Happy birthday, Pearl!

Robin, Like everyone else, I'm sad to hear that you will no longer be blogging. I have greatly enjoyed reading your posts over the last few years. Valerie

My teacher, Ms. Shephard (which I'm not sure I'm spelling right), was considered the cool teacher. Now that I look back, I realize she might have been a bit of a hippie. Yay! She played guitar and sometimes (I don't remember how often, once a week, maybe on Fridays?) the entire kindergarten would would go to the cafeteria/auditorium for some sort of assembly, and Ms. Shephard would sit up front on a stool or chair and play her guitar for us. Her class got to sit right up front, so we were the cool ones. Yay! Everyone wanted to be in the guitar-playing teacher's class. She rocked. I also remember that at the end of the year some older kids came to our class for a week or so and helped us write a book. We would tell our stories and they would help us write them out, then everyone got a book with copies of everyone else's stories. Mine was about a Rubiks Cube. Yes, this was the early 80s. :-) My mom still has that book stored away somewhere. Oh! And we had a circus at the end of the year. I think I was seal. I can't remember exactly, except I remember wearing my bathing suit and that I wanted to be a trapeze artist.

Most of my reading has been for my classes, and I'm sure you aren't interested in that! The two books I read for fun this summer were "Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson, and Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five." Both were very good.

Congratulations on your anniversary! Here's to dozens more years together! :-)

Congrats on the kindergarten acceptance! And the monkey bars! :-)

Congratulations on both counts! Here's to five more!

I'm a toenail girl -- they are almost always painted -- so I guess that's why I noticed them and didn't even think twice about the necklaces! Tres chic! ;-)

My favorite thing about these photos is the girls' red toenails! :-)

It said I'm a "Self-Knowing Tree Hugging Reinventer." Hmmm...

I like coloring too! I haven't done it in a while, but I do have a coloring book or two and some colors. I find it to be very relaxing when I'm stressed out. :-)

Normally, negotiating the family visits is the most stressful part. It is still stressful, but this year it might be trumped by worrying about the expense of presents.

That's a great list. I'm curious, though, about the "string in my pants." Does that mean drawstring to hold them up? When I first read it, I envisioned strings coming out of a pair of pants at the seams.

Wow! What a week -- losing a tooth and no training wheels! Congrats!

Thank you for posting this video. The mayor's courage, sincerity and willingness to change his mind and explain why are commendable, and his statement has moved me to tears.

Big Bend is one of my favorite places. It is medicine for the soul. For Tracey: http://www.nps.gov/bibe/

On the Friday when Ike was coming, my brother and sister-in-law were coming up to stay with us for the storm -- they live on the coast in a mandatory evacuation zone. The morning they were supposed to come, my brother told me he changed his mind and they were staying home. I was so upset and worried that I couldn't stop the tears. They ended up coming, after much pressure from me, my mom and my sister-in-law's tears.

I'm not sure who counts as most famous: Bette Midler, Geena Davis or Woody Harrelson. I've met all of them and actually had conversations with Bette and Woody. Bette is much more serious than you'd expect, Woody is a big flirt, and Geena had a cap on that said "Girls Kick Ass." She's also very tall. I'm not sure who I'd like to meet. I'd love to have Jodie Foster over for dinner, so we'll go with that.

My dad picked my first name from an Elton John/Bernie Taupin song that most people have heard of. It's called "First Episode at Heinton" and my dad loved the name. My middle name is my dad's middle name. It's a name that has both masculine and feminine versions that sound the name, but I have the male spelling of it. When I was a kid I hated it, but as I got to be a teenager and grown-up, I didn't mind at all because my dad is a pretty cool guy! :-)

"I'm willing to look beyond China's faults with human rights (like the USA doesn't have its own troubles, right?) because these games will showcase what's beautiful in China, and they are about more than one country -- they are really about individual achievement and patriotism and camaraderie, and I love that." Actually, as I watched the Opening Ceremonies last night, those feelings were the ones that took over. As the commentators speculated about the reception some of the countries would get, I found myself saying, "No one should boo them -- this is the Olympics! It's about the athletes!" The thing that bothered me most had nothing to do with China, actually. I was quite annoyed by the announcers' subtle (and not so subtle) criticism of the costumes/outfits of various countries. I thought that was pretty tacky.

I love the Olympics. They make me all sappy and mushy and proud. I cry at the stories about hardship, when usually I think that type of stuff is cheesy. I cry during the medal ceremonies. I cry when they show some athlete's mom watching from home half way across the world. I'm not bawling, mind you, but the tears do manage to find their way down my cheeks. This year, though, I'm a tiny bit less excited. I keep reading about and hearing stories about all the problems in China, ones I knew about and ones I didn't, and it's putting a damper on my anticipation. Am I the only one who feels this way? Not that it will keep me from watching. I even like the opening ceremony cheesiness, and I have avoided watching the leaked video online so as not to ruin it. I can't wait to watch them tonight. Of course, the China issue won't bother your daughters one bit, which is good. I hope they enjoy watching the competitions and maybe find some inspiration!

Sweet story!

Have fun!

Actually, not sure if that would even count as a nonfiction novel, but still so far so good. (forgive me--we got in from our roadtrip at 3 am and I'm still a bit "road lagged"!)

Maybe for Marcia: I'm not sure if it would count as literary, but I love the "nonfiction novel" genre and have just started reading "Sin in the Second City" by Karen Abbot. So far, so good.