Tell You [a] Little Story

We had a great time in Hawaii. It's good to be back with the kids. Tomorrow, it's back to snow and ice, and I must admit, I'm a little nervous about that part. I intended to do a year-end review, but here it is 10:30 on the 31st of December {happy birthday to you, Michelle ! Sorry I forgot to email you today} and it's almost time to look forward and not back. I mean, it's already 2008 in New York and Anderson Cooper is heading home. So, I'm doing a very scaled-back Year in Review with a theme: awesome dining experiences in 07, aka the year of gourmet pizza and chopped salads. Feel free to add your own favorite places in the comments. Here we go. Feast -- Tucson, AZ Grazie -- Scottsdale, AZ Sauce -- Scottsdale, AZ Club 33 -- Disneyland, CA Yasu Sushi Bistro -- Phoenix, AZ Postino -- Phoenix, AZ La Grande Orange -- Phoenix, AZ Zinn Bistro -- Salt Lake City, UT Asia de Cuba -- Scottsdale, AZ Haleiwa Eats -- Haleiwa, HI Zupas -- Draper, UT Gurus -- Provo, UT Pizzeri

hi from oahu. wish you were here, wearing a swimsuit in december!

There was a lovely package waiting for us today after a long day of: emissions (re-retest)/car registration/dollar store sibling gifts for Isaac/doctor appointment/Target pharmacy/gingerbread houses at Aaron's class party. (Also known as: errands.) The gift was a box of The Best Cookies in the world from my favorite older brother and his favorite wife. They are delicious! Thank you, Ryan and Jessica. That was very thoughtful and very appreciated. I'm going to eat several before I mention to the kids that we have them. See you soon. I love getting packages. Anybody else want to send me something?

Every December 14th growing up, my mom would tuck me in and say, "This is the last time you will ever be {my age}." I do that with my own kids now on their birthday eves. It's 8 o'clock on Friday night, December 14th, and I'm tired. I have my pajamas on, I'm going to wash my face, take my contacts out, brush and floss, and curl up in bed with a book that Diana gave me for my birthday: Eat, Pray, Love . Tomorrow I will wake up and Steve and the boys will be very sweet and give me a couple of presents. Ryan will be the first person to email me birthday greetings, although all my siblings will make contact throughout the day. I will accept homemade birthday cards from anyone and everyone. I will spend the gift card that my mother gave me. We will take the kids to see a movie, probably Enchanted. It will be a nice day. Goodbye to thirty-one.

{credit to Brent for the link}

Dear Elliot, Aaron, Isaac and Norah, Your father and I have been married now for over ten years. Isn't that amazing? We love each other very much and we love you! As you know, we decided to leave you with Nana and Papa for a week so that we could go on a trip to celebrate our tenth anniversary. We decided to be adventurous and quirky and to have a computer randomizer pick a location for us to travel to, out of more than a hundred options around the world. Would it be Johannesburg? Mexico City? Vernal? The randomizer very randomly picked the place where everyone goes for their tenth anniversary: Hawaii. So, off to Hawaii we go! Please don't resent us for leaving you on Christmas Day, because tickets were cheaper then (though ridiculously high, still). You know we love to keep the budget happy when we travel! Well, please also don't be mad that Mommy was not very expeditious in arranging for hotels, so by the time I got around to it, everyone else in the free world had alrea

All I want is ONE day of no vomit and very minimal interaction with poop. Thank you.

Carly and Kacy (I'm too lazy to link, but see previous post for Carly, and go to kasm.blogspot.com for Kacy) started a really fun discussion on the book The History of Love . Read it, then come participate. Here.

The search terms that have brought people to my blog in the last few days: for iam not ashamed of gospel of christ indigenous nudity ovahimba blogspot,word gas are you allowed to wear boots to church spanx nude fishnets poisons in orleander nude fishnets maternity nylons More today: tuchetti's restaurant what to tell my pregnant friend tuchetti's, phoenix I get a lot of hits for "indigenous nudity." I'm guessing when the searchers see what my blog has to offer, they keep looking.

1. I just passed a sign [or perhaps: eye just past a sine?] on the corner of State and Center streets in Orem . It was a nice, expensive, printed banner that had on it something like this: Children's Toy Drive Unwrapped presents excepted here To which I say: Sometimes spell-check just isn't enough. 2. The most interesting news of the day suggests a probable link between working the night shift and getting cancer. Really. Apparently, it is not good to disturb the circadian rhythms. Other things to think about: I sometimes wonder if it is dangerous that my husband takes melatonin every night to fall asleep, like maybe it has some sort of addictive sleeping pills quality about it. But according to this article, melatonin suppresses tumor development. But then again, taking the supplements could inhibit the body's natural ability to produce melatonin. What to do, what to do? Because if he doesn't take it, then he doesn't sleep, and then hello, cancer! Also, it seems t

Alyssa -- My uniquely talented friend from college and from now who is good at brightening the world around her. Angela -- My sweet sister-in-law who is good at creating things and is also madly in love with her husband (it's sweet). Austin -- My very engaging brother-in-law who is good at being interested and at being interesting and is one of my favorite people, even though he told me my son has an attitude (I'm over it, really). Carly -- My first cyber friend, and she's awesome in real life, too. Christen -- The cutest friend and mom and seamstress anyone could want. She chooses to wear bright colors when everyone else is wearing black (literally and figuratively), and that inspires me. I read a lot of blogs. There are more.

It was another crazy Craig family picture experience. Abby didn't have very cooperate subjects to work with, to say the least, but she worked wonders with what we gave her. Nobody will care if we send out photos in which the 3 people who didn't throw major fits this morning look decent, will they? As in, everybody but Aaron, Isaac and Norah? Not to name names.

Today I finished this book. It was eerily similar to the last book I read. Both authors are my age, they both live in Brooklyn. I thought for sure they must be friends, because the novels seem to fairly obviously allude to one another. I imagined meeting Nicole Krauss, the author of The History of Love at a Q & A and brilliantly pointing out to her that in both her story and this other, the scenario appears wherein people who love one another hold onto string across bodies of water, so as to minimize their separation. What are the chances of that? Does she know Jonathan Safran Foer, and why are their books so much alike? It turns out they know each other. Married to each other, in fact. I probably would have looked sort of dumb at the Q & A. Has anyone read one or both of these books? They're both very well done and thought-provoking and entertaining. Exremely Loud and Incredibly Close is more of everything: more pretentious, more bad language, more funny, more unbelieva

I've been spending a fair amount of time lately browsing realtor.com and utahrealestate.com. Last night I found this little number for sale in Alpine, UT. Dang it. I don't know how to make these images larger. Can anyone advise me? Seriously, though, check out this palatial residence. Look at the pantry, the master closet, the laundry room. The house has 28,000 square feet, a ballroom, a Louis Vuitton chandelier. I am fascinated. Tell me you're not fascinated and don't want to know more about these people. Also, not to draw comparisons or be judgmental, but I'm also fascinated by the rich person in this scenario : anonymous donor gives $100 million to charities in Erie, PA, population of 102,000. Wow. Incidentally, if any of you are ever bugged or offended because I like to talk about money and watch what people do with their money, I'm sorry. But if by chance you think people should be more open about money because half the universe doesn't know what they&

George Clooney and Fabio fight My favorite part: Fabio's manager told press, "George is lucky he didn't end up in the ER." I saw Fabio once, at the Phoenix airport. I've never been the same.

Also: Steve and I are going to Hawaii on Christmas Day. I would love suggestions on what to do, where to eat and stay, exciting travel tips from anyone who has ever been to Oahu. I have been negligent about planning this trip and need to get on it. Thanks!

This week started with me getting a card in the mail from the ladies in our ward in Phoenix that had been passed around in Relief Society and on which everyone had written a little blurb of goodbye and good luck. The card made me cry. The messages were short and sweet, but the card represented my sweet friends in Phoenix, people who appreciate me and are appreciated by me and helped me and were helped by me and admire me and are admired by me. Utah doesn't need me, and that kind of stinks (although it has benefits, too), but the card reminded me of being loved and needed and missed and it felt nice. One point for Arizona. On Tuesday, I met Steve on the BYU campus in the Marriott Center which has the same yellow seats it has always had (and that is one of the few things that is the same about BYU since I left it 10 years ago), and we watched Chief Justice John Roberts' profile as he spoke to us about the US Constitution. A couple of weeks ago, we did the same thing, only it was

Abby and Jamie and Milo and Pearl deserve some sort of prize for hosting such a fun weekend for my kids. What kid wouldn't love: a hike in the mountains campfire complete with hot dogs and s'mores scary ghost stories movie about super heroes campout on the living room floor delicious breakfast of pancakes (hold the blueberries) and bacon and hash browns board games with cool friends go-carting (in the snow!) Fun times, fun times! What parent wouldn't love: a kids-free weekend night sleeping in until 8:30 on Saturday morning knowing that there are people in the world who are dedicated to loving and having fun with your kids

Being the sucker for a charity auction that I am, I paid $15 at the kids' school carnival auction for a coupon for a visit to a dentist without thinking that we would get dental coverage through BYU. I'm never going to use this coupon, so if there is anyone in Utah Valley who doesn't have dental insurance and wants a free dental exam, x-rays, and cleaning at the office of Steven F. Melff, D.D.S. in Pleasant Grove, it's YOURS, baby. Leave a comment or email me at emilygcraig@hotmail.com and I will mail it to you, stat. Out.

In 1996, I participated in a BYU ethnographic field study program in Namibia, long before celebrities flew there to have their babies, or baby, as the case may be. It rocked. There were 8 of us--all girls--who went, along with a male TA and our professor/anthropologist-in-chief and his 5-year-old daughter. We camped near a settlement of OvaHimba in Northern Namibia for three weeks. We had no shower; we were earthy, some more than others. We hired translators and lived among the women and children and the old men because the men were attending to their pastoral duties in less arid topography during the dry season. We interviewed them, we talked with them, we attended a funeral, we (I) took their hurt children into town to the nearest medical clinic when one of them was to fall into the fire and melt the skin on his hand. We watched them play, cook, eat, and we took lots of notes and recorded lots of interviews. We each had an area of focus. Mine kept shifting, but it had something do wi

I actually own some nylons. I'm sure I do. They haven't been worn for five or eight years, but I know I have some. Maybe some tights, too -- that I'm not so sure about. All of my nylons and maybe tights are where (here, if I believed in making up percentages that have no substantiation, which I definitely do not, I might say) 92% of my belongings currently are. Do I think that I am defined by my belongings? I most certainly do not. I don't even like belongings very much, but the fact remains that I own nylons and they are in storage. Oh inhabitants of Utah and cold weather places: please inform! What do cool people do with the leg covering situation in the throes of wintery weather? Are bare legs kosher? Did I just make an anti-Semitic comment? I read that Carol Gotbaum converted to Judaism when she got married. Is it wrong that I feel kind of defensive about Sky Harbor airport when her husband speaks at her funeral about how if only one person would have helped her, s

Jordan, Courtney , Pepper , Julianne, Bek , and others of you who may be with child, Please, today, take time to give thanks that--more than likely--your baby will not look like this upon immediate exit from your body. Your friend in medium-to-low birthweights, Emily

A VERY COLD STORM SYSTEM OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN LATE THURSDAY. THIS STORM WILL MOVE SLOWLY EAST THROUGH NEVADA...AND STRENGTHEN AS IT APPROACHES WESTERN UTAH. THIS SLOW-MOVING STORM WILL PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF PRECIPITATION OVER WESTERN UTAH LATE THURSDAY NIGHT AND INTO FRIDAY. THE CENTER OF THE STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS UTAH LATE FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY. THE VERY COLD AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM WILL DRIVE SNOW LEVELS DOWN TO THE LOWEST ELEVATIONS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH. HEAVY SNOWFALL COULD DEVELOP ABOVE 6000 FEET... ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE WASATCH RANGE AND THE CENTRAL UTAH MOUNTAINS. THE STORM WILL MOVE EAST OF THE STATE ON SUNDAY. VERY COLD TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN IN THE WAKE OF THIS STORM. MORNING LOWS ON SUNDAY COULD BE WELL BELOW FREEZING ACROSS WESTERN UTAH. AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY COULD END UP 15 TO 25 DEGREES BELOW EARLY OCTOBER NORMALS STATEWIDE. PERSONS PLANNING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES THIS COMI

I keep thinking about topics or events that I could fashion into some sort of blog post, but the ideas all seem to dissipate before I make it happen. I'm definitely in a bored-of-my-own-blog kind of phase, which is too bad because I have lots of friends and family members who may be a little curious about my grand Adventures in the Beehive. Really, this ought to be a time of reflective verbosity. Here are some possible bloggable topics. Please advise. A. How I got bullied at the school carnival. B. What we did on this lovely Thursday evening, and to which blogging queen of Provo's house we did a drive-by. C. Quantities and descriptions of the foodstuff that my family collectively deposited on the floor at Thai Chili Garden. D. My friends the OvaHimba, as brought back to my frontburner (why not?! everyone has a backburner) by a lovely show on the Travel Channel tonight. D, part 2. What I fear most about living in Provo, and what it has to do with going to Namibia in 1996. E

Happy birthday, Nori girl.

First, I twisted my ankle (right) many, many weeks ago at Oak Creek with Alice and Sarah. You may remember -- I've whined about it here before. It hurt for a minute, then it felt all kinds of better, then I drove home and it was excruciatingly painful and I feared for my accelerating/braking abilities on the curvy mountain roads; then I got home and couldn't put any pressure on it, so I hopped around on the other foot (left) until my husband ordered me to bed and called everyone we know looking for crutches to borrow; then I took 3 ibuprofins (can that be pluralized?) and fell asleep and it was completely healed the next morning, and everyone at church was all, "Needed crutches, did you? Huh." Well. Soon thereafter my other ankle (left) began to hurt, but I have no idea how or when I could have injured it. It has had a dull, annoying soreness for about 6 weeks or so. It hurts especially at night, all night long and in the morning, and then I will walk it out and it do

Hi, my name is Emily and I am a Utah resident. We made it! We have made the transition from upper middle class in Arizona to lower middle class in Utah County , or something like that. The weather is awesome, but it feels threatening, like it thinks it is going to turn really cold really soon. I'm on to you, weather. The Costco is much the same as our Arizona Costco, except the eggs are twice as expensive here. The grass is softer in Utah. The kids have to start school at 8 in the morning (!), which means we will have to start waking up sometime before 8. We've already been in attendance at a performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir , and it was spectacular. All in all, things are good thus far. I'm waiting for Disneyland to email a picture of me going to town with a laser gun in one hand and a baby/baby bottle in the other a la Astro Blasters. If they ever send it, which is starting to look doubtful, I might have something to post again soon. If not, I'll try hard to

Does anyone think it's funny that this plus a big tv, a computer, two bikes, plus a few sundry items that Steve just brought out (everything that is not going into the dark abyss of indefinite storage, in other words), oh, and seven people have to fit in our two cars for our big move? I think it's pretty funny. Wednesday morning edit: Ahhhh, our lives just got much easier. The moving van will take as much stuff as we need to our new residence. Thank you, Brigham!

A favorite childhood companion of mine died yesterday. I read so, so many of her books. I put "A Wrinkle in Time" in a time capsule I made as a teenager. I love that book. Go read it to your kids if you haven't already. Madeleine L'Engle

creosote orange blossoms warm rain my parents cousins the Suns sisters hiking in the city excellent shopping Fox concept restaurants summer resort deals home familiarity competitive grocery stores out-of-this-world thunderstorms xeriscape easily navigable streets friends geckos Mesa temple walking to the library January Sedona boating trips Tucson the Phoenix Zoo book club swimming flash floods Gammage casual, down-to-earth people concert venues downtown Scottsdale Mexican food Phoenix Art Museum Diamondbacks retractable roofs cub scouts missionary opportunities Village Vista Elementary my ob/gyn clinic close proximity to Target 60 degree Christmases my hairstylist throwing showers with Jami family dinners Kierland Commons anything anyone might need is here strong people network that comes with living somewhere for 16 years our house

I like it when siblings get married, because each new spouse brings with her/him an entire little village of people that I get to know and see at family celebrations, and usually the two-degrees-of-separation people are all exceptionally cool. At least that's how it has worked with all the spouses my siblings and Steve's siblings have chosen thus far. (Pressure's on for you, Austin , to marry a girl with fantastic people.) Lots and lots of happening people--yea, bloggers-- that I encounter just happen to be sisters-in-law of sisters-in-law, or something like that. I love it! If I weren't such a lazy blogger, I would link to many of them. But I'm lazy, so I'll just mention a few. There's NieNie, whom I like to think about when crazy people I know try to tell me that my children will not be normal if I raise them in Provo. Hello!? Nie Nie grew up there and is beyond normal! There's her best friend Reachel, who is the nicest and most fashionably lovely girl

Mary Sue -- A second mom to my husband in his adolescence, and one of the most lovely women on the planet. To know her is to love her and to want to eat her homemade cookies and sit on her couch and talk with her. Courtney -- I'm not joking when I say that more than a few people, immediately upon hearing my news that I am moving to Provo, said to me, "You'll hang out with cjane all the time, be her best friend. . . ." The first words out of their respective mouths! Okay, maybe the second, but still! This girl makes quite the impression. Attention, Universe: I find it wildly amusing and somewhat frightening that three weeks ago (I cannot be held responsible for inexact references to time) I filled out an application on Lending Tree for a mortgage; two weeks and six days ago I talked on the phone at length with Dude from First Magnus who tried with all his might to convince me to forego a conventional loan in favor of an interest only loan (red flag -- why would he do

Young? You think we looked young when we got married ? I don't think we've changed a bit.

Heaven is having the UPS man ring your doorbell, being fully dressed, and opening the door to find the most delicious of surprise packages awaiting. Heaven is a whole box of Godiva chocolates, each one a work of art, and a work of lovely decadence. From your best friend, who's also your sister-in-law, and from your brother, too, because he signed the card by default. Because you told her you'd never had them before. And because she's happy for you that your husband got a new job, even though it will take you far away from her. And because she wants to celebrate your happiness with you in being married for ten years. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Thank you, ever so much, Diana and Neil , for the deliciousness of your love and your chocolate offering. Both are fantastically sweet and incomparable. {WARNING: DO NOT, under any circumstances, play the YouTube video you will find when you link to Diana and Neil's blog. I repeat, do not play the video. Insanity will ensue. You ha

Thanks for marrying me, Steve. I love you.

Norah's 9 month photos from, uh, June. Norah, now. Walking! She's such a superstar. I love this girl so much.

I've been taking fenugreek for its galactagogic benefits. Galactagogue is one of my new all-time favorite words. Fenugreek makes me smell like maple syrup. As Steve commented, "[Fenugreek] helps with milk production and keeps Norah coming back for more with that winning maple syrup taste." Steve is so great. One week from today will mark our tenth anniversary. I thought then and I think now that I am the luckiest girl to ever live to have won such a grand prize as my husband. One week ago today Steve was offered a job that will take him far away from the "law firm" life. He has been floating around, all cloud-nine-like, with a perma-grin ever since. His new job is at BYU. We are excited, but in our family, I tend to be the one who makes arrangements and does all things money. I'm nervous about whether our house will ever sell because every which way I turn all I hear about is Dow Jones down two hundred points, subprime market falling out, jumbo mortgage rat

Dear Tracy, I had fun talking to you at Christen's baby shower tonight. You looked smashing, as you always do, in your green shirt and cute necklace. I always enjoy seeing what you have on. Your sense of style has always been keen, but I think you've taken fashion in a new direction lately, ever since you had Ethan, maybe. Do you think having so many boys compels you to be uber-feminine in your wardrobe? I know I dress more femininely now than I used to, but that's not saying much, because I used to go straight to the boys' half of The Gap to buy my clothes. I think I've come a long way. Anyway, you looked cute. Tell Jacob I'm sorry I haven't been over yet to initiate him into the big, bad world of cub scouts. I keep thinking about him, but Steve has been out of town this week, so I haven't ventured too many places with all the kids. I'm glad he's excited about scouts. The eight-year-old boys are the best! If you ever get called to be the Wolf De

I woke up this morning to a big puddle on the kitchen floor and an unfrozen freezer-ful of food. It took me a long while to clean out the freezer (melted popsicle juice dripping from the top shelf, anyone?), then I just had time to bathe and feed Norah and put her back down for a nap when the doorbell rang. It was Elliot's friend from school coming to play. That's great! We had invited him for 10 AM and he was right on time. It was also Elliot's friend from school's two parents , whom I had met very casually before, at the door, waiting to be invited in . Oh, okay, come in! Can I offer you a drink? Let's visit for a while. Excuse my pajamas , you see, we had a disaster with the freezer this morning and I'm getting a late start. I didn't mention that none of us had had a morsel of breakfast yet. So we sat and chatted. . .and chatted. . .and chatted. I dropped a subtle hint or two that I would be happy to drop their son off in a few hours if they wanted to ge

Well, since I'm on a YouTube/hymn/slideshow kick, I thought I'd post this fantastic rendition of one of my favorite hymns. We recently got the BYU Humanities Dept. mag they send out to all their alumni, and in it was a piece about Elvis' rendition of this song, and how the half-hearted Mormon congregational version doesn't quite measure up. I'm not sure how that article ended -- I only made it through half before I was called away, but I am quite in agreement about the assessment of the first half of the article. I'm not an Elvis fan, but this rocks.

Emily Anne linked to BYU Combined Choir singing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, which led me to this. Youtube also has video of Sufjan singing it, but this was shorter, and kind of randomly cool.

The kids and I spent a lovely Friday night and Saturday in Sedona, compliments of the lovely Alice DeWitt and her family. They have access to all kinds of cool vacation spots, and were kind enough to invite us to visit beautiful Oak Creek Canyon with them last weekend. Thank you, Alice! I thoroughly enjoyed the Sedona scenery -- it doesn't get much better, anywhere -- and the company was fantastic: Sarah and Mark, Alice and Jay, and my long-lost cousin Karalee and her husband, not to mention a whole array of playmates for the children. Sarah took these great pictures of Isaac. I love them! I so need to get some mad photog skills and a camera that captures colors this vividly. Marveloso. I had a strange twisted ankle episode while we were at the Creek. I twisted it, it hurt, then it didn't hurt for 4 hours, then I got in the car to drive home and it hurt like the dickens, then I picked Steve up at the airport and I couldn't walk around the car, then I went home and called e

Sarah -- I have a sister. She is beautiful and kind. She never wanted to have a blog, but now she has one. And she didn't tell anyone about it, even me. Her blog shall not be on the down-low much longer, for her brilliance will attract readers from far and wide. Be one of the first. Nancy -- Steve has a sister. She and I are a lot alike in ways that aren't initially apparent. While she is fast becoming the consummate poster child for domesticity-- and I am, well, not-- we are similar in our middle-childishness: we share interest in other people, leadership styles, our respective abilities to make and keep friends, and the inclination to worry. Nancy is a great sister-in-law. Amy -- Amy is one of those people who is enormously talented at being everybody's best friend. She and I met freshman year in college, where we spent hours upon hours inventing elaborate and engaging methods of procrastination. She is outrageously funny, kindhearted, disciplined (when she's not p

Welcome to the world, sweet baby Pearl! We can't wait to meet you.

Now. Yea or nay?

In Chicago, I spent a very long time in H&M, poring over the racks and racks and racks of bogo sale items. I tried on a ton of things, and eventually settled on 4 things for myself: a long, striped brown sweater with tie belt; a very simple but cute black corduroy skirt; black linen pants that fit me nicely and are seen below in the fun mirror photo; and a funkyfunky gray dress that I may or may not ever wear. All of this cost me $35. I wish to discuss the dress. I could run and take a picture of it, and upload it so you would all know what I'm talking about, and I may still do that at some point, but for the purposes of this discussion, exercise your imagination with me. The dress is one large gray crocheted doily, shaped like a tent, with fitted three-quarter-length sleeves . I think it is so cool and retro. Do you have a visual? Good. Now, clearly, if I wear this dress to church, all the old ladies--and many of the young--will think I'm off my rocker. I am sure to get st

The longer I go without blogging anything substantial, the easier it is to go longer without blogging anything substantial. Last week seemed to be the week my entire family entered into various philosophical and/or religious debates with guys I knew/dated in high school turned theologians. When I posted the link to the thread a few posts ago, I was maybe secretly crying out for moral support, a plea for rescue me!, if you will. It was nice that my homeboys Steve, Neil, Ryan, and Sarah rose to the occasion. Austin and Abby and Amy had some nice contributions as well. I think all of the above are really, really smart. The other parties in the discussion were quite passionate about the subject matter, and I learned quite a bit from the exchange. This week was the week I went on vacation, and oh, did I! A quick trip to the glorious mecca of San Diego with my husband and kids and mother was a little, um, noisy is the word that comes to mind. But we managed to have a great time, and it's