How cool! I just conferenced in Mom and Dad in Puerto Rico with Lisa in Toledo to hear how their first day of vacation went. I called MCI first to make sure that Puerto Rico would be a free call. Mom twisted her ankle a little bit, so today they went for a long drive around the island and had a nice dinner at a little Spanish restaurant. Tomorrow they are going horseback riding in the rain forest, and then go spend some time at the beach. We probably chatted on the phone for at least 30 minutes. How nice.

I don't normally open my birthday presents ahead of time, but I got a package today and the packing list was folded so I could see what it was. It was a yogurt maker from Mom and Dad. It takes 4 to 10 hours to make a batch of yogurt, so I am going to get a batch going right now and it will be ready for breakfast.

I also got a package from Tim, Lisa, and Shawn, and it was just a yellow mailing envelope so I thought it would be some clippings or something. Nope. Also a birthday package. They got me a year subscription to both U.S. News & World Reports and Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine. (They put a copy of each in the envelope to hold me until my subscription starts.) A copy of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Some San Francisco mold cured hard salami, which is weird because I just read a big story in the Chicago Tribune about San Francisco salami and was really excited about trying it. We were going to go out to the gourmet food stores looking for it. They also tossed in some seasoned almonds and little chocolates. Yumm!

My plan tonight after I post this is to go downstairs and start the yogurt, brush my teeth, and then fall asleep reading U.S. News & World Reports. Yeah!