Owls

Pottery classes are fun.  My owl is hiding in the back.  Soon he will be all shiny and glazed and blue. I can't wait.

Trap Times Two

When I was a kid, the only thing we did to "celebrate" St. Patrick's Day was wear green to school so we wouldn't get pinched.  But now, it's all about the Leprechaun trap.  If you have read this blog for long, you may remember my first introduction to this tradition.  What an awkward scene, and a moment of Mommy Failure. Last year, we were prepared.

But this year, things have gotten a little out of hand.  Not only will we be making a HOME trap, but Daphne also made a trap for SCHOOL.  It was an optional assignment, but how could she pass up the chance to tape things to other things?  She proudly took it on the bus this morning in a brown paper bag, clutching it tightly to keep it from blowing away in the crazy wind.  The teacher will be leaving traps all around the classroom over the weekend.  Monday is sure to be an entertaining day at school.

Daphne and I worked on the "crafty" part of the trap after school...all the decorating and stuff.  Then, Kev helped with the engineering last night.  I have to say that Daphne is a pretty clever little inventor, and it's fun to see her get all caught up in these projects.  We had to talk her down from some pretty lofty ideas, but everyone was happy with the final result. 

I wonder what she'll catch in there.  Hopefully not more flu germs.

I don't know if I have it in me to execute another trap for home.  I think I am going to suggest some double stick tape to use like fly paper, and a beer for the bait.  Nice and simple.

PS.  Last year, the leprechaun turned over a couple of chairs and threw around some stuffed animals.  Last night, Kev actually suggested that THIS year's leprechaun might sprinkle glitter all around.  It is clearly the fever talking.  If this leprechaun knows what's good for him, there will be NO glitter sprinkled in my house.

Good Eats

I feel like I am coming out of hibernation.  This has been such a strange winter.  I don't know if all the Slow caused my immune system to think it could take a break, or what.  But I just finished my third round of sickness since mid-January.  This time, it was the flu.  I blame the petri dish that is Daphne's school bus, and the fact that she has a loose tooth and can't keep her fingers out of her mouth.

Friday night was so nice.  Kev and I went to our Hawaiian cooking class and it was a blast.  We made delicious coconut braised chicken, bacon and pineapple fried rice, and awesome caramelized bananas.  The teacher was great, the food was great...really really fun.  I want to go again.  But halfway though eating the meal we worked so hard to prepare, I started to feel feverish and achy.  Then, I touched my eye.  And even though it had been a couple hours and several hand-washings since I chopped up that serrano pepper, touching my eye was a big mistake.  Eye On Fire.

In spite of all that, though, it was a great night out.  But Saturday was a different story.  I knew I was really sick because my hair hurt.  I do not like the flu.  I am feeling much better now, but Kev isn't feeling great.  Fortunately, he started on tamiflu the day I got my diagnosis, so he will probably not have it too bad.  Plus, HE did not have to get his nostrils swabbed.  Taking it for the team.  It's what I do.

Yesterday, I went outside for what seems like the first time in months, even though it had only been a few days.  The sun was out in the afternoon, and I noticed a couple of my bulbs have bloomed.  I would go take a picture, but I am still in my pajamas.  I am ready for spring.  And I am officially done being sick.  Dee. Yoo. Enn.  No more.  It's time to get outside and take walks and knit on the porch and all that stuff.  I have to enjoy it before summer comes along and sucks the life out of me again.

Last night, I took Daphne to Sweet Frog for a little Girl Scout's 101st birthday celebration.  She could not stop eating long enough to let me take a nice picture.  Sweet Frog is greatness.

Tomorrow, the good eats continue.  I'm going to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants with some friends, and then the owl-making pottery class.  Good eats, and good times.  And no more sick.  Spring!

Sad Sad Snow Day

Well, Kev still has a job, the sky hasn't fallen, and we haven't been swallowed up by the earth.  It snowed yesterday as promised, and school was cancelled.  Woohoo, right?  Um...no.

Daphne woke up with a temperature of 101 on the day of the one and only significant snowfall of the season.  No snowman, no sledding, no snowball fights for this kid.  She did get to have brownies.  And watch a couple movies.  And have some snow ice cream with sprinkles and mini chocolate chips.  But still.  Sick on a snow day.  Poor kid.

I suppose it's OK, though.  I heard that the snow was wet and mushy, and that it was so windy out that it wasn't much fun anyway.  And the other kids had to go back to school today, but Daphne got a second day off. 

Sigh.

I am ready for spring now.  And for a consistently healthy family. 

PS.  I am not really jazzed about any of the kids on American Idol this season.  My two favorites, if I had to pick, would be Burnell and Kree.  (Spell-check seems to agree with me that these are not real names.)  That poor Charlie kid...what a disaster.  And the big guy, Curtis (?), is really over-rated.  Most of the other kids are just boring.  If I have to hear another Whitney Houston song or "I Believe I Can Fly" again, I'm afraid I might start hurling things at the TV. 

Yes.  I watch American Idol.  No apologies.   I also watch Project Runway, Worst Cooks in America, and Sweet Genius.  And Mister Rogers.  And Star Trek.  So there you go.

Spring?

Hello, Blog!  Nice to see ya!  It's been a long tiiiime...

There is no real reason I haven't been here for so long.  I just haven't.  I haven't been taking pictures.  I haven't really been doing anything blog-worthy.  I've just been hanging out at home,  volunteering at school, taking care of Girl Scout cookies, and dealing with allergies. I've done a couple things with friends, seen some movies with Kev and Daphne, gone to a couple of events with the troop.  We had a skunk for a couple of days, but it went away.  Nothing anyone would want to read about.  But I miss this blog, so I'm back.  

I thought I needed a photo, so I just now went outside and took this one.  It's nice out.  Sunny, not too cold.  My bulbs are coming up.  BUT.  Tonight, it is supposed to snow.  A lot.  Finally, just when I had given up on winter and started to embrace the idea of spring.  I'm glad for this last little opportunity to play in some snow.  I hope it actually happens.  I have filled up the car with gas.  There is at least three days worth of pork bbq in the crock pot.  My milk and toilet paper supplies are good.  I bought a brownie mix and got a giant pile of library books. I have a sleeve that I really need to knit.  Bring it on.

They are calling this storm the Snowquester.  Funny.  But the real sequester isn't funny at all.  Over 100 people at Kev's office were laid off yesterday.  I think Kev will be OK, but I guess you never really know with these things.  I try not to fret about things, but I am a fretter.  It's in my genes.  Lay-offs, sink holes, asteroids...one can never just breathe easy.  If one is a fretter.  Do they have Fretters Anonymous?  My hair is getting really silver.

Some good stuff is coming up.  Kev and I are taking a cooking class on Friday night.  We'll be learning to make Hawaiian food.  The band is practicing on Saturday.  Cookie Sales are almost over.  I'm going out with my friends next week for dinner and a pottery class - we're making OWLS!  We're surprising Daphne in a couple of weeks with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge (shhhhhh...).  Kev's mom and dad, his sister, and my two awesome nephews are coming for a visit.  Kev and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary soon.  So, as long as Kev has a job, the sky doesn't fall, and we don't get suddenly and violently swallowed up by the earth, things are good.  It would seem the odds are in our favor.

I shall be back soon, I hope, with stories of fun times in the snow.  Stay safe and warm!