Madison

This is a time of so much change. Last week I said goodbye to all the people I've supported over the past 5 years, this week I meet with each of my dear coworkers to hand over the files. Yesterday Beth said "I hope this isn't the best the job you ever had"--meaning, of course, she hopes I have equally great jobs ahead of me. But it's hard to believe there could be another job quite as perfect as this one has been.

Last week as I visited my clients all over town I kept thinking about the past seven years and how much Madison has shaped my life. I let my mind travel through the years-- the tiny downtown apartment Billy and I shared while we worked at a coffee shop and motel, the nice two-bedroom place in the cute neighborhood that we could afford when we landed TAships, the townhouse we bought on the East side when our careers started to take off (in the very humble way that a social worker and a student's career can take off :) Walking down State St or through the Farmer's Market, or by the shops on Monroe street reminds me of the hopes we had while living here. They were really good years. But, of course, the hopes that were the backdrop to these good years involved Billy finding work as a professor, being able to support our little family, and getting to move to a college town. Such a bittersweet time.

Billy put together a wonderful surprise for me; he made an interactive map on google with 7 days of Madison activities for our 7 years here. We start tomorrow by going down to the neighborhood of our first apartment and getting coffee at the place I worked.

But, onto the true star of the blog...Charlie had his last day (ever?) of daycare on Thursday. His teacher wrote a simple note saying he's a wonderful boy and is v ery caring toward others. Just that comment made me swell with pride. He reallyhas become a very caring little guy. When our realtor had to bring his 18 month old to our house (another dad who stays home on Fridays!) Charlie went out of his way to bring him his best toys, pat his head when he cried, and laugh heartily when he thought the little boy was trying to be funny. I was so proud. 

Charlie is really into trucks and cars, and he's getting good at identifying them by sound.  He'll say, "fi-fi!" for fire truck sirens, "vroom" for a passing car, "uh-oh" for really big trucks, and run around like he's driving for motorcycles. When he hears a truck he runs to the nearest window (as you can see in the photo) and does his best to get a good view. 

The video is from our friends' cookout and the other pictures are from the other night after his bath. I put him in his pjs, and he found this cozy sweater my dad bought him and insisted I put it on him. He pulled up the hood, ran downstairs to find daddy (who always appreciates his antics) and hammed it up for a good 20 minutes. Now when he sees the sweater he says "funny" and laughs hysterically for a few minutes.