My brother set us up with our new self-hosted “spot” for the site, which really will make this blog’s existence so much happier in the long run. This week’s task was getting everything transferred from our old www.wolfewednesdays.wordpress.com to the NEW www.lettersfromtheloft.com. Thank you for taking the trouble to make the switch, too!

If that weren’t enough to warrant a break, a stomach virus hit the household in waves this past week and a half – in exact three-day incubation intervals, in fact. Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday-Tuesday. All I could think about was

bleach

Anyone who finds him/herself short on compassion needs to take a turn comforting a bewildered, virus-ridden, shivering child at 3:00 a.m. Just a common bug, with an expected end, is sufficient to make me cry mercy.

And for my part, I’ve had an abundance of mercy this week. My husband was at a beautiful hotel conference site in sunny Florida while the kids were sick. (Yes, this is related to mercy.) He sweetly sent me these pictures from his Blackberry:

just not right

Arg.

He came home just in time for my turn at battling the bug. The house was worse than it has ever been. He is not one to do housework, but this day, he simply gave me a hug, thanked me for taking care of the chores while he was gone, and then started unloading the dishwasher and fixing breakfast.

I’ve never seen more manly biceps than the ones lifting those plates out of the dishwasher. I felt my knees buckle under me in a swoon.

Or that may have been the effect of the virus.

More mercy came from my sisters, who have double-teamed with posts this week, so I wouldn’t be spending time setting up photos and editing them. I know that many people reading this love them (almost) as much as I do, and for similar reasons. Like the best of sisters, they remember my frailty even when I forget. 😉

And they offer a remedy far more life-supporting than bleach. Their camaraderie supports my natural, reaching efforts toward health, like a good dose of preventive medicine…

or maybe like a garden plot…

or the plot of an Epic Story…

While I’m off to take my break (really), please help me welcome:

Julie’s first venture into the blogisphere,

and Annie’s anticipated second gardening post!