Hi all,

I'm at home today, babysitting the two littlies. We had lunch, and I read some Holes (by Louis Sachar) which is REALLY getting good now - we're on Chapter 36 of 50. Then we had a dance party. It was fab. I put on my iPod dance mix and we danced up a storm. This is mostly for exercise for me, but the kids join in with glee and alacrity. We danced for about half an hour, and we twisted and we jumped and we jiggled and we jogged, and we had an airband, with Finnie on air guitar, Owen on air drums, and me on flashlight microphone. Then we went outside on the back porch to cool ourselves off. And THEN we came back in and Owen kindly danced to Mercy by Duffy for me as I snapped away, as Finnie, far too exhausted to do anything, just lay there while Owen danced over her. It totally, totally rocked. It was one of the best afternoons of my life. How can spending the afternoon dancing with my favourite-in-the-world 5-year-old and an 8-year-old be topped? Can't be done. I'll try to put photos in, but the dashboard is acting up a little, so we'll see how it goes.

The two cars of the household have both gone on the fritz, either in a big, no-way-am-I-going-to-start way or in a little, screw-with-your-head way. Thus, I'm spending time covering gaps in schedules and doing the best I can to be as helpful as I can. It feels so good to be able to do this, plus there's all the time I get to spend with above-mentioned littlies. And there's the peace and quiet... AND there's Poppy, the bunny. 'Nuf said.

The weather is beginning to turn just a little, although there are very few red or yellow leaves to indicate the onset of autumn. It's mostly green, but the air is cooler now and the sunshine less reliable. It's lovely and chilly at night, perfect for sleep.

Once the cars have been seen to, and I go back in to Toronto, I'm heading down to the second-hand bookstores to do some rummaging. I am stricken that Pages has closed, although it was a new-book bookstore. There's Abelard, second-hand, and that other one just past Abelard on Queen, the name of which I forget. And others. But first, I need to get more work done. I've been plugging away, but slowly, and I have the feeling that I'll need to get Faulkner's Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. I have one in NZ, and didn't think I'd need it, but they've taken the several they had in the library and done heaven knows what with them. I have the Wörterbuch on Georgia, but it's almost too much information, it's so complete. Plus it's in German. Again, 'nuf said.

Well, I don't seem able to post pictures today. Perhaps another day. Thanks for yours, Dodes. It sounds idyllic and edenic to be in Thames with youse, and I LOVE the portrait. I'd have recognised you in a heart beat.

Love, Jen.