Time flies...

...and we certainly have been having fun. It's hard to believe it's already Tuesday, but I am glad that we still have a few days to go and some fun things planned before we leave. Mostly it has been really good to just relax. I feel like Jack is getting bigger by the day, and it is such a relief to have help with Lily; I'm going to have to get creative when we get home.

Jack seemed to spend most of dinner tonight trying to fit his feet under my ribs. I got to this point with Lily, too; the distinct feeling she was trying to escape out my side. It's hard to believe we have two months to go.

Yesterday was fairly productive. I went through a box of photos that had been in Grandma's various albums or frames and sorted them according to which sister was in them. I came away with a good pile of family photos. Since virtually everything I do these days is digital, it kind of got me thinking that it might be good to start a little photo album. Then I cleared out three boxes of that were in the garage. One had lots of books that are now on their way to Goodwill, but the rest contained readers and notebooks from college and seminary. I think that each time I went through those boxes in the past, I saw myself as a scholar and those as research and wanted to hold on to the work they represented. But this time I tossed almost all of it. What did I save? Well, a couple of notebooks outlining my studies in church history and medieval history. A couple of textbooks that Joel may find useful. And, of course, most of my writing. I found papers and remembered writing them, research that somehow seems worth keeping. I have realized that old notes outlining histories and literature are not useful; I will need to revisit those writings anyway if I ever return to studies or the classroom. But my own writing and reflection is something else; these pieces are part of the development of my own thoughts, and I'm not willing to part with them yet.