I caught some sort of virus earlier this week, and have now passed it on to the rest of my family, so Christmas wasn't as comfortable as I had hoped—not for me on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and not for any of us today now that we all have it. It's not severe, mostly aches and mild fever, but in my already-weakened state I spent a lot of time crashed on the couch. Not to mention vomiting in a parking lot on the way to my in-laws' yesterday.
Despite sucking a bit, it was far from a terrible time, and we did have the warmth of a big crowd at my aunt and uncle's place on Christmas Eve, and our small group with Air's family the next day, plus lots of useful and fun presents. And two turkey dinners.
Having the parties and shopping and craziness be over is good. Air, the girls, the dog, and I are going to do our own thing this week, which should let us recover a bit. I hope I can feel better: I was worried that my zonked-out Christmas state might be semi-permanent. Today I'm slightly improved, so I hope not. Regardless, I am safe and have a great little family, in our home together.
![[RSS syndication feed]](https://www.penmachine.com/images/rssfull.gif){kind=small}
![[RSS comments feed]](https://www.penmachine.com/images/rss_comments.gif){kind=small}
![[Penmachine Podcast]](https://www.penmachine.com/images/rsspodcast.gif){kind=small}
Darn! Sorry you all got caught by a bug.
Hoping your restful week is just what you all need.
Thinking of you,
Andrea
xo
Hi Derek, just heard your name mentioned on Windows Weekly so cruised over to your site. I've heard Leo mention you over the many years I've been listening to him. So sorry to hear about your illness but what can I say, what you're going through cannot be comforted with words (especially from someone you don't even know). I'll just leave you with the thought that someone (albeit a stranger) thought about you today and hope that your final days are without much suffering. See you on the other side bro.
The Earth is a wonderful planet, where we may learn our lessons. If we are to look at life on Earth, then it raises many questions? We're talking so much about fairness and justice, but this often seems far away from reality.
While you’re still can, please read(or listen to the audiobooks) the following:
The power of now, Eckard Tolle
Or/and
Mindfullness, Jon Kabat-Zinn
Or/and watch Listen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc
If you can read dutch please read: “de aarde is slechts een leerschool”,
https://www.bol.com/nl/p/nederlandse-boeken/de-aarde-is-slechts-een-leerschool/666791849/index.html
With love for you and you're family
Maikel
the netherlands