Living

It’s felt like an impossibly long week–mainly because Wednesday I had to be in Bethesda for work and got an unanticipated date night with hubs (along with a 2-hour commute home!), Friday was family dinner night again after a 2-week hiatus, and yesterday we took my brother and his wife to a long-promised treat to thank them for the invaluable help they rendered in our insane move. It occurred to me today, as we trekked 45 minutes south to take advantage of a great deal on more bookshelves, that this whole month is likely to turn out this way… Next weekend we have planned a family outing to introduce the nieces and nephew to opera, via La Boheme. The weekend after that is the long-anticipated crazy of driving to Tennessee (and back) to bring the two new furbabies home. Then it’s Thanksgiving–which we’re now hosting at our place because of the new furbabies. Then November has completed its crazy march of time, and two weeks later… we’re back in Wisconsin for another niece’s wedding.

I’m not sure when I turned into this kind of social butterfly, but I suspect I’m going to need a break from the whirl come January.

😀

Luckily for me, I’ve been getting more reading time, too. One result of which was Monday’s review of Just Girls. In case you missed it… well worth reading. I’ve also gotten a few other ARCs from NetGalley, so I may even make the book review goal I set myself at the beginning of this round.

For the rest… With as much as we were out and about, I only got two walks in this week. But despite a family emergency that took up my whole evening tonight, I managed to turn in this week’s paper on time–even if it means I’m blogging way past my bedtime.

The nice thing about all this: It means we’re finding our footing in our new home, and moving beyond the mere existence from Wilde’s quote above. Those bookshelves mean a good portion of our remaining boxes will be properly emptied and stored this week. I’m finding time to remember 25 years ago, when the Berlin Wall came down–during my freshman year of college, when my mom called to tell me the news because I had no TV or Internet connection in my dorm room. Given that I had lived on the Eastern side of that edifice from 80-84, and its figurative presence felt so permanent as to weave its way into my dreams to create the basis for my Red Slaves series, it’s been an emotional remembrance.

Until next week, then, remember to support all the other ROW80ers, and remind yourself that even the most seemingly permanent things can crumble in the face of ephemera like candle-lit vigils. And remember to live.