Tomorrow, despite stiff legs and sore feet, I'll be out there skate skiing again. Maybe I'll feel a tad stronger and smoother than I did today, or yesterday. Maybe not. But I'll be smiling, grateful for January's particular gifts.

We should celebrate New Years in June, not January. Things seem to more or less end in January.

A common misconception about adoption is that to get a kid you just have to go to another country and be as pretty as Angelina Jolie. As studio executives and movie reviewers have informed me again and again, I'm not.

Adjusting to this new reality means appreciating that just because there's a crisis going on, you can't live in it all the time: in crisis mode there's nothing to do but get immobilized with dread.