Dream

E and I have been talking a lot lately about building our dream house someday.  We want 5 acres with woods, mountain view, big house, pool, lots of garage space, etc.  The works.  It is so much fun to plan and discuss.  We have been doing this as long as we have known each other.  When we were in medical school, we bought architecture plan magazines and pored over our favorites.  Now we live in a 30-year-old house that has some creaks and cracks.  It is one thing after another.  

But the dreams are in a lot of ways already realized.  It's fun to do the journey, but we've got it all.  It's amazing to know we will make "real" money when residency is finished, but we've got it all.  I have to remind myself.  

Ross is all over the place.  We find him up on the kitchen table, standing and clapping.  He climbs the stairs by himself.  He climbs the ladder for the slide, as above.  He wants to carry his backpack or any other bag.  He is starting to make intelligible noises for words like "duck" and "backpack."  Just yesterday, he started pointing to each item I mentioned in his favorite book.

I like the picture of him in his skunk hat.  He wore the heck out of that one and the puppy dog one this winter.  And he loved that red jacket with a fire truck on it.  Now he is into plaid shorts and navy Crocks.  We also bought Merrels when he outgrew the last pair of shoes.  We were smart this time - no shoestrings for the whole summer, unless he wears white when dressing up.

I went to Rogers this weekend for a friend's wedding.  It was a true England, AR, event.  I grew up in a town of 3000 people, but to me it was a universe of safety net.  It was the whole world, and nothing could really go wrong.  What a good time to be around the core group of people who truly raised me and now watch me raise a boy.  I will forever believe that there are no finer people on the planet than these.

Work is work.  I look forward to another trip to DC for a meeting in a few weeks, then a meeting in June in Boston.  E and I are planning some vacation time the first week of May.  Hopefully some nights in a tent, and some time in St. Louis, and some wins against the Cubbies.