where i celebrate three years of mixed results on the homemaking front

Three years ago today it was snowing, and the ground was covered in about a foot of clean snow. I was driving our car, with Haney in the backseat and Mr. Nick riding shotgun.

I followed a giant U-Haul into a neighborhood that looked like something out of a story book or off a movie set. I assumed we'd drive through this neighborhood to get to our new house, but the U-Haul stopped in front of a light green house, and Jason got out and ran back to tell me, "This is it!"

For two months Jason had worked up here while the kids and I stayed in Cincinnati. Through a series of unfortunate events, he had to chose our house on his own, and I didn't see it until the day we moved in.

He did so well.

It isn't that this house is huge -- the family who lived here before us moved out because it was too cramped once they had their second child. Ha! But oh, I love it. And when we moved in I knew I would never want to leave, and I can't explain how blessed I feel to still be here after everything that's happened in the last few years.

Three years ago also marked a major transition in my life. I went from being the primary breadwinner, to being a stay-at-home-mom who did a bit of freelance work on the side. As much as I had always wanted that, the transition was incredibly difficult. I felt adrift, like I didn't know what to do with myself. I work so much more now, and the children are so much easier, and we're hoping to transition back to my business providing most of our income. I am excited. I am lazy, but I love working and I love getting paid and I love getting praise from my clients. And my kids are not much into praising me.

In the last year I've slowly begun to think about what being a homemaker really means. I never thought about the word before -- just assumed it was a word stay-at-home moms used to make themselves sound more important. Please note: my mom stayed at home and I've never taken for granted the amount of work involved in the job, but it struck me as the difference between "trash collector" and "waste management technician," or "secretary" vs. "administrative assistant."

But this school year, since Miss A rides the bus and I have the luxury of additional time at home in the afternoon, I've tried to focus on creating a warm, welcoming environment where she can feel safe and relaxed once she arrives home. I open the main door so we can watch for her. I build a fire if it's very cold. I bake cookies or make popcorn or otherwise try to brainwash her with scents so that when she's older maybe she'll forget how annoyed I am by dinnertime, and instead she'll think, "MY MOM WAS AWESOME!" anytime she smells baked goods, popcorn, or burning wood.

Maybe I'll add additional bullet points to my homemaking goals and objectives for next school year.