It's me again. Surprise.

I feel like I start out most my posts nowadays by letting you all know that I'm still alive and here. Because you probably thought I was dead. But sometimes I have to check every morning to make sure I'm still alive, and I forget that the rest of you are up to more interesting pastimes.

Jessie is feeling a lot better and is back to work. Which means Madeline and I are back to trying to make sure the house is respectably clean and Madeline is reasonably sane and well-cared for. This has been fun the past week, because somewhere I picked up some kind of virus that has twice resulted in horrible stomach pains that have kept me up half the night. And made me nauseated and unwilling to eat again. Welcome back nausea. I didn't miss you. But hopefully my GI tract and I have finally made up and life will be good again, before we get to the part where I'm miserably fat and uncomfortable. Because I could use the breather.

But on to happier things. I bought some new shoes for the first time in about a year, and there was much rejoicing in our house. Mostly from Madeline and I. Jessie is still trying to appreciate how new shoes can brighten your life. And later today, my little brother is going through the temple for the first time, which I'm looking forward to as a relaxing and uplifting event. And Jessie is only three weeks away from being officially done with his MBA, and officially home with me more often. Permanent summer vacation, is how we're choosing to look at this important milestone. So good times are coming for all, and we'll be dancing in the street all night. Or until we get nauseous and have to lie down.