And the ball rolls on

Why again do I have one of these damn things? I don't have enough time to catch up. So I won't. A brief summary of current occupations will have to suffice:

Sophie and Olivia have had their birthdays, now and 7 and 2, and Emme will soon be 4.





Both schoolgirls got to present drawings to the queen -- the homecoming queen -- and Sophie's receiving the "knowledge" award tomorrow morning. They're both in cheer camp this week. Yesterday was a marathon -- work, cheer camp, dancing and home at 8:00. Yes, they're both taking dance. Olivia's jealous.



Wendy is still moonlighting at the bar. I've played intermittantly since summer, most recently during Rita's wake, in Ruston. We played with generated power under Christmas lights on the back porch of a log cabin. And joining us was a monster guitar player who's been displaced from New Orleans. Otherwise, however, it's been pretty slow -- outside of school, of course -- a clock-like regularity dictating our day-to-day lives. School, work, football, drumline, dance, homework, grading, smoking, sleeping.

If I sound overwhelmed, I am. A bit. But it's like I explained to James once: I'm balancing my life on an 8-foot earthball, unstable but under control, hanging on, gasping for breath, yet strangely energized by the fear and the feeling that I'm creating life anew everyday.