PERFECT!!!!! The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series title last night. Their third-baseman, Scott Rolen, used to play for the Phillies and his then-girlfriend, now-wife Nikki was one of my students. She even brought him in one day to meet me. I was anything but smooth, meeting a big-league ballplayer. He was very nice, however, even gave me an autograph for my grandson. So I've watched the series with interest and your quote this morning makes it even better. Thanks, weebus!

Yes, Annie, it WAS a perfect CF get-together! There was great, delicious food, as we grazed our way throughout the day, and never a moment when conversation lagged. Weed was absolutely right right about the Maple Nut Goo. Goo is GOOD! I love the Goo, and will take every opportunity to eat Goo in the future. Yes, Silence Must Be Observed for full enjoyment to ensue. Weed thinks she may be in trouble as it's going to be very near her new house, but I think she just needs to embrace it, and develop a personal relationship with those who serve/sell. Leave a standing order so there will be Goo in reserve! Carl's da bomb burgers? Oh yeah. 'Nuff said! What a fun day we had! Since you're filled in on the details, what I wanted to add is how familiar Weed was to me, even though I'd never met her in person. I started thinking about ''Things Weed Has Taught Me'', which include: The Problem with Framed Cabinets How To Make A Clickable Link (I didn't learn that one very well, but I'm counting it anyway) Cooling Food Quickly For Safety in the Kitchen Maple Nut Goo is Grood Famous Barr Onion Soup (a St. Louis Tradition) is Awesome, Including the Stringy Cheese on Top and so many others! I had the best time at her new house, wandering from room to room. Her house is very familiar to me, as it could almost come out of my own neighborhood. I will let her share the details of her home when she's ready, but I loved the feeling of the neighborhood and good house vibes. I always love a good ''before'' and ''after'' view, so I'm really looking forward to the changes she's going to make. You all know how I love to live vicariously (since I fully expect to be invited back you see!) Here's a picture at Global Foods. Weed is buying baby bok choy, (even though she's holding dates!), and I bought some sharp swiss cheese, brown bread and KerryGold butter. She was telling me how her mom used to make sandwiches out of this, and of course I wanted to try it. I also bought Vanilla Bean Powder and enjoyed the shopping trip while trying not to feel bad we don't have anything remotely like it where I live. She also turned me onto Mexican sour cream and her favorite corn tortillas. The Pork Chili Verde was delicious. I got hold of some peppers which burned the roots of my hair, but once I got over it, enjoyed it very much. Here's our beloved Weed, looking great at the end of a very hot and mugly day. Yes, that is a margarita on the table, which is partially responsible for why there aren't more (or better) pictures. I simply didn't care by then. I'm so happy to finally meet some of you! We talked about you all, only in the nicest way. I wish there were more of us in the midwest, but we did talk about a road trip to Des Moines to see about visiting Lindac. When the stars align, that could happen. But then, if any of you want to fly into St. Louis or Kansas City, it's not that far for either of us!

Hope the surgery goes well. My MIL got her arm caught in a school bus lift and besides a small amount of numbness in a finger she has recovered well from her surgery. Maybe she had the same doctor as you?? If you don't mine walking and if you don't get caught up in road construction on 40/61, the St. Louis Zoo is one of the best in the US. You might also want to see the Cathedral Basilica which has one of the largest amounts of mosaics in the world. It really is quite stunning. Downtown St. Charles (Main St) is nice for shopping.. it still has the old brick roads and historic houses. A couple nice casinos there too. St. Charles is just outside of St. Louis. Here is a link that might be useful: Cathedral Basilica

i'm so sorry to hear that, i'm sure after everything you've been thru things seem bleek but you are doing what is best for you and bradley...(((ginger & bradley))) haley has great advice on the pharm job. i have about 10 relatives that work in the pharm industry and my BIL is a head biomedical researcher w/ roche. they all reside around the indy area and work for eli lilly, roche and merck. 2 of my cousins quit working recently (regional sales managers) when they decided to start families because they travel outside of the state more than 3 days a week. my BIL spends more time traveling than the sales reps and he needs a housekeeper and nanny to help my sis w/ their 3 yr old twins. two other cousins don't fly as much for travel but they do drive more than 4-5 hrs each way to cover their territories. there are also evening meetings, dinners and social things. definitely get the schedule expectations during the interview, it may not fit w/ your life. BTW if you can find a european owned company like roche to work for they offer KILLER benefits not offered by U.S. owned companies. BIL has 12 wks vacation after 17 yrs (plus they are closed the last 2 wks of the yr for holidays), they paid for his MBA, M.S. and both Ph'D's and my sis used to travel w/ him internationally for free. good luck w/ your interview and if you get it i hope it's everything you want it to be! ~ liz