Alive and well...

I'm back. No triumphant re-entry here...just a humble hundredth attempt to blog with some regularity. We shall see. Things here are slightly insane, which has a lot to do (I think) with my compulsion to write. If I don't process all of the nuttiness that is whirling around me at a frightening pace these days, I fear I may get caught up in the cyclone and be carried off to a crazy place.

So what variety of nuttiness have we got on our plates this month of August, 2007?

Selling our house. Now that Robert has been commuting 2 hours a day for 2 years...now that he is tackling a masters degree on top of full-time employment...now that I am also commuting 2 hours a day....now that Ella attends Montesorri in the same general vicinity of Robert's job...now that we have found a church in the same town as Ella's school....Well, yeah, you get it. It no longer makes any sense at all for us to live in South Jersey, when every commitment we have is an hour+ away in PA. So, the house is on the market, and we hope and pray daily for a quick sale. Know anyone who wants to plop down in Barrington??

New job. Tomorrow will kick off my second week as Membership Director at the Main Line YMCA. The daily rhythm of the workplace agrees with me, and I am glad to be exercising parts of my brain that I fear have developed a thick covering of cobwebs over the past 3 years of full-time motherhood. Don't get me wrong- motherhood is challenging and rewarding in ways I can't even begin to find words to explain. And yet, the office environment is reawakening parts of me that I missed and longed for, and I am grateful.

New school. Despite our failed attempt at introducing Ella to Montessori last winter, we decided to give it another go. We found a different (and infinitely superior, in my not-so-humble opinion) Montessori program near Robert's office, and have hit the ground running, with no turning back. Ella made a sweet friend in the first few minutes of her first day (5 year old Katya), and is thriving in this environment of encouraged independence, free exploration and self-directed learning. She shows no upset at either drop-off or pick-up, which is a huge relief and joy for both myself and Robert.

New church. We have found a new church which we hope to call home, and are thankful beyond words for a new chance to sink into community, and to worship and servce Christ alongside like-minded believers. Right now it is hard to really 'dig in' in the way that we hope to, being that we live over an hour away. However, once the house sells, the plan is to be within 15 minutes of church, our jobs, and Ella's school.

On that note, pray with us for a speedy and uncomplicated sale of the house that we've spent 2 years turning into our home. It will be a bittersweet departure...but factoring in commutes, it will mostly be sweet!