Tonight Kris and I went to his parent's place for his mom and aunt's birthday celebration. The party was kicked off by a movie screening of Music and Lyrics on the new big screen. Every one was very impressed. 61", flat screen, great picture. Kris even hooked up his stereo speakers to it for extra kick. I know in about twenty years we'll look back on it and laugh as we view our clearer and larger-than-life screens, so it is of some historical importance to note these things. After the party, K and I headed over to our friend Jessica's house for a small gathering on Memorial Day. The party grew and it became a mini reunion of the class of '05. There were: Ben, Justin, Abby, Megan, Travis, Andrew, Wes, Kris, and then Jessica and Jeff, who graduated ahead of us. It was neat seeing everyone together, but I also felt a bit awkward at times. You could tell who had moved on and who hadn't. Ben and Justin hadn't changed at all, Abby and Andrew didn't seem to have too much to say...At one point we had divided out into talking circles, one of guys and one of girls, and although us girls were never extremely close, it still took us a few tries to find some common ground to talk on. The conversations weren't as fluid and relaxed as they had been in high school, our lives were too much our own, not enough shared experiences or common friends. But that's just the way it goes I guess. Speaking of growing up, Mackenzie has gotten bigger, no surprise. She's smiling a lot more these days. She always smiles at me when I say hello to her, which is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. The whole Dollander clan has been spending a lot of time here on the weekends, enjoying the pool and time together. Our Sundays are so cherished for that quality time together. Mackenzie doesn't 'talk' too much yet, and in fact she's a pretty quiet baby in general. Doesn't cry very often and is perfectly content to be on her play mat. She loves to watch TV and even watched the car race with Tim last weekend, which I'm sure makes him proud. I've taken some more photos of her with mom and during her first time swimming, so I'll have to get those printed and framed. Mom and Jackie talked and concluded what I didn't want to admit: There's no way I'm going to find a job this summer. We're going on vacation for a week in June and July and then I move to Tempe August 1st, so there's no way I'm going to find a job, train, and then work two months with two weeks off. So, mom and Jackie have hired me for the summer as their own personal assistant. Mom's been really enjoying it. I've got a whole list of things she wants me to do. My biggest project is going to be completing the photo wall in the hall. I'm eager to get started on it, actually, although it's going to be very time consuming and messy. The hardest part, I think, will be the photo selection. It's not that we don't have enough, but that we have too much! (Although there is of course no such thing as too many pictures.) Anyway, I'd better get going. Kris is babysitting Sydney today and we've got to take his car into the dealership and I have some other errands to run...Just a day in the life! Carrie