Homeless

We're moving out of our house Thursday. Our stuff will go in storage. We will go to my brother's. And then we'll wait and pray for a house (as will my brother).

Once we had a contract on a new house, it seemed such a big goal to sell our old house that we never considered asking for more time in it. We were elated our old house sold so quickly. Six days! It was a miracle.

Now that miracle will be someone else's house on Friday, and I don't know where to forward our mail. Or our calls. Or our magazines or bills or Netflix movies.

We are so blessed. I can't say I'm worried. I'm really not stressed either. I just feel adrift. I can't plan events, invite people over, commit to new activities -- not until we know where we'll be living. It feels like events are floating out in the future without a context - without a house to ground them. And it saps my productivity. Out-of-town trips felt different, because we knew our home still existed and we could come back to its comforts anytime. Now, the comforts of our home will be locked in a cinder block 10x20' cell, which makes them slightly less comforting.

But it is an adventure. I didn't know how I'd react to these circumstances. Now I know. And someday this will all make for a great (or very boring) story. In the meantime, I'm praying that we'll land in the right spot at the right time, the home that will bring us closer to each other and to God. And that we'll land there in the next two weeks.

Q & A

In my experience, when people see a baby, they ask two questions:
1) How old is he?
2) Is he crawling/walking?

The questions have no relation to each other. I know this because I asked them of other people before I had Noah, and I hadn't a clue when babies were supposed to start anything. I asked them to show my interest, to avoid silence, and to flatter the parents.

Now that I'm a parent, I understand this phenomenon in a whole new light. For instance, they sound like easy questions. Maybe. But do you want to hear 10 months and 3 weeks? Should I round up (even though adults don't say they're 40 until they actually turn 40)? But if I say 10 months, that's actually less accurate because he's closer to 11 months. Or do months sound too anal and really I should be saying "almost a year"? Maybe I should just say 48 weeks and let you do the math.

And then there's the milestone question. This should at least be binary, right? Wrong. Learning to sit was a two-month proposition for Noah - first sitting assisted, then sitting with less assistance, then sitting with an occassional fall, and finally sitting with such balance that he could turn, lean, and re-balance himself. Not to mention that he just learned how to sit up on his own.

The same seems to be true for crawling. Is he crawling? Well, not technically. He doesn't move quickly on all fours across vast spaces. But he does gradually get where he wants to go through a series of shoves, pushes, squirms, rotations, and willpower. He's deceptively mobile. It looks like you could leave him alone in a room, but then you come back in to find him chewing on a cord. (Not that I would do that.)

For the record, I don't mind people asking me these questions. In fact, I feel properly flattered that the asker is interested in my beautiful, perfect child. It's just taken me a little time to figure out which answers I'm comfortable giving. On the first question, I round to the nearest month or year (depending how interested you look). On the latter, I agree with a friend of mine who says, "No, but he gets where he wants to go." No kidding.

My Little Pop-Up

Monday, Noah discovered how to sit up on his own. He hasn't had a decent nap since. He's too excited. As soon as I lay him down, he pops back up. It makes going to sleep quite a process and long naps almost impossible.

Usually, he goes to sleep on his own. During naps, he wakes after 45 minutes, talks a little, and then goes back to sleep for another 45 minutes.

In this new sitting-up-on-my-own world, it takes 15 minutes and an extra visit to get him to sleep. Then after 45min of napping, he wakes up, pops up, and talks himself into a tizzy - partially because he's having too much fun sitting up, partially because he's not very good at lying back down again. Will we ever enjoy a 90min nap again?

Suggestions are welcome.

Of the Essence

If time is the most valuable commodity (yes - even more so than gas), then I've been doing some important experiments over the last few weeks to determine how I'm willing to spend it.

A few activities I plan to repeat:

- The Park - Since I've already written my ode to our jogging stroller, I'll just say that our local park has a paved, shaded path that we visit almost daily. It's natural, athletic, and free. Only hiccup: heat.

- Festive Treats - Whether it's hot-cross buns for Easter, a 4th-of-July flag cake, or "bad dates" for an Indiana Jones movie night, baking and holidays (both real and made-up) help our family celebrate life. So maybe I'm an unlikely Betty Crocker. I can still read P&Ls. I just consider myself better "diversified."

- Facebook - With a few quick clicks, I've reconnected with more old friends than I even remembered - from high school, grad school, past jobs. Some of it serves the curiosity factor (Where are they now?), but some is truly social networking at its most efficient.

- NPR & Moody Radio - I don't imagine those networks share many listeners, but Josh and I have found they balance each other nicely. NPR tells us the sky is falling, while Moody tells us why and how to fix it.

Just not worth it:

- Weekly Weeknight Commitments - Our evenings have a rhythm that works - unless I'm running out every Mon, Wed, and Thurs for Bible study, book club, etc. Noah may be asleep by then, but Josh isn't, and I just don't like to be gone that much. Sorry, no more Beth Moore study for now.

- Long Trips - After two nights on the road with Noah, we're both ready for home. Eating and sleeping just don't work as well when we're moving from one place to another. I love to travel, and we're still planning a few longer trips, but I just nixed the 3-city 7-nighter coming up in Sept. What was I thinking??

- Oprah - An hour of commercials interspersed with a few moments of content. And somehow the only days I remember to watch, she's interviewing polygamists or profiling people who've lost 200 pounds. I have friends who've learned a lot from Oprah. I think I'll just stick with learning from those friends.

On the fence:

- The YMCA - I love the childcare, elliptical, pool, TV, and air conditioning. I don't love that Noah's having separation issues. We'll keep trying, but at some point, the staff may not take us back.

- Grocery Game - I'm not a big shopping fan. It stresses me out. Add in too many rules, and I might just choose to starve. But I'm working the program: coupons, sales, stock-ups. One week at a time. We'll see...

Still to be explored:

- Library's Storytime
- The Zoo
- Cheekwood Gardens

Sir Goofiness

(Mommy and Noah having a little too much fun at Target)

I Got It, Mom

We love the jogging stroller. What an invention. It frees us to run over hill and dale while keeping Noah dry, shaded, and smooth sailing. We've run through the park, around cities, and in the rain.

And it seems the stroller has given Noah a similar feeling of empowerment. There are two little bolts on the bar that crosses in front of him on the stroller. Whenever he's riding he leans forward (sometimes with his feet propped up on the bar) and places each index finger on a bolt. If a hand has to come off to scratch his nose, it goes right back to the bolt. He's tenacious - and hilarious.

Any day now I expect him to turn around and say to me, "Roger, Mom. I got it covered. Nothing gettin' past me. Over-and-out."

Is That Egg On My Face?

For years, Josh and I have debated whether to buy basic cable or the next step up (more $, more channels). Neither of us has ever watched much TV except when Josh occasionally watches UofL on ESPN.

Thankfully, the issue was pushed to the back burner for 5 years since Comcast has piped upgraded cable into our home, even though we only paid for basic.

But with the prospect of moving, the question has resurfaced. In our new house, should we go with basic or pay for the whole enchilada? I hate the low-quality programming on most of the extra cable channels, so I've been steadily voting for the cheaper, cleaner basic. Josh understands, but as a faithful UofL fan, he hasn't been ready to give up ESPN.

Enter Comcast. Exactly five years after we bought this house and one month before we sell it to someone else, Comcast decided to make our TV selection match our bill. They cut our programming back to basic. Good-bye ESPN.

Hello egg. You see, about 3 weeks ago, someone suggested that I start watching HGTV to get tips for our move and new home. I followed their advice, and I've gotten sucked in. Househunters, Design to Sell, My First Place. They are fun, educational, and relevant - or were.

Now that we finally have the basic cable I've spent 6 years promoting, I'm pining for the room make-overs and voyeurism that taught me how to re-upholster a headboard and counsel a first-time homeowner.

Maybe this is a good time to "give in" to Josh's desire for expanded cable?