Now I've gone and done it...

Welcome to Day One! this year started off on a new foot with the death of the kindest, most loyal man i've ever know... my dad. an amazing fella, human and fallable like the rest of us, but amazing to me none the less. if there's one word i'd use to describe my dad it's "always." he was always there, always willing. i'm not sure where i'd be in this life if it weren't for this man. with him gone, life has changed quite a bit for me and i find myself staring 40 in the face and finally feeling like my own person. what do i wanna do with my life? where do i wanna go? who do i wanna be? this time, this life a so very exciting and challenging! so many possibilities and directions. on this path of mine i'm joined by three of my favorite people, my kids. elder son is 13. headed for his first year of high school he's intelligent and lazy as sin but a good kid with a kind heart who's been my patient parenting teacher low these many years. younger son is 10. energetic, bright, confident and destined to rule his world he is my brave homeschool test pilot. then there's girlchild. a 4 year old bundle of female energy. she confounds and, quite frankly, often frightens me with her natural charms. "my staff" and i are setting out this year to make things different. to change what we've always done and discover a new way of living. to make better use of the gifts we've been given. on our list of experiments are greywater, composting and growing and raising some of our own food. when i look back over the years, i can see the path my life has followed. each child born in a different room in the house with the aid of 3 lovely and talented midwives, the homeschool adventure we set out upon a few short years ago and most recently dad's very peaceful homedeath. if home is truly where the heart is then shouldn't it be where life is truly lived?