So, I'm here. Again. Some updating included.

It's been a few years, okay several years. I forgot that I also had a private blog, and also another public blog for Irish dancing. Maybe I'll find those. Approximately 3 years ago, my place flooded. It started in M's room, but she had been away at college, etc., and that room was closed up. I was often spending time at E's place, and just did not notice early enough to avoid damage. Ultimately, a lot of items lost or damaged. My writings from junior high through around M's birth, lost. My HS yearbooks, my grandma's Bible (and mine). Gone. It's a bit nice to find this blog, and some of my writings. I didn't lose everything. It's also a bit of a surprise to me as so much of this blog has been so personal. I am not so public any more. I am, however, ready to write again. Some things I have put on Facebook. I use my real name and stuff on there, so. Rebecca Anne, I don't even know if you will see this and I've missed connections with you. Sheria, dear Sheria, still shows as a follower here. She once told me that she liked my stream-of-consciousness writing style. I imagine that she said "loved," but it was probably "liked." She died years ago. Emily stays writing her own blog that I hope to read more. So, my dearest wonderful child who turns old enough to rent a car come July, went away to University. She was accepted everywhere she applied, yet loved this school and location. (She only took her SATs once, and just went with whatever they were. Her HS offered a semester SAT prep course, which is great as many youth in our County have paid tutors.) She had enough AP credits that she earned over a years worth of college credits, yet told me that she planned to stay 4 full years, anyway. These extra credits did allow her to be an RA (Resident Assistant) for a while (a year?), with a reduced class load. To explore a couple classes that she may not have had a chance to. It allowed her to be involved with her sorority and be an Officer, and represent them at their national conference. It allowed her time to be on her school Equestrian Team (and was the first representative to qualify and compete in collegiate horse Nationals in her University history). Heck, she finally got her Maryland Driver's License. Upon graduation, she was home for a bit, but as her room was damaged, ugh, she stayed with her dad for a couple months, then traveled to South Africa for 3 months on a medical internship. Very awesome. She looked at graduate schools, and jobs. She found a full-time, benefits paying, job, back in that beach town. She is an advisor to her sorority, and active in the local runners club. She and her beau of a few years have adopted a dog. I believe that she's happy. My stepfather, M's beloved grandfather, died of esophagal cancer (on my birthday) a day after M had visited from college. My mother moved into a retirement community, and then again to a secure apartment that is a better fit for her. It's close to her friends, her church, and the hospital where she volunteers. I now join her for the Korean War Briefings every August. M and my mother visited Scotland together last summer, a trip of a lifetime. E and I are still together, 11 years now. His mother had Alzheimer's, and his father was a devoted caretaker who then came down with pneumonia. That killed him. His mother passed not too long after, about a week (or less) after the change in guardianship had been approved by the courts. E retired later that year, or close to then. We (he) looked at retirement homes on the eastern shore. A lovely home on the beginnings of a river. We spend a lot of time there. E's disabled brother, who would stay with us every/other weekend or three, died of a heart attack that happened in his group home. E and his oldest sister (and nephew, friends) had a climbing trip planned already. They took a lock of Brother's hair with them and let it blow in the wind off of the top of Kilimanjaro. Being able to focus on that trip and make it wow, really helped E. I left my former agency 8 years ago. Where I work now is where my mother and stepfather met (after she and my father divorced). One of my current coworkers used to work with my stepfather. Also 8 years ago, I had a concussion. Ah dear Daisy, E and I had her on his boat for a long Independence Day weekend. E drove the boat up to a dock for Daisy to have an evening walk. The first and last time I will wear cute flip flops boating, I jumped sideways off of the boat, slide, and conked my head sideways on the wet, slanted cement dock. Yeah (not). It took several years to recover. I was feeling fairly good again. Then bam, last summer, at work, I tripped backwards over an open paper tray for a copier, and smacked my head against a metal shredder. Yeah me again (not). Somewhere in there, four of my five beautiful white cats died (they were, after all, getting rather older). Billy is still with us. Daisy, ah dear Daisy, she loved the eastern shore house with the big yard and the smells by the river. She became disabled but not unhappy, but eventually came down with an infection that she could not beat. Then last summer, Father's Day, I found a discarded kitten estimated at 4 or 4.5 weeks old. It's helped Billy, and Billy gives some company to this cat who is now 1 year old. Active 1 year old. Oh, and I took the RCIA classes, friend CK was my sponsor (she's referred to in this blog previously but I do not recall what name I gave her). This means that, technically, I am now Catholic. I've joined the club. That's a whole blog post on its own really. What I most feel compelled to write, I may or may not write in here. We shall see! Thanks and shout out to anyone who reads this and cares! Peace. Peace to ALL. p.s. -- this posts as one really long paragraph. I went back in to try to break it back up into paragraphs plural. Let's see.