Dec
14
Around the time we decided to put our house on the market—back in July, I guess it was—we stumbled across a house for sale in Eugene that we both sort of fell in love with. I told myself it was useless to spend any time thinking about the property, for surely it would sell before we’d ever have a chance to even consider making an offer. But as you know, daydreams have a way of sneaking around the logic centers in your brain. I pictured our kids playing in the yard, the Christmas tree on display in the front window, the pile of cheery magazines in the sunny kitchen nook.
We looked at schools in the area, calculated drive times, toured the house twice. Over the months the sellers dropped their price little by little, but it stayed on the market. I had a silly thought this house was waiting for us, somehow.
I suppose even if that was true, like anything else, houses can’t wait forever. We learned a couple weeks ago that a sale was finally pending. There’s no point in mourning something that was never yours, but still. It’s hard not to.
I have this image of our future as a set of cards that’s constantly being shuffled right now. A few weeks ago we were really feeling the pinch of JB’s struggling business, today he’s landed a temporary contract gig that will see us through the next several months. I was offered a full time remote job with vacation and benefits, which I gave serious consideration to (but ultimately decided to keep my home/work balance as is for now). I don’t know what will change in the next weeks, months, years: what will happen with JB’s company, whether or not we’ll be able to move, when I’ll go back to school, where our careers will take us.
I sometimes wish it was all figured out—that the path was clear and we had all the answers. Mostly, though, I feel lucky. I don’t know if I believe in fate, but I do believe in hard work. I believe in our little family. I know we don’t let a closed door stop us dead. We find something else to open.
Dec
12
Have you seen Maru, the Japanese Internet Sensation? The boys are totally in love with these videos and can watch them over and over again, shrieking at top volume every time Maru gets into/out of a box.
Example:
I’ll be the first to admit a couple of small children attacking some cardboard is not quite as unique as a pudgy box-obsessed Scottish Fold, but they’re losing their minds over this video. Now they are just like Maru.
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