I know Wal-Mart will have a six-month honeymoon where all the traffic will go their way and it will be tough for us. But I think it will benefit us in the long run with more traffic through our doors.

My outlook has shifted a bit from the last time. Granted, Wal-Mart is not my favorite retailer, but we need something. Grand Forks' shopping is too close to us.

What started off to be a six-month stay was shortened to a two-month stay.

Crespo is having treatment and he could be out for a month or six weeks. Duff and Petit will be back soon but Veron will be out a little longer. He may need an operation.

CEOs normally don't take a month off at a time, but Scott doesn't really run Wal-Mart. Thousands of people run Wal-Mart. The captain of a naval carrier can sleep a bit while the crew works.

We spent part of our practice the other day talking to the girls about this, how January's an important month because it's packed full of events. This is the month where we are trying out new skills and basically upgrading the difficulty. You find out what is working, what's not working and what you need to work on still for February.