Today was a wonderful day. We had plans to go to Edisto and watch baby turtles come out of their nest and make their way to the ocean and then meet up with a step brother that I had not seen in about 15 years. Once again, I say that it was a wonderful day, but I just felt a little off all day and couldn't put my finger on it. It could have been that I was functioning on about two and a half hours of sleep (still am by the way) but upon further examination, I think it is something different.
Remember that I had not had any contact with this step brother in 15 years. The last time I saw him I was an 18 year old kid just finishing my freshman year of college. Now after all these years we finally meet up again and introduce our families to each other. He and his wife have a lovely twelve year old daughter and it was very nice to hear how they have been doing.
Then it came my turn to introduce my family and fill in the last fifteen years. I have never claimed that my little family is normal, but I have never considered us to be weird either...until today. It wasn't anything anyone said or did, as everyone could not have been nicer, it was just the thoughts that were running through my head as I was trying to explain my family.
First I had to explain why my husband was not with us. See, I am married to a truck driver who owns his own small business and raises honey bees on the side. He left for work at 2:00 this morning. (So far not too normal...but not too weird, right?) I did finish college, with an accounting degree but I have decided to stay home with my children rather than work outside of the home with my degree. I also attended technical college after getting my Bachelors and trained in massage therapy. I don't exactly get paid for that either, but I do pull out my massage table and chair every now and then for friends and family. (So now I realize that I am sounding a little bit strange.) Joe and I have four children, all boys. (This is where it starts to sound a bit weird, even to my ears.) Their names are Noah, Jonah, Micah, and Ezrah. Not only have we decided that I will stay home, we also educate our children at home. Monday was Noah's first day of third grade at home, Jonah is in K4, and Micah is doing preschool work. (At this point I want to reassure people that we do not belong to any sort of religious cult.) Add to all of this that Noah's new hobby is knitting, Jonah will not leave home without wearing orange, long pants, and a hoodie, Micah is either tickling strangers or hiding from them, and Ezrah is always attached to me because I can't put him down without Micah loving on him a little too much. Then you have the nearly forty assorted chickens and turkeys in the backyard, the rabbit, the dog, and the newly acquired cats. Yep, I think we have reached weird.
The thing is though that this weird is our normal. I honestly would not change anything (well maybe the chickens) about our life. This is who we are and as much as it seems random, we live this way on purpose. The world is full of normal...I think from now on I am just going to embrace the weirdness, because that is who we truly are. And I will not even console myself by saying that it could be weirder, because I am sure if it can then we will eventually be there!
