Here are my niece, Jami, aka mother of the bride, and her beautiful daughter Erica. I had the wonderful privilege of traveling out to Arizona for the wedding and mellowing out under beautiful Arizona skies while drinking Salty Dogs. Yes. Salty Dogs. It was a wonderful wedding--and the Salty Dogs had nothing to do with it!
But they didn't hurt, either!

Here's the most recent picture I have of Rob, from this past Christmas. We had one of the loveliest Christmasses in recent memory. Lots of fun. I'm quite sad, though, because he's back in Japan and will be there for a while.

He's taking an intense course in Japanese, really immersing himself in the language and, of course, biking like crazy.

Sigh. What's a mom to do, huh?

Although Rob managed to bike three thousand miles through the mountains of Japan and a typhoon without injury, here is what his teeth looked like after his fall from his new bike as he returned to his apartment. He also broke his jaw in two places. Moral? Make sure you and your loved ones wear bike helmets. Could have been lots worse. Of course my first reaction was relief that he hadn't broken his neck. My second reaction was "Yikes. All that orthodontia, ruined!"

And here is the result of the modern miracle of dentistry, thanks to Dr. Donald Fee of Sugar Grove, IL. Can you believe it? Well, Dr. Fee is certainly a magician--and it took a long, long time to achieve this result. I could have cried when I finally saw Rob's restored beautiful smile.

Conference is always a wonderful, wonderful time. Here are authors Julie Wachowski and Margaret Watson with Margaret's editor from Harlequin on the night of the award ceremony, Victoria Curran. Don't they look tres elegant? Because Margaret was up for the RITA, Julie had done a professional makeup job on her. You can see some of the 2000 attendees behind them.

Three Windy City RWA members the night of the awards in Dallas, '07. Julie Wachowski, Margaret Watson, and Allie Plietor. Margaret and Allie were both nominees in different categories for this year's RITAs, RWA's prestigious award honoring excellence in writing.

Again, Windy City authors Julie, Margaret, and Jennifer Greene, long distance member and RWA award-winning RWA Hall of Famer--and dear friend.

Writers need to share ideas and interests to keep sparking new stories. Every spring, several of us have a two-day CREATIVEFEST. Pictured here from left to right are Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Greene, Lindsay Longford, Margaret Watson, Suzette Vann, Cathie Linz, and Julie Wachowski. Yes, food's part of the creative process, as you can see!

XMAS '06

My In-Laws and My Mother-in-Law, Alice, who died three months after this picture at age 92, peacefully and in her own home. She will be missed.

Don't we look as though we're having a wonderful time? We were! Karaoke for the kids, Irish Guiness Cake (still on the table), lots of delicious food, good laughs, and lots and lots of wine! Holidays are such fun. Rob's leaning over in the back.

THANKSGIVING IN ST. PAUL, 2006

Emily, her dad Gary, and Rob

THANKSGIVING, '06

The Groaning Board, all prepared by the young adults who hosted Thanksgiving. What a treat! No clean up, no cooking--ah, delightful! Actually, we all contributed stuff, but it was the young folks who did the heavy labor. They get an A plus! St. Paul is gorgeous, lovely scenery, and Rob and Emily have a charming place. Rob's in the black pullover to the left.

OCTOBER 14, HOME AT LAST

This is Rob upon his arrival at O'Hare Airport in Chicago with all his worldly goods on the luggage cart, including the bicycle that traveled 3000 miles from the northernmost point in Japan to the southernmost with the BEE Environmental Awareness group in their efforts to bring attention and money to the plight of THE GUDONG, a creature much like the manatee in Florida. Yes, all the stuff on the cart is the stuff that went into panniers on the bike, 132 lbs! Plus Rob and the bike itself, of course.

RELAXING ON SADO ISLAND

Here the group is in a casual moment at one of the wonderful summer fairs in Japan. These are great affairs with music, dancing, food. And good Japanese beer and sake. But of course!

Here are Rob, to the far left, and two of the other guys on the BEE ride. As I mentioned, they are dependent on the local populace for food and support. They're eating all vegetarian, of course, and riding about 65 miles or more a day. They're putting on environmental workshops at schools and doing various community awareness events.

Here's the whole group in their bright yellow BEE shrits. You can see the panniers with the 132 lbs of gear loaded! One part of the Sapporo ride was 12 miles uphill.
If you're interested in seeing more pictures, go to the web site, www.beejapan.org and you can find out about the organization.

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