Gah- as it turns out, the Thermoworks Thermapen sale is only a private one for email subscribers. If you've tried to buy one at a reduced rate and been foiled, my heartiest apologies. Consider joining the listserv so you can be in the loop next time around. After I exercised this morning and ran by the market to get the makings for another batch of that delicious pear-ginger-black pepper jam, I went to see a dear friend and her two month old daughter. It was such a lovely, lovely treat to while away a few hours with a good pal and a darling baby. Anyone who has read Em-i-lis for any length of time might know how much I adore babies. My friend's precious peanut is so small and delicate, she baby-planks when picked up (you know how they rigidly plank with their legs out?? So cute!), makes the most adorable little sounds and bleats, smiles beatifically, and, like all babies, also seems utterly vexed at times as if life is just so hard. I always cracked up at my boys when, as babes, they would seem to suddenly realize they were hungry (like it literally occurred to them instantaneously) and then wail and gnash and squirm and scrunch their faces as if they simply might expire if they didn't eat NOW. All was well as soon as the milk arrived. I guess it is minute to minute when you have no idea what's really going on.

Then to school to get my guys, home to manage homework and Valentines and now a reprieve of two and half hours of babysitting. As I type, I realize I'm pooped. I can't really imagine why, but I am and deeply so. I think sometimes I just don't realize it until I stop, pause, pay attention, sit.

Also I'm terribly broken up about Philip Seymour Hoffman's untimely death. He was such an incredibly gifted actor, comedically and dramatically, and I will truly miss watching and being moved by his on-screen transformations. Did y'all ever see Along Came Polly? He stole the show. "Sharted," anyone? Hilarious! And in Charlie Wilson's War? Again, priceless. That scene where he freaks out because he's learned Finnish or whatever is awesome as is the scene where he has to keep leaving Tom Hanks' office because of the private nature of part of the phone conversation going on. I was wheezing with laughter. Hoffman could underplay a part with such brilliance. His serious roles were no less impressive than those which brought me to happy tears. Capote! Doubt! The Savages! He made such magic up there, on screen, on stage, with any role. My heart goes out to his family. Addictions are so horrid; I wonder if he felt scared near the end, if he knew he'd gone too far. I hope not.

I have eaten so improperly today because of my loony schedule that I'm both starving and already licking my chops for a big dinner. Vat o' pasta, here I come!