Remember when  Ian spent a few days as an extra on the HBO mini-series John Adams? Last night we finally spotted him! It was definitely a "Where's Waldo?" experience. In one scene, Adams and another man converse as they walk into a building, and we saw Ian walk from right to left behind them. We could only see his back, though. In a mob scene, we saw his face in a crowd for maybe a second or two, but he's facing the camera.

And that was it.

The kid was fitted for wardrobe one day, worked on set three days (in full wardrobe and makeup, which took close to an hour), was fed and housed in a huge tent (complete with constructed plywood floor), and driven around by union drivers. He made over three hundred dollars.

All that for a handful of seconds on-screen. And he was one of nearly two hundred extras that day. I'll never wonder why movies cost so much again!

As for the rest of Sunday, this picture of Ian (taken by Ludvík) sums it up:

For a short month, February sure is dragging. It might have to do with how busy we all are -- work, travel, school, taxi services, driver's ed, color guard practice, band rehersal -- but I think it's because I can't wait to see everyone coming down for Tom's birthday bash. Fast or slow, February 29th will get here and I'd better get the office cleaned out or Sue and AJ will have nowhere to sleep.

Here's hoping illness doesn't mess things up. Thing One had a temperature of 103.7 F this morning. No strep (my worry), but it's probably the 'flu. So far, Thing Two and Thing Czech are fine; cross your fingers they stay healthy. I've already threatened them with bodily harm if they dare catch the 'flu. Happily, Tom never gets sick. I'm chewing on vit. C tablets like they're M&Ms (too bad they don't taste like M&Ms).

Speaking of Thing One, Ian turned eighteen on the tenth. If you haven't seen the pictures yet, take a look:  www.periodic-tabloid.com/photos/thumbnails.php. Here's one picture to get you started:

I'll see some of you in a week or so. And everyone -- don't get the 'flu!

-- Jean