I apologize for my long, unplanned absence. I have heard it is bad blogging etiquette to just drop off the face of the earth with no explanation. It makes sense with the high rate of abandoned blogs and the fact that you may have reserved real estate for me on your home page. I hope that my blog, like the ones that I read is an anticipated voice and journey. That being said, I have been reveling in my time without kids and it has been a nice break from writing about parenting, too.
Inevitable emotions came up around the holidays. In making plans for Thanksgiving, I had a phone conversation that made my mom cry. I am glad that my mom cries, I sort of like to cry. But, it is not easy to have my mom cry, especially on the other end of the phone, especially with grief that has come through my channels. Hanging out with other kids and having a more empty house both led to comparisons of last year, when our lives were filled with beginnings, chaos and hope.
We had made it our goal for the last half of 2009 to spend time with kids that we know. This ended up happening a lot, especially for J-, with trips to the zoo, the science museum, the movies and circus and childcare. It was a real treat to hang out with kids that had some combination of being thoughtful, articulate, minding, having emotional control, and being able to process information that they were taking in. At first, it was hard for me to relax around them. I was just expecting at any minute for them to lose it and to have to deal with some sort of big confrontation. It was also validating and sad to see how developmentally behind T-7 really is.
The end of the year was punctuated by the fact that we would be re-entering the system in January (which we have). We decided that we would be working directly through A- County and are halfway through the PRIDE classes. We will still have a logistically tedious licensing process ahead of us over the next few months, with CPR, fingerprinting, TB tests and references to deal with. Since we theoretically could be matched again in the summer, it is time to clean up loose ends that have accumulated over the last year.
So, the beginning of the year has thus far been characterized by work. My massage practice is the busiest that it has ever been, plus I am playing music 1-2 times per week and have a few new projects that I am starting. J- decided to teach intersession at his university because we are paying off some preschool debt. And, we have decided to make it a goal for our year to save the big bucks for a new roof. Before we matched with the girls, we had tried to knock out any projects on the house that we would want done for a while. I can’t say that we forgot about the roof, but it wasn’t really a realistic project at the time. I am grateful that it has been holding up thus far in this weeks storm!
Other projects are happening in all parts of our lives. Initially, we settled back into a few ofthe routines that we had pre-kid. Now, we are filling the time up with other things. We are still considering a timeline and criteria for our next placement, but we will likely be licensed again by the summer. Until then, we are going to make the most of a kid-free lifestyle.
