Thought I'd be gone again so quickly, eh? Not quite. It's actually the stomach flu that took out all six of us for a few days. It started Thursday evening with Ella, and by Saturday the rest of us were completely miserable. By Sunday, we were over the worst of it, although Cole and Cory (last to get it) slept most of the day. We're still experiencing a few residual effects (such as Tylan's nasty diapers), but for the most part we're ready, once again, to catch up with life and move along.

So there really hasn't been much of anything going on that doesn't involve illness. Well, I guess one thing related to illness - that would be my short-lived career as an Apple chat professional. The Statement of Work (SOW) I signed was for 20 hours per week (5 of those on the weekend), and due to the flu, I missed out on my first three days of work. Unfortunately, they don't give exceptions for missing work, and in order to meet my hours I would have to work nearly 20 hours on Thursday and Friday. I could probably have managed to do that if I had no children at home to care for, but that wouldn't have been realistic with my life. So there it is. Pretty disappointing, I know, so I'm once again searching for something to help bring in a few dollars.

Yesterday Cole, Tylan and I brought supper to our neighbor Ruby, who lost her husband a week ago. We stayed a bit to visit, and I was just amazed by how calm and collected she was. She was baking banana bread (gave us a loaf to take home), working on thank you notes and insurance business, and so on. I'm sure it's quite different to lose your husband at nearly 90 years of ago than, say, if your husband isn't yet 40, but I just don't know how I could carry on, let along have a conversation without dissolving into tears constantly. I definitely hope never to find out!

There's not a whole lot on the agenda for today. Lots to catch up on around the house. Accalia has ballet tonight, and she and Cole are both in their final week of swimming lessons. That, and hoping to not become completely confused watching Lost tonight should suffice.