It must be winter

What are the signs:

o It's been snowing like a sonofabitch and more is coming tomorrow
o People at work are complaining endlessly (with some justification) about the state of the parking lots and sidewalks that they have to use. At least 10 people have fallen, 2 somewhat seriously.
o My co-worker hit a lump of ice in the driveway at work and tore the fender off her two-month-old car. $600 damage
o In the last two weeks, all of us in the Lee household have been sick

To delineate that further, I got a cold right after Thanksgiving that I'm still getting over. Julia spent that same weekend throwing up, mostly in the middle of the night. Soon afterwards, Greg had some stomach problems. Last weekend, there weren't any new illnesses but we couldn't really leave the house because of the weather.

Today, Allie got up as usual and went downstairs. When I came downstairs, she was lying on the couch and saying her stomach hurt. We assumed it was constipation and she perked up quite a bit as we left for daycare and school. About 1 hour later, her school called and said she'd thrown up in class.

Greg and I are very proud of her (seriously). She threw up into her hands as she ran for the wastebasket. She said she didn't get any vomit on her desk and maybe only a couple of drops on the floor for the school janitor to take care of. When I picked her up in the school office, she vomited again and didn't get any of it anywhere except a waste basket. After she got home, she threw up again and still didn't even get her clothes dirty. After Greg came home and I went back to work, she threw up several more times and never made any mess to speak of. That's pretty amazing for a sick almost 8-year-old.

Now, I'm hoping that the just slightly uneasy stomach I'm feeling is purely psychosomatic. Greg and I are supposed to get our Christmas shopping for the girls done tomorrow--we've both taken vacation--and if Allie is well enough to go to school, we're still on for that.

We're supposed to get another 3-4 inches of snow. I can hardly wait.