Short & Sweet

Busy.

MIL's 80th birthday party was terrific, with 3 nights of sleepovers for the girls (and a cold to pass around), and with everyone in the family there (very nearly), even great-grandchildren. One of the things I learned though was that I really miss having a family to get together with myself. I'm pretty much down to having only one brother (and SIL). I could always walk into my mother's house without knocking and I will never be able to do that to anyone's house but mine ever again I don't guess. And I simply acknowledge that that is and that I find it sad. So I love the in-laws and couldn't ask for better but there is definite in-law-ness, no matter how much they love you and how much you love them.

And my midwife/sister/friend is here for a visit and brought along her grandson. And we also had a whole 'nother family come for a visit, and next week it looks like someone else will come for a visit, and so I guess the whole hermit thing just isn't working out too well for me at the moment. It was time to see myself reflected in a different mirror. Several things I'm learning here -- that inertia applies to hermit-dom and non-hermit-dom too, that the Southern use of "bless his heart" (which allows you to say anything about anybody without being insulting, supposedly) has an analogous California/hippy saying in "there's no judgment in that", and it is confirmed to me yet again that spirituality is when God/dess tells you what to do and religion is when God/dess tells you what someone else should do. Or not do.

We kept most things from freezing in the recent cold snap -- and kept the hot weather stuff so warm is actually grew! Bless all our hearts.

And I'm going to go brush my shedding horse now. Maybe lead all these kids around on him.