Hello

It was a very busy week.

We had a fun day visiting our friends down in Naples on Wednesday. Aside from the obvious similarities, three girls and secular classical education, they are just as up in the air about their future, so T and I had lots to talk about. It's a big boost to hear someone who seems to have it all together express the same doubts regarding children, schooling, and life in general. And that would be her, the one that is so together, not me. Their girls are just so sweet and all of them get along so well. We can't wait to see them again in a week or so when we celebrate G's 10th birthday.

Thursday we plunked down a large deposit on orthodontic services. S is very excited about starting the process and G can't hardly wait to get hers it looks like so much fun. The first semi-permanent appliance she gets requires me to do daily small adjustments, so I will be doing some homeschool orthodontics after all.

Thursday I was also reminded of the mental telepathy between good friends. Somewhere in this world, I am absolutely certain of what went through my friend Alex's mind upon hearing the announcement of Prince Charles's upcoming marriage: "I want to live inside your knickers" and, "Ohhhhhhh, Chahhhhhhhles!" -- our take on the infamous Camillagate tape that kept us in hysterics. She probably even said it out loud at least once but more likely several times that day. Later, when I heard that Boston was expecting another snowstorm, I thought of Carolyn and how this would finally push her over the edge and right down to Florida. Guess who called that night? No tickets yet, but she's looking.

Friday, rather than get frustrated at the lack of schoolwork we would accomplish with L home from preschool, we all rode over with Dad to the east coast for the day. G's mom wanted the three girls to come up to her place for a visit and offered her car to me for the day. I had a bunch of gift certificates from Christmas that I figured I could burn up. Have I mentioned that I can't stand shopping? It was a beautiful winter day and after meeting my husband and his architect for lunch and stuffing myself with sushi and sashimi, I thoroughly enjoyed zipping around Las Olas Boulevard, down Fort Lauderdale beach and over to the Galleria in my mother-in-law's Turbo Diesel Mercedes, sunroof open. I just did not have one bit of fun looking for clothes. I still have balances left on all the cards. Argh.

Saturday and Sunday we spent at the island. Didn't notice until we were nearly to the marina that my laptop had been left behind. Whoops. The weather was clear and cool, but a red tide finally arrived in our waters Saturday and the beginning of a fish kill was evident. There were thousands of one to three inch fish floating on top of the waves. By Sunday the bigger fish were dying, mostly sea trout and mullet up to two feet long, jumping out of the bay, gasping for air as the algal bloom suffocated them. It was heartbreaking.

Last night I did have some success in the store credit redemption department. I picked up a wireless network system for our computers at Walmart. Today, in between checking papers and Latin vocabulary flash cards, I'll be hooking us all up.