Light

I was sitting in my new bright green deck chair after dinner, enjoying the 76-degrees-with-a-breeze air and the fact that it was 7:15 and I had nothing I needed to do. I called a law school friend I hadn't talked to in a while, chatted with my mom, and then just sat for a while in the evening light. JP was working, the kids were in bed... it was lovely. I snapped a picture:

Tex is hiding somewhere in that greenery, he is quite the outdoorsman now that we have some ground cover and trees. I panned over to the left to get the renovation station in all its glory. That door leads to the laundry room, separate toilet area for people to use while they're in the pool (our front hall bathroom would require walking all the way across the hardwood floors to access), and master bath. At the moment, none of that is accessible and my washer and dryer are unplugged, dusty, and living in my bedroom. Snazzy.

And then left a little more to the left to our wall of windows: master bedroom, family room, and sun room, the last of which houses our casual dining table and JP's new home office. He may be tired of talking on the phone 10 hours a day, but there's no doubt his view is much improved from his old windowless cubicle.

And while I sat in my backyard... just sitting... I had the biggest smile on my face. I'm so happy you guys. I love this job. I love the actual work, the people, the responsibility, the subpoena power, the places it will take me whenever (if ever) I'm ready to leave. But more than that, I love the schedule. I love getting to work at 8 and leaving at 4:30. I love that I pull in the driveway, kids in tow, at 5:00. I love that we can splash in the pool for 15 minutes before I remember to stick dinner in the oven and we're still eating by 6:00. I love dog-piling in Landon's bed, tickling and cuddling and singing and reading every single book requested because it's only 6:45 and we have time to waste. I love that when they're tucked in, the evening is mine. I love that I've never looked at my blackberry after hours. I knew this would be a good move for my family, but a reality without blackberries cannot really be understood until it is lived. We were happy and we were fine while I was at the firm, but in spite of the move and unpacking and the overwhelming number of acronyms and systems and names I've had to learn, the past three weeks have been some of the happiest, easiest, lightest days I've spent in a long while. I'm so glad we're here.