No need to look for players after all...

Yep, I've given up trying to find a local game group with an opening, or unaffiliated players who can match schedules.  I've got two brand new players- two cute hyperactive young sisters- that  I'm teaching D&D to from the ground up.  

They're pretty fast learners too: in a short session last night I taught the two of them how roll up characters, using the 4D6- drop lowest method, and then ran a quick test combat where one of them got a critical hit, and the other made a good saving throw vs. a fireball.  Their reactions were good too: Alice paid close attention to the rolling dice and batted one with her paw, and Dorothy while initially shying away from the D20, came back and stared intently for a full minute before wandering away under the table.

I'm thinking that D&D may be more fun for them than either the laser pointer or balls of yarn.  So things are looking up, gaming-wise.