Shoes

The frequent changes of my blog's template have just been manifestations of the nervous energy coursing through my system. Orientation starts in less than two weeks. Some nights before I fall asleep, all I see are sneering socialtes in pumps and pearls, looking down their perfectly powdered noses at my clothes, some of which I've had since high school. It's strange walking down the street, because people here just don't wear a t-shirt and jeans like we do in the good old Midwest. Everyone seems to be dressed to the nines, all the time, even at the grocery store. We just can't afford to buy me a whole new wardrobe, one that will fit in with all the trendy fasionable people that live here. So I've consoled myself with two new pairs of shoes; both are comfortable, fashionable, and make me feel a little dressier in my old clothes.

At the end of the day, I know I haven't really changed my wardrobe at all. I know when I start school, no one will care what shirt or shoes I'm wearing. But it's not really about what other people see. It's about how I feel about myself. And if little kitten heels make me feel more confident when I walk into orientation that first day, then it's worth the fifty dollars to me. Kevin doesn't understand, but luckily, I married a man who can afford his wife these little luxuries, who can roll his eyes, kiss my cheek, and say, "You look good, baby."

Destination: Newport

The Hoves had a lovely weekend in New England. Saturday, we went to the local history museum, where we learned all kinds of things about New Haven. It wasn't interesting enough to visit twice, but it was worth the $2 we paid to get it. That evening, we walked downtown to see the big concert on the green. The opening band was a swing band that was pretty good. In between bands, we decided to go to this Dim Sum place on the square because we'd never had dim sum before. The food wasn't so great and the service was wonderful, if you enjoy being thoroughly ignored. We won't be visiting there again. Luckily, downtown helped us out by proviing the best gelato I've had since Italy at Caffe Bottega. The girl that cut my hair last week (who happens to be Italian) told me to go there, that they import all their equipment from Italy so that it's just like Italian gelato. I'm telling you, that's the only gelato I've had in America that tasted like the real thing. Every single person that comes to visit me here on the east coast can expect at least one trip to that little restaurant!

While finishing off our ice cream, we made our way back to the green to see Kool and the Gang. They were pretty old, but still pretty good. They had a bunch of whippersnappers doing most of the dancing and singing and playing. There was about thirty thousand people packed in there and they were all going crazy, singing along and dancing, so that made for a good time. At times, it was more fun to watch the audience than the band! We had to watch out for pickpockets, though. At one point, I saw (just in time!), a guy crouched over, going for my own husband's wallet! He thought we were distracted just because Kevin was giving me a little kiss. Well, I saw him out of the corner of my eye and I slammed my hands over Kevin's pockets and flashed him a nasty look. He slunk off and we did not see him again. See? I'm getting my street smarts!

Today, we got up and I packed us a lunch and we hit the road. It was nice short drive to Rhode Island. We stopped in Newport and drove around a little bit, stopping at The Breakers, one of many mansions on the island's coast. The whole drive is incredible, and I would highly recommend it.

The Breakers, a mansion which served as the Valderbuilt family's summer cottage. It is one huge, fancy summer cottage. It's modeled after a Florence palace. I have been inside a Florence palace and I am telling you: this could have been the Medici's summer home. It is huge, it is fabulously detailed, it is astonishingly luxurious, it is everything you think it might be, and in excellent condition. Definitely worth the $15 tour. Definitely.


I think being by the ocean went to his head a little bit. Also, I called him sailor (as in "smile for the camera, sailor!"), which may have been a mistake. This is the state park in Newport, where we stopped and had a little picnic lunch.



This is leaving Newport. It's a terrible picture, and doesn't do justice to the beauitful view of the island and the ocean. It' shard to get a good shot when you're going 70 mph.

Pretty Baby

My mom sent this to me today and I couldn't resist posting it. Isn't he getting big? And I am MISSING EVERYTHING because of stupid grad school. It had better be worth it.

The first thing Kevin said yesterday when he saw me (and my new hair) was that I looked beautiful. This is why I married him. I feel a lot better about my haircut today. I actually really like it - and it's a lot easier to style than it was before. Kevin didn't freak out about the price - he just said, "Ok, so half the money I made today went to your haircut. Alright." And the sad thing is, that it's true. Six hours of work at the hospital goes to... one cut and color. But I promised I wouldn't ever spend that kind of money on my hair again. Kevin said not to say never, that someday after our loans are paid off, we might have that kind of money. I laughed and said, "Never."

Today, Kevin and I are going to either the Britith Muesem of Art or the Yale Art Gallery. The former has what looks like an interesting display on Shakespeare and the latter has a few Van Gogh paintings in for the season. I don't think I've ever seen an original of his, so I'm looking forward to it. They're both free to the general public so that makes the deal even sweeter.

We're really hoping sometime in the next week to get in a road trip to Rhode Island, but everything is becoming so busy so quickly. His brother has talked about driving south to meet somewhere halfway between here and North Caroline for a visit (which I don't think is going to work out) and his parents are talking about coming over for a visit (which, I think the apartment is ready for, kind of). It's hard to find a day off during the week that we can use for a road trip. I hope we can fit one in because before we know it, I'll be starting classes and then things will get really crazy.

New Hair

My hair was turning a little green and the layers were growing out funny, so I decided it was time for a change. Kevin's co-worker recommended a place in Hamden, so I made an appointment at the Hair Chateau last week. When I called, I asked about prices, and they told me 60 and up. The last time I got a cut and color, it was around 70, so I assumed the price would be similar. I was wrong.

The girl did a very nice job with the color. I love what she did with the subtle highlights and the dark tone. It's perfect for fall. The cut, well... I know she didn't have much to work with. I mean, my layers were REALLY bad. I had her redo it three times. THREE. I was pretty happy with it until I got to the counter, where the receptionist said, "145, dear." I just stared at her. I asked her to repeat the amount. It hadn't changed. Never in my life did I think I would ever pay so much for my hair. She smiled when I handed her my credit card. "What would we do without these?" she asked me with a knowing smile. I wanted to scream, "DOES A CREDIT CARD MAKE IT LESS MONEY?? BECAUSE THE RECEIPT STILL SAYS ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE DOLLARS!!" But instead I took a deep breath and left.

I held off panic long enough to call my mom and wail about the prices on the east coast. Then I looked in a mirror and realized I'm not even sure I like it. Please look at this picture and email me what you think because I am FREAKING OUT. In the meantime, I'm going to watch an Audrey Hepburn movie with a side of hot tea to soothe my fragile nerves.

Today, I met up with Farrell and Annie for coffee, and then they showed me around campus a little bit. There were several really beautiful places I didn't even know existed! It helped that they both had Yale IDs, which allowed us entrance into a few buildings I'm not allowed to go into yet. For example, the Payne Whitney gym. It's huge - nine stories! I'll be glad when I get my ID so that I can start working out there istead of being a bum in the apartment all the time. We had lunch at this neat little Irish pub and then went for ice cream at Ashley's, where Farrell had a cup launched at her head by one of the employees. That was kind of surreal, but the ice cream was really good. I might meet Annie later this week for coffee. It was a really nice afternoon. It reminded me how much I've missed spending time with girlfriends. I'm looking forward to starting the program so that I can really start meeting people. It's a little weird being here right now, like I'm waiting for my real life to begin.

This morning, after sleeping in absurdly late, I had to go to the immunization clinic, where they did me the honor of charging me $166 to stick me with no less than three different needles. They pumped my arm up so full of disease that it is sore and weak and sad. Luckily, I had a very kind husband to sympathize and take me out for gelato after my shots. And it was GOOD gelato. Sometimes the married life isn't so bad.

Last Week in Pictures

Our new TV cabinet that Ikea finally got in. It was worth the wait - I think it's beautiful. I had to go to a couple of different stores to find stuff I thought would look ok on top of it, and there were a couple of times I was desperate for someone like my mom's friend Jane to just tell me what to buy, but in the end, it turned out better than I thought it would. This whole being in charge of decorating a whole apartment business is hard.



That whole side of the room. Notice the new curtains and tablecloth I made. This is my first sewing project I've ever done outside the presence of my Grandmom that I didn't take any lazy shortcuts. It really makes a difference!



Hurray for paychecks!! You should have seen how excited he was to receive his first one in three years. It didn't hurt that his boss gave him a raise and let it count for his first check! Now we can afford all sorts of things: rent, groceries, electricity... maybe even a nursing book or two come fall. It's good to be employed.

Busy Week

Kevin's been working five 12 hour days this week, but it's still been very busy for me. It's true that a good wife's work is never done! Sometimes I just want to throw my arms up in the air and give up. Kevin's very good about helping me out when he can, but he's been working so much and he's so tired when he gets home that I feel bad asking him to do anything. Seven more boxes of stuff arrived yesterday and my first thought was, "where are we going to put everything!?!?!" We have no more storage space. It took a lot of thinking and creativity to re-arrange dishes, buy S hooks to hang pans, and re-stock the shelves in the hallway. And still, there's a pile of kitchen stuff on the floor of the living room. Not to mention the pile of dishes in the sink or the floor that's in desperate need of scrubbing. What I want to know is, how does anybody handle doing all this work when they have kids making messes, too?

Yesterday we went to Ikea to pick up our new TV cabinet that I've had my eye on since we got here. We had to wait for the new August model to come out because they were sold out of the old one. It took us most of the day to get it put together, but it was worth it once it was done. It's beautiful! I also sewed matching curtains with the leftover material from the tablecloth and I think they make our apartment look a little more finished. I couldn't find a tension rod big enough for our huge window, so I had to buy a more traditional curtain rod and then rig it up to fit our oddly placed window. It's stayed up for three days now, so I have serious hope that it may stay up for good.

Kevin got his sign on bonus from the hospital this week. He was so excited! He went ahead and ordered his new computer with some of the money, as a graduation present for himself. I'm hoping we can use the rest of the money to buy a loveseat, which we could really use for the living room. Lazyboy is having a pretty good sale over in Milford, and we found one there we liked. Kevin also found out with his first paycheck that they already gave him a raise! More good news! We went out with another couple for dinner to celebrate. We had a nice time, and after the food, we met a couple more people from the hospital and stayed up late talking. It's good to know there are cool people in Connecticut.

All in all, it's been a pretty good week. However, the mass destruction of the living room (empty boxes, styrofoam, mounds of dishes...) indicates that it may be a very busy weekend for this little housewife.

New Friends

The people that I've met here have just been amazing. It's like our social life suddenly exploded. I mean, I can actually say we have a social life! It's nice to be around each other, but it's so important to have friends outside of each other too. I never thought we would meet them this quickly. Tonight, we invited Jeff over for dinner and then went out to Little Italy for dessert and cappocino. We lost track of time talking and didn't get back until late - especially considering Kevin has to be at work at 7am tomorrow morning! Tomorrow, I'm meeting Julie (a girl that works on Kevin's floor that's a year ahead of me in the GEPN program I start in three weeks) for coffee downtown. I've never met her before, but Kevin says she's really nice and looking forward to answering any questions I have about the program. This Friday a group of us are going out for drinks after a few people get off work at the hospital. Next Tuesday, one of the girls I met at CPR is driving into New Haven and we're going to hang out. Then later in the week the other girl is driving up here so we can get together. Isn't that wonderful? I've loved getting to know the library so well, but it's very refreshing to get to know people outside of books (I've read so many biographies about English and French royalty that I feel I could teach a class! It is pretty fascinating, though.).

Day at the Beach

It's still amazing to me that this is ten minutes from where I live.

Dinasaurs!!! And New Friends. And Maybe a Shooting.

So, Kevin and I went to the Peabody Muesem this afternoon, which was pretty awesome. The Great Hall of Dinasaurs was my favorite (shocking, I know). They also had a really cool display about the ancient Inca civilization and a lot of amazing technology to make exhibits interactive. It was a good place to go - made more so by the face that since I'm a Yalie I get to go for free!

In other exciting news, I had my CPR class yesterday and two of the girls taking the class happened to be two girls that are in my nursing program. They were really nice - the three of us got along well. We went out for a nice lunch that day, and we're supposed to get together sometime before orientation, which I think will be fun. They're both from around here, so they offered to show me the ropes about the east coast. One of the girls actually went to undergraduate school in Missouri - it was great to compare notes with someone about how different the east coast is from the midwest. And it's good to know that at least two girls in the GEPN program are nice!

In other exciting, but not in a good way news: Four graduate students from Yale were attacked by a masked man on the street where I live, not far from my apartment building. One of them was shot in the abdomen and is now in the hospital. Everyone has told me that New Haven is a lot safer than it used to be and that I'll be fine as long as I travel in groups. This did much to shatter my already slightly paranoid confidence. I mean, the guy that got shot was in a group! I'm just not used to big cities, and I'm finding out that though there are many awesome aspects (like the Peabody) there are also many not so awesome aspects (like the crime). Kevin tried to make me feel better by telling me a Yale student hadn't been shot in over a year. Oh, good. So there's only one student shot every year?!?! Like THAT is soothing?!? We've also been told to get a club for our car. Our handyman told us that right before he told us that it wasn't a big deal, only three or four cars had been stolen from campus last year. Oh really? Only THREE OR FOUR cars last YEAR?!?!?! So, um... not feeling much like going out after dark these days.

Kevin's test went really well yesterday so to celebrate, we went to Little Italy down on Wooster Square. It was lovely. We went to an upscale restaurant for dinner where I had amazing housemade ravioli stuffed with crab and smothered in shrimp bisque. Kevn had stuffed pork chops - I tried a bite and they were very good! It was a lovely relaxed meal, our first at a real restaurant since we've been here. After dinner we walked to the Italian bakery where he had gelato and I had an Italian ice. His was way better. Almond gelato - yum! We still have yet to try the two famous pizza places on that square, which most people were shocked to hear, so I guess we'll have to go back soon!

When we got home, we watched Woody Allen's Match Point. It said it was a comedy, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Let me save you the trouble: don't ever, EVER see this movie. It's disturbing, so say the least. Plus Scarlett, Scarlett whom I have loved through all her low budget films, was terrible in it. I never thought I would see a movie that I didn't like her in, but she was awful in this movie. I don't know if our relationship will be able to recover this harsh blow.

In much better news, our baker's rack finally arrived yesterday! In case you hadn't heard, it was supposed to come the day before, but the UPS guy decided it was too heavy and didn't ring our bell - he just put APT C & K on a note and stuck it to the door. How lazy! Kevin in a fit of nervous energy about his test, decided he was going to take care of this problem and called the guy's boss at UPS and told him what happened. Then he wasn't impressed with the supervisor's response, so he called corporate. I don't know what happened, but when the guy showed up yesterday, he looked very embarrassed and never looked us in the eye. When I opened the door for him, he said thank you like twelve times. I felt bad for him and told him thank you for carrying the heavy package up - it was REALLY heavy! Anyway, I insisted on putting it together before we left for dinner - I was so excited! I took some pictures so you could feast your eyes on the loveliness. See the wicker baskets? The ornate side paneling? The beautiful wood counter? I'm a little bit in love.

Wedding Pictures!!

The pictures are up online! Go to: http://albums.proshots.com/owensphoto Our password is "hove"

The week is going by more quickly than I anticipated. My wedding DVDs arrived!! One of them doesn't work, but still... I've been able to go through the other two and start putting together my wedding album. That has kept me very busy. I've also been sewing pillowcases and a tablecloth for our bedroom and living room, respectively, which I think will look nice when they're done. I still can't decide what to do about curtains. There's no curtain rod or anything, so we'd have to instsall one, which means when we move out, we'd have to repair any damage we do. Plus, the windows have been painted such an ugly magenta color that I think any color fabric will clash awfully with them.

Our baker's rack is supposed to be delivered today, so I'm stuck in the house until it shows up. I've got plenty to keep me busy - there's a lot of cleaning that could be done, plus I've got three books fresh from the library to dig into. I already finished one of them - Confessions From an Ugly Stepsister - and it was pretty good. The last couple of weeks, I've been doing a lot of reading, going through three or four books a week, which means lots of trips to the library! I've really enjoyed having so much time to read, though. And Kevin and I signed up for a free month of the online Blockbuster movies. So we get three movies mailed to us at a time and as many more as we want for the next four weeks. It's kind of fun to do this last month that I don't have classes.

I'm also planning a trip for Kevin and me to mark not only our three month anniversary, but also the last week we'll have to ourselves before I start school. The third week of August, we're going to Newport, Rhode Island, to explore the old mansions, enjoy the beaches, and eat good seafood. I haven't found a place for us to stay yet, but looking at prices, we'll probably only be able to afford to stay two nights. Still, I think it will be a lovely vacation and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Kevin takes his boards tomorrow, so keep him in your thoughts. He's a little nervous, but he's studied so hard I know he'll do really well. And after he's done, we'll be able to do all the fun things we've been putting off for studying. He's promised me a trip to the Peabody Muesem (to see the dinasaurs!!!), a trip to the orchard to pick fresh blueberries, and also a day at the beach. That should keep us busy until we take off for Rhode Island!

Slow Saturday

Kevin is working today. He works four of the next five days, all of them 12 hours a day, so that means a lot of quiet time for me! It hasn't been too bad so far. I took a nice nap this morning, then went to the farmer's market and bought lettuce, tomatos, and cranberry walnut bread. I made myself some good pasta with fresh tomatos on it, which was delicious. Then Padmini, who moved out of my building the weekend I moved in, stopped by. She's so nice. I think this afternoon I may run over to JoAnn's to look for some material to make pillowcases and curtains. I know I need to clean the apartment and do the dishes, but it's hot and humid and I just don't feel like it!

The symphony was rained out last night, so Kevin and I ended up just renting a movie. We saw the Family Stone, which was actually pretty good. Jeff called and said that he'd like to re-schedule, and that maybe we could hang out sometime next week, so I'm looking forward to that. I feel very contented. I married a man who gets kinder and more thoughtful every day, and am already meeting people even though I haven't even started classes. Life isn't exactly edge of my seat since I don't have a job or school going on right now, but I think it's good for me to do a lot of relaxing and reading in between the chaos of graduating/getting married/moving and the time intensive program I start in the fall.

New Faces

Last night, Kevin attended a work function for new employees. Spouses weren't invited, so I stayed at home. A couple hours after he left, he called me and said that a few of his coworkers were going for drinks and we could come if we wanted. I thought it might be nice to actually be around people, so we went. There were six of us, including Kevin's boss, and we had the nicest time. It turns out that one of the guys that was really nice lives only a couple of blocks from us. He just moved here from Maine. We might go to the symphony in the park with him tonight if it isn't rained out. Another girl gave us advice on where to shop for scrubs and where to get my hair done. We spent a couple of really pleasant hours at a little restaurant on the water, talking and getting to know each other. I got home and finally felt like I might meet people out here. No one can or ever will replace the family and friends I left behind in the midwest, but I now have hope that I can create a new family even way out here in Connecticut.

One of my favorite things about New Haven is the variety of farmer's markets. There are four every week in my area, most within walking distance, and I go to at least one every week. I've been to farmer's markets in Missouri before, but here there's so much more variety! The food is usually cheaper than a grocery store and it's picked ripe, so it tastes so much better. Plus it's all organic, which Kevin really enjoys since he's wary of any pesticides or hormones. We bought beef for the first time on Sunday and yesterday for lunch I made cheddar studded BBQ burgers with it, with fresh lettuce and ripe tomato. It was so yummy!

I'm still trying to get things done around the apartment. I finally got most of my pictures hung in the office, and cleaned the living room yet again, since it always seems to be in a state of semi-disaster. I tried to go to the post office, which we need to do pretty badly, but I couldn't find it! I got hopelessly lost and found myself in a bad neighborhood, driving around with my doors locked. Luckily, I found my way back before too long. I just want to go to the post office! I will try to find the one on campus, though I don't look forward to wandering around in the heat. Maybe I will try to go early in the morning, when it's still nice and cool. Kevin has to work again tomorrow, so I'll be up at 6 anyway to drive him to the hospital. The good news is that the stuff at the bank was finally straightened out and I finally have a way to buy things when Kevin isn't with me! The not-so-great news is that my landlord from last year still hasn't gotten me my deposit check. I did finally get a hold of her and she said she's on vacation and would take care of it when she got back. Yeah, right.

I'm running out of things to do around the house. I'm really hoping my wedding pictures are ready soon so that I can put together my album before school starts. I think I may give Pat a call sometime this week. Right now, things are a little boring here - nothing too exciting to write about. It will probably stay that way until Kevin passes boards next week. Then we can finally go out and see the sights! There's so much awesome stuff to do around our area (and a lot of it's free, which is really cool), but I haven't wanted to go without Kevin. I've been instructed to make a list of all the things I want to see before school starts so that we can get going as soon as he takes his test. I guess that will keep me busy until my wedding pictures done...

New Day

This morning, Kevin studied for a little bit and then we went out for a nice long (four hour!) walk around another part of campus that we hadn't been to yet. We saw several restuarants and had some very good food. We stopped in a few bookstores, including the Yale bookstore, which was like a huge Universirty affilated Barnes and Noble (that's who owns it). We stopped in a few Yale apparel stores and I bought my first school t-shirt. I had to look at every single one in every single store first though, since I am my mother's daughter. Kevin was very patient with me though, especially when we went back to the first store and bought the first shirt I said I liked! All in all, it was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon. I just hope Kevin has enough time and motivation left to do the studying he needs to get done!


One of the buildings on campus/downtown. We saw a lot of pretty buildings on our walk. I wish I could remember what this one is, but I really can't. Dorms maybe? I don't know.



My first Yale t-shirt. I was pretty excited and put it on as soon as I went home. They had tons of cute shirts (the cookie monster holding the Yale coat of arms saying, "I'm a smart cookie," for example), but I decided to go for short and simple.

I wish I could tell you that the trip to the library was the end of my rough afternoon yesterday. I double-checked the library hours online before I left just to make absoultely sure I would have a couple hours to browse and relax and be around books, which I find soothing. I get to the doors and the fat Mexican security guard informs me that the library will be closing due to construction. You'd think they'd put something about that one their website but they sure left that out!! SO, I had five minutes to return my books and dash to the Gregory section and get the next book in my series. I decided it wasn't going to get me down. I remembered that there was a tea shop around the corner that I'd been wanting to try. I thought, "I will make this bad thing a good thing. I will try some new tea and it will be totally relaxing - just like books! I will read my new book while I drink it! Brilliant!" So I walked down the block to this cute little shop and looked at the menu. THERE WAS NO TEA ON THE MENU. There was coffee, lots of coffee - iced coffee, hot coffee, flavored coffee. It was everywhere except in the name of the shop. Willington TEA House sells nothing but COFFEE!!!!! I felt stupid just standing there, gaping at the menu in disbelief, so when the young man (wearing an "I heart coffee" t-shirt) at the counter asked me what I wanted, I pointed to a piece of pound cake. I asked for it, and even said please. "NO," he said. "I'm not gonna get you that cake." I knew he was kidding, even though neither of us were smiling, but it still took every single ounce of self control I had not to grab a handful of that cake and shove it right down his coffee drinking throat. I stared him down, eye twitching, until finally he quietly got me my cake. I forked over my three bucks and chose a table. Luckily, it was maybe the best piece of pound cake I've ever tasted. I started reading my library book and it was pretty good. I decided to buck up and went home and made Kevin his favorite croutons before picking him up from work. This paid off because he patiently listened to my rant about my day and played cards with me until I felt much better. He even helped make dinner, after working a 12 hour shift.

This morning, Kevin went to the DMV to get a CT lisence so he could get started on the whole registering the car ordeal. He was there over an hour and came home empty handed because apparently in CT there are all kinds of hoops you have to jump through to do ANYTHING. So, he took a break while I called the bank because my card that was supposed to arrive Wednesday still isn't here. I couldn't get a hold of anybody. It's the worst phone answering system I've ever had to deal with, and that's really saying something. So I called my landlord because I STILL haven't recieved my deposit check that she said she sent a month ago and then said she'd re-sent 10 days ago. For the first time in the year and a half I've known her, she didn't answer her phone. I left a message asking her to please return my call because I hadn't recieved her check, but I'm starting to wonder what in the world is going on. She owes me almost four hundred dollars!

Now for better news. My husband, as I type, is in the kitchen doing the dishes, even though he spent most of the afternoon studying. I didn't feel good this morning, and he very sweetly tucked me in on the couch and made sure I had plenty of water, a movie, and my heating pad before he left for the DMV. Tonight, if I'm feeling up to it, he's going to take me to the free movie downtown and maybe out for dinner. Lots of little petty stuff may be going on (and I'm sorry if my rants have become annoying), but the big stuff is so great. I mean, I have maybe the best husband in the world. I have what is turning out to be a very cute apartment (it's amazing what a little scrubbing can do). And I get to live in this great coastal town where seagulls fly over beautiful buildings that have been here for over a hundred years. In a couple of months, I'll be able to go to a school I've only heard good things about, in a program that's one of the best of it's kind. Yesterday, I found myself getting lost in the details, but today, looking at the big picture (and it doesn't hurt that Kevin has the day off), I feel blessed.