We Should GO There

"Where does it come from?"

"Columbia."

"We should go there!"



This is a favorite exchange around my house, taken from "The Fairly Oddparents" cartoon show. Cosmo, the dim fairy, has just learned about coffee and he asks his wife, Wanda, where it comes from.



Coffee is today's good thing. It's a soothing warm drink that perks up my morning. Thank goodness, I'm able to drink it again. In particular, I'm thankful for my Brookstone mug warmer that keeps my coffee warm all morning so I can sip it slowly and savor it. It's the little things like that that can make life pleasant.



I'm also thankful that I'm marginally able to eat cereal again. It still hurts a little, but I love my cereal. Total even makes a cereal with 10 grams of protein -- perfect for my high protein diet. With cereal, coffee and a protein shake, I'm almost back to my old routine of milk, cereal and coffee for breakfast. It's nice to have some normalcy back.



Otherwise, today is a little bittersweet. It's Kate's 18th birthday ... hard for me to believe. Both of our girls are so wonderful and we're so proud of them ... but it's hard to let go. With an 18-year-old and a 20-year-old, we have to face the fact that our child raising years are over. Next fall, Jeff and I will be back to a twosome. Make no mistake, Jeff is plenty of fun on his own, but it will be really different ... a new chapter.



Tonight, we're taking Kate to Jean Robert's Table for dinner before she has to cheer at a basketball game. She loves Jean Robert -- he's a rock star of the culinary world. It should be fun, but I'm a little melancholy.