Yes! Everything that needed to go well went well today, and we are officially one step closer to Great News for the book. The next update isn't expected until sometime next week ... slugs move faster than the publishing industry.

(That's okay. A weeklong excuse for bragging and ice cream eating is nothing to complain about.)

Went on Friday and watched the filming of this season's CSI finale. It was both much more and much less exciting than it sounds. Lots of people swarming all over the set -- the last time we were there the set was quiet and pristine, so this was a big change. They all had lots of interesting gear -- duct tape and sheets of plastic and tissues and cables and light meters and headsets and who-knows-what. Plus, we were lucky and got to watch them shoot a scene with five of the six main actors. However, since they only shoot about a minute of film per hour of swarming, we didn't exactly get to see much of the finale.

(What we saw looked good, though.)

Came home to some exciting news about my book, though I won't jinx myself by posting details yet. Cross fingers for me, please!

News tidbits:

- We're going to Burbank to watch the filming of a CSI episode. How cool!

- Our gosling count soared past 40 before we utterly lost track because of the number of bitty ones.

- On the bad side, it's pouring out, I'm hungry, there's still tons to do for the memorial (email if you want info), there's still tons to do for the refinance, I want a camera, I want a Cross Morph pen, Tony wants a laptop, we need new climbing shoes, we're trying not to spend money, and I forgot that I ran the washing machine so now the laundry has been sitting in the machine, wet and festering, for three days. Oops.

Twelve miles on Friday. And another twelve on Sunday. We each have blistered toes but otherwise are doing fine. Our next goal is a true back-to-back (twice in two days, no rest in the middle) and then to do the walk twice in one day. Once we can do that, we can do a marathon, no question.

No walking tonight, though. We're both excited to climb, and then to send out a late batch of pledge letters and dream of taking a long, long, faraway vacation somewhere.

Dinner last night with an old friend, who asked why we don't write about TV more on this site.

And just a few days ago I got an outraged email asking how I can talk about trivial issues like climbing or goslings or even a death in the family when I should be writing more about the breast cancer walk and how important it is to raise money for that cause. And lots of people just want more game info or for us to post more Java games.

I guess I'm only writing what's on my mind at the moment, what is looming largest. Such as our dinner last night (outstanding) or the Giants game (we won again) or or refinance appointment or how strange and stressful these days are, after Tony's dad's death and before the memorial... it all feels kind of unreal. Or about climbing yesterday, and how cool it was to notice that Tony has developed those sexy, ropy 'climber's calves'. Or about how much more slowly those pledge forms are returning to us, compared to last year. (Help!)

...Or even about how great the 'Firefly' captain was in his appearance on this week's episode of Buffy.

Trying to catch back up on our lives. Tony is in Oregon, rescheduled from last week. Next is Los Angeles. Also had to reschedule the refinance appointment. Bills. Emails. Pledge letters. Thank-you notes. Four loads of laundry. My own work schedule is completely out the window. Sigh. But we're continuing to receive kind cards and emails about his dad, which is nice, and we took some time last night for a short training walk, which we both needed.

We could each use about twenty hours of solid sleep.

Over a week late, but today was Gos Day -- the day the first goslings appear (that we know of) in Redwood Shores.

We wait with huge anticipation for Gos Day every spring. I let out a shriek when I saw them, terrifying poor Tony, and got a quick picture using the camera in the mobile phone. Will crop and post later.

Thanks for the kind emails. For those who have asked, we won't be holding a memorial service for a least a few weeks.

Still making arrangements, spending time with Tony's family, everything. Crazy busy, so please forgive delayed emails or phone calls! How do people know how to do this stuff? Death is very complicated, and it turns out that there is no instruction manual waiting when a family member dies. You just have to muddle through. Plus, everyone offers to help but they don't really know what to do either. (Note: food is always a good thing.)

Whoa. Complete stop.

Tony's dad passed away yesterday.

We're out doing all the things that need to be done. And mourning. Will be back in touch later.

So. Washington Mutual Online takes all my refinance info, then says: "Sorry, we're having trouble with the website. Call our handy 1-800 number!"

Fine. I call the number. I bounce around the Automated Help System for an age, punching in mortgage numbers, social security numbers, more numbers, and am finally told: "Sorry, we're too busy to take your call. You can find a local office by calling this 888 number."

The 888 number has been disconnected.

Finally found a local office (on my own) and made an old-fashioned appointment to go in the old-fashioned way, face-to-face, next week to arrange a refinance. No Internet at all. Bummer.

Sorry about the blackout! Our blogger template became corrupted and we've been spending the past week fiddling with it. In the meantime, though, we've added a CSI button to the left and updated the walkathon info.

Still keeping up our training (did a 12-mile Redwood Shores/Palo Alto trek on Sunday) and enjoying the relative lack of stress now that CSI has been published. I detect, however, a touch of the of post-production blues in Tony. It's normal to have a kind of letdown after finishing any big project or adventure; the only real cure is time or distraction. I'll bet that a car picnic in the convertable wouldn't hurt, though.

Our new training schedule is on track. We haven't missed a night, not even last Tuesday when we were scheduled to walk but it was freezing outside. We bundled up and walked anyway, stopping for sushi (with hot miso) on the way home.

But then I had a meltdown at the gym last night. I was having an off night, Tony was having an 'on' night, so he could climb everything he tried while I kept ending up on the floor like a hunk of sweaty old cheese. Naturally, it suddenly became all his fault.

I've apologized, but I think I still owe him a backrub.

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