I'm certain you've been waiting with bated breath. Ha.

I took time off but need to write again. So Tom Waits is serenading me and I'm back in front of the keyboard thanks to a small push from a friend in Slovenia.

Speaking of Slovenia brings me to the language spoken there. Our friends there speak English very well. I can't speak Slovene at all. I tried to communicate via a couple of translation tools and called something a cat when I meant a waterfall. I'm thankful to my friend, Aleš, for his patience and good humor. I'm sure there are any number of Slovenian people on Facebook who think I'm insane. They're probably right.

Autumn has come with blasts of cool, damp air and gray skies. We're busy with learning activities and getting the house and property ready for winter. Isabella's trumpet and piano practice has Maggie dancing and Max howling along with the 'tunes'. Who knew a miniature dachshund liked to dance? Isabella thinks she'd make a good circus dog.

The idiocy of our federal legislative process continues to irritate my soul. Hello, Democrats! You're in the majority - and you have the White House. What the shiny hell are you waiting for? Why don't we have decent health care legislation passed and signed? You people are driving me to drink.

As the year end comes closer I think of the time since Mom died. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be difficult this year - and for many years to come.