Whew… what a week last week.

Min had a small heart surgery on Wednesday and, with the wonderful timing that kids have, my daughter came down with the flu on Tuesday night. Plus there were work deadlines to juggle and a million small things to accomplish. Fortunately Grandma arrived to take care of puking child #1, a neighbour took child #2 to school, sister-in-law came to the hospital with me to ask questions (I only ask questions via e-mail), and a friend collected child #2 from school and brought him home.

It all left me thinking that the Vancouver Foundation survey about us city folk living in isolation doesn’t apply at the Kyi household. We’re surrounded by helping hands.

And then it was Thanksgiving. Relatives arrived from Burma via Calgary, people we haven’t seen for almost a decade, and we shared a Chinese banquet on Sunday night. Min was well enough to come, though he brought his own food in a tupperware. My son shocked himself by eating duck, and now wants a T-shirt that says “I ate a duck.”

Everyone was recovering so well that we went out and bought a turkey, and put Grandma to work making us a second Thanksgiving dinner on Monday night. Now my son needs a shirt that says “I ate a duck and a turkey.”

This morning, I walked outside and fall had arrived. Mist brushed the treetops, the leaves in my front yard had turned red overnight, and we could see our breath in puffs of steam as we tromped down the street.

Kids at school, husband healthy, a few hours of writing time this morning… I think I may celebrate an extended Thanksgiving this year.