Serendipity. After two years of ignoring my family history project, I began receiving communications from people as soon as I took it back up. It has been one week and one day since I got started again, and I have heard from three complete strangers with interesting tidbits of information, without my having to ask anyone. Isn’t email wonderful?

On the other hand, I have heard nothing from xanga homeschoolers. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Here is Hopkins, at an earlier stage of life, reposing on the hearth. It does look better from a distance, doesn’t it?

The big news here is that #1 daughter and Son-in-Law are visiting. It is wonderful to see them. It had been over a year since they were able to visit. The sad thing is that #2 daughter cannot visit at the same time, as she has opera rehearsals.

Yesterday at work, a truck driver came in with the news that he had brought 8,000 pounds of books for us and intended to leave them at the back door. Being by myself at the time, with customers, I just thanked him. When the other workers arrived and we went out to start carrying in the books, we found — not 11 pallets waiting for us, but an entire trailer! The driver had unhooked his cab and driven away.

So for two hours, we unpacked. I carried the boxes from the back of the truck to the front and That Man carried them into the store, and then he took a turn inside the truck and The Empress and I carried them in. The Poster Queen looked after the store and the dog. By the time the sun went down, I was filthy, with bruised arms and a bright red face and hair like a fright wig.

So I went home, where I had roasted a turkey in the morning, and found that my wonderful family had finished making dinner and thoroughly cleaned the kitchen. I just showered and sat down to enjoy the meal. What a great feeling!