January.

Right now, on Jan. 6, I am alone in my house. I have not been alone in my house since the last week of November. Chad's mom was with us Dec. 1-26, then we came home from Houston on Dec. 30. Then our friends Jerry and Violetta and their two girls stayed with us until today. Julia started school yesterday, Jenna went back today, so it's just me. Well, the cat, too. But he takes care of himself, so he really doesn't count.

Because Jerry and Violetta live in Alaska, we don't see them very often. In fact, I had not met their daughters Vitalia and Alesa until this past Saturday. It was great to spend time with all of them. We enjoyed Violetta's borscht (she is Ukrainian -- Jerry met her while doing mission work there in 1999), and I could never get tired of listening to her and the girls speaking Russian to each other. Such a beautiful language that you don't hear much in central Arkansas. Violetta and I are the same age but from such different worlds. I grew up in Beaumont, Texas, watching MTV, hanging out with friends and cruising the beach on the weekends. She grew up behind the Iron Curtain and dealing with all the struggles that went along with that. I always love talking to her. And she likes to shop, which the two of us did quite a bit while they were here.

Jenna's finger is doing a lot better. Her fingernail is kind of loose so we keep band-aids on it. It gives me the willies to think about, so let's talk about something else.

Like Facebook, where my social life lives. Over the holidays, I passed the 500-friend mark. And just who are my Facebook friends? Let's see:

- kids in our youth group
- my very best friend from elementary school
- kids in our old youth group
- kids I've met at ACU camps over the years
- my boyfriend from second grade
- a couple of guys I made out with in college
- a guy who was the preacher at a church where we tried to get a youth ministry job but didn't make the cut
- Chad's sister's best friend from high school
- friends I've had in real life who either I moved away from or who moved away from me
- several varieties of ministers
- one friend who is no longer living
- a number of editors and journalism professors
- people from high school who I didn't hang out with then but wish I had because they are really cool
- several people I've never met but who I know through cyberspace
- Chad's cousins
- Chad's cousins' kids
- my 73-year-old dad
- the author of "Writer Mama," one of my favorite books
- Chad's dad's wife
- of course my bff Carol
- someone who is pregnant with twins
- and lots of other people from different places and times in my life.

I realize how pathetic it is to have a socal life that exists mostly online. At least I can admit it.

Coming up for us is Julia's 10th birthday party. We'll have a few of her friends over for an "IRON CHEF ARKANSAS" party. We'll give guests some random ingredients and have them made something out of it. Julia, our resident foodie and Food Network junkie, has been having fun helping us plan it. But she announced the other day that she would like for this to be her last birthday party. More evidence that she's nearing the teen years, I guess.