In retrospect

2013 was one of lots of changes.  Eli grew at least half a foot, his voice deepened dramatically and he has even taken a razor to his upper lip.  Once.  Whenever we notice these things he makes loud noises to block out our voices and says "Don't talk about it! Write it down if you have to.  Keep a journal.  Then give it to me.  And I will burn it."  Too bad that my journal is electronic.

Theo is going through his own changes.  He's growing a bit in terms of height.  But his feet. Good lord.  Huge.  And his confidence. It grows daily, delightfully.  He is on his fifth trip through the Harry Potter books.  This time he finished book 7, took at least an hour break and then settled back into a bean bag chair with book one.  It astonishes me that he has new insights each time he reads this series.  Lucky kid.

We are busy changing the layout of this old house of ours.  We thought long and hard about moving instead of fixing up this one.  But as we looked around, we realized how much we really like about this house- the fireplace, the deck, the garden...the somewhat spacious yard for St. Paul (ok, my yardstick of comparison is small), neighbors, location.  We looked at lots of places that had pieces, but then decided to make some changes and stay here.  We started with a plan to turn the 3 season porch into a yearround space as a way to get the office out of the dining room.  In the end the porch will remain a porch, but we gutted the kitchen and are putting a room and a bathroom in the basement- hopefully to lure teenage friends here so that our boys have a place to hangout that is safe and warm and somewhat 'private'.  And the office will probably still be in the dining room.  But we're excited about more light, more openness, and yes, another bathroom.  Maybe the most exciting thing is that a plumber got into our upstairs bathroom and for the first time in our decade-long residence on Brimhall Street, you can flush the toilet willy nilly.  No waiting 30 minutes.  No filling the tank from the bathtub.  It's lovely.

Jon and I still toil away at the same jobs, but we like them.  At Avalon we are figuring out ways to get more involved in the school reform movement, which keeps things lively.  And for Jon, the Central Corridor is about to go 'live' which should be exciting for both him and the rest of St. Paul.

We are looking forward to 2014.  To a completed house project.  To a winter full of skiing, and archery tournaments where I have to be quiet, which is hard, but worth it.  To a spring of Ultimate Frisbee on sunny afternoons, watching the boys run around while we chat with lovely parents.  To another season of History Day and whatever that may bring. To a lovely trip to Yellowstone with the Sage Clan to celebrate the fact that my parents have been married for 50 years.  50 of them.  To summer number 12 at Dunord, where Eli will turn 15.  15.  Holy moly.  I can't wait for it to all unfurl.

Home again home again, jiggety jig?

Well, we spent the weekend before moving back home cleaning this place from top to bottom.  The dust was so thick that it instantly was in my mouth, eyes.  But by the end of the weekend it seemed livable.  We then retreated back to Hudson for a few more days of cleaning out there.  Unfortunately, after getting my parents' mostly cleaned up we had an epic toilet back up.  It involved some cursing on my part.  Ended with a call to a plumber who quickly fixed it up and handed us a bill.  Worth it, however.

Our timing was not ideal.  As I was putting the last few bags in the car out in Hudson, Jon texted to say that the crew was just finishing blowing in insulation and we should stay out of the house for the next 24 hours.  Really?  I had a car load of all our gear, it was about 0 degrees, the boys were on the bus headed toward Brimhall, and my parents were moving back into their house that afternoon.  I tried to stay calm but my recently acquired case of hives indicated that I was stressed.  I think I was about 70% covered by the time I pulled up in front of our house.  I quickly unloaded the car, agreed that it smelled bad and we shouldn't stay there and awaited the boys.  They were excited to be home, so not so excited when I told them to quick pack an overnight bag, we were headed to New Brighton.

But now we are in, at least for the short term.  It's crowded and cold and dusty, but the fireplace works, we put  up a small tree, and we are working out some systems.   Boys have been wonderful so far about trekking down to the dark dusty basement to help out with dishes.  And as they love quesadillas, our griddle/microwave fare has not bothered them.  Yet.  The laundry drying rack gets moved from room to room as we change our position throughout the day, and the lack of water on the first floor is constantly surprising.  Not sure why.

Luckily I just finished reading Half the Sky, about oppression of women around the globe, so I am able to realize that while this situation is mildly uncomfortable and frustrating, we are still extremely priviliged.  Hoping to be able to concentrate on that over the next few weeks and get to the other end of this minor disruption with some grace.