Catching up

It's amazing how little free time you have when you actually feel like living your life. I am actually able to keep busy all day long so well that I even get tired at a reasonable hour. I can't fall asleep without chemical assistance, but my rear is propelled in the direction of the medicine cabinet long before 2am, which is where I was at a week and a half ago.

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There is not much to report in general, though. Little things that all people do that I haven't felt like doing before now.

A trip to a kitchen store nearby filled from floor to ceiling with every wonderful thing you could imagine you might need for cooking and baking, and then some things you didn't even know you needed until you went there. I got the girls out the door and on the way to the store by 10:30 in the morning a few days ago. That is nothing short of miraculous. I decided not to look up directions (not all streets go where you expect them to here, but it's impossible to get lost in this city with the grid system), took several turns that ended up being bad ideas, and didn't come close to panicking. It was fun. Things like that have always been fun. I just forgot.

We didn't stay long. Twenty minutes in the car, two antsy toddlers, and lots of knives are not a good combination.

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We went to the park yesterday. For fun. The girls did not beg or plead. It sounded fun, so I got them dressed, and we walked over.

There was a lady there with a boy a little younger than Emmy. She spoke no English. I think it was Serbian, but I'm not sure. I remember a few phrases that the cleaning crew people taught me from my waitressing days, but I didn't think it would be so awesome if I tried the wrong but related language with her and instead of, "Hi, how are you?" said, "Hi, you smell like poo."

The Child went down the long slide by herself several times. She also climbed the mini rock wall and walked down the steps that look like a series of descending stools. The potential for falling in either case is very high. The last time she went, and I suggested it, she back away slowly while fearfully whimpering.

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I think Emmy might be ready to potty train soonish. Yeah. Yeah, I know. HOW AWESOME WOULD THAT BE. She's more defiant, but she also lacks all the fear that made it so difficult with Grace. Once she's a bit better at following commands, I think we can do it.

Every time I change her or check her, as soon as I unsnap her diaper, she says, "WOW!" like I just opened a Christmas present for her. Yes. Merry Christmas, here's the worst present ever.

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The weather is getting cooler. I... don't mind. How bizarre is that? This is the first fall in ages where the sinking feeling hasn't started sometime around the end of August.

It helps that fall in Utah (so far) means cooler weather, but not days and days of heavy, boring clouds. It's in the 70s and sunny most days recently, which is perfect for getting the kids out of the house and into the sun for some good vitamin D.

Our house has still not sold, but we have accepted an offer from a lady pending the sale of her own home. And she has accepted an offer on her house, pending financing. So we'll see. It's not a sure thing. I'm not going to allow myself to be excited until papers are signed, but I'm not worried anymore, either.

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I think that's all that's happened recently. It has been a wonderful summer full of just living and doing normal things and enjoying a sort of peaceful contentment. I can't remember a summer like this in a long time. My overwhelming emotion for several months now has been gratitude. God has always been very good to me--to us--, but this year it has been in very obvious, tangible ways. I am soaking it all in and committing it to memory now before winter hits, and I get grouchy and irritable again.

But who knows? That might not happen this year.