Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Starting Over with Baby

Just as things are getting so much easier with Edith, it's about to get a whole lot harder in the household.

Baby boy is scheduled to arrive in just a tad more than six weeks. His welcome coincides with Edith seemingly growing in leaps and bounds. I'm not just talking height and weight. More importantly, she's growing in understanding.

She can often choose the books she wants to read by title. She helps unload the dishwasher and set the table for supper. When she's especially tired at nap time or bedtime, she'll tell me she's sleepy. She has preferences and ideas.

Contrast that with what we'll be up against again in April. A tiny newborn who depends on us to decipher his screams for food, sleep and amusement. No walking, no crawling, not even any burping without some help.

Of course, basic infant needs are obvious, as are the differences between a newborn and a two-year-old girl. But it's been so easy (or comparatively so) the last few months compared to Edith's early days.

Those days will come again, I know. But while I'm excited to meet our new addition, I'm nervous that I've gotten too used to the ease of Edith.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

A Pause on Weekend Trips

It wasn't too many Presidents Day weekends ago when Paul and I drove from Brooklyn to Burlington, Vt., stopping to snow tube along the way. Compare that to this past holiday weekend, when the only things I could think of that I really wanted to do was sleep and eat.

That doesn't mean I don't like taking trips. See: Our first cruise. But quick getaways aren't so quick anymore -- with three, they take longer to prepare, plan and pack. And I suspect they aren't as relaxing as they used to be either.

Paul and I keep a mental list of weekend and day trips we'd like to take in the next several years. Some of those cities one or both of us have been to. Some will be completely new. Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis and St. Louis aren't really that far away. But the weather will be warmer and I'll be less (read: not at all) pregnant when they happen.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

One House Down

Our house in Galloway is sold.

After buying it 11.5 years ago, living in it for four years, failing to sell it just as the economy was crashing, renting it out for five years and then putting it on the market six months ago, we finally closed with the home's new buyers yesterday.

There's very little that's bittersweet about this -- it's mostly just sweet. (Paul and I had a celebratory dinner last night while his mom watched Edith.) It's not that we hated the house. We're just so far removed from it. We last lived there just before we moved to New York in October 2007.

It was a good starter home, equal distance between where we worked at the time. Paul was on the northeast side of Columbus, and I was in Springfield. My commute was about 40 minutes. The location wasn't ideal (Galloway isn't exactly where the cool kids hang out), but it was safe and close to the interstate.

The headaches came later, finding and dealing with rental agents and tenants. But it's behind us, and we now have a house in a Columbus neighborhood we love. One house.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Columbus Museum of Art: FREE Sundays

 
My best guess is that it had been at least a decade since Paul and I visited the Columbus Museum of Art. Paul can't remember going at all, although I'm sure we went once. Like I said, it's been a while.

The art museum is a small but pleasant building in downtown Columbus, on Broad Street. Best of all, admission is free on Sundays, and parking is always free. We visited on the last Sunday of January for a very specific reason: it was the final day of the special Lego exhibit.

On display were large replicas of some of the most well-known buildings in Columbus, including the Statehouse and several skyscrapers. On display as well were intricate Lego-depictions straight from the past (and future) -- think Medieval Times, plus a UFO.


Find Batman!





While we were at the Columbus Museum of Art, we also made a special effort to visit the Wonder Room, a special interactive area that seems to be especially for kids. Edith had fun exploring, surrounded by art.

Paul and Edith





The museum has a small number of exhibits throughout the rest of the building. All in all, we spent only about 90 minutes there. But I would certainly return if the museum has another exhibit I'm especially interested in -- especially on a Sunday.

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