This ends with beer coming out The Boy's nose

I think I have solved my latest parenting issue...and many thanks for all of your input, there were some things that were very insightful that I hadn't really thought of.

One thing that e brought up was an aversion to very idea of co-ed sleepovers at this age. And I think that is a pretty fair position...there is no really compelling social reason for it. I didn't mention that the host family has two kids in the school...a boy in 8th grade and a girl in 7th. They have the same circle of friends (actually, it is really cute...they are totally best friends in a way that reminds me of The Boy and Twin Sister). So, really it is like two separate parties at the same time. The other one she went to last year was the same deal: twins in her class.

Anyway, last night was Chicken Finger Thursday (still my favorite day of the week!) and we had a little talk about it. I actually told The Boy to meet us a little bit late so that I would have the chance to talk to her about it privately. You were all right about the parts of it that bothered me...the fact that she has a "date", that the kids are older than her, that there is no way they will be totally supervised, etc. All true, to some degree or another.

What I realized, though, is that I don't really need to worry about other kids, I need to worry about her. And on that front, there is very little to worry about. She knows exactly what I am worried about, and knows the sorts of things that might be "expected" of her, and as usual, she is way out in front of it. In another "wise-beyond-her-years" moment, she told me that she had already spelled out exactly what her interest in her date was. When he asked her to the dance, he actually asked her to be his girlfriend and to go to the dance. And she told him that she wasn't really looking for a boyfriend right now, but that if he wanted to go "as friends" she would love to.

So, once again, I have dramatically underestimated her maturity level. You would think I would have learned by now;-). Long and short, she is going to the sleepover and I feel pretty good about the whole thing.

Oh, and later on, after The Boy joined us and teased her about "making out" with her "new boyfriend," she gave us this gem:

"I don't wanna kiss any boys anymore. All they wanna do now is touch your boobs. What for? None of us even have boobs!"

And that, per the title of this post, is what caused The Boy to laugh beer out of his nose.

Have a good weekend, everyone;-)

Parenting by blog consensus...

Busy like a crazy motherfucker lately! What the hell has gotten into me and why am I working so much? It is very unlike me...and someone needs to get me sidetracked with a four hour IM conversation about nothing pretty soon to set the Universe back into order.

Did everyone enjoy the long weekend? Mine was very nice, even though the weather was good but not beach-nice. Bright and sunny but just a little too chilly to lay out (unless you had a sweatshirt on, in which case it was divine!) Big crowd at the beach house, which is always a good time...I am a firm proponent of "the more the merrier". I feel like there is a network effect to cooking out.

It was just too chilly to take the jet skis out, so my traditional Sunday morning ride with Munchkin will have to wait until at least this weekend. Actually, probably next weekend, for two reasons. One is that the weather is not supposed to be great, and the second to be discussed momentarily.

The little twerp is done with school on Friday, and I am obscenely jealous. Seriously...what could possibly be better than summer vacation? It sounds especially good in the midst of the monster amount of work I have been doing lately. But I am not really complaining, it has been interesting work.

OK...my issue for the day: parenting advice.

Munchkin is just finishing sixth grade. Because the school she goes to is so small, they hang out across age groups a lot, and many of her friends are older than her. As I have mentioned a couple of times (;-)), she is super-hot. Like really, really gorgeous. And boys like her. A lot. A lot of boys really like her a lot.

Every year, they have an eighth grade banquet to mark the move of the eighth graders from middle school to high school (it is more symbolic than anything...they are all in the same place). It is a sorta-fancy dance where the kids get all dressed up and have like a super scaled-down prom. And Munchkin has been invited by one of the fine, upstanding your lads in eighth grade.

So far, no problem. She had an eighth grade boyfriend in the fall which was a non-event, a couple of her good girl friends are in that class, and she is friendly with most of them. The issue is that many of the kids are going to one kid's house after the party and sleeping over. And Munchkin really wants to go, but I am not sure I like the idea that much.

I can't quite put my finger on why it bothers me, though. She has been to co-ed sleepovers before...one of the benefits of all of her friends being so disgustingly loaded is that they all have huge houses where children can be easily separated at night...lol. I think maybe I am a little edgy because the kids are a little older than many of her other friends.

But I also don't know what I am worried about. I already talked to the mother whose house it is...both she and her husband will be there the whole time. There will be six or seven other girls there, several or whom are good friends of hers (i.e., I am not worried about he being in a situation where she suddenly feels alone and under some kind of After School Special-style peer pressure.)

What's more, I just don't have any reason to worry about her. She isn't gonna be pressured into doing anything she doesn't want to, and I completely trust her judgement and decision making. She is a tough chick...much tougher than whatever poor sap of a boy is currently most smitten with her;-P. And while I think of these kids as being much older than her, they really aren't. She is old for her grade, and is probably about an average of a year and a half younger than the rest of them.

So, I dunno...any thoughts? Can someone give me a compelling reason not to let her go?

Cut the Sherbet! (or, The Most Random Post Ever"

I have another confession. I have an unnatural love of Edy's Swiss Orange Sherbet. Seriously...I love the stuff and I can eat it in massive quantities. You probably have to basically like sherbet to like it, but it is richer than most sherbets are.

Also, I like to say the word "Sherbet"...obviously pronounced with an extra "r", so it is more of a sher-bert. My visit to Wikipedia on this has revealed some interesting tidbits... The word, it turns out, is Turkish, which I would not have guessed. Sherbet takes a lot of different forms in different places...my UK readers might like to chime in on whether or not they like their "fizzy powder made from bicarbonate of soda, tartaric acid, sugar etc and usually cream soda or fruit flavoured."

Its original Turkish form was a "cold drink prepared with rose hips, cornelian cherries, rose or licorice and a variety of spices." The real winner in that whole article though, is this: "Sherbet is still served following circumcision ceremonies or a childbirth to increase lactation of the mother." Say what?!?! To increase lactation? Well, if that works, then I am gonna start gushing like a fucking Jersey Heffer soon, because I have eaten like four gallons of this stuff in the last two weeks...

So, how many of you woke up this morning and said "Gee, I hope I learn about some alternative ice cream products today"? Probably not many...but I feel like I should celebrate the lower fat, Vitamin C providing wonder of the Swiss Orange. And just for Brandy...it's gluten free!!! GLUTEN FREE!!! (So says their website)

Not sure how I got on the subject of sherbet...sometimes my mind works in strange ways.

Total shift of gears...can anyone explain to me how it is that Munchkin has a favorite soccer team? And how that team played in the "biggest game ever" today? And lost in heartbreaking fashion leaving her on the verge of tears? Really, this is all horribly confusing to me. What kind of a freak is she that she has a favorite soccer team? I'm not joking about this...it is all very confusing to me.

I am pretty sure this is somehow Smoking Hot Roommate's fault;-) The soccer thing seems like it would be her fault.

In celebration of summer

What is up with Shopittome.com? I haven't really had a chance to visit the site yet, but I got three separate email invitations to join at almost the exact same time yesterday (from three of my most favoritest blogger-chicks:-)) so it must be good. Seems like the basic idea is that you tell it what your favorite clothing brands and sizes are, and they inform you when things in your size are on sale.

Anywho...Anybody have any plans for the long weekend? For my foreign readers, this coming Monday is Memorial Day...a day intended to remember all those who have died while serving in the US armed forces since the country's birth. Seems like maybe those people deserve more than one day, but I suppose it is better than nothing...

I love Memorial Day. I think, in my pantheon of Holidays, it is probably #2, and definitely no worse than #3. Unless you count my birthday (which everyone should!), in which case it falls one spot:-). For the record, Thanksgiving is #1 on that list.

My love of Memorial Day is basically because of its spot on the calendar. It serves as the unofficial beginning of summer, and that, my friends, is a very, very good thing! Just on its merits, July 4th is probably a better Holiday (same concept...long weekend in the summer) but more parades and fireworks. And better weather. But, because Memorial Day announces the summer season (at least for those of us that live north of, say Tennessee), it has always been my favorite.

Some of this could stem from the seasonal depression I used to suffer from. It caused an abnormal love of summer;-). But, mostly I think I just have a lot of good memories of summer. I was never really a "well-supervised" kid, and I had a lot of freedom all through the year, but taking school out of the equation enhanced that. Even though I always loved school, I liked summers even better. And still do;-)

I love the beach, and the associated bikinis, sun, freckles, jet ski rides, lemonade, sunsets and trashy magazines. Seriously, I am WAY behind on my celebrity gossip. I love the warm evenings and the long walks in tank tops, hippie skirts and flip flops. I love being able to have a drink outside. I love putting my hair up by pushing my sunglasses up my head! I just basically love everything about summer. And the ice cream!!!

And this weekend is the ceremonial beginning of all that is good and right. Unfortunately, the weather is not supposed to be great, so I doubt there will be any laying on the beach...which kinda kills a lot of the mood. But that's ok, because I know it is right around the corner:-)

Did anyone ask how work is going? Too bad...I am telling you anyway

You people have NO sense of humor! C'mon, don't we all appreciate a little bit of fun? I figured at least SOME of you would find me funny. Ahh well, it's not the first time I have over-estimated my own funniness. Nor will it likely be the last;-)

Ahh well, I guess I will have to keep my little "funny-to-me" moments to myself from now on. A big raspberry on all of you:-P

So...let's see...what else is new. Um...I find myself blogging at night a lot lately. I have been working like a crazy women lately, and it serves as a good distraction when I am working at home. For the last couple of weeks, I seem to have a whole mess of shit to get through when I get home, and then around this time (10:00) I need a little break from spreadsheets and figure that blogging is a good way to break up the work.

The busy-ness with work is actually kind of a good thing. It is not a result of us being swamped so much as it is a result of people giving me new and different stuff to do. In fact, we are sort of fortunate to even have much to do at all. It is a tough time for a lot of people in our industry. I have never really gone into great detail of what we do here, because the long story is dreadfully boring, but the short version is "buyouts", and that relies on the credit markets a lot. Anyone who has read the paper in the last year knows that anything that relies on the credit markets is having a tough go of things right now. As dreadfully ill-informed as the general economic and business news is, they got that part right.

That means that there are not a ton of new deals being done. Fortunately for us, the partners and VP's have some really top-notch operating experience that other firms (and even some Management Consultants in need of specific skills) can use. As an example, Papa Bear's ability to deal with Government relations is hard to replicate. If you are trying to get a deal done and a Congressman somewhere is threatening to make your life miserable because there is a plant in his district that may be closed...well, the big guy can deal with that problem for you. He probably doesn't have the personal phone numbers of all three remaining Presidential candidates...but he could track them down pretty quickly.

The other Partners' talents are a little less dramatic, but all qualify as extremely valuable people. So, more than most buyout firms, we participate in and consult on other people's deals in addition to leading some of our own. My guess is that our level of fee income is way, way higher than other, similar firms. And that consulting work has kept us very, very busy lately. While there aren't a ton of new deals, there are a lot of existing ones that are not going exactly as planned.

Slowly, I get to do more and more on these projects. Like...I am allowed to talk in meetings sometimes now...lol. OK, I was always allowed, I just now have things to say. Occasionally. And that is fun. One of the things I love about my job is that I learn so much all the time. The #1 thing I love is still that I am WAAAY overpaid for my actual skills and experience, but learning a lot is in the running for #2;-).

We have hired another entry-level person, which means hopefully some of the purely grunt shit will go to him and I can do a little more of the slightly more advanced stuff instead. That would be nice:-) Of course, the new guy, who starts in like two months, is a super-achiever type from Harvard...so he is likely way smarter than me and will pick up everything I have learned in about a month. At least I won't be the baby of the office anymore;-)

Wow...this turned into a long and (for you, likely) very boring post. But since I have been diligently slaving over my laptop since 8:00, I happen to be thinking about work. And there you have a totally useless update of my life at work...lol.

The good news? As busy as I am, I still had time to go to Munchkin's baseball game:-)

Oh, silly me

Oh, my...seems like I have some 'splaining to do;-).

It looks like maybe we have had a little misunderstanding around here. Apparently, many of you mistook Friday's post for something it is not: an announcement that I am pregnant.

And I can see were you might think that. I told you that my little sister is going to be an Aunt, and many of your made the logical leap of reason that I have suffered from some more birth control issues.

Many of you seem to have forgotten, however, that I am not her only sibling;-).

No, I am not pregnant. Her brother's wife is pregnant. So Munchkin will become Auntie Munchkin sometime very early next year. I shall remain neither mother nor Aunt...

OK, so there was no mistake at all:-D. The misleading post was entirely, 100% intentional. Oh, come on...don't be mad. How could I resist? It was just too easy! And it was Friday, so I am entitled to have a little bit of fun. And a couple of your weren't fooled at all. Ella and I'm Not Carrie Bradhsaw both saw through the ruse, and Not Bubbly didn't seem at all fooled, either. SJM seemed to have an inkling that it wasn't me, even though she didn't guess the actual mom-to-be. Some of the rest of you seemed a little inquisitive as well, but since it was after I published those comments, you could have just stolen the idea from them, so you only get half credit:-P.

Is it cruel of me to play jokes on you like that? Absolutely not! It's all in good fun, and I am sure to be as gullible as anyone you will ever find if you try and get me back...

The good news is that I was (or would have been) touched by the outpouring of good wishes. You all seem much happier about it than I would be:-P. Loads of lovely comments, congratulatory emails and general well-wishes. So, if in fact I was pregnant, that would have made me feel very good. Maybe I will save them all and resend them to myself if I ever do get knocked up;-).

I don't think this was entirely a planned pregnancy, although it was probably not entirely unplanned, either (if that makes sense). But they are both very excited, and Munchkin is bonkers-ecstatic at the idea. She will make a great Auntie:-).

So, to recap. The good news: Munchkin is in fact going to be an Aunt. The better news: I am still very un-pregnant;-)

I have a secret:-)

Munchkin is gonna be an Auntie:-)

Shhh...don't tell anyone!

Three Things

I had a dream last night where Tim Gunn was performing his Project Runway role on Top Chef. It included the phrase "I am concerned about that parsnip." It was really kinda hilarious.

Speaking of Top Chef...has there ever been a more clear favorite than Richard? Everyone seems to do some good things and some bad, and the best chefs are the ones who do more good than bad. Like, Dale and Stephanie have been strong for the most part, but they have also done some really stupid stuff. And then some people like Spike and that girl with the nose ring are usually near the bottom, but have done some stuff that the judges really like, too.

Richard, though, is always at the top, or in the middle. Like last night, they didn't love his burrito with the rice paper, but they liked it and never gave even an ounce of consideration to him being near the bottom. He just seems to be the most consistently good one of the group. Doesn't mean he will win, but you have to expect that he will be in the final few.

I just caught up with last week's episode, the wedding one, and I gotta say...I love the bride in that. The groom wanted all of this fairy bruschetta, sea bass and antipasti...and she came right out and said "I like pizza, and steak. And fried chicken. Well, anything fried. Deep fried." Loved her!!!

-------------

Actual conversation this morning with Smoking Hot Roommate:

Me: Hey, are you meeting us for chicken fingers?
SHR: Probably. As long as I get out of this afternoon's meeting in time.
Me: What kind of meeting?
SHR: With a post-grad at MIT with a neat patent.
Me: What is it?
SHR: Um...algae.
Me: Algae?
SHR: Hey, there is big money in algae.
Me: Like pond scum?
SHR: I will tell you all about it at dinner.
Me: Could you maybe not?
SHR: I'll bring some. It goes great with honey mustard.

So, that is your lesson for the day. There is big money in algae. As an additive to various condiments.

----------

A couple of you have asked me for an update on The Boy moving in. Really, nothing new to report...still on the same schedule. He is gonna put his condo on the market pretty soon, and then we are planning on him moving in with us sometime at the end of the summer.

He's excited, I am excited, and Munchkin is ecstatic. I am definitely ready:-) (Well, I will be by then!)

Recapping Some Missing Days

Well, my whirlwind couple of days of work travel, fun travel, and more work travel has wrapped up, and today is looking like a much more normal day. With more time for blogging:-) I guess I will catch you up on the last couple of days...

Last Thursday, Papa Bear, a VP from the office and I went to Memphis to meet with a company that is owned by a firm we do some work with and is on a bit of a buying spree. Honestly, the details are probably horribly boring, so I will spare you. We were there for two days, and everything went pretty well. I was mostly a note-taker and general go-fer for the two guys who have some clue what they are doing;-)

Then Friday, we made a brief change of plans that I wish I knew about ahead of time. We took a brief detour to Nashville to meet with another company that they were in some accelerated talks with. We were only there for maybe 6 hours, but I still would have found Ally if I had been given some advanced warning of that stop on our trip...I would have made one of the bosses buy us dinner:-P. Ah, well, if there is a next time, I will be better prepared! I promise.

Munchkin had a grand ole time with Twin Sister, her wife and the baby. And many, many thanks to them for babysitting...total lifesaver! And thanks to Munchkin for being so flexible...seriously...do you know any 13 year olds who pass between as many households as she does? I think in an average month, she probably stays in at least half a dozen places other than her own bedroom for at least one night...

Got back on Friday, and on Saturday morning, Munchkin, Smoking Hot Roommate and I headed to the beach house to do some season-opening stuff. The house is locked up all winter, so we did some laundry, washed the dishes, opened everything up, etc. The weather was really nice to be doing that stuff...but definitely NOT beach weather. At all! It was fun, though...we don't get as much girl time since me and Munchkin moved out a couple months ago;-).

I was on the road again Monday and Tuesday, although it was closer to hear so I drove. Munchkin stayed at SHR's place. And I filled my gas tank for the first time in god knows how long...Holy Shit! What the fuck happened there? It cost like $60 to fill my gas tank!!! I had to put my credit card back in when it got to $50 and start over again!!! The things you miss when you walk everywhere...

Anyway, I got back to the office yesterday afternoon, and got out in time for her baseball game, which is always fun. Kinda chilly, but not too bad...although it now occurs to me that I have know idea whether they won or lost. I guess I don't pay that much attention. She did get two hits, though:-) And only got out once. And caught a couple of balls and didn't drop any. So there:-P

And that gets us to today. I have some notes to write up from my last couple of days, but not a ton to do other than that. Which is a nice treat!

The Cold Hard Accounting

The numbers don't lie...last year it was at least 20 during every month of the year, save for July, which included a holiday, a couple of vacations and a cancer scare. January and April were both over 30. This year, however, only February has been above 20, March hit an all time low of 13, and May is threatening to challenge that mark.

I am counting, of course, my monthly blog entries. The truth is that I am becoming a really bad blogger. My Google reader reports that 8 of my regular reads have posted at least 25 times in the last month against my 18 (and two of those were like one-sentence). Kristen and LPEG turned in 25 each. Jenny turned out 26, while the OEN and Cindy each thought of 27 things to say. Cindy's tend to be long, too! Aly wins the bronze medal with 29, and Airam passes the one per day threshold with 30.

The champ, by a long shot, is Jenn... the cupcake-loving Chicagoan with the adorable glasses, impressive wit and apparently hyperactive fingers. She turned out an astonishing 47 posts. My best calendar month ever was 36, and I have gone over 30 only four or five times. Not only did she write that much, but it was largely entertaining and substantial.

On another note... Billy...seriously...3 posts? You can't be that busy!!! How am I supposed to know which segment of the Houston population I should hate this week?:-P

Anyway, my point is that my productivity is lagging badly. And it is to the point where I need to stop apologizing for it and just write more. I try to write every weekday, but lately that has really not been happening...not even close. And not just when I am traveling or otherwise out of the office (and that has been happening a lot lately), but some days when I am just busy or somehow get sidetracked and never get around to posting.

For most of you, that probably makes no difference...but much of the value of this to me is as a running diary. I like to go back and remember little things I did, or things I was thinking at a certain time. Or, like last week...wonder why I decided to do something that I can now no longer remember (why the Derby trip was a secret...anyone?) And for that diary to have any usefulness, I have to...you know...well, actually write stuff.

I haven't written anything since last Wednesday, and that is just not acceptable. In fact, I had a really busy weekend that led me to a whole bunch of places (some unexpected) in a couple of different time zones. And yet, I just don't really have the energy to write it all out right now, nor will I have time tomorrow morning to do so. Which, I guess...um...what the fuck was I talking about anyway?

See...this is my issue...I am now a sucky blogger. And I need to get better at it, or just stop blogging entirely. And mostly, I need to stop complaining about not blogging and just fucking do it more often.

So, that is my goal...but it will have to wait until at least Tuesday, since I will be really busy tomorrow and Tuesday (see...excuses already...)

Babysitters Wanted!

Anyone wanna babysit for a couple days? I think I have to go away tomorrow morning and I am kind of pinched for child care resources...Smoking Hot Roommate and Big Sis are both out of town, The Boy has a conference and will essentially be tied up for the whole time, and Papa Bear will be with me. I can probably find a friend of hers who she can go home with on Thursday, but I gotta get on that a bit...

But seriously, if any of you want to crash at my place and take the little one to school and pick her up...let me know...:-D.

If I take a step back, though, how lucky am I? There are a number of single parents that read (or even married parents), and I think they would all agree that I am extremely lucky to have so many people that can lend this kind of support in a pinch. I am fortunate to have a really remarkable support system for things like this.

Anyway, my back is feeling better, but it is still not close to 100%. Hopefully the airplane ride tomorrow won't aggravate it too much. We are also tentatively golfing on Thursday afternoon, which I may have to beg out of if it hurts too much (or if I chicken out because I am too scared to play golf with anyone else because I suck so much!).

The good news with this trip is that we have to be back by about 2:00 on Friday, which is just late enough for me to justify not going to work:-P. That will ruin my plans for talking Boss Foxy into massages at lunchtime, but it does make the weekend a little bit longer.

Depending on the weather, we may head to the beach for the weekend. It won't be warm enough to sit on the beach, but we will be able to open the house up and start to get it ready for the summer! Oh boy, I love the thought of that:-D.

Various injuries

In all seriousness, I have completely fucked my back up. The good news (or so my doctor friend tells me) is that it is a muscular problem and not a disc problem...in other words, a muscle strain as opposed to a, um...whatever else it would have been. My prescribed program for relief is Advil, heat and stretching. And not sitting still for too long (so, like walking around the office every half hour.)

And yes, it is absolutely a sex injury. I was feeling a little frisky on Saturday morning, jumped in the shower with The Boy...yada yada yada... I am pretty sure it happened from being bent over, leaning against the wall. It's not like there was a sharp pain, it actually came about an hour later, so I am guessing that I just got into an awkward position and strained my lower back. However, I had an orgasm in that position, so I am not calling it all bad...

It actually feels better already, but I am not real mobile, and can't really lift anything up. Walking around feels good though, so its not like I have to spend all my time in bed. And, I can convince pretty much anyone I see to give me massages:-). Jenn has suggested a professional massage in a couple of days, and I could not possibly agree more!!! That seems like a tremendous idea;-). Maybe I can convince Boss Foxy to get massages at lunch later this week... In the meantime, my dearest little sister gets the honors;-). It's the least she could do to thank me for rescuing her from he orphanage:-P.

Who watched the horse race on Saturday? I went back and checked, and for some reason last year I never blogged about the fact that we went to the Kentucky Derby. I seem to have danced around it, and for the life of me I have no idea why I was withholding that...I am sure there was a reason, though. Anyway, because I have been there, I was sort of interested in watching the race last weekend. And I was obviously all fired up for the girl horse. And she did so well! She finished second, well ahead of everyone by one horse. Of course, I am sure you have all seen that things got immediately a lot worse right after the race ended:-(

It was actually really sad. I know it is just a horse, and that we put more thought into a horse dying than we do a lot of children...but that doesn't mean I can't feel bad about it. Horses run for our enjoyment and undergo great strain in the name of human entertainment, so it is really sad and makes us all feel a little guilty when one of them is that seriously hurt during the process. So there you have it...not exactly a "tragedy" in the full sense, but it still makes me sad. She was a good girl:-(.

Ouch

Anyone care to guess how it is that I pulled most of the muscles in my lower back so badly that I am basically confined to laying on the couch with a heating pad?

Yes, it probably is what you are thinking.

Early morning doings..

7:15 am. The Boy gets out of bed to go to the bathroom.

Me: "Can you get me some water?"
Him: "Yea"
Me: "And my pill?"
Him: "Yea".

Two minutes later...

Him (giggling): "It says its time for your monthly breast self-exam. Roll over so I can feel your boobs."

People

I am not that old, so I feel kinda weird writing about "things that happen as you get older". But I am also pretty observant, so I can't help but pontificate on occasion. And on this rainy Friday, I guess I am feeling a little bit profound, and the deep thoughts are coming...

It amazes me how people can come in and out of your life so much. And I don't mean the ones that make dramatic entrances and exits, but the ones who just sort of drift due to life circumstances. One day they are there. One day they are a huge part of what you think and do every day. And then, mysteriously, they are gone to another place.

And the thing is, when they are around, you never think that they will someday be gone. You just kind of assume that, regardless of what happens, you will always be a part of each other's lives and will always be in touch. Sometimes you don't even notice the exact moment when they disappear out of your life...you just look back five years later and realize that they are gone.

How can that be? How can someone who seems so important...and may in fact be so important...how can you let them just drift away? Were they never as important as you thought? Or maybe they were important for one reason or another then, but later their relevance ebbed.

And then when you see them again someday, it is sort of weird to think about how big a piece of you that person used to be. You used to know everything about them...what they were thinking and doing at all times, what made them happy, what made them cry at night, what they hoped and dreamed for. And to look at them now as a semi-stranger, but to be reminded of the bond you once had...it is almost like looking back through time into a little window of yourself. From long ago. From a different place and time.

But all the things about that person that you loved, they are still there. Maybe older, maybe wiser, maybe just a little different...but it is the same person. And you stop and ask, how did I ever let myself grow so far away? Where did I go wrong, and how much have I missed by losing this person? And you wonder...

So, for no reason at all, I am issuing the following blog activity. Sometime this weekend, find that person that you lost. It could be the girl you met in English class sophomore year. Or the guy you played soccer with in college. Or that you worked with during the summer before your Junior year. Or an old neighbor. Or friends from high school. Or elementary school.

It won't be that hard...someone you know has a phone number, or an email address or something. A little digging should turn them up pretty quickly. And then call, just to say Hi. Find out where they are, where they have been, and what they have been doing.

Maybe nothing will come of it. Maybe they live far away with their own life. But maybe they live nearby. And maybe they want to meet for a drink. And maybe you still have all the things in common that you once did. And maybe you will be friends again, or maybe not. Time is a funny thing, but it doesn't always change people so irreparably.

So, do yourself a favor, and take a peek through the window of a younger version of you.

And then let me know how it goes:-D.

Idol

Is anyone else really disappointed in this season's American Idol? I don't see a person in the bunch who would have been top 2-3 in seasons past. I loved Brooke and Jason Castro early on, but both kind of faded. I liked the Australian guy, but he faded, too.

I think David Cook is my favorite, but he is not really that great, and takes himself a little too "I am a rocker" seriously. I get it...you can sound like Alice in Chains covering Neil Diamond. I can't stand Squinty Archuletta. He sings with a lisp, never opens his eyes, seems borderline Asberger's and has a totally gay voice. Maybe when his voice changes he will be better, but I really think he is dreadful. And the judges love him, and I have no idea why...he is like a really good singer from a musical at your local High School.

I like Syesha because she is gorgeous and has a really nice voice. But she is pretty boring, and I can't say there is anything special about her. I feel like the voters dropped the ball in each of the last couple of seasons (Taylor Hicks? Jordin Sparks? Please...) and I am wondering if the show is past it's useful life. Paula, however, continues to amaze! Reviewing things that haven't happened yet? Brilliant!

So, if I had to pick a winner, I would say David Cook, but I am not real enthusiastic about it. He is kind of a poser, and I am not sure I see him as a start beyond this show. The Irish girl they sent home last week is probably the one most likely to be a significant star, provided she finds the right songwriters and producers.

On a totally separate note, we have a foundation at work and I have been asked to join the committee that oversees it. I am pretty excited about that:-). First, the partners asked me because they said I am in touch with everyone in the firm enough to understand what they might want out of it, so that makes me feel good. And second, it is a pretty big foundation that makes some pretty large gifts, so it will be fun to help out with that. I am not sure how the politics work, and whether I will have a whole lot of input in the beginning, but hopefully I eventually will.

I guess that is it for today. Not terribly exciting, I know:-). But what can I say, I am becoming a boring person!