helloooo?

Is anyone there? I am timidly dipping my big toe in the water here in bloggyland again after lo these many moons. I suppose it shouldn't make any difference if no one was reading, but I'm the kind of girl who needs the tiniest bit of encouragement in situations like this.


It's not that I have anything to say, exactly. I just feel like maybe it's time to re-emerge from my self-imposed tunnel. I've still been writing, it's just gone underground, in journal form.


Maybe someday I'll get the motivation to recount my caregiving journey, but I don't think it will be today.


Here's a quick status report, just so you're up to speed:

• We moved my mom into an elderly ladies' home last month. She's adjusting as well as we could hope. It's really a lovely place. I'm adjusting. I think. Some days. She's close enough that we can take her to church with us and to the occasional track meet, and have her over for Easter dinner and stuff like that. Here she is with Lily and Tessa when they were here not long ago (I got to have them to myself for FIVE WHOLE DAYS).




• Dan is almost done with his freshman year at college. How did this happen? We enjoyed getting to see him almost every weekend, since he was only a bit more than an hour away. I'm not even deluding myself that he was coming home to see me. This lovely lady in pink was undoubtedly The Draw:

• Dave is teaching cardio fitness at the middle school where Susannah attends, and she actually has him for a teacher this marking period. Weird.





• Garrison is running track now. Y'all know how much I love track meets in Michigan, right? 75 degrees on Saturday, 43 degrees and rainy on Tuesday. But it's extra exciting this year because Dave is also Garrison's track coach. Some interesting family dynamics going on, as you can imagine.





• Jim and I are planning to revisit our old stomping grounds in El Paso in June. We're on the docket to speak at a military marriage seminar -- the first one since January 08 when we went to Korea. We're excited because we have friends from our Germany days who are living there now and it will be wonderful to reconnect.


• It must be the act of getting old that is prodding me to look up old acquaintances. I've even found my best friend from junior high on facebook, and several of my high school classmates, too. Ahh, technology! Either that or it's my dearth of current day friends. Hmmm. Either way, it's sort of fun.


• If you have had any contact with me at all in the past few months, you know that I'm all a-flutter over American Idol. Matt Giraud (who is now in the TOP FIVE, people!) is not only from Kalamazoo, but he goes to our church! At least he did, before he became famous and all. I'm doubtful he'll ever actually come back, to tell the truth. But he once sat right behind me, and even signed my bulletin. So don't even bother trying to call me on Tuesday or Wednesday nights. I'll be watching. I'll be voting. You should, too.

So that's the Christmas newsletter edition. We're all still here, just older and bigger.

And I think that's all for now. I have to pace myself, you know. Let me hear from you, if you're out there.