Just got back from Chicago--it was like -23 degrees there today so I made it out in the nick of time. I love my sister Cassie but I don't know how she can deal with living there!

We had a great time reaping the benefits of Patrick's executiveness--when I checked in I realized we had a whole extra room hooked to our suite so Cassie and her family came Saturday and stayed the day/night. We got to hang out and have fun while Patrick worked non-stop from 6 am till 11 pm Friday and Saturday...and tonight, tomorrow, and Tuesday.

Let me just say this before moving on: it is true that Frette linens--I believe they are one of Oprah's favorite things--are quite possibly worth the like $100 per towel price. They had Frette linens in our suite--as well as L'Occitane bath products--and I am addicted to the sheets and the towels.

Ok, anyway, we had a great time and I'm back but poor Patrick is still working 'round the clock. Granted, his "work" for tonight involves going out to some ritzy steakhouse for dinner then to yet another hospitality suite gathering. But when you have to be on at 6 am and stay on until 11 pm every day for a week it is exhausting even if a lot of what you're doing is shmoozing.

Speaking of work--and I didn't even plan this nifty transition--I was going through some old emails and reading about this French woman who wrote a book on why people shouldn't have kids. Unfortunately it's not available in English translation yet, but once it is I will surely be reading it and you'll surely be hearing about it. In the meantime, though, we can all read her other book which is available in the US and in English: Bonjour Laziness-Why Hard Work Doesn't Pay.

Or, if your laziness extends out of the workplace and into your personal life in the form of not reading books, you can just read this interview with her to get the gist. Actually, you probably have to read that interview and the blurb on the page about the book to get the whole idea of what the book is presumably about. Namely, one of the universal truth's I've discovered thus far in life--that the people who do the least work and/or are the most incompetent get rewarded while the smartest, most motivated people get more work and less pay when they have to take up the slack the incompetent ones create.

Anyway, I'll be interested to see what she says and if it matches my observations.