Ch-ch-ch-changes

It's been quite a while since I posted from the House of Crazy, which doesn't mean I'm not still batshit whacko. Believe me, I am.

Much has happened since September, some of which might even be worth noting:

• Despite his initial stress about first grade, JJ has settled in and is loving school. I may be a tad biased, but I have to say that he is the most brilliant, adorable, compassionate first-grade boy in the entire world.

• The Peanut is still enjoying preschool, although her enthusiasm has waned considerably. She's all about JJ and has zero interest in cultivating relationships with children her own age. The only kids I've seen her play with are older boys, which isn't too surprising. But I'm hoping she'll come out of her shell in the coming months.

• Jack has been seriously considering taking a job in Portland. Which would be cool, except I really love our house and community and don't want to leave. But he'd have much better job security, and as we're teetering on the brink of global economic collapse, that seems like a precious commodity to us both.

• And speaking of economic disaster, I was "furloughed" from my job a couple of weeks ago. We're incredibly lucky not to depend on my income -- we'll miss it, but it won't break us -- but it was still a bummer. So now I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life. Do I look for another job? Or work on my novel and see if something else falls into my lap? Right now I'm leaning towards the latter option, but we shall see.

• My mother and I "had words" a few months ago and she informed me that she was going to "cut me out of her life." A couple of days later, she emailed Jack and said she had no idea what she'd done that had upset me, but he was her last and only family connection, and she was frantic to hear back from him about the kids. The whole situation is disturbing on many different levels, and I worry that she is really losing her mind. But I finally realized that responding to her craziness wasn't helpful to either of us, and I made the very painful decision to not respond to her at all. For now, anyway. I hope she can find peace and happiness; I love her so much.

• My sister emailed me! Just once, but at least I know she's out there.

And that's about all there is to it. Or at least all I can remember; I either have a permanent case of Mommy Brain or early-onset dementia.