I woke up yesterday to the gentle sounds of Morning Edition's political punditry, grabbed my brown sack lunch, put it in my backpack, and boarded the bus to elementary school. Field trip to Fort Vancouver! I lost a baby tooth at lunchtime. It'd come out of Bryce's mouth, and he agreed to be my bestest friend if I'd hold it for him. Fortunately I'd just placed it in a different pocket, so I found it again. Bryce and I buddied up all day, and Mr. Lau treated me nice too. In fact, I think he was trolling for someone with editing experience to help with his wedding video side-business. Can you spell c-h-a-p-a-r-o-n-e?

Went dancing. Yes, Mark bought DDR pads. That culminated a long day of Portland-style exercise - basketball and trampolining. Thank goodness for shooting hoops a few times with Maria in Berkeley. It prevented the little brothers being overly unimpressed with my game. Should stick with basketball. In the midst of a failed front flip on the tramp, I realized I really need to remember that I don't have health insurance.

Spent time at REI, my trusty outdoor store. That cinched the homecoming... walking the same industrial carpet over which I picked out all my gear. Well, rather, where Maria and my mom picked out all the gear. I would have just stuck a bunch of lollypops in a duffel and called good if I'd been in charge. As it stands, I have a membership dividend to use there. And it's substantial.

Y'know what I miss from the trip? The Hallmark Channel. Because of that blessed network, you can get four heaping episodes of M*A*S*H every weekday. Better than any social life. Hawkeye, I need your sardonic charm late at night. And Radar... aw. It's too much.

If you're envying my ongoing task of sorting seven months of snail mail, don't.