greetings from elsewhere

So here I am in the Minas Morgul Funhouse, also known as the Abode de Meholick. Mrs. M is, you see, the Witch-Queen of Angmar (my mother is the Dark Lady Sauroneena, and ths has been going on since Sarah M and I were ten and eleven, respectively), so her hom ei snamed accordingly. Except that now we are living in their former home, so I suppose the old Minas Morgul has been upgraded to the Dark Tower? Something along those lines.

Well, I am sitting here feeling immensely and cheerfully exhausted, fulll of minty chocolate cookies and carrot cake cupcakes, listneing to the little girls watching Cinderella across the room. Did I mention that I am quite utterly happy, even amidst three girls under the age of eight who somehow manage to seem like fifteen? I love all the kids, though; Sarah and Hannah are almost-fifteen and just-thirteen and seem awfully older, and we hobnob splendid-like; Eli, eleven, the ony boy, plays football and piano, which could not be any more awesome; Becca, who is seven, likes to polish my shoes and refers to me as Lady Shelob; Sophie, age five, never goes anywhere without her felt pirae hat (but she is also very girly at times; and Not Quite Baby Anymore Xenia has finally stopped calling me "AAAAAAH" and is suddenly talking, in long, rambling, pacifier-muffled sentences, and I have no idea how or when this happened.

Father Jack Sparrow (who really is a priest--Eastern Orthodox, which means he can get married and have children, as he has so obviously done) has been working most of the day, but he is a great fan of Monty Python, and tomorrow night, I will finally get to sit in on a family viewing. (Monty Python is funnier in groups. Seriously, watching it with my dad is way funnier than watching it all alone.)

Did I mention that my mother bought me MINTY CHOCOLATE COOKIES? My life is now complete.