I am horrified to announce…

That I would have been a great wife in the 1930′s. You can take the test here. I got it from Liz who evidently would not have fared as well…

I’m shocked that the results were so positive. I didn’t check any of the food prep items and thought that alone would have tanked my score. Who’d have thunk?

92 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

I want to say hello to all the little people.

Now that we’re billionaires, I want to assure you that I’ll still be here – online. I would never want you to think that I feel superior. Or that I don’t have time to mingle.

Okay, fine. I know, I know. The value of my 25 billion Zimbabwe dollars is exactly….2.5 Zimbabwe dollars (They cut off 10 zeros. Just like that. Can they do that?). And in U.S. dollars?

It’s 20 cents.

Yes, folks. What a windfall.

See any similarities?

Today we toured the Cabot Cheese plant. Now check this:

It’s a beautiful day in the Poconos.

That’s what we heard every single morning at the flagpole before breakfast at Camp Pinemere. And it was. A beautiful day, that is.

So last week when we took the boys to the Poconos as one of the stops on Summer Tour 2008, we took time out to see my old stomping grounds.

I was just planning to take a picture at the sign (which I did) but Andrew convinced me to stop in at the office and say hello. Thirty-two years later.

And aside from everything seeming smaller in scale, it was exactly the same. I heard the same cheers from the Mess Hall. The same pagoda on the hill. The same big tree where I used to meet my brother and sister after dinner.

With our visitor passes clipped to our shirts, Andrew, the boys and I walked to the Rec Hall. We went to the Dell where services were held. And I remembered.

I remembered the songs, the friends, the dances, the shows. I remembered the counselor who had this uncanny ability of knowing exactly how many letters were in anything you said. (Weird, huh?)

It was surreal.

Who says you can’t come home again?

parting is such sweet sorrow.

I’m out for a week or so. Maybe I’ll pop in to post. Not sure if I’ll have connections or not.

See you soon!

confluence.

confluence (http://definr.com/confluence)

n 1: a place where two things come together; “Pittsburgh is
located at the confluence of the Allegheny and
Monongahela rivers” [syn: junction, meeting]
2: a flowing together (as of rivers) [syn: conflux, merging]
3: a coming together of people [syn: concourse]

Our trip ended with a geocashing excursion near Confluence, Pennsylvania.

The name confluence got me to thinking.

This past weekend was a coming together of people. Our hosts were wonderful. They welcomed us at their cabin in the woods. We talked and laughed. A lot. Their 19 year old son took my guys fishing. He let my guys ride his mini-bike. (see below) We made S’mores. We went tubing. Swimming. Walking. Everyone pitched in for what needed to be done. It was great.

Crazy thing is, they’re cousins of mine. But cousins I didn’t know growing up. I met them in the course of doing business really, and have worked to know each other more and more since. Our families lost a closeness somewhere. No one really knows where or how.

But we’re working to reverse that trend.

Since I didn’t ask permission to post pix of our friends/cousins, I’ll leave you with a snapshot of their smallest pet, Tattoo.

I’ve never spent much time with a parrot before. Boy do they make a mess!

life is good.

stories coming soon.

email junkies.

I was reading Mashable when I came across this story about an email research study. Some highlights:

* 62% of people check work email on the weekends
* 19% choose vacation spots with access to email
* 59% check email from the bathroom (up from 53% last year)

What freaked me out the most was the realization that the email sign-off “xoxo” annoys 25% of respondents and “cheers” irritates 13%.

So if you’re one of the people to whom I email and signed “xoxo” I am truly sorry to have annoyed you. But what’s a better choice? Yours? Respectfully submitted? Sincerely? Later? Best? Ciao? HTH! (Hope this helps!)? Have a great day!? Thank you so much!? Talk to you soon! (TTYS)? TTFN?

Help?!

Read the study here.