How Time Flies Along!

Sorry for the long absence. Everything's great - I've just been super-busy.

Halloween was amazing! Costumes, candy, neighbors and partying under the bewitchingly full(ish) moon. My witch costume was the most comfortable, appealing costume of my life!

The girls are terrific. They both won awards last week for their advanced state test scores! Two shiny trophies are now sitting on our mantle. Parent-teacher conferences also went well. (Can I admit that I beamed when both teachers complemented the girls on their extraordinary writing abilities?! Aw, shucks...)

I have a new obsession - Guinea pigs! I'm not sure why but I just decided I wanted to get more pets. We've been doing lots of research and looking for just the right little piggies to bring into our home. I want to adopt either some from a rescue organization (yep, there are guinea pig rescue nonprofits- two in our area alone!) or from someone who can't keep their beloved pets. I don't want to buy from a breeder and encourage ever more overpopulation of animals that people can't keep up with!!

They are SO beyond adorable, and you can totally train them to sit on your lap, whistle and squeak at you, and more. So lately whenever I get stressed by my workload, I relax by browsing through guinea pig photos online. Hey, it's cheaper than shopping!

I've stepped up my yoga practice and when I'm not in classes, of course I'm hanging out somewhere, writing grants. I'm also working on my first novel and submitting bits of it for my latest fiction course that I'm taking. I just love having the weekly feedback from a trusted mentor.

And I'm still tutoring my friend three times each week. Only four more weeks to go. I am SO ready for her class to finish and for J&B's vacation to start!

Shawn and I continue to get along better and better. I'm so proud of him for getting back into grad school and getting through two classes along with his workload from his job. That's not easy to tackle, but he's making steady progress. He should be completely done by this summer! Yay! Then more pay and less hassle ahead of us.

I should tell you he was quite a dashing vampire for Halloween. I really think capes are undervalued in our current fashions!

Well, this is cursory at best. I hope to get back to thoughtful, reflective topical posting soon. In the meantime, you'll know why I dropped out of sight.

Thanks for all the devoted reading and the caring thoughts that you so generously continue to send my way. It's a real community out here.