Growing a lot.

My jasmine releases its fragrance at night. Last night as I was getting off from a long day of harvest and crush I rounded the corner towards the back door and the fragrance was overwhelming. I walked by the $20 grill I got someone for father's day, by the fig cuttings and tiny herb garden around my mailbox and got greeted at the back door with dog tail wags so extreme the tails appeared to have a mind of their own, ruddering the dogs to back and forth in front of me. I peer into the living room and a tiny man toddles around the door frame and once he realizes it's me, the smile melts across his face, grinning so wide that his jaw drops open to reveal an epic partially toothy grin.

I'm broke but I'm happy. I started grad school awhile ago, so if caring for a newborn and working a full time job wasn't enough, I'm taking classes at night, writing papers and reading these insane textbooks in my "free" time. I download podcasts to listen to when I'm out in the field and I feel a new depth of understanding on the human condition. I'm in addictions counseling now and the dichotomy between that and crafting new recipes for gin at work is a new level of ironic.

My house is still standing. The water heater broke in the dead of winter as I was already limping by, but a grandmother stepped in who didn't want her grandson to take cold baths. This summer, the other grandmother jumped in and bought us a big room air conditioner because she didn't want her grandson to be too hot... which was funny cause she was fine with her pregnant daughter being miserable the previous year.
But if I've learned one thing about having a kid its that the entire whole of my being is now focused on this adorable little human. All I want to do is teach him things and protect him and cuddle him. I thought the newborn stage was amazing, but as he grows and his personality comes out, these days are getting more and more amazing.
He's just over one now and has my car keys in one hand, trying to start his toy motorcycle with them. He has learned that his grandmother's golf cart doesn't work without the keys so he will find any key and try to put it near the ignition so he can step on the gas and make us all jump.
And now he is throwing the ball to the dog, which is a double game of fetch as he throws it, she retrieves it but doesn't want to go near the hair pulling tiny human so he has to chase her down to get the ball back. I fear my wallet he was walking around with earlier might be filed in a toy chest somewhere or under a couch cushion or whatever his new favorite hiding spot is today.

It's Saturday and raining, but we might walk down to the farmer's market. I really like my town for the most part. They try to do community things and bring people together. Every week in the summer, they shut down main street for some sort of party or concert or hawaiian bbq. And now that my youngin is an eating machine who loves car shows, we meander through town quite a bit. Hopefully peaches are still in season. My garden may be small this year, but I sure feel like I'm growing a lot.