Back home again

Sorry for the absence -- Rob and I took Kelly to meet his family, in Los Angeles (loved the 80-degree temps, though it seemed a wee bit hot for February).

While we were there, Rob's beloved stepdad, Paul, took a turn for the worse. He died on Feb. 6, of kidney failure and other related illnesses that had come upon him after an operation in November.

The day before he died, we managed to sneak Kelly into the care center where he was hospitalized and Paul lit up when he saw her -- he held onto her little sleeper-clad foot the entire time we stayed there. Even in a time of sadness, I'm glad for that.