A Little Explanation...

for why we have not posted in over two months?  For why we failed to blog a letter to record and share our Christmas?  Our New Years?  Our adventures afar and our times in Richmond with friends?

Actually nope, way too much of a gap to fill there.

But a little explanation is in order for some very recent - one week old - developments here. Some of you know.  We are moving. We werent even "in the market".  Or at least we didnt think we were.  Last Tuesday morning, around 530, Lesley caught a glimpse of an ad on line for a house a mile away from us, in our fantastic neighborhood.  That afternoon we looked at it.  Within 24 hours later, we made an offer, and within 12 more, it was a done deal.  Today we had the chimney and whole house inspections, and there is no foreseeable reason why this isnt going to happen now.

So I wont even get into how cool this house is, the yard is, the location, how much more space we will have, how uncharacteristically risky and capricious it is for us to do such a thing.  Once we saw it we (more Lesley, OK) knew it just made sense.

This is where the explanation comes in, as some of you may ask (and have asked) "But, I thought yall were looking to leave Richmond?"  True, for years we have been.  I have no doubt reading 10,000 job postings, at least, I have delved more deeply into details on at least a 100, and probably seriously applied and/or interviewed for 10 or so, all over the U.S.   I am always beating the bushes.  And to some extent, so is Lesley.

So, as bizarre as this is, it has helped me to take stock, take a step back for the past week and try to figure out what has happened here.  It was not deliberate.  At no point did Lesley and I look at one another and say "Lets stay in Richmond" or "Lets stop killing ourselves looking for and applying for jobs, on top of the demands of our current jobs and family".  We have long felt that something needed to change to give us more space in our lives; be that physical space, space from the stress of our jobs,  space to fill with more of what matters, some other spaces as well.  We envisioned this playing out as, 'OK, one of us gets a job to take us somewhere else, then we go there, we find that space somehow'.  Locked into that process, somewhat of an ideal, we kept blinders on to all factors that we could change, and instead we were focusing all energy on finding a job elsewhere, sort of as a mandatory first step.   (Granted this is my reflection.  Lesley's may differ a bit.)

Then I think we sort of subconsciously arrived at the opportunity, at the space that we could create, that being a new place right here.  Once we considered that as a real option, and took a peek, it seemed very exciting, and very real.

So we are doing it!  We are closing on March 20th.  We will sell our house shortly thereafter and we are optimistic that all will be fine.

Are we still looking for jobs?  Well of course!  Isnt that part of our 'job' as parents and spouses, to make sure we are filling satisfying niches that give and give back.  But if we are here, and have been for six years now (come this Valentines Day), we might as well be more comfortable.

So if you have made it this far, you deserve to feast your eyes on

Ok... okay.  Maybe a few others...

two from our (now) traditional Christmas Day hike.

Two by the tree.  

Its amazing how much older they look already.

P.S.  Heath gets out of bed now about every night within 10 minutes of being in there.  Walks out swivelling his head like a slow-motion bobble head, half-grinning, trying to think of something creative to say so that we will engage him in conversation to hopefully forget he should be in bed, and let him stay up longer.  Just now, he "humm" and "umm"ed for about 30 seconds, after creeping towards me, nuzzling up to my leg, and looking me in the eye to say, "Daddy, I love the earth and the sun because the sun keeps us warm and the earth keeps us on the ground."  It is so hard not to let him see us smile when he does this.

The other day, in the same mood, he told me "Daddy, I wish Jesus and the Buddha were still alive.  That would be so happy."