There are Robins year-round in Des Moines now. I see them in flocks eating the berries off the trees near my workplace all winter long. I suppose there are enough warm places & flowing water in the "Big City" to encourage them to just stick around. I still can't wait to hear their cheery morning & late evening songs, though!

Exciting news! I just found out my 9 year old grandson will be in a new Warner Brother's movie! The movie is called, "Unnacompanied Minors", that will be released soon. It's a Comedy/Drama. They are filming part of it in Salt Lake City and vacinity. I think the airport scenes (and maybe a few others were filmed in Chicago at O'Hare, but the rest will be filmed in Utah. Plot Outline: A group of kids bond while snowed in at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport the day after Christmas, and ultimately create a makeshift holiday for themselves. As it is still in production, the data is subject to change. Unaccompanied Minors Starts Production Source: Warner Bros. Pictures March 16, 2006 Production is underway on the comedy Unaccompanied Minors, directed by Paul Feig (Freaks and Geeks) and starring Lewis Black (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), Wilmer Valderrama (That 70's Show), Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris) and Dyllan Christopher (Seabiscuit) for Warner Bros. Pictures in association with Village Roadshow Pictures. The announcement was made today by Jeff Robinov, President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures. It's Christmas Eve and five kids have just been snowed in at the airport -- and there isn't a parent in sight. Unaccompanied Minors follows awkward Spencer (Dyllan Christopher), rich-girl Grace (Gina Mantegna), tomboy Donna (Quinn Shephard), geeky Charlie (Tyler James Williams) and bashful Beef (Brett Kelly) as they try to outwit a disgruntled airport official (Lewis Black) and reunite with their families. Using "borrowed" golf-carts, a canoe on a snow hill and the help of a reluctant flight attendant (Wilmer Valderrama), these kids are about to prove the holidays aren't about where you are, but who you're with. The comedy will also feature Rob Corddry (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) as Spencer's dad, as well as cameos by Donny Osmond (Donny & Marie), Al Roker (Today), Teri Garr (Friends), Jessica Walter (Arrested Development), Tony Hale (Arrested Development), Rob Riggle (Saturday Night Live), BJ Novak (The Office), David Koechner (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy), Dave Gruber Allen (The Naked Trucker) and comedian Nick Thune. Unaccompanied Minors is produced by Lauren Shuler Donner (the "X-Men" franchise) and Michael Aguilar (Constantine) from a screenplay by Paul Feig and Kate Kondell (First Daughter) and Mya Stark & Jacob Meszaros. The executive producers are Ira Glass, Julie Snyder, Carrie Morrow (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang), Michael Lambert and Bruce Berman (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). The director of photography is Chris Baffa (Nip/Tuck, Running With Scissors); the production designer is Aaron Osborne (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) and the editor is George Folsey Jr. (The Pink Panther, Animal House). Unaccompanied Minors will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures. I'll let ya'll know more as I hear.

Aktillery..... We just painted out master bedroom a S. Williams color called 'Rain'......We did a coffered ceiling with a large square in the center, and smaller squares around it. We painted the large sq. in the 'Rain', and the smaller squares in S. Wms. 'Ivorie'... When I walked in and saw it finished, I LOVED it! The colors reminded me of the beach, (which I love)...The blue is so calming and not at all 'cold'.

Vicky, I admire your persistence. I anxiously await the first day of school every year. Once upon a time my husband and I would take that day off to spend together and relish in the fact that our daughters were now the responsibility of the Public School System for several hours a day. I swear, every 1st day of school my blood pressure would drop about 40 points after a full summer of working all day and worrying about what my girls were getting into without our supervision. This year, I'm going to try to relish every minute because my youngest will graduate in May. Then she's off to New York City to try and make her way on the Great White Way. (Now, exactly what kind of threat is that?? lol) So, since you're so good with the parts of English, can you teach an old, gray mare? I can write pretty well, but I couldn't identify the parts of speech to win a quilt! Odessa