I love a warm spring day

This morning it was dreary, and not quite raining outside. The husband went golfing and I spent the time prepping the house for a sales showing and harping on the kids not to undo what I had just done.
The husband got back home so we decided to go our for sushi while the house was being shown. It was warmer by this time, but still cloudy, overcast. We go in for sushi and are pleasantly surprised by the amount of food that the kids manage to eat. When mr. sunshine gets to be a teenager, the food intake is going to be insane.
But the best was when we walked out of the restaurant, it was sunny, very warm and absolutely perfect.We took a wander down to the action figure/comic book store, wandered around, and had a leisurely walk back. Nothing exciting, nothing to write about (yet I am), but so incredible in the simple happiness of enjoying the day and having nothing pressing to do.
Tomorrow: open house, brunch with friends, and tae kwon do competition. A little busier. But not so busy that it is out of control.
I never want to get to that point- where I am so busy that I frustrate myself. I know that as the kids get older, there will be more activities, different concerns. But life is a choice, and everything in it. I choose not to schedule my self out of control. I choose to keep my weeks sane and enjoyable. And I hope I read this in 10 years to remind myself......

Our new family member

So, my husband wakes me up at midnight last week. He had been fixing something on his bike and wanted to do a quick test drive when he found something in the alley and brought it in the house. No, not a homeless person, but a homeless baby bird. It was still very naked and not making any noise, so I was a bit heartless. I asked him to put it in a tiny box, lined with a towel, and if it was still alive in the morning, I would deal with it.
Surprise! I was truly shocked to find a live baby bird in my house the next morning. After a search on the internet we bought a can of wet dog food and starting feeding our new baby with tweezers . It was insatiable. Every half hour there was an insistent peep-peep from a teeny body and food was administered. It became used to my voice and if the little man heard me speak, well, that must mean it was dinner time again! If I spoke to the dog, peep-peep-peep-peep!!!! And it was easy at night- it went to sleep at dusk and woke up at dawn! If only our human babies had done that....
After several days, his feathers were coming in and he was looking quite handsome. We upgraded him to a shoebox lined with a towel. He would keep me company during the day- between scarfing worms and pooping in his box. At this point, we could tell that it was a starling. The kids loved it. Watching the growth each day, feeding, getting to hold it in their hands for a few seconds. What a great experience for them.
But after a few days, I realized that we would never be able to get our baby back into the wild, where it needed to be. We simply didn't know how. It was time to talk to professionals and see what needed to be done. A call to the local vet, a lead to the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, and a wonderfully kind woman came by within the day to take our little guy to a place where he would be re-introduced to the wild. She was quite impressed with how good he looked and was sure that he would have a good chance of making a clean break.
On a different note- we currently have our house on the market and have a few options of places to go. Our feathered friend seemed to be a great omen of new things to come. New life, coming soon!
I am surprised by how much I miss it. Here's to you, teeny bird!

Do I have to make dinner....?

I have been thinking about what to do my first blog on and I stumbled across the landmark book " The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan. I have never read it and am at a point where I need some new reading material, so what the hell.
Now, I should be making dinner, but find myself drawn into this book. I really can't be bothered to find anything in the freezer and I don't have the energy to start chopping and organizing a meal.
So I read.
As I am reading it, I find myself in great empathy with her and the women she studied. I am amazed at how much things have changed since the '60s, yet why am I still wondering who I am? At some level, I feel trapped in the feminine mystique but in a different way than those women were. Many were constrained by societal limitations, where my limitations are of the imagination. I married a great guy, quit work to raise two awesome kids, I know that I am more than wife and mom. I now more open to pursue a new career of my choice, but I no longer truly know who I am. The metamorphosis between professional woman to full time mom profoundly changed me in a way that I never expected. I grew into a person that I never thought that I would be. And yet I am happy with this woman that I am, even though I cannot see the full image of what I have become. I do know that I do not want to return to implementing software systems. I know that the world is full of opportunity, but what do I really want? And I still am not sure...
I want to explore all of the things that make me happy: a really good book, lush green outdoors, excellent food, gardening and cooking, travel- anywhere and everywhere, a great conversation- politics-religion- whatever. How can I turn these things into a livelihood? Do I want to turn them into a livelihood? Why so many questions?????
Crepes. I can make crepes for dinner and read at the same time. And I know that they will be eaten without complaint.
I have started down the road to my next big adventure ( to be traveled when not getting kids to school, taekwondo, ballet, etc) you are welcome to join me for the ride.