Carol (Karney) Kern EMP-32 with her family at her son Aidan's baptism

Happy summer to all of you! As I write this, I am happy to report that the Cubs are actually hanging in there. Let's hope it continues throughout the season. And before I jump into the column please, please go in right now and update your e-mail address book with my correct e-mail address. As I mentioned in prior magazines, you need to remember to update your contact information at Kellogg's alumni Web site (alumni.kellogg.northestern.edu) so that we can all remain in touch. I no longer have a distribution list which I maintain for our class. The only way you can ensure that future communications reach you is by using the Kellogg broadcast e-mail platform. If you are not keeping your contact information up to date with Kellogg, then you will continue to miss any/all e-mails from me. Now, that would be a tragedy!

OK, enough of the administrative stuff. The last time I wrote back in September, I was a week away from delivering a new baby. Aidan Patrick Kern was born on Sept. 18, weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces. I am going to brag here and let you know that he is the best behaved, most even-tempered baby I have ever come across. He smiles on cue and sleeps like a champion. I think God knew that at 43, he had to give me a good one. Suffice to say, both Kelly and I are over-the-moon with this little guy, and his siblings Zachary and Kellie love having a baby in the house.

I received a nice update from Bob Knowling, and it sure appears as if his kids are following in their very successful dad's footprints! Bob, you have every right to be a very proud papa indeed.

Jorge del Castillo wrote to let me know that he is still in the "doctoring business" and continues to enjoy this area of work. I just wonder if it is as much fun as "Grey's Anatomy" makes is out to be? He is focusing more on risk management and liability for the institution, and continues to run the three emergency rooms with his partner. Jorge is also involved in expanding a consulting business where personal injury cases are reviewed prior and during litigation for insurance companies.

Phil Barnett wrote to let me know that he and Colleen had recently moved back to Chicago, where he was promoted to senior vice president of corporate financial planning at Exelon Corporation. Phil is responsible for the leads within Exelon's finance business unit and has heavy interface with both treasury and investor relations activity. Phil also let me know that with the kids — Katherine (10) and Tom (6) — in school, Colleen has gone back to work in recruiting with Advanced Resources. The Barnetts are living in Northbrook, Ill.

Catherine Margles and I exchanged e-mails over the holidays. She has started a business by taking her Creative Cooking School in Las Vegas to the next level; she offers a culinary team-building division. Corporations looking for something different, unique and fun engage in creating a wonderful gourmet meal under the supervision and expertise of the Creative Cooking School's staff. Catherine's impressive list of clients include Marriott, McDonald's, Citicorp, Eli Lilly and Kohler to name a few. Congratulations Catherine on your wildly successful venture!

Last but not least, I just couldn't end this article without including the following submission from our own Tim Smithe:

17 Things to Do with a Dead Cicada

1) Bait. They're free. They're plentiful. They freeze well. But we're begging you: Label the container in BIG letters. 2) Replacements for the missing markers in the Monopoly game. 3) Mulch. The hard shells, made of a material called chitin, can help block weed growth and hold in moisture. When the cicadas start to decay, they can be used as fertilizer — just like all organic material. 4) Countless crafts projects: A little hot glue, some glitter, some paint, and you've got folk art. We expect a primer from Martha Stewart any day. 5) Unique earrings. Attach to ready-made dangle earring findings, or use a needle and thread to string them into necklaces and belts, too. 6) Instead of fringe, use them to decorate your lampshade. 7) Math manipulatives. Help the kids learn counting skills. For instance, if I have 12 cicadas and the cat bats one under the sofa, how many are left? 8) Marking the baselines at Wrigley. It could shake up the Cubs next time. 9) Make money. Type in "cicada" or "Brood X" on eBay and you'll find plenty of would-be entrepreneurs selling the bugs. One seller, from Corydon, Ind., sold four dried, unmounted specimens for $21.50. Don't laugh — there were nine bidders. 10) Cheap stuffing for cornhole bags. Stuff them in, stitch them up, and start tossing. Just make sure they're dead before you stuff — a bag sneaking off the board could give a player an unfair advantage. 11) Slightly stiff cicadas make excellent replacement birdies for a rousing game of badminton. And if an overzealous player shoots one onto the roof, the game goes on; there are plenty more to take its place. 12) Macramé beads. Work them into your next planter for an earthy touch. 13) Plastic alternative. The aforementioned chitin, the material that makes up the hard outer shell of cicadas, lobsters, cockroaches and other critters, is a structural polysaccharide and could be used as a biodegradable material to make containers that need to last only temporarily, Kritsky says. Sounds like another money-maker to us. 14) Collect some floral foam and branches and make a summer centerpiece for your table. Glue cicadas to plastic picks and pop them in. Watch your dinner guests jump in surprise when they spot them during the appetizer course. 15) Decorate your cheap flip-flops by attaching cicadas with hot glue for a customized pair of summer sandals. 16) Use as decorative buttons on your sofa pillows. 17) Cat toys. Just be sure to vacuum under the furniture when playtime ends.

I am so happy to be living in the cicada-free town of Leawood, Kansas!