Good morning B,

I'm so happy I was there to take your call Monday night; this tragedy has been taking over my every thought so I loved the break. Not, mind you, that it was pleasant news...I was telling K and S about it on the way to Seattle and it was interesting to hear each of our takes on the situation. We did all agree on one thing: this is probaby the best thing that's happened to your sister in 20 years, as strange as that sounds. It's the beginning of the end of unhappiness for her, as hard as it will be to get through this stage. Even if counseling works for them and they stay together (miracles happen) they'll have a happier marriage and happier kids. And if she decides to move on without him, with the current lover, another, or none, no doubt in the end it will be better than this. I'm keeping her and the kids in my thoughts and sending white light for them...

I only have a few minutes to write this morning as today is my semi-annual date with my neice for manis/pedis and lunch. Usually we go on July 4th so we can get the stars and stripes on our toes, but I was out of town this year, so we'll forgo the patriotism and maybe try some flowers instead. We always have a great time when we go. (Last summer she was all decked out in her Sunday best when I picked her up. At the restaurant, her chair ended up being right in the sun so I asked her if she was too hot, if she wanted to trade. She looked at me very matter-of-factly, touched the strap on her dress and said, "No, Aunt A, it's a sundress." She kills me!) Today, she picked Mexican for lunch, which I had been looking forward to until we took J out for dinner last night and the kids picked...Mexican. So now I'm already 200 points over my weekly 35 and feel like I have totally blown it. I will do my best to eat light and ignore the bowl of tortilla chips in front of me screaming "eat me!" The good thing is, G eats like a bird, so maybe I can just share the kid's meal with her.

The thing about "dieting" that I hate is that I feel like I obsess more about food when I'm paying attention than I do when I'm not. The writing everything down, the figuring out what to eat when I'm not at home, the food I'm faced with that can't be point-calculated...it's way more effort than I'm used to, even though I think about food all the time no matter what. I read an article saying that people who diet usually do so for a given period of time but then end up gaining weight in the end because of this very thing, which makes perfect sense to me. I know there's a mentality I haven't achieved yet that will change that; I'm working on it.

Yesterday was a very nice day with the girls. We went up to my dermatologist appointment in the city (he was 20, if that, jeez I'm old) where I was diagnosed with absolutely nothing, but given lots of lotions to try. That was frustrating to some extent but somewhat of a relief. By the time we got to the Market, we only had 20 minutes before our lunch reservation so we went there first. It's a very fun, eclectic restaurant tucked back in an alley with no sign on the front; it was wonderful inside but we were bummed with the bad weather because they have a great deck overlooking the sound. After a couple glasses of red wine and the fresh crab Caesar salad (I love Seattle) we spent the next couple of hours wandering the market, buying cheesecake and flowers and enormous chocolate chip cookies for the kids. It was a great little getaway for us all - I know S gets a little trapped in her house with her kids all day. I thought of you during the afternoon, remembering how much you loved the Market and looking forward to your next visit when we can recreate that same kind of day.

I hope you got some sun yesterday (it's raining and dreary here) and that you've got something relaxing planned for today. Look forward to hearing from you later,
Love,
A