A little House for K.K.

is moving from imagination to dream to plan in our back yard. It's staked out now, and Ruth and I trimmed some trees to make room. K.K., very excited about her potential apartment helped too until a mosquito left a huge red welt on her forehead and her Auntie sent her in. The mosquitos love that child as much as I do, unfortunately. I know it is hard for Joanna to be away from K.K. so the girl can live in Austin and dance, and it's hard for me to have Joanna and the boys and Tracy and Drea moving to San Antonio for work - and I am excited about K.K. being a more everyday part of our co-household.

A Thank you poem for Chris

Home Cooking


Barefoot in the kitchen,
madras shorts, wild curls,
science fiction book open
on the counter. NPR on radio,
fluffy scruffy dog under foot,
you teach your son, one,
who stands on blue stool.
You teach him to break egg.
stir batter, place dishes in sink.
He brings you garlic, olive oil,
grater, parsnips, chocolate chips.
You pound the chicken thin,
make two sauces, spicy, mild,
consider all tastes, feed family.
Great blessing, you home cooking.

Happy Birthday Bob!

Today is Bob's birthday--We didn't do much of anything official to celebrate the day itself but it promises to usher in an exciting new year now that Bob will be officially back in Austin teaching 6th grade. (So thank-you AISD for a great Bob-Birthday gift). And thank you, Bob, for letting Liam and I bake you a cake even when you can't eat it. We love you!

Changes

So much is changing in our Stardust house. I can't even really keep up day to day. For sure Bob is coming home to teach sixth grade at Andrews School here in Austin. We are all thrilled about that, though a little overwhelmed by the work involved in closing the Corpus apartment. Also Joanna's family is probably moving to San Antonio for a work and housing opportunity and K.K. will probably stay with us to continue dancing at Ballet Austin. I find that pretty exciting, but again, there will have to be some structural changes to the house to accomodate her and her stuff - so much happening at once! The atmosphere is good, warm and full of laughter, often following Liam's lead. There is just a lot to do, and probably adjustments in the future for all of us. Life does feel very alive in the midst of so much love.