I might not be back here permanently ~ I'm still in New Jersey at my mother's house; we plan to return to New Orleans as soon as possible, and once we do so, we are likely to be living in a no-internet-access zone for a while. So don't be alarmed if I suddenly disappear again for a while in early 2006.

We moved Mom into a very nice assisted living home (http://www.potomacgrouphomes.com/) a couple of weeks ago, making life much easier for the time being.

I'm still in recovery from spending 24 hours a day nose-to-nose with a profoundly demented person. The condition seems to be "contagious" in a certain sense; during my couple of months in the caregiver role, I gradually became disinterested and, eventually, virtually unable to engage in reading and writing the way I normally do. Never fear, though: my mental facilites seem to be coming back, albeit slowly...