Priceless

You can't put a value on things like togetherness, when the company is welcome. Laughing freely and holding on at all costs. A family at the dinner table telling stories. Owing nothing to each other; owing everything for each other.

Wouldn't you know that The Partner and I finally came to a common marital understanding--bought and paid for by 4+ years of misinterpretation--just as he took a new job that will have him working 13 hour days. When we didn't want to have anything to do with each other, his schedule was open. Now that we do, I'll barely see him. And neither will the kids.

In this economy, there's little room for the luxuries money can't buy. Time as a family would be nice, but eating together is secondary to having food on the table. It'd be fun to take a trip, but the journey is secondary to having a car with gas in it. This is how we've chosen to live.

The Partner could've declined this new position on the other side of the state, but it would've been risky. Our was an unspoken agreement when we realized that now is not the time to get audacious. He has a good job that pays the bills. He'll try it out, waiting to see how the work goes and how the world turns. If he must commute each day, so be it. If he can work out some work-from-home scheduling, even better. But as long as the dollar is in such a state of flex, we've got to bend with it. At least for now.

Then we can reevaluate.

***

Thanks to Toyfoto for bestowing upon me the Kreativ Blogger award. A talented writer as well as photographer, she knows a thing or two about creativity. I am so flattered that she thought of me when passing the award along.

With the Kreativ Blogger badge came this dictate: share six things you value and six things you don't, then pass the award to six other bloggers. I took a kreativ stab at the first assignment in the section above (read: I honed in on a couple key words and then did what I wanted to do anyway). Below, I'll do the rest of the honors.

My picks:

(This) Girl's Gone Child - If you've been to her blog, you know why I think she's one of the most creative people around. If you haven't, then your first visit will clue you in pretty fast.

Things I Carry: Memoir - Lauren is a creative force that blows in like a constructive hurricane. She is able to sweep people up with her words and pictures in such a smooth way that it takes awhile before they realize they are being carried.

one plus two - jen looks at this world with eyes that see things not only as they are, but as they could be if people worked together to make the picture brighter and clearer. There is creativity in the vision and in the way she shares it.

i obsess. - Debbie is one creative motherfucker. There is nothing linear about her. She is so imaginative it hurts.

Motherhood Uncensored - Kristen turned blogging into a business according to several inventive models.

My Mom Genes - Duff and Fitz, the duo behind this relatively new blog, have taken on the mission of assuring new mothers everywhere that they are not crazy or alone. Their unique viewpoints combine to make us realize we're not so different after all.

Another Think Coming

Just when I was beginning to think this whole blog was devoid of thought, none other than Redneck Mommy comes around and bestows upon me the Thinking Blogger Award.

I would be flattered to have received this button from anyone

but I am tickled especially pink to have been tagged by T, a favorite blogger of mine and a fellow nose-picker on the playground of life. It's all part of the "5 Blogs That Make Me Think" meme started at The Thinking Blog. Thanks for thinking I think, T. I think you think, too.

Not for nothing, but "think" is one of those words that starts to look really funny when you see it written out more than once.

Anyhoo, it is now my sacred duty to pass the torch to five other bloggers I consider especially adept at running their gray matter through its paces. Thinking bloggers. That means different things to different people, but to me the title signifies writers with unique ways of articulating themselves while remaining addictively relatable. As I haven't been able to give my Bloglines its proper consideration for the past few days, I may not be up to date on those who have already been tagged as thinking bloggers. So, if this is redundant, just scratch another notch into your laptop and go back about your brilliant business. And if passing along memes isn't your style, no worries. Just know I'm thinking about your thinking.

Without further ado, here are 5 Blogs That Make Me Think:

Jocelyn's Stories

(This) Girl's Gone Child

Salad Days Chronicles

Memoir by Lauren

i obsess.