Surprise

At 12:15 today I looked at the clock and thought, "6 more hours until Randy gets home". This felt like SUCH a long time. And then at 12:45, a knock came at the back door... it startled me like you wouldn't believe... Randy's home. Hooray.

On the health benefits of being home

OKay, I admit it has only been 4 days since I finished my full time job, AND I will continue to work part time for the company, as long as they have a need for me and can work with my schedule. I have, however, already begun to discover some of the healthy benefits to this lifestyle.

First off, I am remembering to take my medicine. Now that seems simple, like anyone can do that, but it's something I seriously get into trouble with. I just forget the dumb stuff all the time, and that's really not too good for my body.

Along with my medicine, I have bee getting more exercise. Sure I had to walk around some at work, but not all that much. Now we take a walk just about every day, get fresh air and exercise. It's been great enjoying the changing fall leaves and the cool crisp autumn mornings. Taking walks has an added benefit - it puts Manasseh to sleep! We do this now just about every morning for his first nap. Another benefit of our walks (which might not be a health benefit, other than mental health) is that we get to see Auntie Lorna more frequently. She works at the Old Bag Factory and it's a splendid place to go walking.

A third benefit is my food. I can better control the carbs that I'm eating. That doesn't mean I always do.. Hey, it's almost Halloween.. there's chocolate in the house! I also have not been making dinner for the family this week, but will be starting that tonight with some tortellini!

I get to sleep more when I need to. This does not mean I always get enough sleep, and I still am sleeping in a bit too much in the morning, but I am certainly able to take a nap when Manasseh does.

A health benefit for the baby is that I feel more able to use our cloth diapers, and he has been really irritated by the disposables, since switching back to cloth he has been free from rash! Now we just have to get rid of the thrush.. and we're hitting that hard this week.

Finally, the house is getting cleaner. Still not all the way clean yet, but it's getting there, and will be easier to maintain since I'm home a lot more.

Ruffians, Rapscallions, Scalliwags, and Hoodlums

I'm not even kidding. I saw these guys while we were on our walk through the neighborhood today.

Okay, let me start out by saying that when I was getting ready to buy this house, a concerned adult (who is older and wiser than I), told me that this is NOT a good neighborhood. She said, "there are Mexicans there". I REALLY wanted to laugh, as I had recently returned from a 4 month trip to Costa Rica. I lived by myself with hispanic people all around. I rode the busses, went to the stores, all that stuff. I never worried about my safety. Somehow though, living in Goshen, it's a problem to be in the same neighborhood as hispanic people. I think it's just fear that people have when they lack education about different people groups.

Now, I have seen some signs of wanna-be gang activities. A few small thefts (including my fire pit.. I loved that thing). Some tagging on the factory behind me. It really didn't look like it was tagging from a gang as much as some neighborhood kid.

Today though, we were out on Wilkonson Street, close to the Merit Education Center.. an alternative school for kids who just can't handle public schools for one reason or another. We were there with the intention of taking pictures of some really cool gnarled trees that I spotted late last week. As we approached the corner near the school I saw them. A gang of them. Like 6 or something.. the closer I got, the more I saw.. in small clusters around the school yard and down the street near some of the houses. Worst of all, they were carrying instruments of destruction. Some had rakes, some had shovels... one EVEN had a wheelbarrel! LOL. Okay, so these kids that have had kind of a rough time in their schools are out raking the yards in the neighborhood. Now I'm really afraid. I think we should move.. can't have anyone raking our yard!