Where has Alison been?

I know you've all been concerned that, after getting daily reports from me, you haven't heard from me at all in over a week. That's because two Fridays ago I flew from New York to Richmond to spend the weekend with Adam and Eliza in the country and almost immediately took to my deathbed with the flu. I'm a really healthy person--I pride myself on how healthy I am--I probably haven't been sick in ten years. So I was surprised by how incredibly unpleasant the flu is. I was hoping that Biffle would blog about it so that I could play the modest recovering invalid, saying, "No, no, it wasn't that bad"--but let me assure you, it was that bad.

I'm better now, though, and can tell you about our time in the country with Adam and Eliza. Eliza is recovering from some injuries, so she and I were actually perfectly matched as country-home vacationers: we mostly reclined in the living room and tried to keep the kids from making us get up.

Eliza and Adam's kids are ridiculously cute. Here are some pictures to document that fact:

This is probably my favorite picture of the weekend. Macie wanted some of Walter's candy bar, but she didn't want to get her fingers dirty. You'll notice me, fixin' to die, in the background.


Simon learned to ride a bike over the weekend. Like his parents, he's quite extraverted: after having not seen me or Walter for at least a year and a half, he greeted us with, "And then, do you want to see the plane I made?"


Natty Bumppo. (That's Eliza's caption.) You can almost see the Photoshopped abs from here.


I gave Eliza's hair the Ouidad treatment. Check us out: even in our weakened states, we are as good looking as ever.