Well, we're back home. Back to reality. It's alright. I'm ready. Sort of. The cruise was wonderful fun. We loved Santorini, and, no, we hadn't been there before. It's one of those Greek towns on top of a big mountain where all the houses and restaurants are painted white. You had to take a tram up to the top. My mom visited there last year and said the tram wasn't working so they rode donkeys to the top. One donkey fell on top of a woman riding him and broke her leg. Glad we didn't take the donkey. It was a lovely place to walk and we stopped for a drink at a cafe overlooking the water that encircled a volcano right in front of the island.

Mark in Santorini
The next day, we went to Split, Croatia. It was slightly interesting. There was an old city dating back to 300 AD that we explored. And finally, the last day, we went to Venice, Italy. It was totally amazing, as Venice always is. Such a beautiful city. And now, we're home again. Oh, minor celebrity sighting to report. We flew in the same business class cabin with either Daniel or Stephen Baldwin. I'm not sure which. Once you get past Alec I can't tell them apart. But it was definitely a Baldwin brother, no question. He looked like a total schlub and I didn't recognize him until Mark pointed him out. He was travelling with a very beautiful woman in big sunglasses.

Sam's first question on our return was, "whadja get me?" Kids never change, do they? He's trying to convince us to buy him a new laptop, which I'm resisting. He's got a computer that works just fine. I told him I'd buy him one for his birthday, but he can't wait (his birthday's in October for God's sake). Last night he was coming up with all these hairbrained schemes to earn the money to buy a laptop. My favorite was his plan to sell his sperm. Why? Because "I can produce a lot of it in a short amount of time." Just what a mother wants to hear. I don't think sperm banks accept deposits from 13-year-olds, but I encouraged him to give them a call to make sure. That would be the ultimate job for a pubescent boy - "What'd you do this summer?" "Oh, I made a mint donating sperm." Honestly, I had no idea he even knew about this. Maybe he just read about it in science class. Yeah, that's it.

Schuyler is in California visiting cousins. They're going to Yosemite National Park and San Francisco. One more week of freedom from worrying about Schuyler's whereabouts. Better enjoy it when I can.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

# posted by Karen Quinn : 10:37 AM