Little update

Whew.

Work is either feast or famine, and lately it's been feast--which is great, but so has every other aspect of life. An embrassment of riches, lol.
I really feel blessed to have this work (and the income), but you know, the timing was really, well, interesting.

The House. It's coming along. We still can't park in the garage, but we're getting there. We are starting a pool over which furniture finally arrives first. Of the plethora of items we ordered, we've received 2 chairs and the kitchen table set. No couch, no bed, no dresser. These companies deliver on Thursdays and Fridays so every week it's the Couch Lottery. Some day we'll win. So, we watch tv on a beanbag and the glider from Ainslie's old room.

Ainslie. Getting adjusted to everything. Growing like a weed. (Ok, a flower, she's far too pretty to be a weed.) Yesterday, we enrolled for preschool. It turned out to be quite easy, after all my hemming and hawing over it. Catholic preschool 5 minutes away, we know another family that goes there, the head teacher lives directly behind us. The other family that goes there that we know isn't Catholic either. We visited yesterday and Ainslie walked in like she owned the place, said Good Morning to Mrs. O'Brien and started playing. Ok. I wasn't worried about academics anyway, and I'm sure by the time kindergarten rolls around we'll have mastered Not Taking Things Away From Others and Not Grabbing Other People as well as some reading.

All in all, things are frantic, but good. I never thought I'd be so *happy* to live in a newer construction subdivision. New construction rocks! ;-)

Accidents, and excellent reasoning skills

Ainslie: Why do we need a new lightswitch? (cover)
Me: Daddy cracked the old one when he was putting it back on. He didn't mean to. It was an accident.
Ainslie: Oh. Remember when I pooped at the Y? That was an accident.

Interview with the Atheist

I have this draft saved of an entry I wrote about Hope a few weeks ago. I haven't gotten around to cleaning it up to say exactly what I want to express, what with so many of my hopes being realized lately...

Shifting gears completely, at least for a moment, I want to talk about the people I work with. Working as an independent contractor, I don't always work with other people, except for clients. Usually, this is a perfect arrangement, because I can set my hours for when Ainslie is sleeping. For the foreseeable future however, I am working as part of a team of people from all over the US.

Last year about this time, I was working on a huge, fast-paced national delivery project, and I had the opportunity to get together with my teammates twice, and I was so impressed by the people working for this company. Not only are they smart and talented, they are Good People. As an example, two of the founders/partners are grandparents who, a couple years ago felt called to adopt a child from a very poor part of the world, and ended up adopting FOUR older children, from a vastly different culture--at a time when most people their age are enjoying the freedom of an empty nest.

Last week, I went to a team meeting for the Big Client I am working with now, and again, I was struck by how Good these people are. Smart, Creative, Talented, and Warm, Caring, and Sensitive.

One person, in particular, (whom I also met last year) strikes me as particularly caring, open, and warm. Over lunch one day, he was also called out as the only atheist in the group. Now, most of the rest of us are people of faith (and Christian faith at that)and are pretty open about it with each other. (Did I mention that another of the founders/partners is also an ordained minister?)

So, over lunch, we tried to get W to admit to some inkling of spirituality. He insists he has none. No Higher Power, No souls, No...anything. I asked if I could ask him a question, insisting I wasn't trying to be rude or put him on the spot--actually 2 questions.
1. In his view, are events somehow connected? Does he believe in Fate, or the pull of The Universe?
and
2. What does Hope mean to him?

His answer to the first question is that he thinks that actions impact other actions, like a ripple effect (which I don't think anyone would argue with,) but no, he doesn't believe in any sort of Plan.

My second question left him quiet for a few moments.

You see, to me, Hope is so inextricably tied to Faith. Hopes are almost always prayers. Without my faith, it is difficult to imagine Hope, and as sometimes it feels Hope is all we have, really, it is Faith that gets us through the dark times. So--if you don't have faith, can you have Hope?

He finally answered that to him, Hope is just a wish. A goal to work toward. A bid for good luck. But it stumped him for a moment.

Interesting. At least to me. I still believe he has a soul. A sweet, caring, warm, sensitive soul.

Today we chased a ball across a corn field

far, far, across the corn field. We weren't paying attention as we took a little bike ride down the sidewalk and when we came back, the new Big Pink Ball was gone. Because it is so bright, I saw it winking at us in one of the cornfields that borders us (well, almost borders us, it is behind the neighbors across the street.) So, a hiking and a-mucking we went. Ainslie went piggy-back style as we trudged over the plowed field, seriously, a long way, and then back. A far cry from the city limits of Chicago!

Really, though, we are thrilled with the neighborhood. The neighbors are so friendly and everyone is out playing with their kids after school on nice days. Ainslie is the youngest, but the older kids are so great with her--that's why we lost the ball, we were chatting with a hilarious kindergartner from 3 houses up ("I saw you guys got a new refrigerator. How do you like it so far?") G across the street is 10 and the only other girl and has taken to Ainslie like a big sister, and Ainslie has already invited her to her birthday party. Not bad for less than 2 weeks.

Soon, the furniture will be here, work will calm down a little bit and we can just enjoy. Meanwhile, I am incredibly grateful every morning when I get up and walk into my kitchen, where my coffeepot has already brewed my coffee, which I pour into my mugs.

So happy and relieved!

We are officially homeless for a few more hours. Never thought I'd be happy about that!
Just spoke with one of the WONDERFUL people at WaMu and she has everything just about ready for our 4pm closing. YAY! 13 days ago, the mad rush began.

In a few short hours we will own a nice, modern, spacious house in a good school district, close to family, and with a smaller mortgage! YAY! God IS Good. ;-)

I can't wait for Ainslie to get here and see her new room. I've put off ordering a headboard (I'm considering making her one...) but I got her a bedframe, quilt, blanket, and of course she has her princess sheets (plus I found a nice match-the- blanket set at Kohls for--get this--$4.50! Thank you, clearance!) I'm hoping she'll love her new purple room.

Things will continue to be crazy at least until the 21st, but then they should calm down a wee bit, at least I won't have to travel after that (fingers crossed), and really, that's only three weeks.

Which reminds me, it's March! Happy Birthday Luke, Kaitlyn, Ashley, Lauren...hope I'm not forgetting anyone! You know what's great about March? Ah, the first day of Spring! I am a dyed-in-the-wool Midwesterner, but oh how I abhor winter.

Another great thing about March is that in 2 weeks we are going to see the Princesses on Ice. Oh, I just can't wait to see Ainslie's face! Who would ever have thought Craig and I would be so excited to go to one of these?

All in all, things are looking UP. Hopefully there will be no more whining from me for awhile.