To tell you the truth, Claudia could probably be a model. She's Japanese-American, and she has the most gorgeous almond-shaped eyes and silky black hair. She also has style with a capital S. She can throw together funky bargain-basement clothes and look sooooo cool.

How someone so stylish can live in such a pig sty of a room is beyond me. There are clothes all over the place. Plus she is an excellent artist, so here's what else is lying around: easels, poster board, jewelry-making tools, paints and brushes, markers, sketch paper, and plaster of paris. Not to mention Ring

Dings, Chunkies, pretzels, Milk Duds, and chips. Claud's room is like a junk food Where's Waldo? Her parents are strict about good nutrition and fine literature, so Claudia has to hide all her junk food and her Nancy Drew mysteries (she's addicted to them, too). She pulls them out from between sweaters, under her bed, inside shoes, everywhere. So it's no surprise that she sometimes loses track of things, like the holiday M&M's.

How do we fit in Claud's room? She manages to shove everything away before meetings. (If she didn't, Kristy would probably nag her forever.)

Anyway, so there we were in Claud's room. Most of us were popping red and green M&M's into our mouths and getting into the holiday spirit about three months early (or nine months late). But not Stacey McGill and me. However, being a a very thoughtful person, Claudia had squirreled away some sesame crackers for us.

No, Stacey's not on a diet. She's also not a health-food fan like I am. She has diabetes, which means her body can't control the level of sugar in her blood. If she ate too many candy bars she could end up in the hospital. Every day she has to take injections of something called insulin. Can you imagine?