Micah spent the week in West Virginia where he got his math and science completed while Papa watched Fox news all day and Nana sewed quilts. It's incredibly peaceful where they live, surrounded by woods, punctuated now and then by a the blast of a hunter's rifle, but that is only during deer season.

There is only one thing my dad and Steve's dad have in common: they watch too much TV. Jim watches ONLY Fox news. ONLY. My dad watches EVERYTHING but Fox news; that is the one thing my dad will refuse to watch. Go figure!

Nathanael had a fun 17th birthday which probably isn't over. His friends gave him a mylar balloon decorated with Nathanael's favorite sayings: Line of Sight Toilets, Subliminal Message, I Never Carry This Balloon (a play off his "I Never Wear this Shirt" shirt),a picture of Chicklet. They know him so well and he's got a tight group of buddies- that's one of two reasons I'm not pulling him out of F-town. The other is that it is a disservice to have a student switch high schools right before senior year, for the academic record's sake.

I gave Nathanael some CD's and books: Oliver Twist, Ethan Frome, a Pachelbel CD, a CD by not-one-of-the-Gershwins-but-that-other -Jewish-guy- OK I'll think of it later (Nathanael's got lots of Gershwin already), uh let's see...The Grapes of Wrath, Night, and a couple of other books. He started off with O. Twist. Please sir, may I have some more?

Micah said, "Taco Bell?" No, Pachelbel.

LOL