Just a quick one, because I'm sleepy, but this may be my favorite picture I've taken of Noah to date. (Yes, I realize that my "favorite picture" of Noah is kind of like Kyle's "favorite band" thing. But when a kid is this cute, well, there aren't many bad pictures.)

There. Now aren't you glad you came and looked?

And now for something completely different.

I am planning on going trying to go to grad school next fall. You might think that with all the changes and uncertainty (my job, not Kyle's) going on at the moment that this isn't the best time. What can I say? We're gluttons for punishment. Actually, it's a need to be roaming through the stacks again, smelling the old books and contraband coffee, reading and learning and writing things just for the joy of reading and learning and writing them. It's about reclaiming myself a bit, too. I love my boys. I absolutely adore them. But I can't argue constitutional theory with Noah. Although Kyle gets geeked up about politics, he's not really interested in the whole "procedural vs. substantive due process" arguement. At least not all the time. And I LIKED who I was when I was in those classes. I liked picking arguments apart and coming up with ideas that, if not new to the academic world, were at least new to me. I miss it. I want to do it forever.

I am excited about doing something that I love so much. I am scared that I'll go through the program and be in the same place I am now: in a job that doesn't utilize (or in my current case, even require that I have) my degree. I am completely freaked out that my brain will somehow no longer work, or that the courses will be too hard, or that I will forget how to write in complete sentences. I am not looking forward to taking out loans or grants or whatever it is you do to fund school- I was lucky for undergrad and didn't have to worry about that stuff. (Thank you, bubble test!) I think it would be awesome to have the kind of schedule you can have when you're a professor. I think it would be fantastic for someone to PAY me to read about stuff I find interesting and then write about it. I love the idea of having summer vacation forever, unless I want to teach Summer or Intersession. I love the idea of being able to teach a three week class and make a nice chunk of change. My husband loves the idea of me being geeked up about something again. He thinks it's adorable.

So. Yep. That's the plan. I really am going to give the whole "becoming a professor" thing a shot. If everything times out right, I should be finishing up my P.h.D about the time the kids (no, there aren't anymore on the way yet, no, it won't be anytime soon, yes, we do want more one of these days) hit school. We can do homework together. I am just naive enough to think that it will be fun.

So, if you're around me often, hit me every now and then and ask how things are going. I have to get all my paperwork done by January 1st, which means I need to take the GRE about 6-8 weeks from now, get letters, write purpose statement, etc.

Wish me luck. Pray really hard that I don't talk myself out of it.

And keep coming here for the cute pictures of Noah, because I am definitely going to keep taking those.