We are feeling much better today in the Rose house. We even managed a short hike along the Eno!

I finally got a day off today – one of the most needed days off I’ve ever had. Apologies for the few blog posts but I haven’t seen the family enough to even know what updates to post.

Tommy and I spent the day cleaning up vomit. Kaya’s got some GI bug and has been feeling pretty puny. And to give you some sense of how much I love my job right now, it was definitely the best day i’ve had in a few weeks!

Finally a rest after all that puking…

So this is what happened.  Tommy went away for the weekend for a “company retreat.” I think that means a ski trip with his friends. Then, he texts me a picture of MY favorite sandwich (the BLAT from the Globe in Copley), which he is eating with said “company” in Boston while I am eating cold cafeteria food at work during a tornado warning on a Saturday afternoon. Life is cruel.

Kaya is following in Daddy’s footsteps on the slides at Candy Cane City.  Of course, plastic hadn’t been invented yet when Daddy was her age so the slides look a bit different now.

Aunt Laura forwarded me this meme today:

One of the highlights of my trip home for Christmas was getting to meet the beautiful Rose Coughlin – the daughter of my oldest friend Kimberly. Our girls are almost exactly a year apart with summer birthdays, just like Kim and I were growing up.  It was so much fun to finally get everyone together.  To many years of our girls playing “house” and “school.”

Tommy and Kaya are away this week celebrating the holidays with his extended family but I had to come home to go back to work.  It’s pretty lonely around here but Tommy has been nice enough to send me photo updates of their adventures.

Meanwhile at home, I’ve worked a lot, done laundry, took a bubble bath, drank lots of tea (for the cold/sore throat that Kaya gave me as a going away present), played my trombone for the first time in about 5 years, watched Glee, took down the Christmas lights, unpacked from vacation, and slept through the night for two nights in a row.  It’s been a surprisingly pleasant change of pace, but definitely not preferable to having the family around.

Here’s a sample photo update from Kaya at the Vindlers’ house:

My Dad has spent the first few years of his retirement restoring an old World War II era jeep.  This was our first visit since it became a finished product.  I failed to snap a photo of the matching helmet he got for Christmas, but he is now prepared for the Lake of the Woods drone attacks.

Break it down Kaya!

More pictures to come – but here’s the most reflective of the season: