Fridays are wonderful. I love Friday. Friday Friday Friday. Best day of the week. Fridays rule.

So. Trinity took pity on me and called me up today to offer me some company since I'm all cut off during the day without my DSL. It was so sweet and I so wish I could have gone but I arranged for Joey to go somewhere after school so I could spend the day in the darkroom. I have a project due in there soon and the only free lab day I have available to me is on Friday so I have to take advantage of it. But we had a lovely chat. She's such a nice person--all y'all who don't live in Oregon are missing out!

I had a great day in the darkroom. My pictures of Russell and Julia turned out good, though a little contrasty so I had to work hard with the low-contrast filters to get things balanced out. There is one picture of Julia by herself that turned out so beautifully--she is looking straight into the camera and her wispy bangs are kind of in her eyes and it's just so pretty. I printed one 8x10 and saw that I had to blow it up so I printed an 11x14 for her parents. They went crazy for it. That makes me feel so good--when I can make something that is so meaningful and loved by the recipients. I offered to mat and put the frame together if they bring me the right sized frame. I will love going over to their house and seeing my artwork on their wall. And knowing others are seeing it, too. I'm very happy. It was a good darkroom day. I also printed a great picture of Grandma. She is smiling and looking into the camera and she just looks so cute and so sweet.

DeLyn called me today to get my impression of Todai, a sushi buffet-style restaurant downtown, since we'd gone to one in Honolulu. I gave her the run-down and then we chatted awhile. She called back a little later and asked if Ed and I wanted to go with them to dinner tonight. I arranged for Grandma to watch Joey and we were in.

Dinner was great! If you have a Todai near you, go there. The food was really great. My favorite things were the grilled salmon (cooked perfectly--not overdone at all--with a tasty cucumber garnish on top), the mussels (both the hot and cold variety), the noodles and the creme brulee. I was pleasantly surprised that their little creme brulees were so tasty, being that this was a sushi place, after all. We ate and ate and ate (Ed and I mostly grazed, though, tasting a little of everything, rather than filling up on any one particular thing) and talked and talked and talked. I so enjoy Russell and DeLyn's company. They are funny and interesting to talk to and so much fun to be around. And DeLyn remembers everything you tell her. I swear, she has something like photographic memory for hearing things. I'm amazed when she'll ask me follow-up questions about things we talked about years ago. My friend Marti is like that, too. It makes you feel so good to talk to them because you feel like what you said is remembered and means something to them.

Tomorrow is dinner with Cherri, John, Marcus, Stacey and a few of Cherri's friends. We're having a real eat-out weekend. I love it! If there is one thing I absolutely *love* to do, it's to eat out with good friends. My second favorite thing to do is to eat in with good friends. Eating with friends is very big with me. That is really the root of companion, actually. It means "with bread" and refers to the people you break bread with. I like that.

--L