Update

Okay, okay. It has now been, let's see, almost four months since I posted here. That's pretty bad. However, in my own defence, I have been totally reorganizing my life. In December (probably exactly a month after my last post) Dan and I decided that I needed a full year "sabbatical" from Attic Therapy. I was just too tired. So I began the complicated process of winding down a very busy business involving communicating with a lot of families I care pretty deeply about. However, every week that passed made me more certain that this was the right decision. Right at the same time, Seth got sick with asthmatic bronchitis, and he didn't manage to kick that for a full 8 weeks - lots of Dr. visits and 3 courses of antibiotics and finally a visit to the pediatrician. Heidi had a short bout of the same thing over Christmas as well but she actually got better. Seth just coughed and coughed and was dead tired.

Anyway, Christmas was almost a non-event in light of those two complications. We went down to Regina for the Lundell Christmas which would have been wonderful except that two of my kids were feverish and probably contagious. They tried hard to act like they weren't sick but by the time we got home for Christmas Eve and missed the closing of the walk-in clinic they were extremely ill. After Christmas we went to the Blocks' in Saskatoon but I almost felt like apologizing for coming with all the hacking and red eyes. Heidi got antibiotics on the way, literally. But the Dr. had this bizarre concoction that despite my requests, could not in any way be put in pill form so Heidi was choking it back in a syringe and ended up throwing up all over the back seat. On the way.

Then after we got back and Seth and Heidi started to recover, Levi, Dan and myself (and Seth, and I think Heidi too at one point) got stomach flu. So the entire week before New Year's was unbelievably quiet as all of us had zero energy, not to mention appetite. It did not make for a festive feeling, but was definitely relaxing. By New Year's Day I was absolutely stir-crazy (feeling better myself but pretty much all by myself) and so I ditched my convalescing, moaning, reading all over the couches family and went and visited my neighbour after shamelessly phoning and begging her to let me out of my quarantine.

Everyone was better, sure enough, just in time for school. This did not thrill them but I was certainly happy to have everyone on the bus. That lasted exactly one day and then Seth was down for the count with his asthma taking one final kick at the can. I had one final diagnostic assessment to complete for Attic Therapy, which took most of January, and then I went through our entire house with a vengeance, organizing, cleaning, sorting, and throwing out or giving away Stuff. And that brought me pretty much up to the February Break. Which was filled as usual with sleepovers with my kids' best friends who all live too far away to get together often. And now it's Saturday, and everyone's healthy, and I have vacuumed my organized living room, and the Science Fair projects are almost completely done, and there is one last friend waiting to get picked up, and then it's Sunday, and then we are heading into a week where I desperately hope I can begin to feel like I am on leave from work.

So here I am, back on the web, pouring out my soul for the masses to read (or not), and wondering how to spend the next year. I am determined to spend quality time with the horses, all of who(m?) need training. I would like to write something. I would like to concentrate on my kids, hopefully not just in the health department. I would like to have fun again. It's been a while since that has even been part of my vocabulary, unless it has been making experiences fun for others. I would like to renew friendships that have drifted apart with time and distance. I am trying to figure out Facebook and find email addresses and even snail mail addresses for people I used to at least get a Christmas letter to. My computer crashed about 5 years ago right after I had painstakingly put all my addresses on it. I lost touch with quite a few people after that. It was just very demoralizing.

I am also hoping to work on moderation. It would do me no good to stop working in order to rest and then to burn out doing all the other stuff that has been tugging at my back burners. Typical, but not a good idea. So I want to go carefully here. Life is just so darn short!! Anytime I get any bit of energy I start tearing around doing stuff I have been wanting to do forever and then all of a sudden - crash. It's an extremely predictable pattern and I would like to try to break it. We'll see.

So anyway, that's where I am today. Soup is on the stove. Levi is reading Asterix contentedly, having baked us a huge batch of Grandmother's Soft White Cookies this afternoon while I was grocery-shopping, bless his heart. Heidi is with her friend probably getting rice and sprinkles all over her room. Seth and Dan just left for a 5 mile snowshoe before supper. It has stopped snowing and is no longer -39 with the windchill. Hooray. Tomorrow my parents come for supper after the kids have basketball practice. It's all good. So if you're reading this and you're one of my old dear friends, please find a way to get a hold of me. You're on my list to find!