*I’m always pleasantly surprised when Hollywood types are actually educated or have interesting abilities. I just read that actress Kate Beckinsale is fluent in German, French and Russian.

*I cannot keep the spellings and pronunciations of Sudoku (the numbers game in the newspaper I play almost daily) and Santoku (the knife we gave K.’s sister and her husband for Christmas) straight in my mind.

*Watching the winter Olympics made me want to ski again. And also get in shape. And be athletic.

*The woman on the current Sephora catalog cover seems uniquely beautiful but I couldn’t put my finger on what it is about her. Someone said she has thin lips. Yeah, she does...how interesting—normal, non-puffed lips.

*I miss Dudley Moore. We watched Milo & Otis again, a cat and dog movie that he narrates hilariously. R.I.P., Dudley.

*I love mechanical pencils and have a ton of them around now in many colors. Any cheap thrill in life should be indulged.

*I owe my two best, college friends correspondence. I am so remiss. Does it count that I constantly think of doing it?

*I found out that my older daughter J. (age 7) does not like m & m’s. She actually threw them out. What a concept: not eating candy just because it’s there.

*I just read that banana peels are good for treating splinters. The enzymes in the peel apparently help draw the splinter to the skin’s surface. You apply a small piece of the pulp side of the peel and wear a band aid overnight. Ok then.

Feel free to add a random thought of your own…

"One of the most feared expressions in modern times is "The computer is down."
--Norman Augustine

We just returned home from a long weekend in Carmel, CA to find our internet and e-mail connections not working. This is possibly as bad as coming back to a burglarized house, I thought to myself. Of course that is idiotic and completely untrue but that’s how maddening it felt.

K. wasn’t as sympathetic as I wanted him to be, busying himself with checking to be sure that the new satellite TV was operational and then heading outside to mow the grass. We all have our priorities. After unpacking a few things I grabbed the phone and called my friends at Tech Support.

It is so funny to me that the people who answer are clearly in India yet they give you American names as if they are right here in town, assisting locally. “This is John,” my helper today informed me in a thick accent. Yeah, right. Last time it was “Eddie.” I must say, both of these guys were friendly for a change and Eddie had the best sense of humor I’ve ever come across in tech support.

So here I am, online. Whew. Now I can read the 35 e-mails that are so vitally important. And post this message, of course.

May your computer always treat you kindly.

I came across this list at Confused and Amused…

You know you're from California if:

1. Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.

2. You make over $300,000 and still can't afford a house.

3. You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.

4. Your child's 3rd grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Flower.

5. You can't remember is pot illegal?

6. You've been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.

7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.

8. You can't remember .. is pot illegal?

9. A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.

10. Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.

11. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney.

12. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.

13. You can't remember is pot illegal?

14. It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: "STORM WATCH."

15. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cells or pagers.

16. It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.

17. HEY!!!! Is pot illegal????

18. Both you AND your dog have therapists.

19. The Terminator is your governor.

20. If you drive illegally, they take your driver's license. If you're here illegally, they want to give you one.

Freedom is close at hand.

K.’s early January birthday has passed (although the plasma TV is not here yet). The kids’ late December birthdays, for which they have separate parties in mid and late January, have been now fully celebrated. I completed the final thank you notes during our family Superbowl party, after snacking and hand washing of course.

Here are some photos from the birthday parties, which were held at a local pottery studio.

Five-year-old, S.:



Seven-year-old, J.:



All of us:


All that remains—and this is harder than it sounds—is delivering the painted pottery figurines to the birthday guests. To the girls we’ve been able to find on the preschool and elementary schools campuses, we have handed off their masterpieces. For the elusive girls, I may have to drive around to their houses to drop off their tiny figurines (drat).

An interesting side note: every single parent who has seen their child’s pottery thinks their child’s work is really remarkable. Parents are easily impressed.