Ring in the new year

I know. I know. Nothing has been posted here since just after the holidays. And the last flooding episode. Unfortunately, I offer no real excuse worth beans. It's just been hard to sit down, sort through photos and get this site up to date. Since the new year, work has been a struggle, weather has been a downer, and there seemed very little to report.

In fact, the pix for this particular post are already a couple of weeks old. Not exactly current events!

We just had our annual Chinese New Year bash in West Dundee. Every year, Ron & Wendy -- our most gracious of hosts -- voluntarily agree to take on a household of parents, growing kids, high volumes of noise, and add that to an already active mix of children and dogs currently residing in the home. Every year, Wendy puts together a feast for the eyes, filling the place with the aroma of incredible Chinese food. And every year, about 5-6 families make the journey from various part of Illinois (and sometimes Indiana) to share in these festivities.

As seems to be the case every year, we arrived at the scene first -- and were immediately greeted by 2 lovely little gals, all decked out in their Chinese dresses. With each passing year, these two darlings just keep getting taller -- and prettier. And they made wonderful greeters. Within moments, Su had her shoes off and was rushing off upstairs to what would be an evening of non-stop playing.

Over time, one family after another arrived, until the house was pulsing with noise and thumping with feet. And if you've ever heard Su's feet... well, you know what I'm talking about!

This was an interesting night -- in the fact that it seemed over almost as soon as it began. With all of the socializing, eating, and chasing of little ones, the evening leaped from snacks to dinner to dessert and then soon to home... in what seemed like mere moments. Of course, it really had been 5-6 hours. But perhaps that's the true sign of a great time?

The one surprise in all of this was that Su really didn't eat. In fact, right around dinner time, she was complaining that her stomach hurt. I sat with her a while and sensed she was pretty tired, too. She didn't even want to resume playing OR sample any desserts... so we KNEW something was up. I eventually laid her down on the sofa and within minutes she was fast asleep.

In fact, she didn't so much as budge when kids came storming through the room. She didn't even lift an eyelid when the yelling and screaming were a couple of feet from her. And she wasn't awake when the annual kids photo in the stairway was taking place. At first, we were disappointed that Su wasn't able to be part of this moment. But then a solution to the photo arrived: The kids lined up behind the couch where Su was sleeping! So we had our group photo after all. And Su still didn't wake up.

At least she had several hours of playing in before being overtaken by this little "bug." From what we can tell, it was just some sort of stomach thing, mostly gas. Her stomach was bloated like a basketball. But by morning, she was back to her old self.

Loud.. and thumping through the house.