It's Been a Year

It's been a year since we moved into the "new-to-us" house, and I'm happy to report that over the past twelve months it has, in fact, become a ~home~.

The furniture rarely gets relocated now, the weekly housecleaning is routine, and this year, I was able to decorate for Halloween.  Having two children away living their lives as a college senior and a college freshman, it's The First Grader who now calls the shots on how we adjust our environment for the holidays.

"Nothing scary, Mom" is what he dictated last weekend as we searched through antique malls and craft stores to round out our decor.  Jack-o-lanterns, sweet witches and silly-faced ghosts are as spooky as we'll be this year, though he did find the glittered skeleton acceptable for the entryway vignette

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Free time has escaped me for months now, even over the summer when I was away from my classroom.  I've only been able to blog sporadically though I've been taking photo after photo with my camera, phone, and iPad.  I've reminded myself that the music, glue gun, paper and ribbon are downstairs just waiting for me in the crafty nook, but the chores, work, allergies and fatigue moved to the forefront long ago.  Slow on the uptake at times, I'm just now realizing that I'm going to have to be aggressive in prioritizing elements of my life to achieve balance.

Do you know how long it's been since I've had a good long talk full of laughter, sharing, listening, and unleashing?  TOO long.  With family in different time zones and friends juggling their own big events, the drive-by "Hi, just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you" posts on Facebook pages are about as connected as I've managed to be.  Though I enjoy the window-shopping-esque element in surfing Pinterest and reading status updates via Twitter and FB, real connections away from work have eluded me due to my own lack of initiative and time marching along with a drummer who seems to enjoy a persistent accelerando.

Does time get away from you?  Have you found yourself adrift lately?

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