Just A Super-Quickie...

 Hi, all... just a few words (and a silly pic) at 4:28am since I woke up & can't seem to fall back asleep...

The overall family situation remains unchanged; lots of stress, lots of worry, lots of love, lots of care. We're all dealing with the progression of dementia as best we can, and the Pipsqueak is showing us just how amazingly strong a young woman she's becoming.  Oh, it's affecting her, for sure -- but I'm constantly amazed at how she's able to stand up straight under the load (on top of the usual "stuff" that one deals with in middle school, hormones, and an ongoing pandemic <sigh>).

Along with some of our adoption group friends & an interested neighbor, Mom & I were able to attend the annual holiday show put on by Miri's dance studio (AJ was there as well, working backstage).  The studio's been in major flux for several months, since the building that's housed it for years is now being converted by its owner into an assisted living facility and the many businesses that were housed there got (semi-gently) booted out. The problem is that the new studio was supposed to be completed in August... September... December... January... and now the contractor is saying March.  Classes have been held at a local Catholic high school, the Sandy Spring Museum, and even a "pick your own" blueberry farm and yoga/spiritual center.  In any case, the show was a lot of fun, and included a number of the dance team's competitive numbers planned for this season... and they absolutely slayed it.  Our neighbor, who's lived across the street since we moved here in 1970, was absolutely floored by Miriam's skill and said "she dances well above her age" -- which fits right in with my idea that she's been "punching up" almost since birth.  One of our friends who's known Miri since she came home and who's attended a number of previous shows said she was really amazed at how much the Pipsqueak has matured as a dancer.  All this while the Pipsqueak is attending physical therapy twice a week to help heal her injured ankle...

 (Dude, you're kvelling again.) (You bet your sweet bippy I am!)

Anyway, we're all still super-tired, super-stressed, and super-sleep-deprived, but we're all hangin' in and managing to keep things from totally unraveling on even the worst of days.  I'm still planning to get back to blogging a little more regularly (and with more/better family content, plus increased focus on adoption-related issues in general), but right now I'm gonna try to get back to sleep so I'll leave you with this sample of my niece's happily weird sense of humor, drawn almost exactly a year ago, that I found while going through a stack of papers.

Y'all stay healthy out there, and have a great holiday season!