Franklin, Oh, Franklin

Well, we better keep getting comfortable because this will be our home for at least the next year and a half (plus). After some (rather short) deliberations we decided the new lease being offered to us was more than we could pass up (who doesn't want to save a couple of hundred bucks in the long run, right?) and we'll be signing a new lease that will keep us in good ol' 1505 until the end of April, 2010. Crazy, huh? It feels like a huge commitment but we feel an equal amount of peace about it and are looking forward to settling in even more.

With the decision made, Cliff's now talking about painting the walls, buying new patio furniture, and boxing up all of the picture frames and odds and ends we have stacked in corners of our home (after they were graciously unpacked for us while on our honeymoon) and storing them in Cleveland. I have to admit, I like the sounds of it all and it would add even more to the "homey" feel most people say our apartment already has. I think patio furniture will be our first move because I spend a lot of my time there during the week, especially as the days cool off a bit, and the two of us love to wax theological/poetical/philosophical over our dinner until the the sun sets and the mosquitoes start tearing up legs. (That's when all the poetry flies out the window.)

One of our favorite things to do on the patio is read, and between the two of us, we're getting a lot of that done lately. Cliff's averaged about one book a month since the beginning of the year, which is a huge accomplishment for him as he's a thoughtful (not "slow") reader and busy, at that. I myself have read seventeen books since the beginning of May (I can't even recall what I did in the spring amidst comprehensive exams, finishing school, and the like... though I am certain I did some pleasure reading). That means I'm averaging close to one book a week, which isn't so bad I don't think.

And reading has been a great way for me to unwind from two years of predominately academic thinking. Not saying that's not good, because I am incredibly grateful for the sly gift that grad school was to me. But I also know that it sucked a lot of the creativity and free-thinking I once had out of me. So, I've been in a spell of "reservoir filling" - as I've come to think of it. Fiction has done me good along with it's alternation with some good solid non-fiction and now I'm trying to dig a little deeper theologically, coming back around the marrying of my faith to considerate, academic thinking. So, I'm a jumble of thoughts as usual and happily so. And this is my new home for sorting those kinds of things out, for the time being.