Today is Anita's birthday and we're having Chinese for lunch to celebrate. It's hard to believe we're all of a "certain age" except for one young-ish member of the team.

If you wanted a working group that reflected the diversity of our city, ours would be a pretty good start--African American, Latino, Filipino, White, Indian, straight, gay, gray hair, dark hair, tall, short. And one person who describes herself as a "mutt"--Northern European, Asian, Native American--all-American, is the way she puts it.

We all get along pretty well, too, which is a major accomplishment when the stress level rises. We have our days when we're out of sorts, as do all people who work or live closely together, but for the most part we get along well.

There are occasionally times when I feel like an outsider, as for instance, quoting Shakespeare and nobody gets it, nor has anyone any idea what I'm talking about when I use certain "big" words, but I make an effort to stay in the office mainstream, going along to get along.

Once in a while I put my foot in my mouth: today I used the word "egregious". Oops.