I spent yesterday evening redesigning the journal pages. It has some color for a change, as does Mood Swings, which I redesigned the day before. There's still something wrong with the structure, something wonky with the tables that I can't figure out, but I'm going to let it sit for awhile. I still need to make a Links page--I was going to try to get away from it, because links are a lot of trouble to maintain, but I miss them. So one day soon I'll sit down and create some sort of a page for my favorite stuff.

The journal redesign gets rid of the frames, so I'm sure there will be some awkward moments as I try various links and find out that they do (or do not) load into the old frameset.

Anyway, it's all purple and girly. I'm kind of wanting to get back into that mode, partly because it fits with the book that I'm writing (that still feels like such a conceit to say out loud) and it helps get me in the mood. Kind of like coming back from vacation--it's hard to sustain that feeling, and I like to do whatever I can to keep it.

When I turned the cell phone on this morning, it told me that I had two messages. I thought at first they must be text messages, since I had been talking with a friend about mobile-to-mobile text messaging last night, and thought they might have been test messages. But they were voice messages, and my next thought was -- oh horrors! -- that it might be someone from work trying to get hold of me.

They were both from Misty--the first a frantic message that Schiele had gotten out and could I think of anything she could do to help her find her way home? She said it was dark out, so it must have been yesterday evening after Bob had come home and I'd turned the phone off.

The second message was--thank goodness--telling me that Schiele had come home. Misty had put a blanket out on the front lawn with some treats and toys on it, and Schiele had found her way home. Schiele is pure black, like Dinah, and would be impossible to find at night. I've had the same worry about Dinah. Of course, we also had that worry about Doña when it snowed--if she got out in the snow, we'd never be able to see her.

Schiele seems to be a little character. She spent the night out in Misty's garage not too long ago; fortunately, Misty had left the top down on her car, and had left a coat in the back seat, so Schiele had a nice, comfy spot to sleep.

Dinah spent some time in our garage last night, too--Bob came down sometime in the evening and heard her cry, but she didn't come, so he called her, and finally figured out that she was out in the garage. I'd left her there--she had slipped out when I was bringing something in from the car, and I don't worry about it anymore, I just close the door. I figure if there's something so fascinating about the garage, let them stay out there for awhile.

But the outdoors, for a housecat, is different than the garage, of course. There are cars, and scary dogs, and the possibility of wandering so far from home that you can never find your way back. When Pyewacket gets out, which she's done a handful of times, she makes a quick right and heads for the bushes in front of our neighbor's house. You just have to lean over and catch sight of her, then reach in through the sticky bushes and haul her out by the scruff of her neck. Not pleasant for either party, but then that's the way it goes.

2001 has been a tough year in many respects. And I don't much feel like going over them yet again. I feel more like looking forward to the new year with hope--a year filled with possibilities. 2001 had possibilities, too, and certainly it wasn't all bad. I started working again with people that I love, I started a new project (a book!); it was, as most years are, a blend of the good and the bad (and the ugly).

But, as always, Bob and I look at each other and say, "It was a good year, because we were together," and next year will be even better.

Wishing everyone many blessings in the new year.