Ahhhh… Snow, glorious snow! We awoke to 12 inches or more of the beautifully, blissful, time-stopping stuff. And by some miracle we still have power, hence the mountain of wet snow clothes can toast in the dryer and the toilets will flush. MERRY Christmas!

It is good to slow down–or be slowed down. William, at three, is fascinated with things that go. Construction vehicles are his favorite, and construction vehicles pulled by other vehicles–well, then he goes nuts. His latest stream of conversation in the car (because having his body and limbs fully restrained in a 5-point tether seems to let loose his tongue) is to check every so often, if I am “going under the speed woman.” I assure him that I am. Even though everywhere I go these days it is on the fly, totally rushed and harried, the question serves to slow me down and make me think. The speed woman? Of course. “Yes, William.” He then proceeds to tell me that’s good, because if you don’t drive under the speed woman (I’m thinking this wisdom has come from one of those way-to- school chats with his father) “then the poe-weese will pull you down.” Hmmmm.

Certainly don’t want to get pulled down by the police, but the pace of life at our house this fall and winter has probably broken the law. In the past 60 days we have had (a) all of the ceilings repaired, sanded and painted, (b) the upstairs windows replaced, (c) some of the ceiling re-sanded and repainted, (d) two bedrooms painted (one by me) (e) the exterior painted despite miserable rainy late fall weather and now, today–the kitchen, hall and utility room vinyl floor torn up and replaced under a warranty. I don’t think there is a piece of furniture that hasn’t been moved twice in the past month. To finish up on Monday the painters had to put drop cloth over our CHRISTMAS TREE. It’s madness. Pure madness. In the midst of that, Paul has moved in with us for a while with financial, legal, and emotional issues much bigger than his mountain of laundry. The Burk Motel, as I have always called it, is living up to its name.

Ellie and Sophie, grades four and two, move pretty quickly, too. We try not to live our days out of a minivan (though the clothing, papers, mail, crafts, and a waffle-fry or two back there tell a different story.) Luckily for me, William calls himself “workin’ man,” puts on his ear protection (he hates loud noise–always has–went to the Mechanicsville Christmas parade wearing the same and smiled himself silly over the marching bands and fire trucks) and vacuums out my whole van! It’s handy because at under three feet tall, he’s the only one who can fit in the backseat with the Shop-Vac!

We are blessed to be at the same church that got us here 12 years ago, the same house (Hence all the work on it to keep the place respectable and standing), and a certain measure of stability in our routine and circle of friends. It’s nice for some things to stay the same. We hope your 2010 will be house-project free, heavy on the health, hope, and good will. May inches of it, unexpected, descend upon you and settle, thick like the snow. The days fly by as fast as they said they would. Keep your sleigh well vac-ed and…always drive under the under the speed woman!

Merry Christmas and much love from all the Burks