Author Archives: Jess

Someday life will be normal…

maybe in a month or so?  I’m just popping in to say that no, we did not get swept away in the ocean waves never to escape, I’ve just been swept up in the chaos of the summer, enjoying temporarily living with my parents, missing my husband terribly, and waiting for a place to call my own, for some semblance of normalcy.  I have not called it quits on the blogging thing, just haven’t been able to wrap my brain around what to write, what to share, what not to share… and so it’s just been nothing.

I’ll be back in September for sure.  I won’t make any promises, but I feel some new still life photos need to be made, new stuff needs to listed in my shop.  Hey, I bet by October I’ll be blogging regularly.  I think I could even commit to everyday… almost.

So, come back in September.  I’ll be ready to play catch up, or just start fresh.  I’ll have a new home, a new routine, I’ll have my husband back…

See ya then!

Summer School

Summer school

 

When most kids are out for summer break, we’re still busy doing “school.”  Even in our temporary state, it’s a beautiful thing to live in such a way that learning and life are one in the same– where a new boxed set of Roald Dahl’s books bring delight and an explosion in Jonah’s budding reading abilities, where all we really need for daily entertainment are a box of legos, some wooden blocks, and a good supply of paper and crayons– where the baby learning to imitate sounds and say some words is the funnest “toy” to play with.  We’ve learned what mocking birds look like, we’ve listened to them ramble in Robin and Warbler and Cricket.  We’ve swam in warm, turquoise ocean and learned first hand what it feels like to touch jellyfish (ouch!).  We’ve see a snowy egret catch and eat a fish right before our eyes, spent an afternoon with an American Green Tree Frog sticking to us with his miraculous toes, swam every day learning to hold our breath underwater, dive, and venture from the safety of the steps.

 

But, here, far away from anything familiar, in between places we can really call our own, the most important lesson we’ve learned is that home is where we are together.

 

(Photo by Barry.  For more pics of our Alabama adventures click here.)

It is hot and humid

in Alabama.  We do have a pool in our apartment complex, air conditioning set at a comfortable 72, but still no working internet connection in our apartment.  Right now I am precariously perched by our front door pirating some unsuspecting neighbor’s wireless connection with our lap top.

I’m just popping in to say that we made it.  My glorious friends did things like throw us a party, watch my kids, and (help me) clean my house before Barry magically arranged our stuff like a 3-D jigsaw puzzle into our cars and we headed to Alabama.  Apartment living is not bad, but it does seem strange that parking your car at home is no different than parking at Target…  I like driveways and garages.  And yards.  Yes, I miss having a yard, though it is soooo crazy hot and soggy here that we wouldn’t use it
but for a few minute to get all the jumps out of Logan’s springing legs so he wasn’t shaking the chandelier of the poor people below us.

I can’t quite post photos yet, but the internet guy should be fixing our problem once and for all on Tuesday.  Then you can see our cars stuffed to the gills and maybe even some giraffes from the zoo.

How’s that sound?

getting down to essentials

Here’s my birthday cheesecake.  I used the basic recipe in The Joy of Cooking.  It was super duper yummy.

birthday cheesecake

Now, for the real reason for this post:

The movers and packers will be here Thursday.  That leaves me two days with a washer and dryer.  And two days to get things in order and ready for our summer of adventure.  By May 31st we will be moved in to a little apartment in Alabama, where we will stay for a month.  In July we will make our way to Denver for a short house hunting and in-processing stay, then will be in California by July 21st.  We’ll be there until September and I’m hoping we’ll have lots of cool beach treasures and stories of camping and  a trip to Legoland to show for it.

All this means that we will have to live with only the things we can fit in our cars. for. four. months.  I’ve got toys whittled down to a small tub of little animals, another of wooden blocks, and another of legos.  Today my mission is to fit the kitchen into a Rubbermaid tub, wash all possible laundry, and get clothes under control.  There’s camping gear and books and computers and bicycles…

 Anyway, I’m not going to be posting here for a few weeks.  I’ll be back sometime in June with news of packing, travel, and apartment living with 4 kids…

Wish us luck!