We've been having such a good time here in Wisconsin, it almost makes me want to move back home. Almost. Lauren and I have both been sick nearly the entire time we've been here, and it's cold as hell, but it doesn't matter. It's nice to be home again.

The weekend Donald was here went really fast. We spent most of the weekend with his family. We got a big family portrait done (which was a fiasco, but made his mom happy), and went to the casino. We left for Chicago on Monday, and on the way there Lauren puked all over the car and continued to puke for the next five days. Needless to say, the Chicago trip was pretty much a bust, especially considering that I caught her bug Tuesday night and ralphed all day Wednesday. We did manage to make a quick trip to the Shedd Aquarium and to Ed Debevic's, but that was about it.

We spent the next few days after Donald left recovering from the stomach flu and shopping. Boy, did we shop. My mom and I also made a trip to Ho-Chunk in which I lost a hundred bucks and she won a thousand. After Lauren's diarrhea finally went away (another lovely side effect of the stomach flu), we both decided to get colds. This has went on for about a week now and I'm getting sick of it! I haven't had a voice hardly at all for the past three days (and if you know Donald's family, you know this is a big disadvantage - the only way you are heard is if you talk louder than everyone else!).

Yesterday, Donald's sisters, his mom, and I spent the day baking. We made peanut butter cookies, peppermint fudge, chocolate chunk cookies, cheesecake, brownies, brandy slush, and lots of other yummy goodies. We had a great time, even though Lauren was a pain in the rump most of the afternoon. Today we had Christmas with Donald's family, and Lauren received enough toys to keep an entire small country entertained for a year.

In other news, Lexy dumped her loser boyfriend after some serious drama that I was unfortunately involved with. Even though the drama sucked, it is definitely for the better and I even think that if I wasn't here it wouldn't have happened at all. The ex (Erik) is a serious piece of work and there are not enough bad words in the world to describe him. Maybe I will talk about it more when have more time.

Tomorrow Lauren and I are hanging out at Donald's parents for most of the day and then going to Lee's mom's house tomorrow evening, and then having Christmas with my family. Christmas day will take us to Dubuque, Iowa for Christmas with Donald's grandma and aunts. We are leaving for home on the 3oth and will be home the 31st, and I start student teaching January 7th!

Bye!

I have decided that I am the least germophobic person I know. While all the other moms at the grocery store are sanitizing the shopping carts before they put their little angels in it (or worse, using one of those cloth cover things), I plop Lauren in and hand her a piece of fruit from the sample tray in the produce section. Germy carts and finger foods together - I am daring.

Tonight we were getting Lauren ready for bed and it became apparent that she was eating something, which becane cause for concern since we hadn't given her anything. Donald glanced at the floor and noticed what she was consuming. "Is that a Pop Tart?" he said. I said, "Oh yeah, must be left over from breakfast," and we both let her finish eating it. Bad parents.

I don't know. Sometimes I think that all this sanitizing people do actually does more harm than good (case in point - MSRA). What ever we're doing (or not doing) must be okay, because Lauren's only been sick twice, and once was a reaction to her MMR shot. I really do surprise myself, though - before I had Lauren I really thought I would be one of those anal, over-protective moms. I'm totally not.

My friend Cortney asked me to post about her friend's 8 month old daughter who just underwent a liver transplant. They are raising money to help fund the operation as well as the family's living expenses. If you want to learn more and/or help, visit Hope for Valery.