Done and Done

As of about 1:30 this afternoon we are officially homeowners.

Adoption Day

I watched a family being born today.

Just after Spring Break of 2008 a giant, fussy 6 month old girl joined my infant class. She was restless, overfed and developmentally behind. Along with her foster family, we got to know her and over the next year and a half we watched her grow into a noisy, joyful and incredibly opinionated toddler. She went weekly to visit her birth mother who worked desperately to earn back her daughter. In August 2009, to everyone's surprise, birth mom and dad gave up rights to their little girl. I cried when foster-dad shared this news. Cried over all that birth mom and dad overcame and the maturity it took to acknowledge where this little girl belonged.

Today was her adoption hearing. Mom, dad and big brother beamed, cried and squirmed while little miss ran circles around the courtroom visiting laps and squealing at the attention. The room was filled with family, friends and caregivers all dabbing eyes and sniffling as the adoption lawyer talked about her forever home. After formalities, the judge brought big brother and new little sister to the bench where they banged the gavel and became a real live family.

The best part, a new middle name specially picked by big brother: Sunshine. Happy Adoption Day little miss Sunshine.

flickr: Travis County Courthouse

Almost Autumn

I took a walk this morning. It was cool and overcast and that perfect kind of weather that threatens fall. I know it's a fluke, and it will be back in the 90's before the week is through. But this morning, in the pre-autumn breeze, I mailed our wedding invitations. Handfuls at a time into the weathered blue mailbox outside Nau's Drug Store where Mary and I used to get burgers and bill them to Sledd Nursery across the street.

Then I walked back to work, slowly, and opened my office window to let in a little early fall.

The View

After months of fighting with old homes we gave up. It's obviously not the right time for us to buy a project house. Almost overnight we shifted to the opposite end of the spectrum. We are officially buying a brand-spankin'-new, never been lived in house. We've both spent a few days mourning the idea of what we wanted. We're now working harder than ever to think of what we can do to make this new house a home and how we can make sure it reflects who we are. It's really the practical decision and we're increasingly excited about it. We never imagined we'd have so much space or such a large yard. The location is remarkably convenient and there are real live trees that are more than a year old. The particular subdivision we're moving to kept as many of the original elms and oaks as they could. We have two slightly scraggly native elms (as pictured above, the view from our bedroom window) and a large, bushy persimmon.

This is the epitomy of a family home.