Happy new year first of all. I spent the first moments a day ahead of you. Got punched in the mouth, I did, Minutes 'til midnight, trying to save a friend's pizza parlor which had been descended on by a violent gang of drunk surfer lads. One called me a fuggin' yank, he did. Of all the names I've been called, this was a new one. But I was. I was in a pizza joint on the ocean in the bush country of the land down under in the middle of summer. Now I'm back. But something's different. Now I'm a fuggin' yank. But a week at the beach to put 2003 solidly into the past? Priceless.

Isabella lost both front teeth in the last week. It seems the tooth fairy uses local currency, in this case Aussie dollars. Did you know that?