Hooray! The computer is fixed!

Yes, despite a three-week absence from the Sandwich, I am still here. A multitude of computer problems kept me away from my precious internet, but at last all is well in online land and you, lucky reader, get to hear about Planet Mayberry all over again.

Not that much has occurred on our little end of the earth. Jordan had his first karate class and it was not, shall we say, a big success. In fact, it was a half-hour exercise in screaming and begging to leave, which I tried to calmly ignore despite the fact that he was pulling on my shirt so hard I was afraid the nice karate people were going to get a great view of my boobs. The sensei assured me this happens all the time. "He can't do anything we haven't seen before," she asserted. This I doubted, but I continued to try to read my book, calmly, holding my shirt around the collar. Then when our half hour was up, he decided to up the ante by refusing to put his shoes and socks back on, this on a very chilly November eve. That is how Jordan's first day of karate class ended with him chasing me, barefoot and screaming, down the cold and gravel-lined sidewalk as I strode to the car, calmly wishing I could speed away and leave this banshee where he stood.

But we'll be back on Tuesday night. Remarkably, they will allow us to return.

Meanwhile, on the very same day, I took Maya for a girl date down to Yakima, where she got her nails painted by a nice Vietnamese fellow at the Angel Nails salon. He even painted tiny flowers on her thumbnails. We went clothes shopping and puttered around and generally had a very pleasant afternoon. I swear the difference between my two children was inborn--I have nothing to do with it! In fact, this morning I came across an old journal entry written when Jordan was three months old. He was cheerful and delightful and gorgeous, I reported, but he was at the time completely tearing apart his exer-saucer and throwing the pieces around. Looks like he might be destructive, I wrote. Just a little bit.

But the truth is despite their different temperaments, both my children are fiercely loving, creative, brilliant people. Stories involving Jordan tend to be more entertaining, but really, he's a wonderful kid. Just not on the first day of karate.

Meanwhile, I'm still adjusting to life without 911. I knew I'd miss it, but I have grieved it much more than I thought I would. It's very painful to suddenly not be part of such an intricate and intense web of people, and every time I see a police car or hear a siren it reminds me of what is gone. I maintain that it was time for me to go, but it still hurts like hell. I was part of something that is so critical to society--something so adrenaline-pumping and exciting that it quickens my blood just thinking about it--and to switch from that to a life of quiet housecleaning is like hitting the emergency brake on the freeway. It still has me in a spin.

But the good news is that this new life of mine really is working out well. We have enough business to do well while keeping our lives flexible. I have a lot more time now. Plus, I get to sleep like a normal person every night, not work until six in the morning. God, that was awful after a while. At the end of the month I'm going to start taking classes to get certified in Body Talk, which is a really, really cool type of energy work. Stay tuned for more on that, because to get certified I have to do fifty documented sessions, and that means you, folks!!

Scott is still working on a new series of awesome paintings that are going to make him famous. They're incredible. He has almost enough for a solo show and I'm extremely proud of him.

And that is the news! Three weeks' worth! Not too shabby, huh?