You'll forgive me...

First, I want to say that I have an excuse for my extended hiatus and once you read it you'll understand or should!

Thanksgiving Recap: We flew with Grandma to cold WDC transporting antibiotic and ear drops for Timothy who had come down with an ear infection. On Monday we (myself + 2 kids) met up with an old friend who arranged a surprise lunch with some other coworkers. It was REALLY great to see them all and even better was the SURPRISE announcement that Mike and Monica are ENGAGED!!!!! YIPEEEE! I'm crossing my fingers they get hitched in sunny Hawaii as it would give me a great excuse to visit the beautiful island and I think I could even manage to stay at the Westbrooklyn house... True love is an awesome thing and I wish them great happiness together.

For the rest of our time in Maryland, we visited with friends like the Belnaps, Leightons (come on, you know I made some pretty persuasive arguments, move here!!!!), Merrilee, Anne, and family. We played Merrilee's Wii and had a great thanksgiving meal. We enjoyed too many rolls, too many mashed potatoes and all of the desserts Merrilee brought! We made a couple of trips, one to Monticello (T. Jefferson's home near Charlottesville, VA), and to Arlington National Cemetery to experience the solemn Changing of the Guard Ceremony.

Note to Merrilee: did we really let Anne off the hook for giving us her recipe???? I think we need to stay on that!

We had good intentions to visit some other friends, but, like all good intentions...Bug got the bronchitis "bug" that's been going around and it's too nasty to share, so we packed it in and headed home Wednesday night. Thursday morning, around 6:55 a.m., I left T on my bed while I went to brush my teeth...please, try to refrain from any comments on how stupid that is, I am fully aware. Anyhow, he managed in just a minute or so to roll off the bed, so we spent all of Thursday at the Dr, and ER getting x-ray's of his clavicle and "long bone survey" or something like that. Note to all Drs, esp ones like Dr. McArthur who works the ER and Dr. Westbrook who is "doing time" there: a mother with a 5 month old broken collar bone AND 3 year old with bronchitis hacking it up in the ER, is a priority case. Seriously! Anyhow, that took 4 hours and fortunately Paul was able to come home and "help" out. I put "help" in quotes, because like all good husbands, Paul "hurt" his back while I was busy taking care of my two children for the previous 11 days and could not actually be "helpful" Note: he is still recovering, but I did manage to force him to the dr for serious medication to make it go away and restore him to his dutiful position as my expert assistant in all matters domestic. Friday night, Bug spiked a fever of 103.8, so having just recovered from the "even if it's broken, there's nothing we can do with your 5 month old's collar bone", we (Bug and I) made a trip to the Urgent Care center, not to be confused with the ER, because you get seen quickly, but qualifications of Dr's in attendance may be lacking. Anyhow, he was sort of on the mend by Saturday afternoon when of course T comes down with the bronchitis and by Monday we were BACK in the Ped's office to make sure he was okay. Dr claims he has a "touch of "RSV" but not to worry...anyone out there getting this? So we're not worried, we're hanging in there and of course how can we not get better when it's 80 degrees outside and there are Christmas lights to be hung?

To give myself a small "break" and because my Dad is here and asked the impending question, "So, are you going to church today?", I went to church on Sunday..I had sort of been avoiding a phone call from a certain secretary at church because I had an inkling that I might be a prime candidate- read: target for giving a talk...well, I had that wrong (Wes, instead of bringing my scriptures to church, I bring my Wolf Scout handbook!). I am now the 2nd counselor in the Primary (read: children's service) in a ward with 120 kids and 18 incoming sunbeams...(3 year olds). I'm crazy. I'm sure of it. I knew I should have stayed home and NEVER muttered an ill word against the cub scouting program. I'd proudly wear my yellow shirt if I could take it all back! :) I'll let you know how this goes. Our leader is a fearless, fabulous woman who leaves just about everyone in the dust in terms of credentials and abilities (She has an Ed.d AND 5 kids AND plays the piano, guitar, flute...., teaches at the UofH, and delivers baked goods to birthday R.S. ladies in her "spare" time!), so I'm hoping I have something to offer. I will say when introduced, the Wolf Scouts did not disappoint and made me feel welcome. Wish me luck. I'll report more later and hope thanksgiving left you all full and overwhelmed with happiness with Christmas on its way!