What I’ve Been Doing Instead of Blogging…

It seems like it’s been forever since I wrote an actual blog post (nearly a week!), but we’ve been hard at work and play the last few days.

I finished up a website for Caitlin Marcoux, my fabulous yoga teacher and new friend, early in the week and have spent a lot of time finalizing websites for The SeaGrille restaurant and Nantucket Chowder Company (hopefully both will go live soon), so most of my “downtime” at home has been spent on webdesign and graphic design.  Next to be finished is a site for Deborah Friedson, an artist, author, and CF supporter in New York, and I have a few other projects in the works, too, so I’ve got plenty to keep me busy for a while.

When I wasn’t working this week, I was having a lot of fun exploring new things with Nora.

We went to an art class at the Artist Association.Nora’s friend Miss E and her mama treated us to it, and it gave us plenty of opportunities to be creative and, even more fun, to be messy.

(Thanks, Miss E!)

We visited Chris at work and ate a super delicious dinner,

then went to an amazing magic show at the Atheneum’s family night which captivated both Nora and me.

The magician was fantastic to watch; he was hilarious and engaging, perfect for kids and adults alike.  But even more so, I loved to watch Nora.I don’t think I will ever stop loving watching her experience the world.  The look on her face at the show was priceless.

On top of fun activities, we started getting back into walking mode (which we had all abandoned to the ease of the car in the past month).  On Sunday, we actually made the 2.5 mi trek to Tiny Tumblers on foot,which gave us the opportunity to admire some gorgeous new spring scenery.Yesterday, we enjoyed a romp in the sand with Chris and Pip at Jetties, where a kind stranger offered us a rare opportunity for a complete family photo.

And, of course, there was Town Meeting.This was the first time either Chris or I had attended Town Meeting, and I am so glad we went.  It’s wonderful to feel like I really have a say in what is going on in my community and it was neat to see how everything works.  Of course, neither Chris nor I wanted to miss out on our chance to vote and since we don’t have a babysitter, little Miss came along too.(I don’t have a good picture, because I was trying not to be distracting to the people around us.)

We took a bag full of toys and snacks, and Nora did a good job of playing quietly for the four hours of discussion and voting before lunch.  She sat on Chris’ lap and raised her hand to be counted when election workers were counting hands during the wind turbine vote (which failed, boo).  She colored all over my copy of the warrant and when she got tired of her toys, she made us laugh by doing yoga on the floor in front of her seat (lately, she is pretty much happy to do yoga anywhere).

The discussion and vote on Sachem’s Path didn’t happen until after the lunch.  Chris stayed as long as he could, but it didn’t end up happening before he had to go to work, so Nora and I had to represent our family on our own.  Chris had planned to stand up and talk (anyone can talk for 2 minutes during the discussion leading up to the vote), but with him at work, I had to speak for us.  I don’t think I have ever been more nervous in my life, and to be honest, I couldn’t even tell you exactly what it was that I said, except that a project like this could be the only feasible way for us to stay on island permanently.  Nerves combined with how important Sachem’s Path is to our family got the better of me; I was more emotional than I wanted to be in front of 700 people (which is exactly why it should have been Chris doing the talking!).  Certainly, I was much less eloquent than I was in Friday’s blog post — when I sat down, it was all I could do to keep Nora contained (she was pretty stir crazy at that point) and keep myself from throwing up.  But apparently what I said made a difference, and the voters went against the finance committee and voted to add the $990,000 back into the town budget.

Chris and I are so incredibly excited that Sachem’s Path is one more step closer to reality.  We have been working very hard in the past six months to pay off our student debt and start saving for a down payment.  Now we just have to hope we will be one of the lucky families who qualify to buy a home.