Weak week

 It was a weak week for me. On Sunday afternoon, I came down with the sickness gifted to me by my family, and it was a rough one. I haven't been that sick in years. We think it was the flu. That fever was so painful! Once the 48 hour acute fever phase subsided, the cough-n-snot phase hit with full force, compounded by bone-deep fatigue. I barely did anything all week long. I was too weak to play the piano for more than 20 minutes at a time, and I definitely couldn't run. I didn't even start driving Amber to school until Wednesday, and I spent most of the week sitting: on the couch, in my recliner, in bed. I drove Amber to school and then existed until she needed to be picked up.

Sickness and sunset

About the same time that freezing fog descended on our valley, some sort of sickness struck my family hard this week. The sky was sick; my family was sick. Was it the flu? A cold? Covid? Who knows! All I know is that it was a rough one: prolonged high fever, chills, and congestion, with a body-wracking cough. Jeff fell first, on Tuesday afternoon, followed by Jay on Wednesday night. But Rose was definitely in the mix, coming straight home from school and taking a 2 hour nap every day this week. The full-on fever didn't hit Rose until Saturday. Amber remained unscathed and went to school every day this week. I haven't gotten it yet either, but there's a telltale tickle in the back of my throat... so I feel haunted and hunted, since seemingly inevitable suffering is in my near future. 

After all that, this GLORIOUS sunset from Monday night feels like a lifetime ago.

Grinding gears

We survived our first week back in the school routine after Christmas break! It will involved some grinding gears as we adjusted to getting up early again and being busy all day, but we made it. Jay came down with a cold on Sunday, and stayed home from school on Monday. His lingering cough and congestion plagued him the rest of the week. Rose already had a cough from who knows what, but when she fell asleep for two hours after school on Wednesday, we figured she had come down with the cold as well. Between Rose and Jay, our house has a chorus of coughing and a NyQuil/DayQuil habit. So far the rest of us are fine...famous last words, I know. Yay winter! 

A New Year

 2026 is here, ready or not! I love seeing a few basic stats from the past year. It's fascinating to see where I spend my time. This year I had a piano practice app which allowed me to track exactly how many hours I spent playing the piano. It was a lot this year, and I like to think I have improved my piano skills since last January. I spent over 40 hours practicing scales in 2025, so that has to mean some sort of improvement, right?

My 2025 stats:

Visitors and an invasion

We had visitors after Christmas! Mel, Braxton, 2 year old Dahlia, and Pancha the dog came from their home in Seattle and stayed from Saturday-Monday. My parents came at the same time and stayed till Wednesday. It was so special and fun having my family here! I love them. 

Petting Pancha