Back home in Chicago! I got my orange mug off the "visitors" shelf and put it in the dishwasher to signal that I'm living here temporarily (and that I was thirsty) and fell asleep under the same Mickey Mouse blanket I used when I was six. (It barely covers both my toes and my shoulders at the same time.)

While wandering NY, and MA visiting family, I fell horribly behind in all sorts of things. Catching up with that stuff now. Instead of checking email, I got to see my new twin cousins (Julian and Luke, a month old and we weren't allowed to touch them without rubbing our hands with alcohol every time), eat the best cheesecake ever (Junior's), and learn that three-year-olds have a disturbing propensity towards potty humor.

Joe and I booked our plane tickets to Japan last night. The two of us and Gui are going there at the very end of January to present our designs to roboticists and businesspeople looking for new product ideas. Our hands were shaking as we booked the tickets (more a function of being broke than nervous, though).

Now to catch up on all that work.