Spring

I had great plans to write all about Thanksgiving, and our recipes, and our family fun, but then time passed too quickly and all my plans got away from me. Thanksgiving was wonderful. There was a requisite turkey-related mishap, but it was very small and didn't impinge on the holiday. We had an abundance of cheesecake and just enough leftovers. We liked the turkey thing enough that we made another for Christmas, and then learned that a turkey for just the two of us is way, way too much bird.

We're still using up the frozen turkey stock, eight cups to go.

Christmas was lovely. Instead of a mountain of presents from my grandparents, we got exactly what I'd hoped for: hand stitched ornaments for our tree. Little things to treasure, and pass down, and celebrate. It's worth more to me than a bunch of stuff.

We have an abundance of stuff.

My mom spent a lot of this winter telling me about the mountain of stuff at her mother in law's, which my mother and her husband are sorting through and fighting with E's sister about. It sounds terrible. Stacks of old, unopened toothpaste. A lifetime supply of Tums. I don't remember the specifics, and the truth is that they don't even matter -- there's just too much stuff. Too. Much. Stuff.

In some sort of reflexive reaction to these stories, M and I made a stab at organizing the garage room this weekend. It is going to take many, many weekends for us to really get a handle on that space, but we're started now and that's very important. The bad part is that we're trying to get the space organized so we can put more stuff in that room and less in the rest of the house (which ultimately leads to more stuff everywhere, I'm pretty sure).

This is the closest to Spring Cleaning I get, people.

Outside of the Stuff Wars, we're doing okay. We sort of mid-review on a lot of different levels. We're two-thirds done with our taxes, reviewing our investments and savings plan, waiting to see what my raise is going to be and how last year's bonus will pay out -- February seems to be when I clean house financially, if not literally. M's rounded the half-way mark on school, and that's sitting better with everyone. We've earmarked a few house projects for this year, and bought our plane tickets for this summer's vacation.

I've also had a few unsubtle reminders to keep in perspective how much seemingly little things can affect other people for the positive. Sometimes we downplay the effect we have on other people's lives, or miss acknowledging it entirely. It seems to be an object lesson at the moment, one the Universe has on repeat.

On outside matters, our tiny garden has started looking like Spring. There are lettuces peeking up and the Apricot's in bloom. M bought a lawnmower with some of the Christmas money, and keeps hacking at the palm trees in his spare time.

I wax in and out of love with my job. Right now I am very much in a holding pattern, waiting to transition into the next stage of my life once M graduates and our opportunities free up again. I don't know if this job will be part of that next great adventure, but it's still integral to our Now. Part of this great journey is finding reasons to love it until we don't need it any more, and that's easier some days than others.