In like a lamb and out like a lion

They say that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. That's all very well if you live in the northern hemisphere; in southern parts, things are completely opposite. Today showcases all of autumn's most lionesque qualities. It's grey and bleak and windy. Thunderous rain has been pouring down since early this morning, and the road is a slick, sleek stream of water. The construction site across from our house is a pure mudbath. On days like this, it would absolutely stink to be a postman. Respect, postie. You do an awesome job.
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The last two weeks have been delightful ones for me. For starters, my Dad was home from his worksite for a weekend and we celebrated in usual Carey family fashion by doing a very random small road trip into previously unexplored regions, having a picnic lunch at a tiny hidden park, and stopping so the boys could investigate a motorcycle museum in a refashioned water park. Yes.

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It was my sister Lauren's birthday on Monday, and I'm pretty sure you have to have been homeschooled to understand that for people who school or work at home, birthdays are always a public holiday. This year was no exception, even though most of us are at the age now when you're supposed to pretend birthdays aren't important. I remain steadfast in my belief that they are.

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And change is afoot, too. I had felt that 2009 would be a year of changes, particularly as God began to impress on me that the season of publishing Whatsoever, an editing job that's been part of my world for over ten years, might be coming to a close. It's huge when things like that finish up, and as I've been planning the final issue of the magazine, I've been pondering what might be around the corner. I applied for a couple of jobs that I felt might be providential, and in the meantime I've been pushing my little half-year of writing furiously. Both jobs fell through, but I was over the moon (the cow that jumped the moon in the fairytale? It had nothing on me) when I found out last week that one of my children's short stories had been picked up by a magazine I love and respect! Nothing can convey my delirium at this discovery except gush, but I'm going to refrain from gushing before you all (local family and friends have seen the gush, I'm afraid) until there's an actual paper copy of the work for me to actually gush over. Needless to say, I am super thrilled and super excited and super thankful to God for offering me this encouragement.

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Of course, that has only motivated my words even more. And now it looks like I might be doing some studying to further all this words-stuff! Again: super thrilled. I'll hold back on the details until I know for sure if, when, and how, but I'm excited. And thankful. It's a pretty cool thing when doors begin to open in new directions.