Monday (28th) the cold I'd been nursing hit its peak. Not too bad, but I chose to rest and focus on myself most of the day. I did have two activities with the kids that didn't require much effort, an "Equestria Girls" movie marathon with homemade popcorn and other snacks, and playing "daycare" where AA was the teacher, SL was the little girl and I was the parent, so I didn't have much to do.

Tuesday (29th) I slept until almost 11 a.m., but that seemed to knock out most of my cold. I roused myself enough to take the kids out to a park for some more sledding on a mini-slope and playing on the snow-covered playground. From there I took a bus with SL and we did some grocery shopping. Bought her a piece of candy for being a good helper, as usual. When we got home, a former co-worker of AS's had come for a visit. We put the kids down for a nap and had a nice visit. That night, we took the kids out for dinner at a pizza place we go to all the time for trivia, but the kids have only been to once or twice, as babies. AA discovered the joy of mozzarella sticks. They were both really good and the waitress enjoyed meeting our kids after so many years of seeing us. AS helped NT take the kids home while I stayed, and some friends joined me for trivia (AS came back after putting the kids to bed). We didn't win, but really enjoyed our first night of trivia in months.

Wednesday (30th) we met our out-of-town friends at Pizza Hut so AA could use her other reading coupon. She and this little girl had only met once as babies, but they formed an instant bond a few days ago, so they were very happy to see each other. SL had a good time with them too. And AS and I loved getting to talk to our friend and getting to know her better (we'd met her once in DC years before and become Facebook friends, but this visit was the first time since then that we'd gotten to hang out in person). After lunch, we took them on the bus to the sculpture garden (the one with the big spoon and cherry) and the three kids had a great time running around in the snow while we chatted some more. We showed them how to get home on the bus and got off before them. We got a nice FB message after, and it sounds like we'll try to keep AA in touch with the little girl.

Today I'll be mainly focusing on myself, honing my goals and my year in review. But tonight, we're celebrating the new year downstairs with our neighbors and a couple friends (including SIX other little girls besides ours). I'm looking forward to it!