Katie, nine days? That sounds awful. Did you determine how you'll handle Disneyland? Also, when does school start? Will your injury conflict with your first day of the fall semester? Hope Billy feels better soon.

Shannon, I think it's time for another trip to the Homey Inn. What do you say? Any night this week look good (beside Monday)? Thursday looks OK for me. Let me know :-)

On my hair, I got it chopped again. I'm glad I did, too. It was getting too shaggy for my liking, and for me to do anything to it. It just sat there, and I hated it.

Speaking of hair, what's the final verdict on the razor-less hair removal system by Veet? Or Nair? I don't remember the brand, but I'm very curious about the long-term results.

-Wendy

Denver was fun. Did lots of shopping and ate even more. Speaking of food, here's a recipe I found today in the Omaha World-Herald. It looks tasty.

Coffee and Cream Icebox Cake

Butter for the loaf pan
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon sugar
44 Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers
1/4 cup finely chopped, toasted hazelnuts for garnish
1/4 cup chocolate cookie wafer crumbs

Lightly butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Line the pan with two long pieces of plastic wrap, allowing the excess plastic to hang over the edges of the pan. There should be enough excess wrap to fold over the top.

In a large bowl, combine the cream, espresso powder and sugar. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream until it holds firm peaks. Spoon about two-thirds of the whipped cream over the bottom of the prepared pan. Tap the pan firmly on the counter to even the cream and eliminate any air bubbles.

Starting at a short side of the pan, stack some of the wafers in the cream, side by side, standing them on their edge in a row like dominoes. Continue down the long side of the pan until you reach the other short side. Repeat with a second row of cookies, but stack the second row so that the edge of each cookie in the second row wedges into the cream between two cookies in the first row. In other words, you want the cookies in the second row to alternate with the pattern of the cookies in the first row. Continue with two more rows, alternating, for a total of four rows. Press down on the cookies gently.

Cover the rows of cookies with the remaining cream. Using a spatula, smooth the cream, gently pressing to make sure any gaps between the cookies are filled. Tap the pan on the counter to eliminate air pockets. If gaps appear, fill with whipped cream.

Cover the cake with the excess plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, preferably two days. When ready to serve, uncover the top of the plastic wrap from the cake and gently tug on the plastic to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Place a cutting board on top of the pan and invert the cake onto the board. Remove the pan, then gently peel away the plastic wrap.

In a bowl, mix the hazelnuts and cookie crumbs. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top of the cake. Using a knife, slice the cake lengthwise - that is, start at the short end of the pan and run your knife down the length of the pan to the other short end. This method produces the most visual impact. Then cut each of the long slices in half. Each slice should have multiple chocolate stripes alternating with a thin layer of coffee cream. (The cake slices easiest with a warm knife; run a knife under hot water, then quickly dry it with a clean towel.)