Can you smell the excitement?

She is going for a WALK with Grizzly Adams. She. Is. So. Happy!!

I don't want to invade Gary and his psyche too much, and I certainly don't want to embarrass him, but I will say that it has taken several years for Gary to warm up to Peg. Gary has a kind heart and means no harm to animals, but it takes him a bit of time to warm up to them.

He and Peggy have bonded on some snowy walks these past few months. He lets her off the leash and she runs off manically happy but comes back to him every few blocks. He comes home, amazed from these walks, that Peggy comes back to check on him, feeling safe, loving his companionship.

Who wouldn't? Gary, at his core, which is hard to find sometimes, is a good person with dog-loving tendancies.

Not a day over 1972

Can you guess who's one groovy year older and better today than he was yesterday?

Rejected

The Orange Head

It's my birthday

It's the thought that counts but I look forward to the year he has a contract in the IT department of a chocolate factory.

Who wore it best?

Although Gary is one who can really pull off the ski-cap-with-ear-flaps look, Hope has the advantage here because she modeled it only after I had applied the spectacular, purplish whip-stitchery around the edges. Stay tuned for more ski hats with flaps.

Speaking of crashing bikes

Gary has one of these that my dad's been storing for, oh, approximately 17 years. I've hesitated to sell but maybe now's the time.

Attention Stranded in Iowa: Gary wants you to know if you want an MP3 of "Stranded in Iowa" or any other Manfred Mann and the Earth Band song, he has approximately 12 albums' worth of tunes.

An exception to The Hat Rule

Mr. Bickerson had the pleasure of getting the kids off to school this morning. He's a stickler for the Hats-Off-Indoors Rule and had this anecdote to relate to me tonight:

He and Hank bid adieu to Hope in preschool and walked together down the hall to Hank's classroom where the first graders were lined up, waiting for the okay to enter.

(I admire the first grade teachers. They seem to have everything so...together. But sometimes I like to imagine that they wait until the very last second before the morning bell to open the classroom door because they are all in there downing shots of tequila in hopes of making it through another day. You know. Like I do. Every day.)

Anyway, Hank had his hat on and Gary reminded him, "When you're inside you take your hat off," to which one of his cute little classmates replied (and we don't his name), "We're s'posed to wear our hats indoors. We have LICE!"

Touche' little dude. Touche'.