What A Long Strange Day It's Been...

First of all, it was a long night.  After a mid-afternoon nap, Charlotte was "not tired" at bedtime.  We had watched the new Tinkerbell movie AND Cars and took her up to bed but she wanted to read books.  We let her read with her big pile of books and Roger and I went to bed.  We just listened to her singing and reading.  She stayed awake till after 3 AM!  Roger and I would go to sleep and wake up every hour or so, taking turns checking on her, occasionally reading a book with her, and listening to her read. 

Needless to say, she slept in until about 10 AM.  She dressed in her Tinkerbell outfit today and we prepared for our visit from Mary Poppins.  Unfortunately, the shock of the morning came when I went to put Ms. Poppins' "note" on the door, opened the front door, and was SHOCKED to find our cat Punkin dead on the front porch.  Yes, you read that correctly.

We don't use our front porch very often and just hadn't noticed him there but Roger thinks based on his "state" that he had been there a few days.  It looks like he just crawled up there and died.  No trauma, no injury.  I yelped and Roger came and did the noble job of disposing of him.  We buried him in an old pillowcase in the back corner of the backyard.  SIGH.  He was only about 5 years old, I think.  We had taken him and Tigger in from our friend Holly a few years ago. 

Can we cut a break?  Seriously. 

Our visit from Mary Poppins was great, though.  It has all been chronicled by Beth Harris who came and took pictures for us.  A link to the pics will be posted soon.  We had tea, cookies, sweets, and Charlotte ate plenty of jelly (both with and without bread).

Other than that, we've been laying low with the dismal weather.  We have been lining up some visits and events for the next few weeks.

One event of note for our Fredericksburg friends: I spoke with Rev. Kent Rahm at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg and he is helping to organize a prayer service for Charlotte next week.  This will be a service of Compline (an evening prayer service) at 5 PM on Saturday 11/21.  Trinity Church is on College Avenue, directly across from Mary Washington Univ.  Anyone in the Fredericksburg area is invited.  It will be a very informal prayer service with a simple reception to follow.  This was the church in which Charlotte was born and baptized so our Trinity family is still very special to us.  We haven't seen many of these folks in almost 2 years although I keep in touch with a select few via email, etc.  I am glad we were able to organize this.

In other news, our CJ'S Thumbs Up Foundation fan page on facebook will hit 1000 fans today!  Hooray.  The advisory council will be meeting next week to work on some orgnaizational steps toward incorporation, etc. so I am very happy this will happen.  It gives us a focus for our energy (as well as everyone else's energy).

It feels very strange to be out of our normal routine.  I am enjoying being at home with Charlotte and Roger but I definitely miss my old routine.  I miss the kids at RNR and I miss teaching.  I am struggling to find elements of normalcy in each day because that helps me manage the sadness.  It will be nice when the weather clears a bit.  That will help us get out a little more, I think.

I guess that's all for now. 

- Rachel (Charlotte's Mom)