Hello All! I've been away for awhile but am happy to report that I now have a desk (and a room!) of my very own. My writing studio is up, unpacked, and hooked up. I've been here three days a week for the past two weeks and it feels GREAT. I just stuck a note on my bulletin board reminding me to write a blog post every other day or so, either here or at Urban Abbess -- and in the new year I'll be up at Magpie Girl as well. (Alas, that's a site I wanted to start in November! But we are dangerously close now!)

On the home front, the last month or so had been really difficult. There were two weeks straight where the girls had half days at school, followed the by long Thanksgiving weekend, then ONE day of school, then TWO snow days. This in spite the fact that there was NO ACTUAL SNOW stuck to the ground. (Seattlites are wimps.) By the time Eden got back to her "normal" schedule she was completely tapped out from all the changes and spent the afternoon after the first full day of school in tears. We're just finally starting to level out. But now it's almost Winter Break. Here's hoping we can get Eden through with comfort and joy!

Cate, my six year old, is so freaking adorable it's hard not to play favorites. She's really into making books and will spend long hours at thier homework table (aka Cate's Table of Amazing Crafts) stapling pieces of paper together and illustrating tomes about the circus, fairy monkeys, or mean-big-sisters-who-look-like-this-when-they-tattle.

Paul recently treated himself to a much-deserved XBox360 and we are learning how to regulate tube time with the kids. They like to play Breakout (a racing game) with Paul or Viva Pinata or Lego Starwars by themselves. I can't play any of them, though I sometimes take my knitting downstairs and watch them play. The Wolfpup likes to hang out that way -- and I say any way a teenager will spend time with ya, take it!

Well, there's my little update. Stay tuned for advice, thoughts, and funny stories.

Happy Holidays!

Rachelle, aka

The Magpie Girl