It doesn't feel like home just yet but ...

Not quite a year ago, Pickwick's Pub, the pub that we called home, was set on fire by an arsonist. Pickwick's was the pub where I first met a Cowsill back in 1990 and more importantly where Paul and I met and where we got engaged on Valentine's Day in 1992. Our friends all teased us that we'd have to hold the wedding at Pickwick's too but even we drew the line there. We did invite some of our close friends from the pub, including the owners at the time, to the wedding but we didn't hold it at the pub.

After the fire it was like a part of our lives was missing. We still went out to see Bob Cowsill play at other pubs but they just weren't Pickwick's. We didn't know if the pub would reopen or not but last Saturday, not quite a year after the fire closed Pickwick's, the pub quietly re-opened. Then, on St. Patrick's Day, Bob Cowsill along with Robby Scharf & Dan McNamara provided entertainment for the first time in the newly reopened Pickwick's Pub!

It's going to take some getting used to before the new Pickwick's Pub is as much home as the old Pickwick's was but I'm sure we'll get there. One thing that will certainly help with that homey feeling is that Bob Cowsill is back to singing at Pickwick's every Friday night just like he was when I first started going to the pub. I'm thrilled that Pickwick's is back in business and am already planning to hold my 50th birthday party there!

Can you be happy & sad at the same time?

As the parent of a soon to be high-schooler who was just accepted to the school of her choice the answer is a resonding yes!

We are thrilled that Emily was accepted to both schools she applied to and most especially to the school that she really wants to attend. Yet it's bittersweet at the same time because I can't imagine her not attending her current school. She's been there since Kindergarten and it just feels like home to all of us. Hannah's still there - for now anyway - she may be moving too since she's the only girl in her class. So, this may be good-bye for us to a school that we really love and that we've really been involved with on pretty much a daily basis since Emily started there.

Oh, and did I forget to mention, that tuition for Emily will be almost double next year? That part is definitely not fun but we knew it was coming. We''re really happy with the schools that Emily did apply to and we're looking forward to a great four years with our almost high-schooler!

Where DOES the time go?

I remember as a kid when days would just drag and weeks would seem to take forever. I just want to know who sped up the world? Now, days just literally fly by and weeks seem to be over before I can even catch my breath.

Part of this has been a whirlwind I seem to have been caught in since the beginning of the year. Soon after Barry Cowsill's death was announced, Cowsill.com was taken down by our web host (I'm the webmaster there) so I had to scramble to get the site transferred to another host almost overnight. I'm still not caught up with all of that since there are things that used to be on Cowsill.com that I still haven't gotten back up online.

Why is that? Well, it's a little thing called life and trying to do it all - and sometimes seeming to fail miserably at everything. In addition to Cowsill.com and traveling to Newport for Barry's Memorial there and then updating Cowsill.com again with the news of Billy Cowsill's death, I've been busy with all of the girls many social and extra-curricular activities and with trying to update my own web sites which really need some attention and trying to help some with the gala that we just held for the girls' school but mostly I've been immersed in working on the yearbook for the girls' school.

Somehow, over the years, I've ended up in charge of the yearbook including taking almost all the pictures that go into it. It's something I really enjoy at times and that I find a tremendous source of stress at other times. I'm still in the midst of it and am frantically trying to get pictures from things I didn't attend and trying to take other pictures to fill in the rest of the yearbook pages which are due to the publisher in less than a month. Foolishly, this year, I decided that it would be fun if the 8th grade helped with the yearbook during computer class since we decided to go with a web designed yearbook for the first time ever. Since I don't really know the program we're using in depth yet, it's been a series of trials and errors trying to get it done but we did make the deadline for the first half and we're starting page designs for the second half next week. But before I can start to work on it with the kids I have to get all of the photos that are complete onto my computer and uploaded to the yearbook site. Oh, but did I forget to mention, first I have to clear some things off of my computer to make room for the photos since we're running out of disk space - uh oh. This weekend I need to get all the photo stuff accomplished so wish me luck. I know that I'll need it!

But, it's not all work and no play, we did go to the gala for the girls' school last weekend which was a lot of fun and more importantly raised quite a bit of money for the school and we even managed to catch Bob & the band's last set at the Fox & Hounds Pub too. And, last night, I went and saw Sid 'n' Susie (aka: Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs) at Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. The show was a great fun especially when John (Cowsill) & Vicki (Peterson) got up and sang with them though I have to say I felt The Warmth of the Sun was the weakest song of the night even though John did sing backup on it. I'm really looking forward to the release of Under The Covers Vol. 1. But, more than that release, I'm going to be stalking the mailman soon for my copy of Sorrow Bound: Hank Williams Re-Examined!