January

Happy Inauguration Day to all! Half an inch of snow and icy roads have given Dagfari and me two extra hours at home this morning, so I can finally catch up on our January doings.
Last week we had a much-anticipated (by me anyway) Bookmarks event-- an appearance by author Geraldine Brooks. As usual, we were all quite involved in the planning and execution of the author talk and accompanying receptions. It all went extremely well--Brooks is a wonderful speaker and charming person--and D got a signed copy of People of the Book to add to his collection (though I warned him off reading it until he's considerably older--definitely not a kid book).
Dagfari, meanwhile, has gotten back into the swing of things, schoolish-wise. He's been moved up to Ballet 2 (from Ballet 4), which is proving a much better match for him. Latin and science class have started up again. The latter is biology this semester, and D is enjoying keeping a nature journal with lots of sketches. He's still very interested in Spanish art, particularly Spanish Baroque. We made a trip last Saturday to the NC Museum of Art, which has a major expansion project underway. D was at first highly disapproving of the new building (did I mention that he dislikes change of any kind?), but after looking it over carefully and reading an interview with the architect, he now grudgingly approves.
And today, well, we'll probably devote the school day to a civics lesson and watch the festivities in D.C., while looking for J & G (presumably quite bundled up!) in the crowd.