  As much as I want our family to have two homes, one in Houston and on in Taos, the fact remains for now that we have one.
In Houston. Ella knows this place is home because that's where all her toys are. Both children are fantastic travelers, we've had them both on the road since they were a few weeks old. But Ella is certainly more of a homebody than Aidan. She's happiest to be back in the comfort zone. This morning she drug out her stuffies and arranged them all around suitcase hill (we've gotten as far as unloading the car, but we've yet to unpack). Tiger and Sherbet and Lucia and Louie Lobo and Green Man all sat around her as she watched Teletubbies.
A pleasant surprise upon returning last night was a skinny black kitty sleeping on our porch. She was shy but hungry so I left her a bowl of cat food. This morning she came back and Ella thoroughly enjoyed it! She sat on the porch next to the kitty chanting "meow, meow" and trying to pet the shy, but warming to us kitty. Since Zia ran away/got stolen/met some unfortunate fate earlier this summer, I was particularly worried the universe wouldn't see us fit to ever have pets again. But here this beautiful black cat is, and maybe she'll stay. After it took several months to naturally rid our home of fleas, John's not big on the idea of another pet.
But I don't see any problems with keeping a stray-turned-family-pet as an outside cat, and he's OK with that compromise. Assuming she stays, what should we name her? Perhaps she's Zia come back as a kitten. Zia 2, then? It's so lovely to have a cat around again. 
