no, i didn't fall off the face of the earth!

It's been an incredible 3+ weeks here! Tom headed to The Netherlands on Saturday, January 22, just missing a visit from his sister and her family, in town for a conference. Needless to say, the girls and I REALLY enjoyed their visit! Their children are 3 and 1+ and a delight to be around. Saturday evening they came over here and we enjoyed spaghetti -- forgot how fun it is to see tomato-faces on little ones! On Sunday we met them at City Park and enjoyed the playground for a bit (wanted to go to Story Land but it closed at 4 instead of 5 as the website had indicated). Headed back to our house to walk up to the levee and see the lake, then home for Chinese food. Monday they had a conference dinner (and it's one of our crazy days with violin at 6:30), but we were able to see them again Tuesday evening for pizza. Definitely a treat and I'm so grateful they made the effort to join us.

The following weekend my aunt, uncle, tallest cousin, and his girlfriend were in town, celebrating my cousin's birthday. They headed over our way to join us for Thai food Sunday afternoon and then back to our house for a bit of a visit. Again, quite a blessing to get to see family!

And yesterday I was able to meet with a friend from high school and her kids for lunch -- a real treat at "Court of Two Sisters" for the jazz brunch. It's amazing how the years melt away and you can talk. Her older daughter was ill and stayed at the hotel, but I enjoyed talking with both her son and younger daughter at lunch. I'm so thankful that all these people "wanted" to see us!

Besides all that, we've been up the the typical activities. In addition Abby suffered (and still has a runny nose) from a really bad cold and missed 2 days of school. I'm thankful she failed the flu test and failed the strep test and was able to make up her school work fairly easily.

Most of all I'm so thankful Tom made it home last Saturday night. The world just seems more "right" when he's home....

As we freeze here in New Orleans, hope you all enjoy the rest of winter!