tweetie's arrival, I have a host of things I figure have to be done this week because they'll never get done once I'm back at work. In fact, I'm not sure I'll be able to get anything done, so if it's remotely important I'd better do it now. It feels very much like nesting all over again - but without the hormones (PHew!)

Thankfully, I think I've also learned a thing or two in the last year. Like it won't all get done, and the world won't end because of it. And there's been a gentle nudging at my heart to start now setting boundaries to keep a balance. When I needed to log into the corporate network to send some info to my resource manager, I had to stop myself from jumping in and sorting through all the old e-mails in my work account. I can do that when I'm actually back on duty. I've shuffled a few things on my list as well. I'm doing pretty well, I think, at dealing with things that need dealing with, but I'm trying to also spend as much time with Tweetie as I can, and keep my priorities straight.
I don't yet know where I'll be working. It will depend on what projects are on the go that have a need for my skillset. Wherever I end up, I pray that I'll be able to keep a right perspective on roles as worker, wife and mother. And I pray I'll have the wisdom and courage to make tough choices to protect my family, if need be. I worry that I won't be able to keep it all together, but I'm encouraged by looking back on the past year. God took me through the radical transition to motherhood - the hardest thing I've ever done by far - and the many changes that came in the first year. I know he'll take me through whatever's ahead, and not give me more than I can handle. He is good, and I'm anxious to see what he has in store for me.
But, brave and secure as that all sounded, pray for me anyway.

The best kind

Mmmm... It's good to be home. Most of all to sleep in my own bed again. Even Tweetie liked that idea when we got in last night. A real crib with a mattress thicker than an inch, and her big air filter white noise generator, and her bedtime lullabyes on CD. I put her in her crib and she was snuggling her face into the mattress before I could get the sleeping bag zipped up around her. Then there was the obligatory protest, but it was brief and half-hearted.
But it was a good road trip, especially the last leg up with our friends the Goddess and Badger. The Badger had lined up some work for the Bear, so he was kept pretty busy, which is always good. Whenever we have the chance to spend time with them, I come to appreciate their friendship even more, and I wish it were easier to stop by more often. They're the kind of friends you can just be yourself with. And you feel a part of their family as the stuff of life goes on. They'd just officially finished a year of renovation on their new home, and as you'd expect, there were a few loose ends. So we jumped in wherever we fit best. From the Bear helping the Badger with wiring and sound - flashbacks to their days as church sound techs - to my helping with baking or mopping the floor. That last one, oddly, was as much for my benefit as anyone else. The catharsis of making a floor clean when my hands are free is, for me, a strange side effect of early motherhood. You would never guess this by the state of my own floor on any given day, it's just one of the things that feels good when I can actually get it done.
But I most appreciate what happens when we're around for more than a few hours. The threads of conversations that weave in and out as the days pass. The Goddess and I share a distaste for phones. It's just not a channel that works well for us. But she's a very good listener, and whatever our hands are busy with when she's around, we can chat. And when the misfit pieces of a messy life come to the surface I find them a little easier to look at. And when we've gone over missed steps, rough terrain and uncertain direction on my current path, I walk away feeling a little less lost, knowing someone's been there.
That's the best kind of friend.

A long night.

Okay, so there haven't exactly been waves of great posts rolling in on this coastal spot lately. Not that I haven't thought of you all, I just haven't had a lot of time, and more significantly, I haven't had my own laptop handy.
Our little road trip is winding down, and we're heading home. I'm sitting here in a hotel in Smithers, hoping T will finally fall asleep soon. Overall she's been a great little traveler, but today has taught us that morning trips work much better for her than disrupting her evening routine.
Wait. Did you hear that? Oops, spoke too soon. Another sputter and squirm, but it's getting quieter. She's been fussing and tossing and crawling around since we rolled in about three hours ago. As soon as it stays quiet I'm signing off this post, but there should be more soon, as tomorrow will be a day more like our other traveling days. We'll be heading out early, ideally packing the car while she's still mostly asleep and at most feeding her a bottle and loading her up in the car before she's fully awake. We pulled a couple of 9+ hour legs that way a couple of weeks ago on the way up, and she handled it pretty well.
hmmm... silence. I'm off to finish the bottles and get me to bed.
Cheers