Up and Running

It seems a little early to start back to school, but I'm doing it, and it's not bad. Especially because my strategy this year is considerably less rigorous than in past school years: I'm going to grow and enjoy. That's it. No up at five, run in the dark, work till I drop schedule for me this year, just a simple succession of good days. Work days, true, but good days with lots of sleep, lots of running in the fresh air, plenty of geometry and music, Spanish, philosophy and writing, and hopefully a bit of spare time to devote to cooking and scrap-booking, gardening and bird-watching. There's no reason for summer to be over because I'm starting up another school year; it has just become even more full and beautiful!
P.S. I know it's not always that easy--I just happen to have a delightful junior-year curriculum and am very pleased with the prospect!

Goodbying

Funny how words work: I thought of the title "goodbying" to write about Lavender Girl heading off on her grand adventure, thinking "Autumn Rain might have written something like this before", only to find that Mama titled a goodbye album the same way. I suppose it makes sense that we both use Mama's words--she taught us to talk!
Our big family is spreading out even more now. With Lavender Girl, Cassio and Lulu on their way to build a life in Colorado we have shrunk to a house for five: just Mama, Daddy, Ladybird, Gavin and I. And Autumn Rain is home for a visit; impeccable timing.
The house is a little sad and quiet, but we will get used to it. For now we need to eat German Chocolate Cake (the leftovers from Daddy's birthday celebration yesterday) to cheer us up.