Thursday morning (12/31) my uncle called to report that my car would not be ready that day as planned. They didn't have the part and wouldn't have it until Tuesday at the earliest. They told him that there is a nationwide shortage of the requisite part.

Of course there is.

And then I got sick, wasting precious vacation days coughing and sneezing. Of course.

The only real shocker here is that I caught a common cold and not The Hamthrax.

Alan is improving, continuing to take his antibiotics. He is having an issue - don't recall if I mentioned it - that is attributable to either the anesthesia, the antibiotics or both - where food doesn't taste right/good to him. Many things taste overly salty but some are just awful. He ate a mini Reese's cup the other day and reported that it tasted like charcoal. That's been a challenge, trying to get him to eat regularly when even his favorites taste gross but that's getting better. Some fruits, particularly grapes and clementines, still taste good so I've tried to load him up on those.

You know who LOVES clementines? Baby Esme! When Alan eats one, he will give her a segment in pieces and she is in nom heaven.

Here is Esme in an elf hat, a picture which I meant to use for a Christmas post but, what with one thing and another, never did.