Hello

Hi again, to anybody who still checks up on me here!

It seems like the summer is flying by. River turned two in July (with relatively little fanfare, a moderate amount of ice cream, and lots of gleeful jumping around). James has continued to have a lot of work success, with his new contracting business and his DJing, and I've mostly still been hanging out with River and trying to stay alive. I've definitely been exhausted and kind of sick a lot, which I'm hoping will improve over the next couple of weeks. I really intend to appreciate the relative ease of the second trimester more than I did the first time around.

Following a huge wave of synchronicity and inspiration this spring, the summer has felt a little stagnant to me, like it's hard to get excited about much. I'm chalking this up partly to exhaustion, and partly just to some sort of mysterious natural rhythms. This has happened to me enough times that I'm now pretty certain that one day the clouds will just part and inspiration will strike again, and in the meantime I'm not worrying about it too much and am just trying to appreciate where I am right now.

Speaking of where I am, there have been some interesting developments on the relocation front. Basically, we're becoming increasingly certain that we'd like to stay in the general Pittsburgh area, but in a more natural setting. We're looking into an area called Millvale at the moment, which is relatively close to our current location, relatively cheap and safe, and completely surrounded by forest. In the longer term, we've learned of a property of about 300 acres, an hour outside the city for a really reasonable price, which some friends are already looking into purchasing as a group. This is a legally and logistically complicated option, but one we might be very excited about in a few years.

In the meantime, we've got lots of stuff on the horizon. James and I are both participating in the Visionary Arts Festival in early August, for which I feel horrendously unprepared. I've been looking back slightly to how energized and excited I felt about throwing together an art show when River was a few months old, and wondering wasn't I more tired and more busy then than I am now? Of course I was, but right now I just mostly feel uninspired. Oh well. I've got a couple of huge geometrical drawings in the works, and I'm planning to finish them both this week. The show will go however it goes, and at least I'll be there with my work, such as it is. Then, we'll be traveling and visiting family for a few weeks.

In September, the G20 conference will be taking place in Pittsburgh, which is a huge quagmire that probably deserves its own post. After that, who knows? I've got about four free months to fill with interesting activities, so hopefully I can schedule my next epiphany to strike around then.

other potential future blog posts in the works (possibly soon):
river's tooth fiasco (don't worry, it's under control)
unschooling/free school
more on inspiration and art
blog changes
birth stuff
food posts
photos