January Gray.....

Well, "Holidays 07" has come and gone. My favorite present was having Jeff home for 2 weeks!!! We quit counting at 9 trips to India last year - plus lots of little trips and then him leaving at 5am every morning and not returning until 7:30pm...I was really missing the guy! How awesome it was to have him around for the whole holiday vacation. It was good for all of us.

Matti's RSV came and went with little commotion. He missed his little Christmas production at school - but that didn't stop him from singing at home once he felt better. What a joy!!!!

The kids had a great Christmas as did Jeff and I - we've been Wii'd and what a glorious thing it is. That game is such an amazing invention. All 5 of us are having a blast - well I should say Abby, Michael and Matti are having a blast while Jeff and I are trying to keep up. Abby bowled a 199 the other night, while Michael's high is in the 160's - Matti's even bowled a 114......hmmmm. If you can't find me at either phone, I'm practicing my bowling!!!

2008 is off with a roar - unfortunately....I'm one of those sad saps who struggles with January. ...

• football is over
• Nascar is over (keep your comments to yourself)...
• my favorite season fall is over...
• Christmas is over
• shopping is over...
• baking is over...
• planning is over...
• and worst yet - there are no surprises left....just the routine you left sometime in November compounded by the cold, dark and snowcovered days of winter.

January is hard for me - no kidding. My new years adrenaline kicks in in September and I'm off - and I was indeed on a great roll until these *%&#@ allergies kicked in and and kicked my butt. So I'm hoping for a sunny day and a gentle lift.

Fortunately, I've got the kids to keep me company while Jeff shops the streets of Germany this weekend on his way to India for a week or two.

Michael's over the moon excited about Upward Basketball, Karate testing and his new Redskins Watch. Matti's beyond himself using his new word "recognize" - in all sorts of sentences - mostly including Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker, and the Sith Lord. And Abby's happy to get up every morning just to see how much longer her hair grew from the night before....so all is not sullen in the Ward home.

Happy New Year!!!