Wow! This week we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. There wasn't anything elaborate - most of the family was (is still) sick. But still, it's a milestone and an accomplishment.

The only advice I can give is this: Marry your best friend. If you're already married, make her (or him) your best friend. 

Laugh a lot. Both at yourself and your spouse. Kids are good at laughing at you, too.


In other news, my brother is now an official land baron. They closed on their house last week and Melissa and I helped Roger pull up old flooring in the basement to get it ready for new tile. In hindsight, Roger says he should have justed paid to have it done. It really was nasty with all the old dog hair and dust. Blek. That certainly didn't help my hacking and coughing.

They have 10 acres of good maple trees and the property included a wood fired evaporator. We walked around a bit to scope out all the sugar maples for this spring. I know where I'll be sending my kids for spring break! We go through about 6 gallons every year so having a family member with maple potential will be sweet!

While we were in Vermont not only did we infect my mother's house but also the Champlain Valley Expo. It's a very big fair held every year in our town, including tractor pulls, rides, fair food (funnel cakes - mmmmm) and lots of free entertainment. Also, the Maple Sugar House has all sorts of maple-goodness with maple candy, sugar-on-snow, and our favorite: Maple Cotton Candy.

Sadly, we had to cut our vacation short and headed home due to our illness. All things considered, it was a good week.