Life, in four parts

I have stopped feeling guilty about not updating this blog, but every time I read Bridget's blog and think how cool it is that she has that detailed record of her family's life, I'm a little jealous. It's also just fun to read, and one of the only blogs left standing it seems when barely any of my friends are left blogging. So, here goes a brief update of our life, and what will hopefully be more posts to follow:

1. The weather: Let's talk about the weather, shall we? Texas winter was great. It was a really wet winter, and had some gloomy weeks, but the fact I could bike without bundling up in 14 layers of wool was definitely a plus over Wisconsin winters. One awesome thing about today is that it's almost May and in the 60s. In Texas. This is awesome, but also a little disconcerting. The kids are wearing fleece jackets and crying that their "hands are FWEEZING!" But it's great for me because I've been needing to clean, and hate turning on the A/C, and cleaning in a 82-degree house is exactly as sweaty as it sounds. I even scrubbed the oven today, folks. That never happens (in my defense, we do not use it very often).

2. The tiny people: The kids are growing up, obviously, and have turned into fairly pleasant little humans. They are still rotten to get to sleep at night, but that's mostly our fault and letting them still fall asleep in our bed. They have been home with me all year, and we have been going back and forth, back and forth on what we'll do in the fall. We are know fairly firmly in the camp of continuing to home(un)school and have worked it out that our schedules shouldn't overlap at all. That means a lot of working with little ones afoot, but they have learned to play so well together (Legos, outside, art projects, dollhouse) that it's totally doable. In fact, most days, I clean up and read and hang out while paying relatively little attention to them. It's a far cry from the days when as soon as I sat down they would climb on me incessantly.

3. The schools: I'm excited to start school but also questioning my sanity at attempting a PhD again. I know I like research and learning and what I want to study, but I keep seeing all of my ABD friends on Facebook and they just sound so miserable all the time. Is it worth it? I guess time will tell. T. Kay has mixed feelings about his seminary too. He still is excited about the possibility of ministry should he find a job after he graduates, but it has been weird being at a Christian and Protestant seminary but having no real belief in God. That being said though, there are others here as well and we have found a tight-knit group of other students who we are friends with.

4. The jobs: We are both working part-time in addition to the school, and we both really like our jobs. T. Kay is one of three faculty secretaries, which means he occasionally gets projects but mostly does homework. I'm working at the National Domestic Violence Hotline/Love is Respect and have the raddest colleagues and it really is the best job I've ever had. It can be hard to sit in front of a computer for eight hours, but I try to limit my computer time when I'm not at work, and usually when we are slow I can do other things like read about cold-brewing coffee (my latest successful venture!) and read articles on living with kids in an Airstream.

At Central Market, our usual digs

With my kombucha SCOBY

Clock tower, on UT campus

On the steps of T. Kay's chapel

Easter Sunday

Twins

National Hijab Day

Haircut, from when Austin was here

Playing in Barton Springs

Superheroes!

Cascarones!