New House, Cloud Castle, and Rainbow Valley (not that there's anything wrong with that)

So I've moved into our new house out in the far reaches of China Spring. It's a long, windy road, many left-right-left-right-left turns, and endless fields of corn between here and Waco proper, but I am currently looking at a long, slow slope, twenty-two pecan trees with just a glimpse of the river through their leafy promises, and 12 happy chickens, while bouncing a slightly fussy, very tired baby (go to sleep, Benjamin! For crying out loud! The simplest solutions are often the best ones, dear. You'd know this if you weren't just a baby.) with my foot. There are eight of us (including Benjamin who doesn't take up that much space but is currently taking up a ridiculous amount of attention) and we are going to make good of this time and this place.

Busyness seemingly never passes. I have to-do lists that crowd my pockets, each entry being replaced as soon as it gets crossed off (I love crossing things off to-do lists. Sometimes I write things down after I've already done them just so I can cross them off.), and tightly scheduled days which stress me out. I don't like feeling like that ever.

Tomorrow is my churches block party and I am in charge, not only of the block party (partially to be fair), but of running a gardening table. Hooh. I have about fifty small, sad looking tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, and squash that the farm graciously donated to my cause. They need some serious attention before tomorrow but Benjamin, thankfully, fell asleep, enabling me to spend a few minutes with some baby plants that also need care.

Also, I got some tattoos yesterday.

So, these pictures look kind of dumb, but this is me an hour ago, taken by my Mac whilst rocking Benjamin with my foot in my new house. They are the Hebrew words "Shalom", "Mishpat", on my collar bones, and "Chesed"on my ring finger.


Shalom is peace, or more correctly wholeness and rightness, Mishpat is justice or judgement, and Chesed, when translated right, is something deeper, sturdier, more steadfast than love.