I hope you all had a VERY Merry Christmas! Felix and I had one of our best holidays ever, spending the day with family and stuffing our faces with incredibly delicious food.

The highlight, though, was Rob's eChristmas card, which is amazing. I've watched it countless times, and I'm still not tired of it. To really get the full effect, you need to have Flash 6 and a decent connection speed. So without further ado, turn UP the sound on your speakers and here you go!!!

I don't know if any of you have seen Apple's switch campaign, but as usual, their marketing is clever, witty, and funny. To be honest, I've always been a huge Apple fan. My brothers and I grew up on a dinky ol' Apple IIe - you know, the green screen computers that couldn't even turn on unless you inserted a run floppy. In college, I continued my passion as a die-hard Mac lover. It was with great reluctance that I laid my Quadra to rest and converted to a PC, but like the rest of the world, it's sometimes really hard to be isolated with an Apple when you're surrounded by a swarm of PC clones.

Even though I've fallen to the dark side, I still follow Apple's comings and goings fairly closely, always hoping to see them make a comeback. Thus, it was with great delight that I watched them introduce their switch campaign. My favorite ones are the hapless teenager (trust me - I spend 24/7 with adolescents, and they're, like, totally like that), and the hilarious Santa Claus.

And of course, we can't forget the parodies. That's the side effect of coming up with something clever - everyone wants to imitate you. So for all you Star Wars fans, this one is particularly funny.

It remains to be seen as to whether or not the switch campaign will actually make people switch, but I remain hopeful. Gotta love Apple!

Our beautiful baby niece Claire was born today! She came into the world at 5:33pm, weighs 7lb 9oz, and is 19" long. Felix and I visited our little cutie-pie and her proud parents at the hospital tonight, and the two of us were absolutely delighted. She's just SO cute with the most adorable dimples you've ever seen!

We already went to the mall and bought her a Christmas gift. It's only been a few hours, but I already just LOVE being Aunt Kathy!!!!!

We had our company holiday party on Monday and it was TONS of fun. We all spent the entire afternoon at Dave and Buster's, which is basically an outrageously fun playroom for adults, and had an amazingly fun time.

The most amusing part of the day, however, wasn't watching my team flail over Dance Dance Revolution or scream in terror while trying to shoot Jurassic Park dinosaurs. It was actually the simple act of walking through the door. You see, Dave and Buster's isn't just a fun place to go...it really is only for adults. You have to be 21 to get in, and they post hefty bouncer-types at all the entrances to enforce their policies. Imagine my amusement when the big ol' security guy held up his hand, stopped me at the door, and gruffly asked to see my ID. Here I am, a 28-year old married woman who's four months pregnant and sporting a great maternity outfit. Totally surprised, I just handed over my 1974 DOB license, and after some scrutiny, I was allowed to enter. It was really quite funny. Hanging out with my enthusiastic just-out-of-college team, I've rarely felt more old lady in my life! I'm just glad I didn't start laughing in his face; he would have kept me out, I'm sure!

FINALLY! My blog is working again. Felix, bless his heart, was kind enough to move a bunch of stuff related to our website around so that we'd have tons more room for pictures. More importantly, we're completely free and clear of Geocities, which means that I don't need to see those annoying internet ads pop up anymore! However, in the interim, things went nuts for a little while, and my blog stopped working for about a week. Not sure why - just stopped working. Felix's only response after some puzzling was to just leave it alone for a few days. Maybe it would figure it out on its own. Right...Leave it to an electrical engineer with a BS/MS. He always knows what he's doing - yup, yup. Ha! As much as I hate to admit it, though, he was right. Everything seems to be ok today. Weird, mysterious, and unexplainable...but that must be why they pay Felix the big bucks.

They say that your hormones go totally wacky when you're pregnant. I think one book described it as "possible erratic mood swings." I've certainly found myself bursting out in tears one minute and laughing hysterically the next...all while I'm watching television commercials.

Anyway, I received this e-mail today that just had me bawling in front of the computer monitor. Overwhelmed by sentiment (and probably those ridiculous hormones), I just had to share this with you all. Hopefully, at least one of you will shed a tear and then I won't feel like such a freak.

Favorite Teacher
Her name was Mrs. Thompson and his was 'Teddy.'

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same.

But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant.

It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners ... he is a joy to be around."

His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death had been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class".

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her
Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents.

Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used
to." After the children left she cried for at least an hour.

On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he
decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer - The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did.

And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs.Thompson's ear, "Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."

Warm someone's heart today ... pass this along. Please remember that wherever you go, and whatever you do, you will have the opportunity to touch and/or change a person's outlook. And please try to do it in a positive way. "Friends lift us to our feet ."

The countdown is every where I look.

...5 days until I see Ben and Jean!!! They're coming to visit, and I especially can't wait to compare pregnancy notes with Jean. I might have to tone myself down, though, since I haven't been sick at all. Not one single day. It's not something that someone who's yacking every moment wants to hear, I suspect.

...11 days until our seniors are FINALLY finished with their program. No more terrible college essays to read and revise. No more frantic teenagers running in and out of our centers. No more panicked parents flooding my appointment schedule and voicemail. Just peace and quiet.

...22 days until Christmas. I haven't done a whit of shopping, and Felix and I decided last year that we would not be wimps this year. No more gift certificates for our friends. No, we're going to go with meaningful, thoughtful, individually chosen gifts for everyone. I think we were crazy when we resolved to be special this year, but now it's too late. I just gotta suck it up and get in gear.

...23 days until Tim and Lisa's due date. I'm not sure what I'm more excited about - finding out whether they have a boy or girl, or becoming a real live auntie!

...2 months until we find out if we're going to have a boy or girl. I can hardly wait. For a girl who always reads spoilers, skips to the end of the book, and finds out about the surprise ending before I go to the movies, the wait is absolute torture. Tomorrow is my second appointment, and Felix and I are going to try to weasel our way into an ultrasound. If I'm lucky, my baby's gotten the vibe and will reveal the truth to me! Or not. We'll see.

...3.5 months until our annual Whistler trip. It's always around now that I start obssessing. There was snow, too, when we went home to NJ for Thanksgiving, and that defniitely didn't help the anticipation. Whistler...Whistler...Whistler...

...6 months until little baby arrives. A long time away, but something I find myself thinking about every day. My latest is trying to remember to sing and read to the baby; Tom swears that life is that much better if you chat with the babe in the womb. Don't know if that's true (how does one hear anything in there?!), but any advantage I can give to my little sweetie is worth it.