Back to the Blog

I was going to jump in just now with one of the (many) posts I started in the draft folder over the past month, but to do so would be to ignore the long period of silence--now nearly a month--and that's not fair to my faithful readers. (I love you, Mom!) So: a brief explanation of what has been happening.


First off, we bought a house. Well, I don't know if you can call getting a mortgage really buying a house (thirty years of bondage doesn't seem like a purchase, really), but the bank allows us to receive mail here, so that's a good sign, I guess. As you can imagine, this has been keeping me pretty busy. My work is what can be classified as a "desk job"; I'm not often afforded chances to work with my hands (and my company probably prefers it that way). My skillz with my hands haven't advanced much beyond what they were that summer long ago when I worked on the turkey farm. Needless to say, homeownership is a constant test of these skillz. Abby can attest to the many heavy sighs that emanated from my tired body as I tried to hang blinds. Blinds! But I have been deriving some satisfaction from the work, and this has been taking away from blogging time.

Also, we moved into the house. We were originally planning to move this coming weekend. But we were so excited about the house that we instead decided to move two weekends ago. This meant lots...of...packing. In a very short amount of time. Somehow, by God's grace, we finished packing and moved in the space of a few days, but I have slowly been regaining my strength since then. It takes strength,after all, to press the keys, as I'm sure you well know.

Then there's the other blog. I mentioned a while ago that I would be contributing to another blog, and I certainly have been. When I made that announcement, I had every intention of keeping current at both blogs. Alas! the best laid plans and all that. I failed, and I'm sorry. It takes effort to keep two blogs running, and I'm sorry this one has borne the brunt of my divided labors. I hope to post more regularly here again.

Other things of note:

• I now have a "real tooth" where that metal post was. You can stop calling me a cyborg now. Please, stop calling me a cyborg.
• Near our new house has the best Indian food, and it's also cheap. We are quite fortunate, as putting distance between us and India Palace seemed like a bad idea.
• We have a grill--finally. I've been grilling out almost every night. Our new neighbor asked, "Are you a chef?" I just pointed to the onions on the grill. Oh yeah, those. Last Friday, I ate the best burger ever--and it (more or less) came from my backyard. Awesome.
• I read an excellent book about books, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. I'll probably talk about it more fully soon. If you can't wait, though, just pick it up. I don't think you'll regret it (if you like books, that is).
• After all the work we've been doing, Abby and I decided to take a day off from work to rest from our labors. It was on this day, and not one of the days when we were carrying things or painting or doing other work, that I hurt my back. All of that reading is taxing on the body, I suppose.
• Finally, I abandoned and rejoined Crime and Punishment. I'm glad I did both, because I am back in the swing, and it's great. I just got through the scene with Lazarus, if that means anything to anyone. Dostoevsky has a gift with the reappropriation of stories.

That's it for now. Again, I'll try to keep a more regular schedule. In the meantime, tell me how you've been (or how much you've missed me) in the comments!