Just got a call from Charles! 
He's passed his PFA (the fitness test), he does not have to have his wisdom teeth pulled (apparently they tend to pull 'em if you've got 'em, can you imagine? 
), he made a perfect score on an inspection, and the big news is......he's SECTION LEADER! 
So when we come up for graduation, he'll be easy to spot, being right out front. 
He sounds upbeat, and "enjoying" boot camp as much as is reasonable to expect. Isn't that terrific? 
This afternoon was the Official Birthday Party for Bethie (who turned six on the sixth) and Benjamin (who will be four on the 25th). Lots of people and lots of food! My kinda party. 
There was a Princess/Cap'n Hook theme; y'all can probably figure out which theme applied to which child. Here's a goodlookin' pirate, if his Gran does say so herself:
Bethie went to get her hair done this morning.....doesn't she look fetching?
One of the guests certainly got into the spirit of the party:
And here's a photo of Don with the birthday boy:
A good bit of the time, though, Don held Bryson (that's Jason in the back right, drinking a beer):
Gosh, but it's hard to believe Bethie's six and Benjamin's about to turn four. They grow up so darn fast! Why, on his actual birthday is Benjamin's first day of soccer on a YMCA team, with his Daddy doing honors as the coach. ;^)
It's official: Kwan's out, and the girl who placed third in the U.S. national championship last month, Emily Hughes, is to replace her.
This is assuming Hughes can find some way to reach Italy, considering the blizzard in the NE.
It shows, IMO, that someone who has been shown to be injury-prone should not be given a medical exception as Kwan was. She apparently has had a problem with groin pulls, and suffered another yesterday.
Michelle's being there means someone else isn't. Her presence results in someone else's absence.
She'd have the nerve of a bad tooth to cause another skater to miss out on coming to the Olympics only to say, "Well, never mind."
Michelle, hon....you're 25 years old. You wanted this....you got it. Now get out there and skate, and if it means you wind up at the bottom of the rankings, suck it up.
Whoosh! With the exception of Susan Sarandon being someone's idea of An American Woman of Distinction, Yoko Ono's stirring call to think our way to peace, and the performance of the atheists' anthem, John Lennon's "Imagine", it was a nifty opening ceremony.
And what a treat to hear Luciano Pavarotti sing one of my favorite pieces of opera, "Nessun Dorma"! Except I wish the camera hadn't treated us to quite such a close-up. Do I really need to be able to look straight down the man's throat and check his teeth? 
I do love the parade of nations at the Winter Games! One thing that tickles me is the dichotomy of the home countries of some of the participants, such as countries like Ethiopia, Senegal, Israel, Costa Rica, and Madagascar sending athletes.
I'm particularly fond of the Virgin Islands' "Grandma Luge," the oldest woman to compete in the Winter Games, being in her 50's. She's got a good name, too . . . . Anne. 
Not to mention, she's blogging from Torino.
What the heck is up with the 80's disco songs being the musical backdrop to which the athletes are marching in? Right now Village People's "YMCA" is playing as Slovenia comes in. America's entrance was to the accompaniment of "Daddy Cool" by Boney M. That's just strange.
Also strange are those peculiar dresses shaped to resemble the Alps, worn by the nations' sign-carriers.
I thought this was sweet....Moldova's the poorest European country, so a village around Torino has been raising money to help fund their travel expenses.
You know, considering how addicted people are to their cell phones, it ought not have surprised me to see one of the American athletes on hers as she marched into the stadium, but it did.
And for crying out loud, why on earth do our athletes always wear such goofy headwear at these things? Since when are berets the National Headgear of the USA? Yet this is at least the second or third time I've seen them be stuck with that style. Here's a photo showing both the strange dresses and the goofy berets:
Fire always livens things up at one of these events, and tonight's was no exception. I got a real charge out of the guy striking the anvil, and these rollerbladers:
Actually, if you want one of the berets, one can be yours for only $25. Plus applicable shipping and tax, naturally.
Be the first on your block. 
[stricken] Omigoodness! I feel dreadful. 
This morning it finally dawned on me that Charles doubtless did NOT receive the letter I sent him a week ago, seeing as how I completely forgot the increase in postage and stuck one of my remaining 37¢ stamps on it, then rushed to the post office to send it off.
Hope others have written him in the interim.
Bet that letter gets returned any day now, marked "insufficient postage." 
Un. Bee. Lee. Va. BULL. 
Russian drivers to jam streets in protest:
Thousands of Russian drivers will honk their horns and jam streets to
protest the conviction of a driver involved in a fatal car crash,
protest organizers say.
The Free Choice Motorists' Movement has organized the Feb. 12 protest
following the recent sentencing of Oleg Shcherbinsky to four years in a
labor colony for his part in a car crash that killed the governor of
Russia's Altai region, The Moscow Times reported Friday.
In Moscow and major cities across Russia, motorists will drive slowly,
honk their horns and flash their lights, said Vyacheslav Lysakov, head
of the drivers association.
In August 2005 Shcherbinsky was making a left turn off a highway when a
Mercedes carrying Gov. Mikhail Yevdokimov came from behind at an
estimated speed of over 100 mph. The Mercedes tried to pass on the
left, grazed the car and flew off the road. The governor, his bodyguard
and his driver died.
A court ruled that Shcherbinsky should have yielded to the governor's
car, although his lawyer argued that Shcherbinsky had no time to yield.
That sentence has really shocked people, because it shows that in this
country anyone can be put in jail, even if he is innocent, Lysakov said.
Think the court in that state or region is corrupt? 
Two things; first, here's a photo of and a link to that trifle that's Charles' and Dmitry's favorite dessert:
Looks good, huh?
Second, isn't it supposed to mean something, weatherwise, when the moon looks like this?
Heard from Charles! The check-off-box prewritten letter with the SSAE worked, by golly.
Turns out he has the same hard-to-locate veins as do I, so between the various innoculations and their attempts to take his blood, he wound up being stuck by needles fourteen times.
He likes the food, is feeling fine, indicates the classes are easy so far, is making friends, and while he hasn't quite mastered the art of the mitred bed corner, he's closing in on it. 
As of three days ago, his graduation is scheduled for March 24th.
Now I've got to come up with some more multiple-choice-answer questions to provide for his next communication. 
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