Ella likes to say "snail mail"

The last time I had a pen pal with whom I exchanged actual letters, folded up inside of envelopes, it was my Bigmama. That was a lot of years ago.

One of my new favorite people is Eleanor Redpath. We've decided to write letters to each other when I leave. She'll be my new pen pal. Which makes her especially happy since she likes to say "snail mail" in a happy, chipper voice. I'm looking forward to reading her letters. Because I'm going to miss seeing this smiling face every day and getting letters from her will help me remember how great a time I've had in LA.

Zoe goes to "Circus School"

In spite of the fact that I am not a mom, I have been to a remarkable number of child-centered activities over the years:

• Birthday parties,
• Soccer games,
• Paint Your Own Pottery events,
• Dance recitals,
• Karate classes (only

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Just out there growin' in the yard!

Although I've never seen one of these growing at home, I hear they're very common in these parts. It's a plant called "Bird of Paradise." And it's very, very cool.