Another year, three moves later, and I'm sitting looking out on new snow falling in Anchorage, our new home. My girls are contenting themselves with playing in a box, Alexi Murdoch is serenading my morning (or what feels like morning in the dead of Alaska Winter at 12:49pm), and I'm almost two-thirds of my way through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

It's been a crazy last little while, but soon I will begin blogging anew, illustrating, finding inner peace every day, and continually become more self-aware. These are my goals for the new year.

oh yeah, and laugh.

So this week, well, last two months for that matter have been really crazy. Two months ago, I lost Liam from my daycare because his dad lost his job. A week ago I found out that Zenna will be leaving our daycare and moving to a center. It's been such a loss for me, basically losing my whole job in six weeks and having to start from scratch.

I do have a new little boy named Max, who is just the most delightful 10-month-old in the world. We call him Maximillian a lot, since that's his full name (there are just so many nicknames from that!). But like Chris said, lightning can't strike four times, and it's taking a lot more work to find someone to watch this time.

I've been putting all my leftover energy into my art, sketching a lot for my children's book, and today searching in the 'artists' section on Craigslist. I already have one woman who wants me to design a robot tattoo for her, and a fundraiser through the Audobon Society of Portland, where artists paint/create/arrange a 6" x 6" canvas for charity. I'm really excited about both, because I think I'm much more of an artist than I ever gave myself credit for, and eventually I would love to be able to do it for a living, or at least a small living on the side. Plus, if these things go well, I'll have some examples for a portfolio.

Anyway, I'll definitely post the final products on my blog when they're finished.  You can see more about the fundraiser here ... http://www.audubonportland.org/support-us/fundraising-events/waf/sixbysix

P.S. We have some wicked awesome records now ... Iron and Wine, Simon and Garfunkel, U2, and The National .....