Beginnings, Endings, and Blessings

JP finished business school on Friday. The actual graduation isn't until the 21st, but he's done with class and presentations and exams, and I couldn't be happier or more proud of him. We will have been married for 5 years this September and we've had one part of our pair in grad school the whole time. And now, at the end of it, we have a JD, an MBA, and a monstrous amount of educational debt (totaling $178,000 or so). That debt, and the payments we make on it every month, stands in place of the vacations we don't take, the car I don't drive, and the restaurants we don't eat at. But that's temporary-- it also stands for a hell of a lot of hard work and an investment that we've made in our future and the future of our little family. And speaking of that little family, we made that in grad school too.

We're having the official graduation dinner when his family comes into town for the ceremony, but on Friday we celebrated the way that we like to - with a margarita, a diet coke, and a cup of milk, clinking for a toast over a bowl of queso on the pier at Hula Hut. Later we sat on the couch after Landon had gone to bed, together for the first time in weeks without a pressing need to be anywhere else, and enjoyed the simple pleasure of just being with the one you love the most.

And so begins a new chapter. With our baby girl's arrival in a few weeks it's really two new chapters starting at once. Our family of four. Two working parents (well, hopefully two, JP is working on that). A refinanced house- a renewed commitment to this home and this neighborhood that we're making our own. A mini-menagerie of pets (though I still think we have room to adopt a second cat), and a file cabinet full of adult things like life insurance and a will and estate plan. I'm not sure if this is where I thought I'd be, but I sure am happy to be here.

To add to the celebratory weekend, my sister and her boyfriend came over for a cookout last night and then babysat while JP and I went to see a movie. Our first movie to see in a theatre since February of 2009. We had two free tickets and a giftcard as a present from one of his swimmers and we decided we should use them now while we only have to saddle our sitter with the care of one child. Iron Man 2 was fun and mindless- exactly what I wanted- and I enjoyed the movie-going experience even more than I remembered, though I was appalled to find that a medium popcorn and diet coke came to $12.50 ($12.50!) and JP and I both reached out for an imaginary remote when the volume jumped up for an action sequence. On the way out we admitted we were worried about Landon waking up. Little reminders that first and foremost, we are parents now.

I continue to be well. My ultrasound revealed a perfectly formed little girl who looks very cramped in her tight quarters. My boys built a Mother's Day bouquet for me at the grocery store yesterday and Landon could not be more proud of it (or of the flower pot he painted for me at daycare, though he doesn't know that I have never grown anything that lived for longer than a few weeks). We've enjoyed a restful morning of church, pancakes, and chocolate chip cookies. Now Landon is sleeping, JP is swimming, and I'm sitting. Sitting, waiting, and feeling very happy and blessed.