Had a productive week. The Christmas cards went out yesterday, the decorations are up (other than the tree, which we'll probably get next week), and most of my shopping is done. I'd been thinking we would get a family portrait done to give to parents and such, but we will see if that happens. Seems like we're buying gifts for everyone anyway...

Rachel has a Girl Scout Holiday Boutique to go to in a little bit. Yesterday she was gone from 8 in the morning till 8 at night -- from school to Girl Scouts to a birthday party. When I picked her up, I asked if she had a good time, and she said "Yeah, but I missed you!" I'd kind of missed her too :-) She's so loveable lately -- Ryan and I were talking about it the other day and we agreed that she's developed this quality of self-possession. She knows who she is and she's comfortable with it. And that's that. It's a quality that will serve her well as she goes through the next few difficult years. I supposed it's possible that she'll fall victim to some of that whole self-hating adolescent girl, why-am-I-not-perfect-and-beautiful thing, but at this point I don't really expect it. We'll cross that bridge when/if we come to it, I guess.