In all the conversation we had in Florida last week (and there was a lot), there was at least one important conclusion that we drew and it bears repeating here: everything is funny; you just have to take the time to notice. And so it was that I sat down this morning to my dog's breakfast of Kashi cereal with soy milk (look at me, former doughnut-eating champion... how the mighty have fallen) and the phone rang. It was the Cottle School in Tuckahoe. Did I know that due to today's snow there would be early dismissal? Well, no, I did not know that.... Thanks for the info... but my kid hasn't been enrolled in that place for months.

While Cookie attended Cottle we were often unhappy with the school's failure to share what we considered important information. I'm glad to see the situation has improved -- perhaps removing one's child is a bureaucratic pre-requisite to parental contact?

I sneaked in my morning jog before the start of the snow; the first flakes fell on Tuckahoe as I walked out for the train station. And by the time I was crossing Seventh Avenue to get to my office, the ice crystals were being whipped by the wind across my shivering jowls. That part wasn't funny.