Welcome to February!

Hi everyone--

Just a quick note to catch up on life with the BAP family... I guess that the big story here involves SNOW! We haven't really had so much (perhaps four inches over the past five days), but, on our winding roads with unforgiving curves, life tends to come to a bit of a stand-still. The snow started to fall after Emmy's game at Vinton County last Thursday, and she was out of school on Friday. We got more snow on Saturday so her game at Logan was cancelled. (Fortunately, Roger and I were able to go out to Casa for dinner to celebrate our engagement anniversary between snowfalls...) The Girl Scouts came over to work on their Silver Award project and to sled on Sunday, and we got more snow on Sunday evening and on Monday, resulting in no school on either Monday or Tuesday. Emmy has enjoyed catching up on her sleep, but it's been a challenge to navigate working at home for my sabbatical with entertaining Emmy on her snow days. Let's just say that I haven't accomplished as much as planned and that Emmy possibly hasn't had as much entertaining as usual either. I think that working at home actually motivates me to guard all possible work time at home, but, on the other hand, I can't just stick her in front of the tv while I hang out with my computer. As Hannah Montana would say, I'm doing my best to get the "best of both worlds!" On the plus side, Emmy got her traditional cinnamon rolls on each snow day, and I took her to the rec center on two out of the three days so I get some "cool mom" points...

Chelsea is still doing well at college, even though she's stressed about balancing school, her new job, and sorority life (especially without me there as her head scheduler and life manager). She had a great time at her first dance last Friday night, and she's excited about initiation this coming week-end...

Britti is doing GREAT! We are praising God that she made it home safely on Monday in all of the snow. At her meeting in Columbus, she did a presentation, and she got appointed as chair of a state-wide committee. She also learned that her grant for $2200 was funded, and she's thrilled to bring those resources to Athens County!

Ellie-Kate is amazing, as always. She loves having all of us at home, though, and Tuesdays are hard on her because Roger teaches a night class. She just got a new truck (Mack from the Cars movie), and she's playing with it whenever she's not throwing or catching some sort of ball in our breakfast nook area. She LOVES basketball, and everyone is still so surprised when they find out how young she is, in light of her natural talent and ability for scoring and dribbling.

As for me, I've been working on a few writing projects at home as part of my sabbatical. I just finished a book proposal for a project about celebrity health narratives (like Michael J. Fox and his public battle with Parkinson's disease). However, the primary focus of my leave is on my soap opera fan book. I have so much data, and I am enjoying the chance to spend serious time with it, particularly given all of the recent developments in the industry! I am also counting down the days until I learn about the election outcome. I have put the election in God's hands, and I pray that it turns out according to His will. Even so, I am still eager to learn the outcome on February 13. I'll keep you all posted!

Well, that's the news here! Thanks for checking in with our family. We appreciate all of the positive thoughts and prayers that others lift up on behalf of our family!

Happy February!

Christie