Playing It Cool

I have a rambling update forming in my brain, just waiting to jump out via my fast-typing fingers to the delight of the waiting internets. (Hello, internets! How y'all doing?) I have no idea, really, how this is going to come out. I just know I need to get some of our family news out in the open, and so I guess a whammy of a post this may be.

First off, Notre Dame is officially (again) a go for The Professor. I'm going to spare you lots of the details, since they're of a personal nature, but I will say this: it's still a fantastic offer from a great school, his current employer is still being incredibly supportive and encouraging, and we are still amazed at the outpouring of love and support from family and friends. Some details have changed from how we originally thought this would work out; most noticeably, The Professor will be giving up his full-time teaching status at ONU and only staying on in the capacity as the director of the planetarium, which is, essentially, a weekend gig. This will satisfy Notre Dame's requirements (it's a heckuva demanding program, and they weren't comfortable with him retaining any teaching at ONU during the first couple years of classes at ND) while still allowing him to keep his foot in the door at ONU. ONU, for their part, is allowing this leave for 2-3 years, wisely recognizing how The Professor pursuing such a quality degree will benefit everyone in the end. Isn't that fabulous?

This means LOTS of hard stuff for our family. We are taking a large cut in pay and a loss of benefits, and we are going to have to cinch in our belts quite a bit. I don't say this to garner sympathy or support--I'm just telling you how it is. It will require lots of other sacrifices, too, which I'll keep vague. Suffice to say, we're trading a rough few years for a wonderful opportunity and a fabulous education for The Professor. We are so proud of him.

In preparation for such changes, we are scrambling to get a few house things done before we say bye-bye to any extra income for a couple years. We've finally fixed the leak that was causing water to literally run into our living room walls, and we've bought a new storm door for the front and a new, more secure, back door. The Professor cleaned out and organized the basement, and we've started storing stuff in the garage for a planned summer garage sale. We bought trim for our downstairs bathroom yesterday so that we can FINALLY pronounce it ALL DONE (well, as soon as it's installed), and The Professor successfully installed a new kitchen faucet this week. Our old one bit the dust and we washed our dishes in the bathtub for a couple days.

THE FUN IS NEVER-ENDING.

Spring makes me feverishly excited, as I am one of those weirdos who loves getting her hands dirty in the yard and planting, pruning, and weeding. I have worked for two weekends now to get our front and side flower beds in shape, and now I'm begging my husband for flagstone so I can make a nice, neat border around said beds. (Anyone have any flagstone they need to liberate?) Our azalea bushes are blooming, the hostas are poking through the earth, and Mrs. Dorothy's random clumps of jonquils and tulips are in full swing. The Professor mowed the lawn for the first time this season just yesterday, and the kids have been breaking into the sidewalk chalk for a few weeks now. They have also relearned the joy of their swingset, which B proudly calls "my park." Or his "playground," depending on his mood.

What else?

Baby C has, over the course of just the last few days, become very needy and anxious about separation. She screams any time you lay her down in her bed; last night I actually rocked her to sleep for the first time EVER. Some of you moms out there might gasp in shock, but please remember my particular situation: I had twins. There were two of them at once, each demanding the same thing at once, so they never had the luxury of being rocked to sleep. (We went through a difficult "cry it out" stage with them when they were about 7 months old.) I then had another baby 17 months later, meaning I had NO TIME to rock ANYONE. I actually didn't own a rocking chair until after Baby C was born, but she has never allowed me to rock her to sleep until last night, when, I suppose, she really was too tired to chatter and look around, as is her usual plan on action when I have attempted rocking in the past. So. She and I had a special first moment together, and I really enjoyed it, despite how strange it was for me. (I tend to fall into the "let them work it out" camp.)

She and her brothers are all thick as thieves, and with all the running and playing and falling, they are all sporting brilliantly scraped and bruised knees nowadays. J is our peacemaker, who takes it as his job to make sure everyone is comfortable and has equal shares of toys. He's like an expert flight attendant. B is maturing daily; while he is still sensitive and needy, he is not quite as touchy as he was a couple weeks ago. He is growing into a quiet and deep-thinking little boy who tends to become more quiet in unsettling situations (this is progress) where his brother or sister will only cry harder. We, as his parents, are trying to organize some one-on-one time with the kids; as well as they all work together, they need individual attention, which is very difficult in our family.

And what of us? The Professor is wrapping up another semester and gearing to teach summer school starting in May. He's extremely excited about Notre Dame. I could never think of refusing him something that makes him so happy. I am pretty much same-old, same-old. My craft fair last month went well experience wise; I made some money, but not a lot, due to poor attendance. But more than anything I got exposure and an education, and I've continued to sell a few things here and there. I'd like to tackle a simple dress for Baby C this spring/summer. We'll see! It will probably end up looking like a toga.

So that's my random, jumbly update, inexplicably preceded by a picture of a sunglasses-wearing baby and an unrelated post title. That's okay! It's my blog and I can be random if I want to.