Training

Pompey has been in training now for a couple of months. Isabelle is turning him into a workhorse. Here he is in his stable. Maybe this is the reason that he enjoys sleeping outdoors in sub-zero weather?? Today she is training him, but not as a horse--today he is a donkey. But in our house we read tons of books, tons of old books, so the word that his trainer uses for donkey is the antiquated word that some people use for a body part. "I'm training my little ---," she says while hard at work.

Is my blog working?????????

The new year is here. Every year on New Year's Eve we have a little party with sparkling juice and treats. We gather around and draw our hopes and dreams on small sheets of paper. Then we explain our drawings and put them in the fire one by one. They burn up and the angels grab the smoke, taking our wishes to God in heaven above.

Freddy managed to remember our drawings from last year:

Freddy: Your wish didn't come true.
Susan: What was it?
Freddy: You wanted to lie on the couch eating bonbons, and you didn't.
Susan: Oh.
Freddy: And you wanted to lie on your floaty on the lake eating bonbons, and you didn't do that either.
Susan: Oh. What did you wish for?
Freddy: A duck. I didn't get it, but I got a dead bird (see photo above) and that is almost the same!!

The new cleaning crew.

Robot.

Robot.

Robot.

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

15 years

"Marriages last not just because the people within them love each other but because the time they have spent together, the events they have mutually experienced, the memories they share, and the depth of their intimacy and comfort with each other make marriage to anyone else seem impossible."

--from What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us by Danielle Crittenden