not a very good time for writing; too much happening on the home front. a pair of twins happened upon our lives and filled them up. i am retreating ok, sitting with my puppy ok, getting some peace yet still mangled up with the angst of dealing with young lives so badly torn asunder, still unable to relax and, say, upload a photo, or write a story, or better yet a chapter in my book.

in the end we put a seven-year-old in the hospital for several reasons. one was she had almost killed her twin sister, right in front of a social worker. that put it out of our hands, really; but there was more, and in the end we couldn't handle the both of them when one was so out of control. what i'm saying is that there are strong forces at work hoping that we don't spend the next ten years dealing with another mental illness when basically that has been our entire lives for many years, and i for one am exhausted. i try to keep such things out of this blog, but if you're trying to figure out which of my kids i'm referring to you are probably right that it was probably this one, and maybe that one, and that other one too. it's been one after another. and even the totally sane and together ones take it out of us.

enough of that. let me just say that a folk tale, the beauty and the beast, is what i should be worrying about, and i will get back to that as soon as i can. and meanwhile it's spring.

last night was st. patty's day; the hospital was full, people parked in the hallways, people mangled themselves up, apparently, with drinking and whatever they'd been doing being a bad combination. this morning, much quieter; people at the hospital were friendly and a little more relaxed. i'm not sure how much of a burden it was, working st. patty's when it's so busy, like new year's eve, but everyone was professional, if dressed in green, they were still at least doing their jobs.

i however, though not having drunk a drop of alcohol, am totally drained, exhausted, spent. will try and pull it together, and give you a better report.