My Swine Flu concern is now abated.

~ taken from amenquohi



NOT TO WORRY, FOLKS! H IS GONNA SAVE US!

(I'm totally hearing the theme song in my head now.)

Edited to add: Ha! I *just* received an email from the PTA organization about protecting our kids from swine flu!

Not everyone can be this cool.

So, later this afternoon, Philip was in the master bathroom, and I was prancing around the bedroom in my t-shirt and panties. I have no clue why I hadn't put my jeans back on, except that I might've, maybe, been pondering taking a quick nap. Anyway. Philip looks at me kinda funny and says, "Do you know that your panties are on inside-out?"

And I look down. And they are. And they have been for the whole day, even as I attached a pantyliner to them.

And I feel goofy and clueless, but I'm totally, "Meh. I'm not going to bother fixing it back now. I'll leave 'em."

---

Fast-forward about three hours, and Philip has been lounging in a t-shirt and sleep pants. He goes off to pee, and comes back into the office almost immediately. "Wow, I've been going criss-cross!" he says. I look up and see that for the past few hours, he's had his sleep pants on backwards! He only noticed as he tried to go pee!

LOL!

We're a matching set, we are. We call ourselves "Criss-Cross" and "Flip-Flop." :-)

WIN.

OMG, in catching up tonight on the past day of posting from my lovely flist, I have found this:

YOU ARE MADE OF AWESOME AND WIN.

I have been grossed out, creeped, LOL'D loudly enough to bring Philip from another room, and I have also been given pause to think.

It's been a great night for reading. Thank you all. :-)

Terming.

I get to fire someone tomorrow morning! This gal *SO* deserves it, and I'm excited to be the one on the management team with the balls to do it. (There's some irony there, as I'm the only female in management - ha!)

But it's my first time, so yeah... there's a bit of nerves going tonight, too.

!!!

TMI, but not on the super-crazy side.

My boobs are so done with my bra today. Just SO.DONE.

An overdue post of THANKS!

About a million years ago, I received a ginormous surprise box from chelelev. (Okay, okay - it was around Christmastime... but really? Wasn't that about a million years ago, too?) In said surprise box, there were CRAZY amounts of assorted Coca-Cola® goodies: a decorative metal tray, several years of collectible tin playing cards, frisbees for the boys, a wooden crate, and more. There were also several antique issues of Workbasket, a discontinued crafting magazine that used to feature tatting patterns every so often, and a holiday card.

I still need to get some iron plate hangers for the tray, plus two more that I have of my own, so I can display them on the wall, but just last week, Philip helped me to finally get the wooden crate up and displayed. I put tons of tiny knicknacks in the crate, including eleven tiny Coca-Cola trucks that mix3d3m0ti0n5 mailed me over a year ago - I hadn't displayed them previously because I couldn't figure out a good way to do so... and then along came Chele's crate!

Here's a pic of the crate in place on my dining room wall:



And here's another, of both the crate, and the adjacent wall:



There is more Coke stuff in the room, but I didn't feel like photographing the other walls. I might, later, when I get those other trays up and displayed as well. (And, let's be honest, I might never get around to it. *wink*)

Related, I received another surprise box in the mail a couple weeks ago - this time from mostcurious. It did not fall into a postal black hole, as she might've feared, but it did land in my hands... and these are hands that are awful delayed in letting folks know I've received their box!

-- tangent: I just remembered, redwink, that I never let you know I did receive my books back and your sweet card. Thanks! --

Back to the box I'm currently discussing, though: it contained a SURPRISE knit hat from Catherine herself, made to match the Slytherin scarf she made me many months ago. And, I just (as in, two seconds ago), took a pic to prove the existence of both great items:


Slytherin scarf and hat

Also, she FILLED the rest of the box with Coca-Cola caps and box ends with codes on them. Over the past couple years, she would save them up and email me a bunch - sometimes 50 or more at a time - but this was unreal! I counted, and there were over 200+ codes! It is taking me FOREVER to enter them all (and Philip has been helping me, sitting on the office floor and calling out the numbers and letters while I type), but I'm so grateful!

-- another tangent: maryjo once mailed me a box with about 50+ codes too, as well as huge bags of candy for the boys. If I haven't already said thank you for that, then THANK YOU, too! --

So the point of this post is that I'm actually very grateful to all those mentioned, and I'm so sorry that I'm so remiss in thanking you!

Eggs, au Naturel: part deux.

I had so much fun using natural dye for my eggs last year, so I did it again this year!



This time, I saved the skins from Runza's yellow onions, but I also procured a bag full of red onion skins from our local grocery store (who thought I was nuts, by the way!). I bought a bouquet of flowers, and my friend Ann came over for some creative fun. We laughed for hours while we crafted our masterpieces together.

Note: red onion skins are much more STINKY than yellow onion skins while boiling!

Add in the fact that Ann knocked over a just-opened bottle of white wine the second she arrived, and my kitchen/dining area was quite... aromatic? for several hours. :-D

The red onions produced a richer, more "chocolate-with-a-hint-of-purple" dye, and they were Ann's favorite. I like both colors so much, I don't think I could choose one over the other. :-)





All of 'em.




I love how these turned out.


Hydrangea - it looks so delicate!
(This one is my favorite egg of this series.)


I used eucalyptus leaves for the one on the right - it smelled heavenly!


Baby's breath.


Marbled technique, all using yellow onion skins.


Marbled technique again, this time showing a red onion skin egg. Note how you can see traces of green, blue, pink, brown, yellow, and purple - beautiful!




Another take of my favorite egg.

If you're curious, you can find all the instructions in last year's set. If you decide to try these, let me know how they turn out! I'd love to see more pics. :-)

I desperately wish I had some lemonade right now. I believe I'm going to text Philip and ask him to bring some Kleenex and lemonade home with him.

Winding down the day.

For being home all day, I got very little done.

I have four loads of laundry awaiting my magic folding fingers. I'm retiring my voice for the evening beginning right now, as I know that it will take a while for the coughing to stop already.

I do have a fuller-than-full load of dishes washing right now. I washed several pots by hand, in fact, as they wouldn't fit in the dishwasher. I also have several candle holders that I couldn't fit in, either.

I paid all the bills yesterday, and I need to mail one, but I have no stamps. It's practically moot today anyway, as I never made it out to the mailbox, nor did anyone else check it in the afternoon.

I need to make some specific posts on specific topics for specific people. One in particular, I want to take a picture before making the post, and I've lagged on taking said picture.

Ah, well. I should get to that laundry now before it gets much later. I open the store tomorrow, and then I have a full day ahead of me.

Poor Jack-a-roo.

And now, Jack is worse. He's hung over the toilet a few times, but he hasn't thrown up. Truth be told, I think his tummy is upset with all the drainage he's swallowed in the past day or so. He's had lots of clear liquids today, but little else.

He's also holding his right ear and really looks to be in pain. I'm sure he's got an ear infection brewing in there - either related to the allergies/cold blockage, or even just water backed up from all the many times he falls asleep in the tub. Poor guy.

I dosed him up with some ibuprofen and some cough syrup, and he's out. He cried himself to sleep in pain while I rubbed his back for him. He's so very, very upset because we'll have to cancel on our super-fun playdate tomorrow now, and he's been requesting these friends over for ages. :-(

The menu.

For my meal planning, I found an adorable little bound journal for $1, and it is so much better than random lists tacked all over my fridge. Plus, I purposely picked the design with an animated sheep on the cover, as it makes me think of my Catherine, and that makes me smile every time I see it. :-)



Tonight:
- Cajun Chicken Strips
- Sweet Potato Fries
- lima beans
- corn

Tomorrow:
- Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce
- salad

Wednesday:
- Turkey 'n Swiss Calzones (but I'm subbing chicken)
- Stir-Fried Zucchini
- carrots

Thursday:
- Meat Loaf Miniatures
- green beans
- Apricot Salad
- Pull-Apart Bacon Bread

Friday:
- Sweet 'n Sour Chicken Nuggets
- rice
- Marbled Orange Fudge

Saturday:
- Spicy Sausage Orecchiette w/ Broccoli Rabe (per Philip's request, it *must* appear in every meal plan!)
- cherry tomatoes

Sunday:
- ham
- Cheesy Potatoes
- cherry tomatoes
- Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Monday:
- Hamburger Patties in Brown Gravy
- lima beans
- mashed potatoes
- corn

Tuesday:
- Southwest Stuffed Chicken
- green beans
- chips 'n salsa
- Strawberry Margarita Squares

Down for the count.

Jack and I are on the outs today. He began running a mild fever yesterday afternoon, and he put himself to bed early. He only ate breakfast yesterday, too. Today, he's better, and no longer warm, but I've been pushing fluids into him like crazy.

I've been struggling with seasonal allergies all week, and they've beaten me. As of last night, I was coughing non-stop, and Philip called the store and approved him working for me this morning instead. I've bathed today, and that's a plus.

So Jack and I are both lazing around. I'm sure he'll be fine tomorrow, but I think he needed another day of break before facing the week, too. ;-)

Broken: Difficult night, emotional day.

I can cry at the drop of a hat today. (I have, already.) The last few days have been wearing on me, and I can only describe it as "bleeding love." An instance where I only hurt so much because I love so much, if that makes sense.

Today is April 5th again. Crappy, crappy April 5th. Even though I admonished it last year, it still came back again, and I hate it for that. I've had to voice the date a few times for inane reasons (zoo pass registration, etc.), and even just saying it makes me feel ill. I feel trapped in that split-second where an elevator passes the floor it needs to stop on by just a bit, only to drop, weightlessly, to the correct door.

Last night, I couldn't sleep, and Philip was already beyond gone (he'd gotten up at 4am for work, too). Every time he moved, every time he breathed differently, I'd turn and look at his beautiful face. And then I'd squeeze my eyes so tightly shut, and I'd hold my breath, and I would fiercely try not to cry. And, just when I thought the moment had passed and I'd open my eyes once again, the tears would slip, and they would trace down my cheeks and into my pillow.

I honestly don't think, no matter how many may pass, that there will ever be one year where this date doesn't wound me, and wound me so deeply. To put the heartache into words is impossible, and I can't seem to irrigate the wound. The "mental movies" of his actions that attack me surrounding this date are stronger even than my real memories of our "first time" together - that is the power I have unwittingly given to them.

I wish I could look back on our love and see it for how pure it was. I wish I could look at it now and see it for the amazing growth it has accomplished. I wish I could ever think of it only as wholesome and true.

Instead, I feel that no matter how good things are, how good they might become... well, it will always be tainted with hurt.