Things Fall Apart

Things fell apart this past weekend, or at least our plans fell apart.  Flu and colds got in the way.  

We were heading down to Washington to take in a number of events:  Leonor's swearing-in as a U.S. citizen,  Margaret and Andrew's baby shower and to meet up Annie who was also coming in for the shower.  
The good news is that Leonor passed her citizenship test, but instead of waiting a couple of days for the swearing in, the immigration officers told her she had to be sworn in that very day.  Joe and Thomas made it over for the ceremony.  We were still in Pittsfield, so we missed it, and will still have to wait to go to our first citizenship ceremony.  Joe took a video, and not surprisingly, it was moving with 25 people from 13 different countries getting sworn in.  Guess which song was played?  "Proud to be an American."

Then, on our way down the next day, we got a call from Margaret saying that Andrew was at urgent care and had the flu. And, yes, he had had the flu shot.  She said she wasn't feeling too hot either. Since we were supposed to be staying with them, we quickly made other arrangements, staying one night at the Dacor Bacon house (a Foreign Service club of sorts) and then over to Mary's friend Gerry's house for a couple of nights.
Then, Leonor got sick, with an earache and a cold.  Margaret's symptoms turned out to be a cold.  Meanwhile, we were heavily investing in Airborne and Zicam.  Joe had to cancel Leonor's celebratory "Proud to be an American" cocktail event at Ebbet's Grill.

Could it get worse?  Yes, Jeff and Melodie got sick, though I think Jeffrey worse.  That cemented the decision by Johanna and Cameron to take a pass on joining us for Margaret's shower.  They were going to stay with Jeff and Melodie.

Was that the end of the thwarted plans?  Almost.  How would you like to be sitting next to someone on a plane who is looking for the vomit bag?  Annie took the red eye in from the west coast, and felt faint and nauseous after a couple of hours.  She informed the stewardess (I think there's a new name for them) that she wasn't feeling well, and, oh by the way, she had stopped in Wuhan, China on her way home from Japan two weeks earlier.  The stewardess confidently assured her it was probably just a lack of food and water, and replenished Annie who fell back asleep and woke up fine by the time she landed.

So, did it spoil our plans?  Absolutely not.  We adjusted, enjoyed our time babysitting with Thomas (Air and Space Museum and Zoo, as well as Peruvian chicken) and enjoyed our time hanging out with everyone.  Margaret and Andrew rallied for the shower, for which Andrew's mother and father and a nice set of local friends attended.  Melodie came to the shower, but she couldn't wake up Jeff whose cold let him in full recovery mode: asleep on the couch.  Which begs the question - Melodie why aren't you in the photo? Also not in the photo was Kathleen who decided to take the risk of attending, but she was staying with friends elsewhere.

We all congregated for a nice brunch on Sunday before we made the long drive home.  The good news is that Airborne and Zicam work.

By the time we got home, Lenor and Thomas were back in Brasilia, Annie was on her way to Oakland, Joe was in Virginia for a week worth of security training following the shower, complete with defensive driving, fire drills, scary videos and dire scenarios.  Margaret and Andrew were fast asleep, the adrenaline having departed.  

Still fun to see everyone, even if plans go awry.

Love from up here.  Happy February!  What will the groundhog say?

Hibernating

Forgive me for dreaming of spring.  The days seem just a little bit longer, as it's still light out at 5pm.  There's only one little pile of snow in the yard.  And, from what I see of national weather reports, everyone enjoyed a bit of no coat weather over the weekend.  I worked outside, and we went to a "Four Freedoms" march in Pittsfield with just a sweater on, and one of the speakers reminded us that the first march took place three years ago in 12-degree weather.  

Other than that, I tell people we're pretty much just hibernating up here.  With no trip to Gabon this year, we have a little extra time on our hands.  Our calendars have whole days with nothing scheduled.  Mary has been in the "tidying up" mode, and her desk and closets are looking pretty organized.  We remind ourselves, pretty much on a daily basis, where we were a year ago, with Mary incapacitated because of back pain.  Speaking of health, Mary has started her parasite treatments, and so far so good.  No negative reactions.  

One more health issue, involving Mary's brother Michael's grandson.  Michael was struck by meningitis, and he fell into a coma and was in the hospital for over a month.  He is now out, and in rehab, slowly working to get back both mental and physical functions he lost.  He was young, barely 25, with a partner and two children.

Paula won a silent auction bid for a photographer, who they arranged to come over on Christmas Day and take photos of the whole family (which she later posted on Facebook.)  They're really quite good, of everyone, and I include one here.  

Word from Dundee is that Andrew and Lur took in Hamilton, in the next to last night of its scheduled run.  He said some of the actors looked a little emotional during the curtain call.  And, they joined the acclamations for the show.  Daniel joined them for dinner before the show.  Study the photos above (from our trip in December to Illinois, and see who's taller - Daniel or me.

Peter was here for a night, driving a little further from the Litchfield CT court where he is working on a pretty sordid case involving the Hotchkiss School.  He told us a little more of Johanna and Cameron's wedding plans, but nothing yet for publication.  Happy photo above, from Facebook.

News from Brazil is there are many words coming out of Thomas' mouth, in both languages.  He is on extended summer vacation from his pre-school.  Santa, or Papa Noel, came a little late as his pouches (diplomatic) were re-routed through Lisbon.  C'mon elves!

Some of those pouches had birthday presents for Joe, and Margaret and Jeffrey also celebrated birthdays.  Happy days.

Annie and Sankar got back from their trip to Japan, on a trip that started when she came here before Christmas.  She had an unscheduled layover in Hawaii and went to the beach.  Joe said when he gets delayed, it's usually in Newark.  Anyway, she's back and getting reacquainted with her kitties that a neighbor kindly watched for her. 

 
Finally, Mary has joined a bridge class, and one of the teachers was Colleen's son, Robbie.  He is heading down to Daytona next week

.  
And, this is football season.  W pass along a Facebook post that someone's child asked if there would still be a Super Bowl if the Patriots weren't playing.

That's a wrap.  Love from up here.