These are a few of my favorite things....

My daughter turns four in December (four!!!) and this is the first year she's really gotten into the Halloween idea of dressing up. However, as anyone who's ever been around a preschooler can tell you, time and patience aren't really their strong points (well, patience still isn't one of mine...:-P) so for the last two weeks, her dad and I have been doing the "No, Halloween is x amount of days away" thing.

In the meantime, she's dressed up as other things around the house. She's put on her kitty mask, thrown a blanket over her head like a hood and asked me, "Where's Catherine?" (Yeah, like that guy LOLOLOL.) She's also put her candy bucket on top of her head and announced she's Buzz Lightyear (though her dad made an Ichabod Crane quip that totally went over her head.)

I've been tired and frazzled and a little frustrated by life in general recently, and the holiday season is bound to make things worse, not better. So it was nice to have the reminder of the joys of being a parent---to see the world anew in the eyes of a child, to see her turn blankets and legos and boxes and ordinary objects into things of magic. :)

The Only Constant

I know I've not been posting here recently (well, not since *gulp* June LOL) and that's mainly because things have done a fair amount of changing since I last posted.

The major change involves my daughter. On Tuesday, she started preschool. No tears, no sniffling, she just waved bye and was off like a shot. I guess I could have been offended LOL...but the reality is, I'm not. I'm proud of her, for being the kind of kid---even at almost four---who isn't afraid to try something new. It's the start of a new journey for her, and for us...and if we're a bit more nervous about it than she is, I guess that's normal too.

(And for those of you who are wondering...no, no sign of another child yet. If it's in the cards, it'll happen. :)

The other change is that I finally got to meet the members of the writer's group I'd been collaborating with for the last year or so. (If you've been following my BatB fanfiction blog, yes, I'm referring to the ladies of "Everything...") We met in July, at a very small con (aka, "family reunion," the main difference being that no one's cheeks got pinched. LOL) and it was like we'd known each other all our lives. I confess I was surprised by that; many years ago, in another fandom, I'd met an author I'd been chatting with and when we finally got together, we had virtually nothing to talk about.

I can still say, nearly a month after the con, that that wasn't the case this time. And I can't tell you how happy that makes me feel. We all come from different backgrounds, but we never ran out of things to say, or laugh, or cry about. And you can never have too many friends.

So that's the update, such as it is. I'll try to post more often :)

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Yesterday, I found out that a good person had died. I can't claim her as a good friend---we only talked once, in a chat room online, but she was beloved by all who knew her and in my own interaction with her, I noticed that she was wise and funny and unfailingly generous.

Chan (I'm using her screen name because that was how I knew her) was a long-time member of the Beauty and the Beast fandom community (the TV show, not the Disney movie.) She was a fantastic artist, but more than that, she was a good friend to many people. She leaves behind a husband, daughters and the children she taught in real life.

What I remember about Chan---besides her art, which was sensitive and beautiful and touching---is how generous she was. I remember reading a comment thread on one of the boards; younger artists were talking about how they drew this character or that character and because Chan was on the board they asked her for advice. And she gave it, without a hint of ego or condescension. She tried to encourage other artists because (as she said at Winterfest Online this year) she wanted to encourage them to take her place after she was gone.

That was in February. I don't think she thought that she'd be gone so soon. None of us did.

I can't claim to have known her well...that category goes to other friends of mine. But from what I did know, we've lost something special in her passing.

Goodbye, Chan. We'll miss you.

UPDATE 3/22/2010: Chan is gone. I'm choosing to picture she and Michelangelo battling for colored pencils or debating drawing techniques. We have all lost someone truly special.