Here I am. I have been a bit lost for a while, but I have returned. We had a nice holiday in the Smokies with family. This year we tried the Ripley's Aquarium. It was nice at the home school rate; I don't think we would have enjoyed it at the regular price. There is a moving walkway through a glass tunnel and the fish swim all around you. I was most amazed by the sawfish. I think that was the best for my 5 year old niece as well. We went to Cade's Cove, of course, and enjoyed a nice picnic and afternoon hiking and playing in the creek. We did manage to see a bear but it was quite distant. The show, The Miracle, that we purchased for the in-laws' Christmas present was good- the kids liked the live animals and the flying, battling angels- and we went to another dinner show where #2 got to be a participant in the show. He was the "understudy" for Paul Bunyan and he was to chop the bad guy. He did a great job- very funny. Then the stomach bug hit! Everyone from the other 2 families dropped like flies. My family stayed intact, and so we enjoyed a quiet lunch out at a nice little restaurant and took the kids gem mining. Later we played mini-golf under black lights and had a good time. The kids went back to WV with their grandparents, which turned out well because the stomach thing hit me on Friday during the ride home. By the time we got here, I was very sick. I was out of commission all day Saturday, and not much better on Sunday. I feel great now though. I hope hubby doesn't get it because he is in Michigan at a conference. It would be bad to get it there. On top of all of that, when we got back we discovered they had come to begin the french drain around the house and had cut the phone line. So we had no phone service and no internet. I went yesterday to check on the email at Panera and discovered I am the recipient of a grant. BUT the paperwork has to be notarized and in today! So I had to do some quick work and borrowed a friend's computer and DSL and printer and time and ... But we got it all in and I hope to hear soon about all of the details. I will keep you posted. So here I am with nearly a week to myself and finally the stress of everything is quieting. I plan to work on the boys' yearbook/scrapbook this week. Look out pocketbook- I haven't printed pictures in quite a while.