A Very Merry Unbirthday

Yesterday was The Girl's "half birthday" - she's halfway to 7. We decided to celebrate with a little party:

Decorating the cupcakes

Blowing out 6 1/2 candles

(Where on earth did she learn to pose like that? The camera came out, and instinctively her hand went under her chin Walmart-style, her head was cocked winsomely and her brightest fake smile was plastered on...)

Today I had my first wave of homesickness (not bad, considering I've been a resident for a month already). Well, not exactly "homesickness" - more like "routinesickness." I got up early to go for a walk and suddenly I missed our old morning routine - up early, get the kids ready, bring them to school/daycare and then enjoy a pleasant walk over to my much-loved job. I don't miss the actual events so much as I miss their predictability. I like to have a default setting and, while I know shaking up my routine (some might call it a "rut") is good for me now and again, it is wearying having to negotiate essentially every aspect of life for the first time.

One takes for granted the little things - knowing the layout of the supermarket aisles so a grocery list can be made accordingly; having travelled your daily route to school so frequently that there is no thought put into route numbers or directions; accepting without really thinking about it that you will be in *this* church on Sunday and that you will likely see *these* friends.

I know that the solution to most of my unease is a job with its routine and rhythm. Stay-at-home mom is far too unscheduled a career for me; I get antsy with all this pseudo-freedom (totally unstructured days yet the inability to actually structure anything that does not accommodate a 4-year-old).

And with that, off to search the want ads!