What is it about parent-teacher conferences that make you feel that your wild carefree youth is well and truly over? Anyway, we had our first at Ecole Bilingue and there were no surprises. Felix and Milo are well behaved, social with their peers, and engaged in their schoolwork.

We have sad news to report about the San Francisco area itself: one foggy morning this week a humongous cargo ship hit the Bay Bridge and spilled oil all over our beautiful bay. Cleaning crews are working hard, but the repercussions are sure to be felt for years to come. Every day we see new pictures of oil-covered birds on our beaches and it's heartbreaking.