Clare loved her first meeting with cousin Mia. Clare played with all of Mia’s toys (Mia is 15 months old), which was a nice change from playing with boxes the past few days. I enjoyed my time with cousin Marcia. We didn’t get a chance to go downtown to see the Christmas lights. The weather was between 12 and 20 degrees, and that was without the wind chill. We lounged each day, shared stories, and laughed a lot. We also ate a lot of good food. My cousin Jill arrived on Thursday with two trays of pizzaburgers, chips, candy, zucchini bread, tater tots, wine, and Hot Rod on DVD. It sounds like an odd combination but it has been our staple since high school (minus the wine). Marcia’s husband renamed the pizzaburgers to Italian Manwiches. To anyone who attended my school, you will find this hilarious because the new name truly fits this delicious menu item. The tweety bird ski mask and gloves was a “Welcome to Winter” gift from Clare’s godmother, Jill. There were giggles coming from under that mask! Jill drove from Ohio to Chicago to stay a few days and then to drive Clare and I to the lake house in NE Indiana. We arrived at the lake safely on Saturday afternoon (Dec 18th) after several Dr. Pepper’s and Big Red’s and a bag of Reese Pieces. Clare was an angel again on the 3 hour road trip. I hope she continues to be a good traveler.