Continuing with February...it was a long month.
CeCe went to school on Valentine's Day complaining about her legs hurting, but she insisted on going to school so she could attend her V-Day party.
She came home from school that day and crashed. She developed a fever and was so sick. I called the doctor's office a couple of times, being told that it sounded like the flu and call back w/ any new symptoms or if she gets worse. Well, finally on Feb. 20th I got her to tell me that her throat hurt. New symptom, we had a doctor's appointment the next day. Her Pediatrician is off on Thursdays, so we saw a different doctor, one that has been with the group for about six months. There was an intern getting hands-on learning experience, which slowed the office visit down, so it seemed like forever til we got finished. I understand that doctor's 'practice' medicine, but man, was I upset. I thought for sure they were going to send me home telling me it was the flu, but thankfully, I noticed a rash on CeCe's trunk while the doctor's were out confirming, so the rash combined w/ her red throat, the doctor's had to diagnosis Scarlet Fever, and the strep culture came back positive (Scarlet Fever is a form of Strep). Good thing I caught it 'cause neither of the doctor's did. She was put on a antibiotic and lived to tell about it, but man was she a sick little girl. Daddy ended up getting Strep while the rest of us did not. WHEW!!!

I was able to have lunch w/ a local FLYbaby later in the month. That was was. Kristi is a real special lady and just a joy to know. Poor Will. While I was at lunch, he got a call telling him he was heading to Raleigh, so when I got back from my lunch date, we had to scramble to get him packed and out the door. Usually, his company gives plenty of notice, but this was a real last minute decision.

Alan continued on w/ the Chess Club at the high school again this year, and continues to take guitar lessons each week. He's getting into the bass guitar now.
On the 28th, Will and I joined a bunch of the other board members and stuffed goody bags for the .NET User Group Code Camp that was happening on March 1st. It was fun, and I got to put magnetic notepads w/ my business cards in the bags, which was cool. LOVE free advertisement! After we stuffed the bags, a bunch of us went out for some Mexican and just to shoot the breeze. It's a fun group, and I'm so glad Will has such a grand time w/ the group and with the other board memebers. The next night was the Officers Appreciation party at Awful Arthurs, sponsored by Microsoft, which was nice. This is one of the few places in Roanoke who knows how to do seafood, making it a very yummy night. We even tried some new beers. How's that for going out of our comfort zone? ;-)

February 2008

The beginning of February is always busy. Professional football is coming to a close via the Super Bowl, college basketball is heating up, and it's the official start of racing season.

Kent hosted the annual Super Bowl party this year. We attempt to guess the combined score of the game, a friendly wager, if you will. I must say it was interesting to see who won the pot this year; the score of the game did not go as many of us had calculated. Chris made his infamous Mudslides, and Will naturally drove home. He isn't much of a drinker.

The NASCAR season began with all kinds of questions regarding how well Dale Jr. do with his new ride. He started the year w/ a bang, winning two non-point races and coming so close to winning the Daytona 500. It's been a season of surprises so far this year; many young drivers winning. The Car of Today seems to be giving the veteran driver's a bit of a challenge. We'll see how the second part of the season goes. I expect to see more experienced drivers in the Winner's Circle.

January 2008

I brought the new year in not feeling well at all. We were supposed to go to Kent's to ring in the new year, but that didn't happen. We spent a quiet evening at home, me sleeping much of the day, yet staying awake long enough to see the ball drop, SMOOCH Handsome Hubby, then fall back in to bed.

Many of the weeks were pretty similar, picking-up stuff from Freecycle, Will having poker on Monday nights. Tuesdays are my desk days at home. Alan having guitar lessons and CeCe having gymnastics on Wednesday afternoons, Liam having gymnastics on Thursday mornings. I try to watch "neat" on Thursday afternoons then listen to FLYlady. Thursday evenings are when we try to do our Home Blessing Hour: We each get assigned a chore, we set the timer, and we all do our chore til the timer goes off. It's a fast, easy way to get the house company-ready. Will has is .Net User Group meetings the first Thursday night of each month. He's been an officer since the group started and he really enjoys the group and the many active members who participate. They really are a good group of people; very caring, smart as can be, yet very down-to-Earth. By Thursday night, we're all ready for the weekend. Friday mornings are good for me to go preview property while Liam is in pre-school, and I usually get my hair cuts scheduled on Fridays so I can go in and dish w/ Peggy while I get pampered.

A shout out to Reyn, Piper, and Grandma Reynolds who celebrated birthdays in January.

Will spent several nights in Provo, Utah on-site at Novell. He liked the town, got to cruise around in a new, silver Ford Mustang convertible, and enjoyed the snow, though he didn't get to see much of the mountains due to cloud cover most days, not that he was outside much during daylight hours, and he didn't seem to enjoy the chilly temps either. Naturally, he found a good pizzeria that delivered to his room each night. Novell had a fabulous welcoming basket awaiting him his first night in the hotel; many of the goodies came home with him, so all of us got to enjoy his trip.

While Will was away, we had our only significant snow fall--~ four inches I believe. I sent him photos of it via my cell phone. He was bumming. The kids had off school the 18th making it a four day weekend. Thankfully, the storm cleared out and Will was able to get home on time, which was pretty late for our airport--nearly 11 PM.

I attended the annual Women's Expo, which is always fun. No free loaf of bread this year. There were some new faces, new offerings and many returning companies.

Will attended a Research Group event for Roanoke College that was pretty interesting. The college was getting feedback from Alumni on their new marketing campaign. It was interesting to hear what some of them had to say and what the other Alumni felt were critical areas to focus on. One older lady wanted the school to focus on the fact that it's co-ed....well, Will and I had to laugh since we don't see that being an issue because the school has been co-ed for decades....old news......

The Little Ones got to spend a night in Chatham while Will and I got to spend a night being pampered at Kee's Kabin. They had an outdoor fireplace w/ goodies to make Sm ore's, and all kinds of food, movies, and things to read to keep us entertained as we enjoyed a little down time. We had Italian for dinner that night, SHOCK, I know! ;-)

Will continues to drive to the office in Forest on a fairly regular basis. Two of his favorite pizza places are close-by, making the trip even more worthwhile. :-)

A few photos from the holidays: