I just returned from a relaxing week on the beach in Cabo San Lucas with my gal pals Grace, Ellen, and Christine. (Poor Jason had to stay in NYC to go to work.) It was one of those vacations where you actually feel like you went on a vacation (as opposed to those where you need another one afterwards.) Rough life, I know.

My favorite activities: lying on a lounge chair by the pool, reading my books, floating in the ocean water. I LOVED the fact that you could step out of the pool (or the ocean) and there is no need to towel off because the warm air will dry you up without giving you the chills. Fantastic! Plus, I am now darker than Jason! (That's quite an accomplishment, given that Jason has a skin tone of either one of two colors - he's usually "dark" year-round, but in the summer he's "black.")

Thanks, girls, for a fahh-bu-lous week - I *heart* you. Let's do this again in 2007.

I found a piece of scrap paper from years ago where I had written down these words (I don't claim authorship, but I can't recall the source) as a guideline for determining when/whether one should speak:

"Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind?"

I post them here now as a reminder to myself.

Yep, here is Bono preaching the Gospel. Nice.

Have you heard about the severe famine in Niger and the nearly million children at risk of death from hunger? Please see these articles from: the BBC, the NY Times, and the World Vision website. The NY Times has a narrated photo slideshow that is particularly compelling.

Please consider donating to orgs such as World Vision who are providing emergency food aid to these poor kids... I know that WV currently has a matching grant from the fed government (meaning every $1 you give, the U.S. govt will match that in a grant to WV.)

When everyone gives a little, it can add up to quite a lot.