Hello, 10th grade English people! Hope you are all doing well - feeling mighty grateful after you amassed that collection of thankful lists. Doesn't it brighten your day to remember you have SOMETHING to be grateful about even when it's shivery and dark and snaining (snowing and raining) and your piggy bank is empty and your boyfriend is chasing some other girl and your mom threw out your Global Studies project and your brother stole your hat and you have wicked bedhead and . . . You've got to hang on to the positive. Right?!?@?@?@?@?@ I'm trying.

I'm reading an excellent book called Parched by Heather . . . Thomas? Maybe. I'll double check the last name. Anyway, it's a memoir of an alcoholic in the making - and goes on to reveal how she made it. It reveals a lot of telling stuff about her family - not how they hung out in bars and beat her but how they had sort of a famly philosophy, a family ethos, which contributed to her drinking. I like that so far, she's not a blamer - she's not saying her mom was so horrible that she turned to the drink. She's accepting of her circumstances and her own weakness. She does cite the Bible at the start of many chapters which worried me at first - was this going to be a FOUND-GOD kind of memoir, but it's not. It's real and not depressing and not too easy; Excellent.

I'm in the hospital now with Hannah. She's pretty miserable. All her hair has fallen out except a pink fringe around her face - kind of a pink tinged lion look. She has enjoyed hearing from many of you on her care page. You guys are so nice. Hannah had a spinal tap and a bone marrow aspiration and chemotherapy injected in her spinal fluid last Friday, and she's still not recovered from the subsequent painful headaches and nausea. Her sisters came up today - Olivia was getting checked out for her bone marrow donation which should be coming up soon. We got all the information about it. It's kinda overwhelming - even when Hannah finally leaves the hospital, we'll have to be here daily for check ins and checkups. When she finally gets home, She's going to be pretty isolated for 6 months or more. Wow.

I miss school. I miss you. I'm sorry I haven't seen you. It's just not going to be possible for a while. I know Ms. S is working her brains out. Be kind. She has a lot to teach you. Remember, she has studied under the master. (ME!)

Dan Ferry and Danny Thomas - how are those Philip Craig books coming? Are you almost finished?
Antone - How's the Rusty Nail? Gruesome enough? Hey - do you still want some carpentry work? I'm pretty desperate. Tell Ms. S. if you do, and then we can arrange to get my front steps fixed. Thanks!

Max - Thanks for writing to Hannah! Aja and Shelby, too! I know there are more of you, but I can't remember this second!

Prudence - way to go with finding cool word pool words!

I'll keep blogging!