I’m still here. Really, I am!
So much to pack into a short few weeks around here. Christmas of course and the aftermath of Christmas. Another five-day hunt for Davey’s glasses. We turned the house upside down. I think literally ripping the structure from the foundation was our next step - we’d looked everywhere else. Except…. […]

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For the first time EVER - and maybe for always - I am done with all major Clausing efforts before bedtime. Before the kid’s bedtime. Usually I, like countless other parents, am up into the wee hours watching tv and wrapping presents on the living room floor. Not this year. We have had a surprisingly […]

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There are 24 days in the Advent calendar. Twenty-four tiny bits of chocolate. There are four kids.
24 / 4 = 6
No fights, no squabbles, everyone gets the same amount.

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This is pre-Christmas mind you and I feel buried beneath stuff. Why does my house, even when fairly neat, still feel cluttered? I purge on a regular basis - in fact, though I am not big on daily housecleaning, I do love to purge - still it feels like we have waaaaaay too much stuff.
I […]

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They looked innocent enough. The girls leaned out of the shopping cart toward the Costco Free Sample Man and his chocolate delicacies. I handed one each to Jules and Mae. Hmm, those look good, I thought. Hmm, they look like thin shaved chocolate formed into a semi-flattened tube. Hmm, perhaps I’ll treat myself as well.
I […]

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Today my snow-encrusted mailbox held a wonderous thing: my first paycheck as a published author.
<and this is where the chorus bursts into song and the heavens shine down their golden rays upon me>
It’s not a lot of money, but it’s money, real honest to betsy monetary funds which I have received in exchange for my […]

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Thursday night’s storm dumped 10 inches of snow on us in about 8 hours. School was dismissed early, the evening commute was a horror-show. I was doubly glad that Dex commutes by train. The girls and I had fun watching the cars creeping by our house as dusk fell.

You can imagine Edward’s sense of outrage […]

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I owe about a dozen people email messages. I should be wrapping the gifts I need to get in the mail. Or chipping away at the mountain of stuff I have for the kids. I should be working on titles for my images for the exhibit. Or selecting the final image or two for the […]

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Edward was having a tough time this morning so for some perhaps insane reason, I let him stay home. I did so, it being my day alone with the twins, on three conditions:

finish his homework from last night that was due today (oops)
clean his room
answer the question: why are the colors of Christmas green and red?

After […]

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Dex says, as if it’s barely worth a mention, “Oh yeah, school has a two-hour delay.”
Then he gives us all kisses and walks out the door. “Noooo!” I groan.
The roads are fine now but the walkway and driveway are coated in ice. I managed to get the girls to daycare, reschedule my doc’s appointment for […]

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