Lately,

there have been a lot of birthdays in my family. C's now 22, T just turned the big 1-0, and D finally hit 9. Mom had one too, but I don't know what she thinks about me telling everyone in Internetland that she's 44. Oh, oops, I just did.

I've been spending a lot of time with my friends, which I really like. It makes me feel more connected to life.

I've been drinking more water. I've also (subsequently) been peeing more.

K has been speaking more German to me. He's trying to warm me up to hearing it all the time when we're in Germany in five months and four days.

my dogs have been feeling very neglected, I think. We've tried to take them out running at the eighth street trails a couple times, but the weather has been so weird that either the trails are frozen over or completely muddy. Either way, they're unpredictable.