The Long Winter's End

It's been a long few weeks. Will is on the East Coast scouting out prospects as we plan for the Great Unknown Post-PhD Future.  We're crossing every finger and a few toes too.

 (I think he's also having a great time.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Mary is wishing the animals would just butcher, wrap, and pop themselves into the freezer. I knew goats were pesky but I forgot that they are diabolical and can actually fly.

The prospect of selling the house is terrifying and exciting. I am using Will's absence as an excuse to purge and downsize without anyone saying, "Hey, I was saving that for the kids." I might even paint some walls. There's also nobody to remind me that it takes a lot of gas money to drive to Ottawa, so we've done a few trips and bought some very necessary organizational furniture. (I feel like I'm going to confession right now....)

It's still Orthodox Lent around here, and this year I'm trying to be very sombre and focused, so no movies or music...for me. The kids are being fuelled with Ninjago. We get quite a lot of firewood and animal chores out of one episode. I monitor them to make sure they haven't lost their appetite for more elevated art, but a few weeks of crap diet hasn't done too much damage. And it has inspired a whole lot of improvised martial arts and an interest in kanji too. I love both Japanese and Chinese alphabets so it's lovely to find scraps of paper, maps, secret messages strewn about! And all that zany humour...very good for the morale during this last stretch of winter.

I am listening to Ancient Faith Radio podcasts while I work and really enjoying the ramblings of Fr. Thomas Hopko. He has a talk on the Sermon on the Mount which knocked me off my chair last year. (This is the time of year when I come face-to-face with my humanity....and realize just how far I have to go on this Christian journey.)

Oh yes, and egg candles!