What Do You Want to Hear About?

It is quite clear by now that I am a ridiculously inconsistent blogger. I also write way too much when I do write. Really, it is likely more of a journal than anything, which is good, since life passes in such a blur that I lose most of it if I don't record it in words or pictures. Anyway, I often think about incredibly fascinating blog post topics throughout the day, either when I am doing something like driving, working/trying to work, caring for children, or being tired. Then I forget what I wanted to write about.

So, what do you want to hear/read?

Here are some facts of my life to help you come up with topics for me :)

• We have 3 kiddos, ages 2, 4, and 5, adopted together 18 months ago through public adoption. I could say an awful lot about that if I took the time. It has been easy and hard, surprising and just as I expected, fascinating and tedious, ugly and beautiful, energizing and exhausting.
• We have 4 pets - two hounds and two cats, who were living with us before kids.
• We are small-town folk, minutes from the (sort of) big city.
• Our house is old, and was likely rescued from either being flipped on the cheap, decaying gradually, or pretty much being de-boned and re-built. We did something in between. We like it. It has taken more than a decade to "basically" be finished renovations.
• Speaking of houses and small towns, we keep dreaming of an acreage, ideally still with an old house. A roomy one, with good space for potentially more kids, a private (but windowed and not TOO secluded) home office, at least a couple of living spaces to spread out with company & do homeschool, a barn, a workshop, a rolling landscape with nooks and crannies, and ideally even a little storefront space in case we get around to being a bit more consistent with our crafting.
• Our boys are being homeschooled - first official year. Considering some major work changes this fall, it's going reasonably well, I think.
• Our goal is to have a parent around full-time. For four weeks now, we are living what is hopefully a very short-term experiment with my husband working full-time again after parental leave, and me working 4 days/week (mostly from home), with an in-home, part-time nanny/sitter/caregiver. If anything, the arrangement is proving that this is not the lifestyle for us long-term. I think it's going as well as could be, generally, but freedom and flexibility and being with the kids are definitely more important than the frills we can enjoy with an extra job.
• We like to craft, on an amateur-ish scale, and got caught up in the moment and ended up registering to be vendors at a local Christmas sale next weekend. So I am madly sewing up hand-puppets today, while Geoff whips up some more wood pieces, and we plan to show up with those items, along with some birdhouses, left-over Africa bags from our adoption fund raising, accessories (scarf sort-of things and fabric necklaces), and see how it goes.
• I love food of all kinds, including junk and fast food, but we eat pretty well at home (minus my add-on snacking habit). I keep working toward a goal of all-natural eating, cosmetics, cleaning products, etc. We have made progress, but still have plenty of room for improvement.
• Faith and church are a big deal to us. Geoff and I help teach youth Sunday School, join the band or choir with trumpet (Geoff) or flute (me) on occasion, and have just joined the choir. Our contemporary and traditional/liturgical services start a trial combined period tomorrow, with a slightly more contemporary focus (we attend the traditional, as a rule). I am part of an ad-hoc committee planning the new services. This is clearly a major "thing" for everyone in our church right now.
• I enjoy the flexibility and variety in my work as an occupational therapist with a small, private health clinic. Most of my clients have been injured in car accidents, and I see them in their homes, workplaces, and at the clinic. My first 11 years of practice were spent in inpatient adolescent psychiatry, so the past 3.5 years have been a huge learning curve and change of pace. I like to learn, and finished a distance master's degree in my field a few years ago. I suspect more formal learning could very well be in my future, but I don't have a specific direction or plan at the moment. Research, writing, editing, and planning all equal good times in my opinion :)
• Increasingly, I am uncomfortable with excess and self-indulgence, although I still feel excessive and self-indulgent despite being more attentive to my habits in certain areas. For so many reasons, selfish and unselfish, I think much peace and freedom lies in simplicity. As a person with many interests and a love of variety, this is a constant battleground.
• I am losing track of time, and must get the kids up if we are going to make it to the next town's Christmas activities, especially the horse-drawn wagon ride and visit with Santa. The whole Santa thing is another area of mixed feelings. I would be happy to write about that, too.