i went to maria's son's 7th birthday party on saturday. it was at this sports center with a roller skating rink and two ice skating rinks...you can rent the roller skating rink for an hour for birthday parties. so imagine ten kids about ian's age, for the most part, skating for the first time. it was both entertaining and painful. there were times when 8 of them were on the floor. it was so hard to watch them fall - half of the time, i was on edge 'cuz even when they're upright, you anticipate them falling - but those kids...they're really brave and resilient. of course, maria and i sat out...she and i are the same when it comes to stuff like that...no skating/ice skating/skiing...felt like i was the only one for a while, so it was nice to find someone else who's as bad at that stuff as i am.