Hi, Ellen here...

Well, we've had a good week for the most part. It was warm enough to have the door and window open and Pinky even got to go outside for a very short bit! Birds have returned - sparrows are singing and crows are coming by more frequently, as are magpies - both those birds are tied for Mama's affections. It has snowed A LOT and Mama has sprinkled some snow on all of us, to remind us of how nice it is to be inside and warm.

I think Mama's coming down with a cold. She wants to sleep a fair bit and is coughing a little. However, she is getting more and more energy as days go by - likely the result of vitamins, more sleep and better eating habits. She worries about her teeth getting stained by cinnamon and blueberries though and is brushing to no avail.

Mama also made some cd's on the computer for her friends - a collection of her favorite songs on the four Tragically Hip cds that she has. She is listening to it now - she likes to put her own greatest hits together. I don't mind the band as Mama doesn't play it too loud and she sings along and takes turns dancing with us.

Mama has her nose buried in: Faceless by Martina Cole. Note that there are a lot of novels out there in the past few years by UK writers, which is somewhat fun because they use different slang and word usage than that of American writers. This book is about a woman who committed a double homicide and is now out of jail and the troubles that she faces. It isn't a fun girlygirl book but she seems to be enthralled by it and has put everything else aside for the day.

Mama's chairdancing to:

If I die of Vanity, promise me, promise me
That if they bury me some place I don't want to be
That you'll dig me up and transport me
Unceremoniously away from the swollen city breeze, garbage bag trees
Whispers of disease, and acts of enormity
And lower me slowly, sadly, and properly
Get Ry Cooder to sing my eulogy

--- Tragically Hip, "At The Hundredth Meridian"