The Plague, and Ben & Lisa Nailing It

I pulled the blanket up around my chin and glared at the TV screen. Miserable, I endured a coughing fit and contemplated another hit of the neti pot, with which I had developed a love-hate relationship. I decided on another cup of tea instead. I'm always a horrible, cranky sick person, but this time things were worse than usual. Instead of basking in post-vacation glow on a now-short work week, I was quarantined on the couch while Seth hunted and Mom and Dad got to hang out with the Oklahoma Walters, who were in town for the week. I adore my siblings (and my priceless nieces) and don't get to see them very often, so having been stricken with the plague now seemed particularly unfair. I blamed canned airplane air.

I eventually recovered enough that I didn't feel like a jerk for spreading germs to Natalie, and we salvaged most of Ben & Lisa's visit. And it was, as all Walters family reunions are, a blast. We loved hanging out with Natalie, who is turning into quite the little Walters. She rock climbs, loves the treadmill, has boundless energy, and even goes to bed without a fuss (no doubt realizing the need to reacharge for another day of Walters family vacation.) We got to take her to the Billy Goat Trail, and spent a lovely day at the zoo. We had a rainy day barbecue and discovered Lido's pizza, and I got to witness the unbelievably cute morning singalong. And I managed to score girl time (pedicures with Lisa and Nat) and a double date with Ben and Lisa (Mom and Dad watched the princess while the four of us gorged on messy chicken fajitas and got to see the Band of Heathens live.) Even better, we got to celebrate Ben's aircraft assignment with them, since they found out while they were in DC. We were stoked, if unsurprised, that he had gotten his first choice (F-16s!!!), and also thrilled that their likely next PCS location was a significant improvement over Enid, OK.

Basically, the Oklahoma Walters nailed their vacation.

I'm still not fully recovered from the World's Most Persistent Cold, but managed to drag myself through my favorite (if hilliest) race all year, the Virginia Ten Miler in Lynchburg. I am pleased to report that, although it has a deep enough field to be very competitive, it also still has race day parking and packet pickup, manageable portolet lines, and the Vito's Pizza at the finish line never disappoints.

AND I survived the whopper-eating contest at work. (I did not eat whoppers, but watching one of my Captains attempt to polish off 5 in 10 minutes was gross enough.)

 

Seth worked like a dog getting all of his stuff (finally!) unpacked, and the man room and garage in fighting form. It looks amazing. I'm a little worried he'll never come upstairs.

 

Anddd... since my iPhone camera has about bitten the dust, I'm waiting on Lisa's pictures to select a photo of the week. Because mine don't do the amazingly adorable Natalie justice. Stay tuned.