Dear Kids,
          Thanks to all of you for cooperating with Andy on his Shutterfly book. He said he had delightful talks with everybody! He has 52 pages ready to go. If you want a copy of the book, the cost will probably be $52. I’m getting one. I know Shutterfly is pricey, but it works! So contact Andy if you also want to spend big bucks to find out where everybody is and what they’re doing right now.
          I’m still dealing with the piles of stuff in our garage, and I bring in at least 5 things a day, but the pile isn’t getting any smaller. How does that work? Are gremlins adding new boxes during the night? And where are the really useful things? Most of the visible boxes have labels like "Liahonas in Spanish" or "Sienna head rests." Where is the box that says "All the rest of Christy’s clothes" or "The kitchen stuff I REALLY need?" 
          Dad and I are still working really hard to make this house livable. Dad paints and hangs blinds and replaces light fixtures. Our house, when we moved in, had the notorious "boob" lights. 18 of them. They were the default choice, and it would have cost a fortune to upgrade them through Fieldstone. So we’re re-doing them one by one. We’ve found some really cool ones at Lowes and Home Depot. My job, besides unpacking boxes, is putting in curtain rods and towel rods and shelves and extra cabinets. And lots else. It’s fun, but I’m starting to wonder what we used to do before we moved into this house. Oh, yeah, we used to hike up the hill every day. That far-away hill that we don’t have time for any more. Oreo wants to go back. His new territory stinks. Big bulldozers and backhoes are working across the street, putting in new roads, and he hates them. Maybe we’ll take him back to the cabin this afternoon and let him roam. I wish we could leave him there alone, but he needs humans almost as much as he needs good territory. 
          I hope you all have good territory. Love, Mom