Tick Tock

The house is cleaned, the child is sleeping, it is quiet.

I can hear the clock on my mantle between clicks of the keyboard and calculator buttons being pushed from the husband working on his math homework at the dining room table. I sometimes forget that clocks make sounds during the hustle and bustle of the day. Normally I am looking at the clock on the computer screen at work, waiting until I can go home. Often its on my phone attempting to gauge how late we are getting out the door in rushed mornings, or how deciding how tired we are all going to be tomorrow because the planned bedtimes did not happen as, well planned.

This weekend was filled with scheduled activities, debating on when we would hit the streets to gather candy, crazy late bedtimes, and trying to calculate how long the sugar high would take to wear off from the timed, and spaced out Halloween candy bag raids. The answer, 2 hours.

For the past year life it has seemed like life has been a movement on a timeline with so many important dates and moments to hit. It's been just over a year that it was decided we would be moving to Lubbock. The clock started ticking, and necessary milestones were planned.

The first for me was my graduation. I knew I needed to finally obtain my bachelor's degree in order to help provide income for us. I always knew one day I would get there, and have been working on it. Finally by plugging into the right school, a strong support system backing me up, it happened. I made it happen. Check one. Ok, BIG check on this one.

The next big step was to get all the documents and papers in place for the husband's transition from his associates at a community college to a state school. Paperwork. And phone calls. Plenty of phone calls.  Dates for every little form, orientation, scheduling classes, and finally the beginning of the school year. The schedule came out, and his name was on the roster. Check!

The packing proceeded, the new house was found, the moving truck rented, and utilities connected. This probably isn't the order, but in that whirlwind, I am just happy it all happened. Unless I missed something I have not discovered I need to be taking care of, check.

Next the goodbye parties were scheduled. I am so happy we took a moment to stop and reflect on that time we had shared in Austin, and those we have shared it with. It will always be one of my favorite chapters of our lives. To spend time hugging our friends, reminiscing on simpler times, and lingering in the goodbyes, drawing them longer than the road between here and there (its really not that far, come visit!) was much needed. No check for this one. We will be visiting. We mostly determined there will not be an easy goodbye, we will back and look forward to the intersections of our paths. Our time in Austin may have ran out for now, but our future will hold time together.

At 11pm on Daylight Savings Time, were society tells me I have gained an hour, I am thankful. An hour to reflect on the past year was exactly what I needed. Knowing tomorrow holds 24 hours of time to make progress in school for us both, clock in and out of work, to laugh and be silly with our daughter, to sing one (or two) extra bedtime songs, and maybe even squeeze in an episode of Star Trek, is okay in my book. We aren't guaranteed this time, but we are going to take it.