On The Fourth Day Of Christmas...

I woke up feeling rather icky, myself. Before you start talking Karma, and how we shouldn't have left our baby home sick last night while we went out carousing and GoKarting and all, let me just say... Thbtttttttttt. That is the level of my intelligence today due to my congestion and crankiness. I am no where near as good a patient as my kids are when they are sick. That said, I'm going back to bed. Have a lovely day. Or not. Whatever.

On The Road Again...

I'm starting to think that maybe we shouldn't travel any more. This picture sums up this past week. Jess got two big gifts for her Birthday: a ticket to the Taylor Swift concert in the Netherlands... and the crud. Can you guess which one she'd like to return? Unfortunately, the crud attacked on the eve of our trip to Germany for an awards dinner. Jess is a trooper, so she curled up in the back seat and we took off to Spang ... 2 hours and 30 minutes away. Then she crawled into her bed in TLF and slept, and sniffed, and coughed, and slept, and coughed some more. Finally, we gave up and took her to the doctor. Which was over an hour away. And then back to TLF again, armed with more medication. Poor Jess. On the positive side, Russ got to drive on the Autobahn. That always makes him smile. (He'd smile even more if he were driving a BMW or Corvette, but such is life.) And we got to see more beautiful scenery, like the locals getting their vineyards ready along the banks of the Moselle River. Spring is in the air. Trust me, we are more than ready for it. We made it back to Spang in time for the awards dinner.Everyone did a fantastic job, and it was a big success. Soon, it was time to head back to Belgie. Once again, Jess curled up in the back seat and dozed, and coughed, and dozed again. She still has the crud. It's some wicked mean stuff, and refuses to leave without a fight. Hopefully she will be well enough tomorrow to return to school, and no one else in the family catches this mess. We don't have any trips planned for the near future, so the odds are in our favor this time.

Epic Fail or Best Diet Ever...You Choose

As Jess and Brandon like to say...epic fail. I guess it was a good thing that we walked around Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Monday, because that was all I got to see of Bavaria on this visit. I had a Mediterranean salad for dinner that night, and added the chicken to it. Big mistake. Next thing I know, I'm touring the lovely porcelain fixture in the water closet. Alllllllllllll day on Tuesday. By Tuesday night, I'm passed out in bed, stomach turned inside out, wrung up, and hung out to dry. It wasn't pretty. (Any bad thoughts that are now passing through your mind about what you just read....are a vast understatement. I'm just saying.) I survived on a few crackers and some water until Wednesday night, when I ventured out of the room in search of something more solid. Unfortunately, all those delicious creamy sauces that I normally love aren't quite so attractive to a delicate stomach, so I nibbled here and there until we returned home on Friday. On the positive side, my jeans have a lot more room in them now. As Jess said after her similar experience last year: best. diet. ever. I'm starting to think that this TDY stuff is over rated. We tagged along with Russ last year, and Jess got sick. This year, it was my turn. Next year, if he has another one to Garmisch, we might just have to pass on it. Let's face it, Brandon's next in line, and he doesn't have any fat to spare.