Dispatch from Dundee - Kerry

It took me twelve hours and one overnight at the Eugene Shilo Inn before we made it officially home to Dundee. We pulled into the driveway of the house, or should I say slid into the driveway through a foot of snow, after which I pulled the emergency brake and came to a stop inches from the arborvitae hedge as the cats and kids wailed in unison.

All was silent in the car as we contemplated the drop-off behind the hedge into the backyard.

That was perhaps the last moment of silence I have had since our arrival here three weeks ago. But, as all writers know, we just can't stay silent for too long.

Three intense weeks have kept me from this beloved blog but no more, it's back to business.

Here's the rundown:

Through a maze of boxes we erected a Christmas tree and threw some lights on it. The kids all got chicken pox from their cousin and the cats vomited in the basement. The power went out the day before Christmas Eve and I am not putting this in sequential order because it all became one big crazy emotional blur. While the power was out, Christian could not go to work so we lit the house up with candles and played all the games we could find. Not a bad way to spend forty-eight hours with each other. We celebrated our great good fortune to be alive in 2009 dancing with the kids and their grandmother in the living room amidst confetti, noisemakers and Argyle Champagne surrounded by lush Douglas firs laden with snow outside the window.

Anyone have any New Year's resolutions they feel like sharing?

Here's mine, or one of them: No more thinking that life should be any other certain way than exactly what it is.