I haven't told you what we've been up to since February. That's the worthless power of a bi-monthly update. There I am, wondering aloud what we'll do with our lives and then I'll ramble on about Japan and house projects and meanwhile two full months will pass. I'm still stalling now as I type this... because mostly we still don't know.
So! Scenes from the last two months:
Since his return from east Asia, the Big One has officially stopped working for the old firm, bought the required computer and softwares to do structural engineering from his guest-room office, made spreadsheets about finances, and somehow managed to be just as busy as he was when legally employed. I thought his temporary "retirement" would result in lazy mornings, whimsical afternoons, and periods of stagnant boredom, but I was wrong. I think I've just now learned that Brett Eisenhauer doesn't really relax. He takes breaks of course. He often leaps around the living room to incite the pups, slaps me around, goes surfing, and reads books in the hammock, but he doesn't wake up wondering how he'll fill a day with luxury and leisure. He finds things to fix, study, or improve.
I'm slightly disappointed.
I did not get the job I interviewed for while he was out (what a relief!) and suggested that the universe simply prefers me to be unemployed. What with all I do for the chickens...
It's actually that I want to do volunteer work professionally. I have too many good things I'm working on. It's a shame I don't get paid to do it, because it thrills me and there are so many different pots on that stove that things are always different and exciting. I've loosely decided to try to build a local coalition of sorts. It's still in the beginning stages but I've got a partner in this endeavor and she's much smarter than I am. She and I did go spend Earth Day at the College of Charleston - talking to kids about food systems and what not. I loved it a surprising amount (and now secretly want to work on campus with all the neat kids I met. Think they'd hire me to just encourage their good thoughts?) The kids I spoke to were so much more knowledgeable about things than I was at their age, and they're plugged into efforts and initiatives that you couldn't have paid me to participate in back then. I found it all encouraging and enlivening.
Big Mama found a last minute deal for a beach house at Edisto, so the family loaded up and headed out. We had a near full-house with Ellen and Lee's squirts accompanied by Owen and Ethan, but that brand of chaotic goodness was short lived as the little ones still had to go to school. We snacked, napped, lounged in the sun, and played one full round of Shanghai. A cast of characters came in and out throughout the week but the home had one full-time resident, Big Mama U, who appreciated every second of being on Edisto.
Olivia has taken an interest in outer space while Nick works on not wetting his pants. He's been doing a good job, but the excitement of an egg hunt proved to be too much this Easter, and he arrived back to the adults with a full basket, a big smile, and a sizable stain on his pants. I thought it was most amusing and when Ellen asked him about it, he ran to the end of the yard and hung his head in shame.
Ah the next generation.
Finally, in pet news; Pippa has developed a new mystery ailment and Grace has found a way to escape the backyard. Both of these inadvertently take a good hour out of affected days. Ferguson arrived home with a large puncture wound in his back (he's not bothered), Nora has taken to challenging Pippa for prime sofa real-estate, and one of my feral cats has had two kittens. One is orange and one is black and they are both so tiny and cute. They are afraid of me, so no pictures yet.
Brett told me I can't feed them.
I understand.
Longing to escape for good.
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