Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

TWO big wishes getting fulfilled to report! Right this minute I'm on my way to San Francisco to visit a favorite friend and to meet her new little one! I'm most excited to meet this new little girl, give my lovely lady friend & her honey a giant hug, and maybe eat as much dim sum as my stomach will hold. It's a busy time of year... Conferences, welcoming new teachers moving to Mississippi, other work- related things... And on top if it all, we're in the process of buying our first home! with all this, it was hard to leave the Delta, but i guess San Francisco for work AND to meet a new baby isn't a bad place to spend a week in the middle of the summer. 

Boone and I are more than pretty excited about the house buying though... A realtor said that we had "been so incredibly thorough" when we looked at maybe the only 8 homes for sale in the part of the Delta that we wanted to live in at least twice each. When he said that I was a little bent out of shape at first... I mean, who doesn't exhaust all the possible options when they're making such a HUGE decision?? I guess I just wanted things to feel just right, you know? Like the stars aligning and the heavens opening up and a light shining down on the one. 

Ultimately though, we went with the one with no central A/C (yet), green formica in the kitchen, and tiny closets...but also the one that made the most sense financially, location-wise and had the most beautiful hardwood floors, crazy-high ceilings, and natural light. Not perfect, but pretty. Darn. Great.

But when I think about it, I've been sort of feeling the same way about babies. I mean, starting a family is such a big decision. And recently I've gone through about a zillion different scenarios in my head about what kinds of things change when you have a kid, and I keep coming up with giant question marks about whether or not I'm ready. But then, a baby is different than a house. I've rarely heard of buyer's remorse when it comes to a little one... And from what my friends tell me, most mothers seem to feel like the heavens DO open up and a light shines down when they finally get to hold their baby in their arms. Unfortunately, that only happens a good 9 months after you commit to the whole motherhood and fatherhood thing. if only it felt that way BEFORE...

After the new house, I'm not sure what other big changes might be in store for us over the next few years, but I think that  we're going to be ready for whatever those might be. I think. It sure would help if the heavens opened up sooner rather than later, though.