quick update

It feels like eons since I posted - and it probably has been.

Here are some quick updates:

* pro: after only 6 months Kooka got her braces off, and her teeth look amazing. con: she needs to have baby teeth pulled to make room for the new ones, or we may have to start all over.




  * While Punk and Kooka spent Thanksgiving weekend with their dad, Rico Yoda and I flew to New York for our first holiday with Rico's family. They were welcoming, and sweet. Yoda was most thankful for the bling bestowed upon her by her aunt - she's been wearing it for nearly a week straight. *The next day was spent in Connecticut, where we hung out with Yoda's biggest sister Leah. Rico also took me to Cheshire, which is where he lived when we first met.  We checked out his house, met a few friends, took a walk on his favorite path, and ate some amazing bagels.  * We had one more stop, before we headed back to MN  - a stop at Rico's boyhood home.  We met up with two of our favorite people - Eric and Stef, for a tour of Flushing, NY. Rico had a chance to sit on his old stoop with one of his best friends, we tried two NY pizzas (tastes like Sabbarro to me), and three Italian ices (which were absolutely, hands down, the best thing I have eaten in years). 
*The ride home was uneventful, except for the fact that the pilot kept pointing out the fact that the radar was predicting bumpy weather.  he was right - but being a nervous flier, I don't want to think about radar, or instrument panels, or anything like that.  I want to imagine that somebody is below my plane shouting "wingardium levi-o-sa" at teh top of their lungs, until we are safely back in MN - home of Pizza Hut - which is (don't tell Rico) the way pizza is SUPPOSED to taste.