I can't believe six weeks have gone by since my last post. Here are my excuses: Computer crash; family reunion over Thanksgiving week in White Sulphur Springs, ten days in Wichita visiting grandkids while mom and dad went to Cancun; working on the annual Christmas letter; travel, travel, travel---all these are the story I'm sticking to.

My children's lives are a continuous soap opera. When one family is flourishing, another is in the toilet. I spend so much time counselling it's frightening--in wondering if I've made myself too accessible. I guess I should feel flattered that both my children and their spouses trust me to give an unjudgmental opinion and unbiased advice. I hope things have settled down in their lives before I'm either not mentally capable or simply not around to help.

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving. The families came from Wichita, Denver, Fort Lewis (WA) and Bozeman. The week started on Tuesday and ended Sunday (when the last family left.) Seventeen of my offspring, their spouses and children showed up for eating, bonding, snowmobiling and hunting. It was ten below zero most of the week with plenty of sno, and they loved it. It's been five years since we all got together. We definitely won't wait that long again. Life is too short.

I'm glad to be settled back into our little house in Sequim--just a few hours after the big storms hit. We got very little rain, no wind, and didn't even lose power, when the rest of western Washington was being flooded and blown to pieces. Blessings on the Olympic mountain rain shadow. We have tickets to the Irish Tenors Christmas concert next Saturday. They are so wonderful; the music stays with you all year. Don't miss them if you ever have a chance. They are world-class entertainers, and to have them (two years in a row) in our little community of Port Angeles is mind-blowing, and the result of a close friendship between Anthony Kearns (one of the tenors) and a Port Angeles family.

Now that my computer crisis and other activities are settled, I'm re-launching "Chasing Ghosts." If volume is an indicator, it comprises about 100 pages so far.

I miss Judy; she's a guest professor in Tucson this semester. I hope she comes back, although I'll understand if the grass is greener elsewhere.

I'm going to try the gym again today, after an attack of lower back pain. Fingers crossed!