The ALL-American Family

It�s one of those rainy April days. The flowering trees are wonderful this spring. Our neighbor's pink weeping cherry tree is more beautiful than it�s ever been before.

These are the neighbor that Ray cynically calls �the All-American Family�; Mom, Dad, 3 lovely daughters and two yappy little Westies. They are a church going family and often on Sunday mornings they are all out posing for pictures in their Sunday best. It�s a Norman Rockwell moment, to say the least. Ray says terrible, bitterly queenly things about them, but then he and the man of the family can stand out in the driveway and discuss crabgrass or deck waterproofing for hours.

Imagine what they say about US? We golf on Sundays, just for the records.

Yesterday (Sunday) was �spa day� around here. Mikey decided we should exfoliate and slough off our winter skin. He mixed up a magikal potion of mint, sea salt and Goddess only knows what else and massaged it all over me until I was pink and tingling and smooth as a baby�s butt. I feel like a butterfly, just out of its cocoon.

And speaking of personal hygiene is anyone else amused by the American soldiers invading Saddam�s palace and taking showers in his Liberace style bathroom? I hope they stole his towels too.

The death of David Bloom broke my heart yesterday. As much as I hate this war, I appreciated his reports from the front. David had the gift of giving the war some humanity. His war wasn�t about maps and graphs and surgical strikes from hundreds of miles away. It�s easy to be objective about a Cent Com briefing. David Bloom brought the soldiers and the civilians right into our living room, along with the sandstorm, the heat, the fear, the thirst. There are other embedded reporters doing a remarkable job, but I am going to miss David.

The Blogger of Baghdad also appears to be missing. He hasn't posted in over a week. I am hoping he�s just without electricity and will be back online soon.

In Knitting Knews, I am working on some lacy spring socks for Senorita Maria. When they are finished I am going to dress her up in her Sunday best and we�ll all take a picture out in front of the house. We�re an All-American family too

2 People have told Dr JJ all about it