I promised more delights from our trip to Europe, and I also attested to the fact we have waaaaay too many images to possibly post in one gathering. So I've had to break up the yummies into their own goody baskets.

As you know, I'm in Kennesaw, preparing for our final cross-country move (I hope!) and also trying to save the roof on our house, so I really have NO time for the extravagence of Photoshop. Only, what? I WILL DIE IF I CANNOT PLAY!!! So each morning it's into Photoshop to give me the boost I need for the day.

And you, my friends, are the beneficiaries. Now take my hand and let's go skipping through the joys of puppetry!

=

I'm back from Europe. Back from the edge of illness. Back from the bowels of holiday travel. But still dancing the line of sanity, thank you very much.

Though we wish we'd been able to update regularly, that's been the teensiest bit impractical. Let me spell it out for you this way:

Thanksgiving - Silas and I watch the Macy's parade from our living room couch in Taos where I am busy hacking up my left lung. Never found out if it was H1N1 or what, but it was entirely unpleasant.

Achoo!

Day after Thanksgiving we get a phone call from Silas's 94 year old grandfather. YES! He'll make the 9 hour drive down from his house in Northern Germany to meet us in Troestau, Germany. This throws us into a tailspin, as we'd just about given up our idea of getting to Germany for Christmas. But lo and behold! There are tickets to be had at the last minute, ebay sales going through to insure the purchase, all forces aligning to make the trip a reality.

*This gives us exactly 48 hours to pack for two weeks in Germany, as well as a month in Kennesaw, and a cross country drive both ways. Stay tuned.*

Cough. Splutter.

Two days later we're in the car with Meecie, Tink and Izzy, heading to pick up Mernie in Amarillo (too long a story, sorry) and head to Kennesaw. The plan is for Mernie to babysit while Silas and I have a Great Escape, and when we return to Kennesaw, to begin The Big Move. Total excavation of the Kennesaw property so that we can officially live in ONE location: Taos.

Mernie retrieved, we drive on to Kennesaw and spend the next three days recovering from the flu funk, which has now infested Silas as well.

Double Achoo!

December 4 - fly to Frankfurt

December 5-14 Time in Germany, a Christmas tour, and meet Silas's parents for the first time. Also spend the weekend with 94 old Grampa. THE JOY!

December 15-20 BELOVED PRAGUE!!!

December 21-22 Returning home via buses, planes, trains and many automobiles

December 23rd - ACHOO! Something foul found me on the way home.

Christmas to New Years - Second bout with flu while trying to pack and sort the Kennesaw house. No tree, no presents, not even a light or a carol. But we're together with loads of cardboard boxes and are embracing the warm vision of a new year.

Is it any wonder I've not been updating? This is the first time I've paused in over a month. And I think one deserves some kind of dewey button for two flues in one month. Think there's some kind of badge for that? I should look it up...

Anyway, just wanted to give you guys an idea of the utter FALDEROL that is my life. Stay tuned for many, many pix. I know I'm having fun, even if I can't remember it. I know, cuz I've got the photos and the red-haired girl in them is smiling!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

(achoo!)

See the dust? Told you our fridge needed cleaning. This might explain the tiny, twin sneezes I hear in the night.

Mighty Forces held up with a magnetic chip clip. Dig it.

Got a little extra junk in your trunk? Gotta "back" attack? I submit, for your viewing pleasure, your numerous fans!

Big bottom girls? Listen up!

First there was Queen:

Then there was Mika:

Now even Beast from Beauty and the Beast is gettin' in on the big bottom goodness. Check it out!

I watched this video with Silas and we just roared. (Well, he did. He is a beast!) I said "So maybe 3:45 is my hour!"

And he says, "Sorry honey, you're a round the clock gal! And every juicy hour is mine all mine!"

Kinda makes you wonder what DING DONG! means in Clock Slang, eh?

LMAO!

Mernie just left yesterday and my life is a mess. So messy, in fact, I cannot take the time to write about it fully. But I will, someday. Let's just say I almost lost my mouse, then Tink and Izzy went into surgery for a late-in-life spaying and Tink is not recuperating well. In a minute I'll return to the couch to keep her company and share my healthy happy vibes with her. In the midst of this chaos, Mernie has left Taos after four months of sharing our very tiny, built-for-one space. She and Petie (a family chihuahua and her "best man") have headed for Austin to stay with my brother and his family.

While Silas and I missed our privacy, we miss her presence more. So it's been a roller coaster ride of love and loss the past few days.

I thought I'd share a little something with you. It's a hand-scribbled poem-note, left in our refrigerator, nestled between the pot of chai tea and the Fat Tire beer bottles. Its author? Mernie.

I think it speaks volumes about our bond, and why we cried tears of sadness rather than relief, as she pulled out of our driveway yesterday morning.

This is a love song.
This is a homemade greeting card.
This is a journey of love.
This is a wellspring of stinkiness morphing into a field of dreams.
That was so funny.
That was so ridiculous.
That was so fucking sad.
That was so sweet what you did.
Here now is perfection.
Here now is fun.
Here now is gratitude.
Here now is allowing.
Here now is your love for me.
Forever is how I will love you.
Forever we'll be together.
Forever we will laugh and stroll hand in hand~
Forever we'll love each other with hugeness.

~Mernie, October 2009

Miss you already. xOxO