I think I've risen out of the funk, or whatever it was exactly. I don't seem to have come down with the flu I was sure I was getting. I think I just needed a good night's sleep. Oh, and E. passed his big exam and THAT makes me so happy. I'm so proud of him. He's worked so hard and with such singular focus and determination for the six years that it has taken him to get his doctorate, (in which time, his graduate mentor was killed suddenly...and of course he had to write a dissertation and hold down a job) and go through some truly hellish work experiences on the road.

Yesterday we went to a party of some dear friends of ours. They are parents to just about our favorite child, (except of course for children in the family...ahem) Olive, who is not quite two, but is quite a hysterical, darling child. We went to a bbq at their house and by the end of the evening there were about ten other couples there, all with children. We were the exception. Our friend Michelle joked, "I swear I didn't invite you guys to put any pressure on you!" I laughed. As if there isn't enough pressure everywhere else anyway. I'm particularly pleased that Olive's parents have agreed to stop at one. If we have a child, and I stress child--singular--that's as far as we see ourselves going, save freak twins or something. It's so much work and money and time to raise a child, and I still don't know how I feel about the world I'd be bringing one into, that I feel like one is as big a commitment as I am willing to make. So who knows...

um...crap...these days I don't have a lot to say. Go donate some money. Go kiss your loved ones. Go make something. Read something. DO something!

JPR