Busy week, long day

We are having a ridiculously warm winter here in Utah. I took a picture of my car's thermometer to prove it. This was Tuesday, I think, but the rest of the week was nearly that warm. You are all jealous of me (except those of you in AZ, maybe).

Unfortunately, I was not able to take my kids to the park at all because the illnesses didn't figure out that they had to stay away because we're not ready to be all bundled up in our beds yet. Mira ran a fever all day Monday, so that meant Tuesday (my birthday) we had a bunch of grocery shopping to do. The family took me out to dinner that night.

Mira had a fever again on Wednesday, so we stayed home again. I didn't mind the napping part of her being sick, though. That never happens anymore. So I think on Wednesday, I did some writing while the girls napped. My mom, dad, and Alison were sick this last week, too. Dad ended up getting it so bad, he contracted pneumonia and laryngitis. So, Thursday, my mom was supposed to hang out with us, but she was still sick and didn't want to share. That was fine with me. We missed being able to spend time with Nana, though.

I ended up taking Cecily and Mira with me to the Scholastic warehouse sale (better than Christmas, if you ask me), and Ikea. They were so good. It couldn't have been fun stuck sitting around waiting for me to pick out books and decide whether to buy bookshelves or a desk. I did treat them to a tasty lunch at Ikea, but as Mira informed me, "Lunch isn't enough fun, Mom."

Friday, Emilia had a friend over to play after school. And Friday night I drove up to my mom's house, because Saturday I had to be at the airport by 6am. I flew out at 7:30 and was either on an airplane or at the airport for the next 12 1/2 hours. (So 14 hours total.) That included 4 flights, 3 states, and 2 offers of peanuts, cookies, or pretzels. I did, however, get to ride one of those speedy carts at the Minneapolis airport, since I had a spritely 96-year-old in tow.

As I flew over ND, I thought, "Wow. I flew all this way and I'm not even going to leave the airport."

You can see the capitol building from the airport...

...but not much else.

The view from the plane

Today we drove up to my parents' house again to have a birthday dinner for moi. It was an opportunity for grandma to see everybody, too, but I think it was all a bit too busy for her. I enjoyed gifts and brownies, though. Mmm.