Scribble and Scrabble

Our town is still in the planning stage of updating the road we live on. I think I posted about the initial meeting I went to at the Town Hall in 2010…so, four years later…construction is going to start this spring. Along with your usual drainage and pavement improvements, they’re widening the road and adding a pedestrian/bike shoulder up by us. No sidewalk like I was hoping, but that’s ok. Our property line is actually in the middle of the road now, so the town is going to “buy back” a little chunk of land. We’ll get a few hundred dollars for it which is kind of cool, for land we can’t use in the first place. We do lose two scraggly lilacs (I’m not too sad, we have nicer ones closer to the house anyway). Ben will love to watch all the construction out front this summer!

We’ve been watching Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix. For years I thought it was a trashy soap opera (hello General Hospital?) but it’s actually pretty good. A good drama with a bit of comedy. Maybe still a little guilty pleasure. Andy watches it with me too, haha.

I’m 10lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I was doing so good, then Christmas happened. I did just start running again though. The girls in the Y running group are doing the Pittsburgh Marathon again this May and I’m on the relay team!

We’re going to start Ben in Pre-K in the fall, ahhh! Technically we could wait until next year since he has a fall birthday, but honestly, I think he’d really enjoy it. He’s so outgoing, talkative and inquisitive…and getting good socialization and other skills at the Y, library, playdates, church and babysitters that he’s definitely ready for it. Our town has the Good Start program which runs Mon/Wed/Every other Friday or the UPK program which runs every day Monday through Friday. Both are 2.5 hours and have morning or afternoon slots…but I think we’re going to do the Good Start one just because it works better with the kids still going to the babysitters and my work schedule. Sign ups are in April and there’s a lottery system for getting in (although I haven’t heard of people being turned away because it’s full, but you never know). So weird to think of him starting school. We opted to not do a formal preschool for him because they were so expensive (ranging $800-$1300 a year) for two days a week. Plus, like I mentioned above, it’s not like he doesn’t go other places for learning, activities and playtime. I’s only Pre-K…but still…I’m excited for him and a little sad for myself too ;-)

Although sometimes it’s difficult to dream and plan past this exhausting “little ones” stage of life…I recently read this book. The sustainable and responsible food source, whole diet supplied by a local farm, CSA thing really interests me. While I can’t see myself becoming a farmer (let’s be honest, we know absolutely nothing about it) I think marketing for a farm would be an awesome job. Ideally it’d be a bit more design focused than just marketing…doing a farm’s displays and product packaging. Advertisements, website updates and social media presence. A fun graphic design job building a consistent brand identity across print, packaging and web and the potential to work outside during peak season when the farm needed extra hands. This girl’s job would be so cool. Not that I still don’t think being an art teacher would be great too. Maybe I could do kids education or educational tours? Oh goodness, who knows…fun to think about but we’re a long way from there. Although I’m sure it’ll come quicker than I think, after all I’ll have a 1 year old and a 4 year old this year, yikes!