It's everyone's good friend Avram's birthday today. Last year's birthday was kind of a disaster, as Brian and I were 1) totally clueless and 2) fans of the worst sushi place in Chico — well, the worst place to go if you ever actually want to eat food, which we did. Dear Avram, I hope you are in So. Cal right now with some ocean salt and sand between your toesies. Your gift is arriving via W.A.S.T.E. post, aka Drivler. I treasure your friendship and wish you the BEST YEAR EVER.

Speaking of good people who deserve good things, I have a new addiction: TLC network. Especially all of those “renovate your house” shows. Avram believes it's “pre-nesting.” He's probably right. All I know is I'm getting two bureaus (not news bureaus) from my downstairs neighbor, and I've filled three photo albums with pictures that span the past decade, and I cringe every time I look at my desk. It's a start.

Brian and Drivler and I watched a 1 1/2 year old, Cole, this week. The best part was watching Brian with the baby. Too adorable. The night before I'd had a dream that we had the ultrasound and the baby was a boy (with HUGE testicles). In my dream, I was disappointed. Cole helped to assuage the disappointment. Anne and Julie have both had boys in the past six months; I think I just want to be different. In any case, we find out for real on June 8th.

My Darling Husband and the aforementioned Drivler are road-trippin' this week. They're ghost hunting by day, and singing karaoke by night. Their destination is beautiful downtown Archer City, Texas, home of Larry McMurtry's four-building bookstore, Booked Up. I hope they can find me a hardcover copy of Power's “Three Farmers on their way to a Dance.” We'll see.