. . . but wow, have I learned a lot!

My car debacle ended with a truck I bought for $2,200 that I cannot drive & bartered out with a friend in need -- I have mixed feeling about all that -- and I still have the Cooper -- but I made an effort -- and, with any luck, I'll make another effort at some point.

I learned today that a grant I wrote for $8.1 million in federal stimulus money was funded -- yeah me! But I wish I could do more on my own, and less at the whims of the "corporate world" which is the bane of my work existence.

I've been invited on a 3-week holiday in Europe starting mid-December and I have to decide whether to take the kids (they are invited, too). The expense will be HUGE (but I have it saved), but they will whine (but I love sharing travel experiences with kids), but they'll miss a few days of school (but LIFE *is* school!)

See? I'm extremely conflicted. I should bite the bullet, but I'm relatively new at making these HUGE decisions and I need more practice ("But Karen this would be PERFECT practice" I hear you saying) . . . I KNOW, I KNOW.

And I had a small (ok, not small) indiscretion. Her name is Selby. Does anyone want to house-sit for 3 weeks?