We'll be headed back to Minnesota in a couple of hours. We had a terrific vacation in Vail with Dan's family. Dan and I especially enjoyed saying, "schuss-booming."

"Shall we schuss?"

"I do love to schuss-boom."

"That was some very impressive schuss-booming."

"Schussing through powder is especially invigorating!"

You get the idea.

Shef is now officially five, I'm now 31, and Dan will be 35 tomorrow. I do feel a bit older this year, to tell the truth. I suspect it has something to do with my ongoing experiment with sleep deprivation. I think and hope that when I do start sleeping through the night, say in about four (three-and-a-half?) more years, I will suddenly become a towering genius with limitless intellectual prowess.

I can't wait until that happens.