Well, I should just make this a weekly blog, as, much as I'd like to, it seems I don't get to it anymore during the week! And then it's suddenly Saturday again.

Last week was interesting, as on Sunday we woke up to a forecast of less than an inch of snow later in the day. Well, it started snowing around 11am and by the time it was all over in the evening, we had 5,5 inches (about 14 cm for the metric people) on the ground! And of the most beautiful type of snow, the fluffy stuff that sticks to the trees and everything.

Despite my still very sore throat, which was supposed to be viral after all and which I was trying to ignore, I really felt like going to Washington to take pictures. It's so rare we have a pretty snowfall and all the monuments and buildings would be so beautiful. So, I asked Kai to come with me, as he loves going downtown and we walked and walked, as I took pictures of everything (visible online at http://community.webshots.com/user/petrarick, album winter2002). Kai was such a trooper! We must have walked several miles and he only complained once, but then was fine again after a short cab ride from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol.

Because of the snow, the kids' schools were delayed by two hours on Monday morning. This meant, that they would stay in school until 3:10, instead of the normal Monday dismissal time of 12:45. So, that opened up time for Christine and me to have a really relaxing day. I quickly worked out at home and then we went for a walk around their pond (where I took more pics, it's rare I'm without a camera these days!) ending with a nice lunch at the Panera bakery in their neighborhood. We shopped a little in the shopping center (I got some new pillows for our family room) and then walked back to her house, where we chatted and had tea. It had been so long since I'd had a day where I wasn't running in 10 different directions, I felt very relaxed when I got home (except for that pesky sore throat still!) and was a much better mom for the kids that afternoon, for my feeling.

On Tuesday, after our workout, Christine and I took a friend out to lunch at the Sweetwater Tavern (yes, how decadent, lunch out 2 days in a row ;)) and then I went to Michael's for some craftsupplies. At the store, I suddenly felt overwhelmingly ill and my throat felt worse than ever. So, I decided that, if this was still the case on Thursday, I would go back to the doctor to get tested for strep again. When I came home, there was a message on my answering machine from the doctor's office: the second lab test *had* come back positive for strep and they were phoning in an antibiotic. Next time I have such pain in my throat, I'm going to insist on another in-office test, if the first one came back negative. That type of a sore throat has always turned out to be strep for me, even if the doctors said my throat didn't look that red. I was very annoyed that now I had to walk around feeling yucky for 5 more days and in the meantime could have infected a whole bunch of people!

On Wednesday, since nothing major was going on, Rick insisted I took a sick day. It was weird! I haven't had a day where I didn't do anything or didn't go anywhere in ages! It was strangely fun. I stayed in bed until the kids were in school, Rick took them there. Then I got up and walked on the treadmill a little, but not as vigorous as normal. I couldn't help but do some laundry, but otherwise left the house for what it was. And then I just read and watched tv and computered a bit.
When the kids got home, they did have 3 playmates, but that's usually easier anyway, as they play well together.

For a while, Rick and I had been talking about updating our will, as, until yesterday, my mom was both executrix and guardian in our old will and I was panicking at the thought that the kids would end up with her, if anything happened to Rick and me!

So on Thursday we finally went to see a lawyer to update the will. The permanent document will take a couple of weeks to get ready, but we went back to sign a codicil to our current will, changing the executor and guardians. Phew, quite a relief, that thought had been bothering me for a while now. Not that we're planning to die soon, but you just never know, so better have everything taken care of.

Yesterday, I taught Artsmart in Kai's class. The artist was Pierre Bonnard and the kids loved the project: imagining themselves sitting somewhere in their bedroom, looking out the window and drawing what they see, both in the room and outside. They almost all took the entire time allotted for the project and really put their hearts in it, which doesn't always happen, on some other projects, some kids just quickly draw something and then are done.

Today I had a workout with Christine, then rushed off to get Katja's team pictures for basketball taken. Now I have a quiet moment, so here is my blog update :). We're gearing up for quite a few business trips of Rick's again, starting next Wednesday through Friday, he comes home for 2 nights and then leaves again for the week! Oh well, we did have him home for 2 weeks around Christmas.