More frenetics at Bantam Hill

We (Mr Renn and I) are trying so hard to mold our still-new-to-us home into a place with some grace built in.  Entropy is rising up to battle us at most every turn, but now that I'm not forced to spend every iota of energy on a thesis, and I'm at least halfway through the most intense phase of infant-dom, I'm beginning to feel like maybe entropy doesn't always have to win.

Last week was not my favorite thing.  Circumstances combined to make too many things happen at once.  For a week my basement was being drywalled, and we had to find temporary homes for lots of things, for that same week, it was Spring Break and my kids were home all day every day and there was no spare money or adult supervision to leave the house we had only half-access to.  Plus, for kicks, the Duke's baby blessing was the following Sunday, so the house needed to be cleaner than usual, and lots of food prepared, despite the extra messes of drywall dust and too many bored bodies in too little space.  I worked hard last week, and by the time the blessing arrived and my house was full of company, I was too tired to be the kind of hostess I'd like to be.  But, I was relieved to have made it to that point.  I hadn't totally beaten back my to-do list, (The fingerprints on the sliding glass door are still there, for one.) but everything was good-enough, and done and that busy-crazy week was behind me.

So now, we can turn around and focus our energy on the next thing.  Luckily our next things are gaining momentum and scale.  This month we hope to get trees planted around our house.  There were 3 total trees when we bought the house, and we cut the only substantial one down the first week we lived here.  The bit of Pennsylvanian still living inside of me has felt terribly bereft, and so kickstarting our mini-arboretum is an energy-filled prospect.  Plus my basement is being taped, mudded, and sanded this week, so I need to pick out paint for it.  Paint always feels like a gratuitous decision.  If you're ready for paint you've really accomplished something. We're done working on invisible skeletons and we're ready for the really visual elements that reward your eyes with instant gratification when they're installed.  Momentum! Momentum!