Hello there! I thought I'd just take a moment to address some of those questions that I know you must have:

1) No, I am not dead
2) No, you did not get kicked off the F-O-G list
3) Yes, it has been months and months and months since my last update!

Things here are running at a fairly frantic pace. My mom reminded me that I am actually doing three full time jobs - full time mother (and father), full time employee and full time home owner. No wonder it seems like I can't find time to write an update!

Work is going well. I like most of what I'm doing and feel really lucky that the move has gone so well. I spent a couple (or four) really tough weeks having no idea which way was up. And then, as usually happens, things started to get clearer and make sense and I wasn't so completely overwhelmed all the time. Now it seems that I can handle the vast majority of stuff that gets thrown at me and usually have an idea about how to improve the process along the way. I really enjoy working for my current boss - she's very laid back and hands off which really works for me. In addition, she's very supportive and wants me to be happy with what I'm doing and we laugh a lot on our calls. In general I think it was a really good decision for me. Things in my old department have continued to get crazier and crazier and I'm glad to not be in the middle of all that. I do miss coding though and that is something that has surprised me. I find it really satisfying to being able to logically think through a problem and code something that will be a solution. I would not be surprised if I was a programmer at some other time in my professional career.

We've also had scads of adventures, parties, holidays and such since my last update. I once again attendeded the Game Fandango in New Mexico. It's a three day game festival over Labor Day weekend and is something that I very much look forward to every year. We had great weather and lots of laughs. Then came Halloween and the many festivities that accompany the holiday. We trick or treated, carvedpumpkins, attended the Truck or Treat here in Crystal Lake and gave out candy. I think of all of them, handing out the candy was Ethan's favorite. He squealed with glee every time the doorbell rang and he got to give out treats to "the kids". He was SO disappointed when we finally ran out of candy. We also took our yearly trip to Goebert's pumpkin farm with my mom. Ethan was almost brave enough to make it through the haunted house but decided that he should probably check out the entrance again to see that nothing had changed after about 100 yards in. :) We had a very mild beginning of winter, a tasty Thanksgiving and then it was time to celebrate Ethan's fifth birthday. He is enormous - 49 inches and just over 50 pounds. I declared a moratorium on all toys bigger than my fist because of space issues so he was just rolling in gift cards and game boy games. Christmas was great and Santa came through with Ethan's only real heart's desire: a new rescue hero.

All in all it's been one celebration after another and I feel so lucky to have such great family and friends to share it with!

I thought I'd tell a couple stories on Ethan that highlight some of the very strong personality traits I'm seeing emerge in my beautiful, wonderful boy.

I was having a bad bad day. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and it just got worse. I had lost my temper already twice at Ethan and had gone to apologize for both but still felt rotten. Ethan came out with something behind his back and, touching my face said "I've got something to make you feel all better Mommy!" He pulled out his Christmas McDonald's gift cards and announced that he was taking me out to eat! A greasy cheese covered burger never tasted so good.  MMMMMM!

Ethan REALLY wanted a toy from the store and he was about three dollars short. I told him that I would buy it for him and he could work off the money by doing extra chores around the house. But the only thing that he really had interest in helping with was the laundry: 50 cents to fill the washer, move the close to the dryer and then take the clothes out of the dryer. Since there are only two of us, we generally only have about 4 loads a week so Ethan was a dollar short at the end of the week. That night, Ethan accidentally wet the bed and we had to wash the sheets the next morning. That night on his way to bed Ethan announced that he'd be peeing on his sheets until the toy was his. Oops! Not a great plan for Mommy!  And, while I did set him straight on the difference between doing laundry and creating laundry you have to admit that it's was mastermind plan...

Ethan, like most kids his age, is a HORRIBLE liar.  When I was a child, I used to be amazed that my parents could tell when I was not being honest. Now I just look at little Ethan's face and realize that it must have been just as clear to them and it is for me now. So Ethan and I have been working on telling the truth, even when you know you're going to get in trouble. The thing about Ethan is that he's taken the whole thing to the next level.  He has started catching himself before he actually says something wrong and disciplining himself before I can even get there! He came out the other day and said "smell my breath". I did and recognized the odor but couldn't place it. When asked, Ethan replied "I was thinking about saying a bad word to you but then I catched myself and washed out my own mouth with soap" !!!! The thing that really got me about this story (beside the whole weirdness about him taking care of it on his own) is that that is not a punishment I have ever given him! It started right after he watched A Christmas Story so that is my only guess about the origin. I wonder if he will ground himself when he gets to be a teenager?

I'm also going to take a minute to plug the parenting program that I'm having such good luck with Ethan on: Love and Logic. I spend way less time getting angry and yelling and way more time seeing results. EX: Ethan now gets himself dressed, makes his bed and brushes his teeth all on his own before I'm even out of bed in the morning. We never argue about what he eats or doesn't eat at the table anymore. And we have no struggle at bedtime anymore. It's been a real lifesaver in some areas where I saw no hope so I thought I'd pass it along to anyone else who might be interested.

Lastly, Ethan's becoming quite a little singer! Here are his latest renditions of What Do You Do to a Scurvy Pirate and La Cucaracha. Enjoy!

Some not so new news (but something that I realized that I haven't actually shared) is that I've finally found and joined a church. And it happened the very coolest way! I got called for jury duty in December 2004. It was a long and boring day as we were vetted - every asked the same boring questions. And we're not allowed to talk or read or really even breathe too loudly. Finally, after several extremely boring hours, we broke for lunch. All the jurors are in the same boat - no one knows anyone. So I made a bold choice for myself and asked the woman next to me if she wanted to have lunch together. She turned out to be delightful! She and her husband work on documentaries and she had all kinds of fun stories to tell about their adventures. We also talked about where I was in life - my job, Ethan, and my search for community. She told me that if she could do anything different for herself, she would have found a church community when her son was young. She felt that they all really missed out on an opportunity to grow up in that kind of environment. And then she started telling me about being a Unitarian Universalist. I don't remember what she said or what she shared with me that made me want to go, but I went home the next day to see if there was a UU church near me. And sure enough! I found the Unitarian Universalist Church of Elgin. I've been going for almost two years now and joined last spring. I've met some really great people, served a term as a religious education classroom assistant and joined and became the chairperson of the circle supper group! It's filled a real gap in my life for community and I finally feel like I've found a church where I belong.