29% of the weekend was spent driving. In fact, Kindel and I spent as much time in the car as we did sleeping. While that may sound bad, all of that time was spent commuting to and from Topeka for my mom's birthday. I'm not sure I had ever seen mom as excited as she was when Kindel and I surprised her Saturday evening. While our time together as a family was short, it was great to see them. What stood out most to me, though, was my sister's faithful service to the family. She consistently puts the family's interest abover her own. As a result, mom was given a wonderful surpise birthday party, filled with her closest friends and family.

I'd like to make mention of the meal we had Saturday evening. The family decided to patronize a local Chinese buffet - one of those that has a billion types of breaded chicken dishes, wanton soup, and an ice cream machine. The menu, however, was well above ordinary for american Chinese restaurants, and I believe I was the only one to take full advantage of it. For instance, I would have never tried octapus had I not been given that occassion Saturday evening. Matthew, my younger brother, pointed out the small, 5 inch in length octapuses that were cooked for eating pleasure. I just couldn't pass up on trying octapuse, and in Topeka of all places! Surprisingly, the two tofu-tasting sea creatures I ate were really good! If you're passing through or live in the area, I recommend visiting Panda Buffet at the West Ridge Mall of Topeka.

NEXT, and this is a big next, Kindel and I celebrate our four month anniversary tomorrow. The two of us are thankful to have spent so much time with each other this last weekend, especially in light of the usual business of our week. We've come a long way in four months and I expect the next four to be just as exciting and memorable. We don't have definitive plans for tomorrow, except that we've tossed around the idea of catching up on the two episodes of 24 that we missed.

Lastly, I fly back to Newark on Thursday for the Princeton visit.

Cheers!