Some things I am liking this week:

· I got a copy of the Julie and Julia movie for Christmas which I watched this weekend again. And that lead to a renewed interest in Julia Child. So, I picked up a copy of her book, My Life in France, and have been really enjoying it. It gives such an interesting background on not just Julia and food but also on France and the time in history right after WWII. I recommend it but it will make you want to go out and eat (only good food!)

· I also have been busy reading my Vanity Fair magazines (yes magazines with an s – I am way behind.) I absolutely adore that magazine but for the life of me, I can’t keep up. Good news for me though – we’re flying to Phoenix soon and I plan to use some of the flying time for good VF reading and then leave them with my mom who also likes to relish a good VF article.

· Glen got a 3.9! When last I wrote on this topic he had just started his Energy Management class and this week he finally got his grade. Pretty darn good start for an old guy who’s been out of school at least 20plus years.

· I now have all my travel arranged with Pillsbury for the Bake-Off and Glen is going with me. We are planning to fly down on Friday, April 9 and return the following Friday. Unless of course I’m the BIG WINNER and have to fly directly to Chicago for a chat with Oprah. : ) Fingers crossed for that “problem”!

· There’s an interesting special about happiness running on PBS this week. Part 2 is tonight. Happiness, like most things I guess, turns out to be quite a complicated topic. Paul Allen is the producer of this well-researched show.

· It’s not as bad being back to work this week as I thought it might be after the two great holiday weeks. I’m still missing a couple of my work group who are away travelling until later in the week so it’s actually been fairly quiet still.

· Tomorrow is January 6th (already!) which is Twelfth Night or Three Kings Day. In many Latin cultures this is actually the day gifts are exchanged rather than on Christmas. Hey, I’m all for it! In my family, we have had some fun with this day in the past but when it lands in the middle of the week it’s a little bit trickier to bring something together.

Hey, and not exactly on my like or dislike list but rather an aha — did you know that 01022010 was a very very rare date? It was only the second time since the 1300s that the date was the same backward and forward. Was I like the last to know about this? I think its super cool but I’m kind of pouting today about finding out about it after the actual day. Rip off! That’s my kind of thing.

On the not so great list:

· If the wise men do arrive at my house I hope they bring some gold along with the frankincense and myrrh! We have to get the brakes in Glen’s truck replaced. How boring is that use of $1000?

· Glen now has my cold. Dang it. I’d rather have it another week.

· It’s dark and cold and wet.

Heck, let’s just not dwell on the bad. Like the PBS happiness show says “choose to be happy!” Great advice for all of us.