New Years Resolutions:

Kate: Stop swearing. Especially when I drop stuff in the parking lot at the local grocery store and say the "F" word really loud.

M: Never use a credit card again.

J: Make some new friends.

H: Stop eating sugar for two days. That's gonna be hard. That's just 1, 2, right?

O: Ride on a horsie.

G: Find a unicorn.

What are your resolutions for 2007? I've made it easier to post comments, btw. If you don't want to register with google, just click on 'anonymous' when you post.

Bang. Crash! Thud, thud, thud. The sounds coming from upstairs were getting louder, but I was enjoying a lovely glass of shiraz by the fire.

"Aren't you going to check on that?" sez my better half.

"Nobody's crying or bleeding."

Thud, thud.

"I'm not sure I like this new 'Island Kate'."

"Woof! Woof! Woof!" barks my dog, running for the back door.

"Come on Seamus, it looks like we're the only ones keeping watch around here." And out he hobbles.

Sip. Thud.

Today I was driving (alone!) to Oak Harbor to get some groceries. I was stunned when a huge bald eagle swooped in front of the van, dove, and flew right back in front of me with a giant hare in it's talons. I rushed home to tell the family about it. O and G were horrified, but O later added her own twist: the eagle was a friendly eagle, and it didn't want the bunny to get hit by a car, so it was moving it to a safer place. G, God love her, said, "what bunny are you talking about?"

BTW, this is not the actual eagle I saw today--the rabbit was bigger.

Well, we made it through our first Christmas in the new house. It all went off without a hitch, until G, sitting in a huge pile of opened gifts, burst into tears. "Santa forgot my pony! (sob, sob)"

"G, we didn't even know you asked Santa for a pony."

"I didn't. It was a secret! (wail, sob, sob)"

M and I went on a date while Nana was here tonight. We left at 5:00. Where do we go? We decided to go to Toby's Tavern (the only tavern in Coupeville). At 5:45 we were done eating (like old people!). There was only one place open for miles and miles--up in Oak Harbor. It. Was. Wal-Mart. Yes, we went to Wal-Mart on a date, one, because we suck, but mostly we wanted to take full advantage of M's handicapped parking sticker while he has it. We bought some nail clippers and pony-tail holders. Home from our date at 7:30pm. Yes. We're lame. M is lame and also lame. I'm just lame.

It's a Christmas miracle! J has gone 48 hours without complaining about anything. Today Nora and Pete came up and showed US around the island. They took us to Camp Casey, which is an old closed-down army bunker that is open to the public. The kids had a blast. Then we took the kids to the little toy shop in Coupeville, which I'm quickly going broke in. The sweet owner of the shop said, "KIDS! Who's coming to YOUR house soon?" The 3 youngest shouted, "NANA!" The very quick proprieter replied, "well, make sure you bring her here!" On the way out, O remembered that Santa was coming, too. OMG, I just spilled wine on the keyboard and H caught me slurping it off the keys...MERRY CHRISTMAS

Yesterday we went off the island to pick up J's glasses. He and H had to pay for the portion that wasn't covered by insurance, because they had been fighting and had been warned repeatedly to cut it out when the glasses broke. To J, 25 bucks is nothing. He hoards money like a geezer who's been through the depression, but all H could see was 3 action figures slipping through his fingers. It was a tough lesson, made worse by the fact that the comic book/action figure store is right NEXT DOOR to the glasses place. Then we went to hell, I mean Costco. It was a long day in the car, and I forgot to switch to M's car, which has the DVD player, so the whole day was a steady stream of each of Gr's waking thoughts being verbalized, punctuated by O's loud whining that her "butt was too sweaty in this dang car seat."

Today was lovely. We spent the day outside making a ginormous pile of fallen tree branches and cleaning off the basketball court so the kids could ride their trikes. It was fun, and the kids enjoyed a new kind of chore. Probably the last time they'll ever want to do it, but hey. I'll take what I can get and I didn't have to hear about anyone's sweaty butt...

So, after J told our new country neighbor that he couldn't tell her his name because he wasn't allowed to talk to strangers, he came home from school with a new story for us to enjoy.

"My teacher asked me what the biggest difference between my old school and Coupeville Elementary. I told him I'd never seen anyone use a chalkboard before."

H is loving the relaxed attitude about sugar here. Everyone (bus drivers, teachers, store owners) is always giving kids candy. He wants to ride the bus every day because he doesn't want to miss an opportunity to get some candy.

Seamus is loving it here because everyone that comes to our door--delivery people, gas guys, mail carrier--has dog treats in their pockets.

I'm still waiting for someone to come to my door with valium treats for me....