ok, so the mean mamma is overjoyed......ecstatic.......over-the-top.......our whirpool bathtub, the one that wouldn't drain for the past 24 hours because the drain pipe goes through an un-insulated section of our ancient home.....AND WAS FROZEN....has now decided to thaw enough in this marvelously sunny afternoon to let all of the water out.....life is good when the pipes all drain.......life is also good because i have returned something that i had forgotten that i had.....last year, in strasbourg, when the weather was so bitterly cold, helen willis lent me a fur-lined lumberjack hat....i found it in my suitcase when i packed for the spain trip......now a year as passed by, so what does one do when one discovers such a breach in memory? one takes the hat back along with a sutiable peace offering...........we had a nice visit, especially the part when the precious willis cat was sitting on my car roof........

i drove over to the rasmussen/willis home in ecw's new mid-life crisis car- a vw cabrio (used, of course) black with tan leather interior and a convertable top.....it is much too nice for me to drive.....of course, now that i am again used to a 5 speed.....this is a piece of cake.....