More than the Sum

Today was my “If you are not pregnant in six months come see me again” visit with my new ob/gyn.

I went straight from her incredibly promising session to the lab down the hall to get four different blood tests done.

I have two more tests to be done over the next three weeks.

My new doctor is so supportive and so positive. It’s hard to face this without that attitude and caring attentiveness. I am thankful for her.

All the same . . .

. . . This is my life right now.

And now, for some inspiration for those like me feeling a little less:

Oath

“They say that the family of the 21st century is made up of friends rather than relatives.”

-Tim, Spaced

I believe this is very true, but I believe it’s a combination of both.

For all the friends, and a few special relations, who have come together, who have supported and loved me, regardless of blood, who have been there in person or from across the world, when I needed a shoulder to cry on, an ear to hear my troubles, worries, and joys, whose hearts have joined me in celebration.

Our friendships have shaped who I am as much as, if not more than, my heritage has done.

You are my family.

We have built my reality, my personality, my history, and my life. Together.

Thank you, from the center of my being.

Thank you friends and siblings. Thank you caring relatives and in-laws. Thank you, sweet husband. Thank you, dog. Thank you teachers and classmates. Thank you professors and directors. Thank you, internet friends, those who have reached out and helped me understand and face the hard times, and for sharing amusements that have made my days brighter.

Thank you to those who have traveled for me, and who have put me up when I needed a place to stay. Thanks for having my back, even if our views sometimes differ. Thanks for holding my hand when I am whiny, or distraught. Thank you for taking me shopping when I was broke, and holding together my pieces when I was broken.  Thanks for everything.

Thank you for being my family.

Because most of my blood relatives are pretentious assholes.

My oath to you:

(This was, for the most part, in fact meant to be my tribute to the female guests at our wedding, but through the works of our dj, who gave an inaccurate introduction to my speech introducing Oath, only one other guest understood it was for more than just my bridesmaids. So here, I dedicate this song to all of you. My girlfriends. My guy friends. My family.)

Bonus:

*I know the punctuation in this blog sucks today. I don’t really fucking care. Sorry.

It Doesn’t Look Like Much

As is typical of a Sunday, my husband is at his best friend’s house and the dog and I have our whole house to ourselves. This inevitably means that I stare at my computer screen for three hours trying to remember what scene I was planning to write and flipping through Pinterest and listening to Jordi Savall on the internet radio trying to get myself motivated.

a view from my writer’s nook

My dog chills in the closet.

Best Nook in the House

The three of us have done a really good job getting settled, but there are still plenty of boxes to unpack. Our new house has lots of storage spaces yet to be filled, but there is quite a process ahead of us determining what needs to go where. And despite all the storage, there simply are not enough bookshelves.

as yet unused linens closet

My craft room opens directly into the smallest ‘bedroom’ which someday hopefully will be a nursery. My desk faces away from that doorway, which until about forty minutes ago was blocked purposefully by my standing mirror. I now have the doorway open and the window open to air out the upstairs and am hoping to organize or at least unpack a good portion of what’s been stored in there since we moved in. Lots of book, fabric, old pictures I clipped out of magazines back in college to give me inspiration for whatever forgotten adventure I was writing back then.

Sunny Side of the House

* * *

Thad and I just took a little break from writing/lounging-in-closet to walk our neighborhood and play briefly in our yard.

Happy Puppeh

I made myself lunch – the noodle bowl I’ve been craving and that I am now splashing on the keyboard. I also grabbed a glass of water because, o my god, sodium. I took the opportunity while foods were cooking to put away a few things in the kitchen, open the rest of the windows on the second floor, and replace the window in the front storm door with the screen. Welcome to our Airflow Kingdom! I pulled a few more pictures and books out of boxes in the nursery/library, but still have no where else to put them. The empty boxes, however are now out in the pile of other empty boxes, saved for friends’ pending moves. Progress. Our house might still be kind of messy (not unlike this blog post). There are still so many things to do.  But that’s ok, because the cottage is not a show piece. We live here. It might not look like much yet, but it’s home!