i still exist. virtually and actually. the boy child is in bed and the girl child is napping on me, so i am left with a moment of solitude. the past year wasn't the best it could have been. sure we had a lot of great moments (the birth of girl child, for instance), but it seems like there was a lingering gloom following my family around. i'm preparing for a great year. i sense that this will be the year of realizing dreams, the culmination of all our hard work. this year we will move, trading our apartment for our schoolhouse. the kids will have ample opportunity to grow and flourish, and hopefully i can follow suit.