How the motor hums..

As we quickly approach the Fundraiser Event, I begin to ease back. Still at high speed but no longer needing to gain momentum. Ill be coasting down the other side of this mountain in no time. Like a bullet. To do list fall off the list one by one. Almost all that remains to be done is the execution. And I play hostess well.

Speaking of playing hostess, Monday night some Kindred came through from Grande Rapids. The Howards share our faith and were some of the first people we raised a horn with when we lived in that hot awful valley. Those days are long gone but despite our various and distant lives we have kept in loose contact. Enough to know our values and world views remain generally in sync as well as generally knowing they are healthy and well. As luck would have it the Howards returned to the valley and decided to visit the aquarium and took us up on our open door policy. The father is a leather worker who produces pieces which show significant amounts of artistry. The mother is a midwife and is expecting her fourth in April or so. Their three children range in age from 2 to 8 and played together with ours as well as distant cousins being brought together for a family reunion. The Howard's children do not have the ability to play in their front yard at their home as the children have been approached for drug deals while out front before. The enjoyed the freedom. Mom enjoyed the use of a real bed and found herself drifting off heavily and quickly. All told there was ax throwing, Dr. Who watching and conversation ranging from all levels of homesteading to the failings of sex education and our culture in the empowerment of women and other vaginal based topics. And there was feasting! From what I had lying around, I whipped up butternut squash soup, spaghetti, krispy kale, and apple crisp for dinner. It was a pleasure to open out house to such good folk.

Prior to company, the weekend was super active. Greg returned Friday from a week in Seattle. We slid into Saturday with me disappearing for a great many hours to flyer the entire length of coast from Zumbdowski beach in Moss to Marina Dunes with news of the upcoming party. Then the family split up 2x2 to attend various birthday parties. Little Tree Climber and I found ourselves taking off for Watsonville for a online school mate who moved to the US when she was almost two from Russia. Her parents are both Scientists. The mom is involved in studying holistic methods of curing cancer. We discussed how she is running into opposition from the pharmaceutical juggernauts. The father is involved in research at MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquatic Research Institute) It was pleasant discussing their work as well as finding commonalities which we could relate on the same footing. It turns out that they are Zena fans. So much so that they go to the conventions in LA yearly.

After that Little Tree Climber and I ran off to Salinas to watch a youth filled production of "The best Christmas Pagent Ever" put on by a childrens theater. The only one I know of in our area. The play was supurb! I am aiming to put the kids into some acting around the beginning of next school year.

P.S. Mom... In your mendery .. contact theater groups for costume work.

Whereas Saturday brought fevered and flavored activity, Sunday brought nothing but trouble. Sticky pistons applied a little to much elbow grease to some work he was doing on the  car and .. well.. basically tore part of the engine off with his bare hands. How bad the damage is and what needs to happen to correct it is as yet unknown but it doesn't look good. Maybe he should not be called sticky pistons but rather "Ratchet the Hatchet"

As if that wasn't enough, the  kitty knocked the kids laptop off a ledge and did a number to it... 2 weeks after the warranty expired. This is a bit of a bother with regard to school as one might imagine. We are working our way through finding a solution but even if I replace the laptop I am running into another challenge. Our Internet connection has begun locking out the number of devices we can connect to it at any one time thus limiting our ability to function. That issue too will have to wait until Winter break to be addressed. 5 more days of school!! Then we are celebrating Yule. School is out on the first day of our celebrations. Once school is done I will be prepping for all that.

Speaking of technology, my son just got his first email account. He has taken to it far more aggressively than his sister. Hes pursued addresses for everyone he knows and utilizes the chat function often.. Im not complaining.

10:25 AM Son: i love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:} <3 span="span">

10:26 AM me: And I love you!! <3 span="span">

10:28 AM Son: :>}

This is rainbow war paint! And with that I return to the work at hand!