today was a big day because after 6 years of telecommuting, consulting and contracting from The Home Office, i actually went into work to start contracting work for organic valley; work that i couldn't have known i'd pick up when we decided to move to viroqua, but i'm absolutely elated at the prospect of getting my foot into the door of a company that i have a tremendous amount of respect for. and it's not lost on me that i've stumbled into a great opportunity to work for a company that just happens to be located on the road that i was driving down when i had the strong sense that we'd call the area home while admiring the rolling hillside and imagining how lucky i'd be if i could see such scenery on my daily commute.

but still, it's a big change to leave odin for the entire day and i'd be lying if i didn't admit that it was a wee bit sad to say goodbye to him in the morning and watch him peer at me out the kitchen window saying "buh, bye, poppi!", as i got in the car.

upon arriving home, just in time to catch odin eating dinner before heading off to a bath and bed, kris excitedly exclaimed, "odin, tell poppi what you did today!"

apparently, when it came time to feed mauja, our little genius decided to dip his hand in the feed bin and dump the food in his dog bowl, counting "one...two...three...four....five...six....seven...eight...nine...ten!"

on a side note: between moving and starting work at organic valley and getting an influx of other contracting work and being a parent, i'm desperately short on "free" time lately; if i take longer than usual to respond to email or call you back or comment on your wonderful comment, or whatnot, please bear with me as i try to organize my life :-)