Well, I'm sitting here feeling just a little bit queasy . . . I've just made plane reservations for the kids and me to go to my niece Andrea's wedding in Phoenix next month. It's a lot of money to spend, especially at a moment when money doesn't seem all that available . . .

But heck. With any luck, she'll only get married once, eh? And just lately I've been feeling very regretful that my kids don't know their cousins - any of their cousins, really - very well. In particular, my children don't have much of an extended family on my side of the family, partly because they've lived out west and we've lived in the midwest and it's expensive to get everyone together. (Not that a weekend trip to a wedding will negate a couple of decades of benign neglect, especially at all their ages, but I suppose you have to start somewhere . . . )

And my children would do well to spend more time with each other, too.

Oh, well, it's only money . . . the worry will pass. The amount of this trip isn't going to bankrupt us . . . and I am looking forward to the wedding!! It's hard to get too upset over a few days in the Arizona sun with family . . .