I met the lady who bought my old house today. She invited me over for tea and to chat and discuss art. She wanted to see some of my paintings and she showed me some of her drawings. I loved her work - she is a good artist and likes to use bright colours as I do.

It was a little strange being in my house that was no longer my house. She has been making the house her own and she of course changed some things (painted the fireplace mantel black - it looks great - and the bathroom cabinet black (downstairs bath). She has kept up the valances in that bath and in the living room and she loved the colour scheme so she is keeping it. The house looks really nice with her things. She asked me a lot of questions about the bushes, trees and shrubs and what they will look like in the spring.

She then asked me about a lady who walked into her house one day and used the bathroom. Oh no! It was H. She has really deteriorated from her dementia. Over the past year or so she had gotten into the habit of coming by my house and asking to use the bathroom. Sometimes she would just walk right into the house (usually in the warmer weather when the front door was open and the screen door was not locked). Sometimes there were caretakers with her or her dh or some friends. It was fine with me (sometimes she would come and go without even talking to me). Back in October, I told her dh that we were moving and could he please explain that she would not be able to stop by our house anymore.

On the day she walked in the house on the new owner, H. was with a new caretaker. The new owner heard the door open and then open again and a "Hello?!" She came downstairs and saw H. walk past and into the bathroom. The caretaker said "It is just H. using your bathroom" and the new owner saying "Who is H.?". They stared at each other a moment then the new owner said that the house had been sold and that she was a new owner. The caretaker was very embarrassed and quickly explained that H. had memory problems and she apologized. The new owner said no problem and told H that she could stop by again if she needed to but she has not done so again.

Oops! Before we moved I had asked Stephen if we should tell the new owner about H (her visits were probably every week or so) and I think I asked our realtor about it but everyone said no. Our realtor had been at our house one day when H. stopped by so she knew who she was and knew the story. Good think that the new owner was very understanding. It would be very shocked (and scared) if it happened to me.

And the funny thing is that on the way to see the new owner, I saw H. and her dh walking their dog along the street and I waved to them. I even thought to myself "I wonder if H. knows that we moved".

Cars told me, in a very serious voice, that he had to watch Super Why! today on PBS because he needs to learn to read and this show will teach him how.

He is doing a great job on learning his letters and the sounds. I now have no worries about his academic or social skills for entering kindergarten. I am still a little concerned because he will probably be one of the youngest kids in kindergarten (I know of one girl who is 3 weeks younger) and probably the youngest boy.

Registration is next week. My baby will be in kindergarten in the fall!

More Random Thoughts

1. Jax earned a new Lego set by controlling his worry thoughts and by eating out at our friend's homes, new restaurants and by purchasing milk at school. I am very proud of him. He chose Indiana Jones Temple Escape. Now, do you think it can be found anywhere in the Puget Sound area? Nope! He is devestated and I had to order it from the Lego Store and it will not be shipped until April 2nd (I did not tell him that date or he would have had a heart attack in the store). I will break it to him gently later.
   edited to add that we did find a place online that had it so we ordered and it will arrive mid-March which is much better than early April.


2. I waited too long to book the kids swimming lessons for next month and the 5pm time has been taken. Drats! They will have to swim at 6pm through the end of March. I went ahead and booked them for 5pm in April. Please don't let Dex's baseball practice be on Wednesdays.
   edited to add: I found out that Dex's baseball practice is on Wednesdays! Friggin Riggin Briggin!


3. I have signed Cars up for swimming lessons starting next month. I can guarantee he will not cry once this year. He is really looking forward to it in fact.


4. I took the Circuit Training class at the club for the first time since April or May. My legs were like jello when I was done. They will be plenty sore tomorrow.


5. Today, my kids and I were talking about piercings and I have no idea why I told them that sometimes people pierce their nipples or their penises! OMG - what was I thinking?! I was just listing off all the places where people get piercings ("ears, nose, eyebrow, lip, and some people even pierce their..."). I quickly tried to change the subject and I pray that they do not repeat it to anyone!


6. I learned how to make numbered bullet in html today.


7. KillJoy (yes, she is that again) told me that I *must* send my sister birthday cards. Um, no.


8. Cars is obsessed with pointing out fat people. "So and So's grandma is fat!" and "Mrs. Teacher is fat!" and this lovely one "Mommy, you are kind of fat! Not really fat, just kind of fat!"


9. I have mentioned before that someone from my city is regularly reading my blahg. I finally figured it out today (checked ip address on the visitor's log against the ip address in an email header). Sneaky! She never told me that she reads here. Still watching Cars for me tomorrow?

This made me grin!

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ixzF1Mgp3CrPFDa4Vw_pa4yobIcA

In experiments using a neural scan, researchers at Oxford University found that a specific region of the brain associated with emotion lights up with activity within milliseconds of subjects seeing pictures of infants' faces.

But images of adult faces didn't elicit the same response, said co-principal investigator Morgen Kringelbach, noting that the reaction was the same for both men and women, and for people with and without children.

:)

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I had the kids make their aluminum metal projects today and they turned out GREAT! They mounted them so they are a little crooked (ok, who is kidding who - I would have probably made them crooked too).


This is Jax's. It is Yoda as a Hippie. :\

This is one of my favourites

And here is another one of my favourites

This was my example that I showed the class


I'll post pictures of the necklaces that Dex's class is making later in the week.

Art

Tomorrow, I will be in Jax's class to help the class make an art project for Art Gallery Night. No other parent volunteered to do it. I was going to have them do scratch art but I decided on Sunday it would be too messy (cheap but messy). Then on Sunday I went to an art supply store to buy some aluminum metal sheets (5"x5") and now will have them do some embossing. I think it will be fun. I actually wanted to do copper but it was $14.99 for 6 sheets vs $4.29 for 6 sheets of aluminum. I will try to remember to take pictures of the art work when it is done.

Later in the week, we will be completing necklaces for Dex's class Art Gallery Night project. I cannot remember if I posted about it already or not. The kids each made 3 polymer clay beads with mica fingerprints. The kids will string other beads to them to make necklaces. We also had them make one extra bead and made a necklace for the teacher. I got the idea from here. I think it is such a cool end-of-year gift for the teacher (and relatively inexpensive). I may do the same for Cars' preschool teachers.

I Did It!

Ok, guess what it was? Here are some clues:



Yes! I took a ferry ride from Seattle to Bainbridge Island with my family. We had a special guestcourtesy of Snapper's dd, Miss Talk. Was there anything better to do on a sunny, warm winter Seattle day?

First things first - where are the life preservers?! No way we were setting sail without me knowing where those were.


Ok, life preservers, check! Now we can get Flat Stanley out to enjoy the ride.
He and Dex as we sail off from the dock.


The ferry went much faster than we were expecting. And it did not sink. Bonus!


We arrived safely at Bainbridge Island (bad focus job).


We tooled around the island for a while and then back. I feel a little foolish that I was so terrified to take the trip before. I think because it was perfect weather plus Stephen was with me (in case it sank, he could help rescue the kids) made for a fabulous trip. We bought lunch from the deli section of the little grocery store on the island and ate it in a park. The we walked along the path back to the ferry terminal before embarking on the ride back to Seattle. It was much windier by then so we mostly stayed inside on the way back.

Then since we were downtown and had paid through the no$e for parking, we were in no rush to leave. We decided to walk to Pike Place Market, however it was packed so all we did was take a photo of the kids on the pig, Rachel.


(Oops, forgot to take Flat Stanley out for the photo). We then walked back to the car and headed home.

Ok, so I cannot believe I had been such a wimp about the ferries. And I did not even flinch when we drove across Lake Washington to get to/from Seattle (although I must admit that I directed Stephen to drive via I-90 rather than 520 because that it is the 520 bridge that really terrifies me). So, I am ready to do it again. Who's in? CraftyMama?

About this time...

About this time 10 years ago, I was pregnant with Jax and on bed rest due to preterm labour. The day I went into preterm labour, Stephen was in Waterloo, Ontario interviewing for a job. Fortunately, my oldest brother and his family had driven in from the Chicago-area to visit for the weekend and my SIL took me to the hospital where they were able to stop labour. I was later able to go back to work 1/2 days until two weeks before Jax was born before I went on full bed rest again.

About this time 9 years ago, Stephen had flown from Minneapolis to Seattle to interview for a job. He treated it more as him interviewing them rather than them interviewing him (is that grammatically correct?). The day of the interview the sun shone here for the first time in 90 days. He went golfing the next day and decided he would not mind living here so we moved a few months later.

About this time 8 years ago, we were enjoying our first winter in the Pacific Northwest and I was pregnant with Dex. The rain did not bother me. The sun actually did shine from time to time (unlike the year before apparently) and we had one snowfall that was melted before noon. How could you hate winter living here?

About this time 7 years ago, I was weaning Dex in preparation to fly to Minneapolis for my friend, DeniSe's wedding. I also was putting off some surgery because I wanted to wait until after the wedding. I had contacted "The Oprah Winfrey Show" about following my passion and they wanted to me to fly to Chicago to be on the show and they asked me to reschedule the surgery to do so. Uh, no because there was a chance I had cancer and I was not going to put the surgery off to appear on the show. In the end I was featured in a "letters" segment (Link here courtesy of db#2). I also experienced my first earthquake then.

About this time 6 years ago, life was good. Jax had started preschool and I had a newly expanded group of friends (moms of the other kids in his class). I was losing weight and get fit again because watching all of the people rushing out of Manhattan on September 11, 2001 scared the shit out of me when I realized that I was so unfit and would not be able to do the same to save myself or my children should something like that happen here.

About this time 5 years ago, I was pregnant with Cars. I was experiencing some bleeding and I went to the emergency room. They told me I had miscarried my baby. Stephen and I sat in stunned silence for two hours while we waited for an ultrasound to confirm the miscarriage. The technician gasped when she saw a live baby bouncing around on the monitor. I think hearing her say "look at your baby jumping around in there!" was probably one of the most joyful moments of my life.

About this time 4 years ago, I was suffering from PPD. Life was bleak despite my three wonderful children. Stephen took his month paternity leave which we were "saving" until the summer. I needed help. I was going to see my crazy doctor on a weekly basis and felt like a failure. We went to Florida on vacation and the change of scenery did help (as did the sunshine and warmth).

About this time 3 years ago, we were updating our bathroom. Well, "we" were paying Handyman to do the actual work. As usual, I was having a hard time making decisions which stretched this project for weeks and weeks and weeks. I was also on the verge of turning *40* and celebrating the event with a girls' trip to Vegas. Wow - has it been three years already?

About this time 2 years ago, life was busy. I was teaching art in both Jax and Dex's classes. Nanny was still coming on Fridays and I quit going to see my Crazy Doctor. I guess I was no longer crazy.

About this time last year, Cars was in preschool and I actually had 5 hours to myself that I did not have to pay for (ok, we were paying for preschool but on the whole, it was much cheaper than paying Nanny). And opposed to not feeling crazy anymore, I really felt "normal" again. I recognize in myself that I do not handle stress well and I do a lot (by not doing a lot) to keep stress in my life at a minimum. Sometimes I realize that I am missing out on a lot of experiences because the fear of stress and what it ensues holds me back. ~shrug~ Still trying to decide if I am ok with that or not.

Oh, and P.S. About this time last year was also the birth of Cosmo Fridays. :)

The lunar eclipse tonight was cool! I was at first disappointed when we arrived home from swimming only to see clouds in the sky. A few minutes later the clouds parted and there was a copper-coloured moon. Very neat! I also saw a billion stars in the sky. Perhaps not having street lights isn't so bad.

We did nothing really exciting today. My poor kids. During this winter break they went to the skateboard park twice, to a park, to Michaels', Joann's, Ben Franklin's and an art supply store, ate lunch out everyday (and dinner tonight - we ate at the club after swimming lessons). They did have a friend come over today for a short time and that is about it. I really wanted to take them on a ferry ride but I am terrified. We almost went last summer - perhaps we will try again this summer if I have someone to hold my hand.

Stephen has a bee in his bonnet about taking a vacation for spring break which is in 5 weeks. I think we won't get any good deals booking so late and I would rather go on vacation in June.

I am hosting Book Club on Thursday because Ash's dh and son are sick (it is her turn and she will host for me next month then). Anyway, I am feeling a little stressed because this will be the first time that most of the book club members have been to my house since the moved and my house is suffering a little these days (check out the dining room table photo from two days ago). Aargh! Anyway, I will have Stephen clean up all the Lego then get to work putting the dining room back together. Of course I should have been cleaning today but it was another very gorgeous day so I took the kids to the skatepark after a stop at Costco.

I am also a little stressed about what to make for book club. I wanted to have something new and different but with the time constraints, I am having a hard time finding recipes that are peanut/nut/shellfish/wheat-free. I already have chips and salsa, a veggie tray and meringue cookies on the menu but I need another appetizer of substance.

Any ideas out there? Oh, besides being nut/peanut/etc free, it needs to be easy to make!

Today was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining. It was about 60 degrees. I took the boys to the skatepark then we ate a picnic lunch (well, if you consider Subway to-go a picnic) at a park.

I love bright, clear sunny winter days when you can see all of the snow in the mountains. At the skatepark I could see the Cascades, the Olympic Mountains and Mt. Baker (which I think is technically part of the Cascades). The sky was so blue and the sun so warm. Days like today erase any question about why we tolerate the grey, rainy winters.

LegoLand

Chez Pez has been overrun with Lego. It has gotten ridiculous! Stephen knows that the kids love it though so while others would encourage their children to chose different gifts, Stephen thinks it is great if all the kids want is Lego.

Due to lack of space though, the kids are only allowed to have certain Lego pieces out at a time. This causes problems sometimes because if the AT-ST or the Rebel Base (ok, not sure of the exact names) are away but the kids want to play with them, they have to chose one to put away while we take out the new one (which is inevitably in pieces). Then the ordeal of rebuilding begins.

Here are some photos:
Sorting Through Lego (see the big bare wall? Not for long!)

Some completed Star Wars Lego Set


Stephen has spent the last two weeks re-building Star Wars Lego that have been in bins (because of course all of the pieces were not together). The constant sound of him digging for pieces is driving me NUTS.

Dining Room Overrun with Lego


More Lego on the Fireplace Hearth


This just wasn't working for us anymore. So we decided to install shelving in the playroom.


Lego Now has a Home (rather than over-running my home!)


The "mudroom" is next! Still working on a plan there.

How Privileged Was Your Upbringing?

Copied from fellow Washingtonian, Margi, at She Walks Handsomely:

This is an exercise by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University, who ask that their copyright be acknowledged by anyone doing this meme.

This is based on North American/United States culture. Items in bold are true for me.

Father went to college My dad attend the Ontario College of Art

Father finished college

Mother went to college

Mother finished college

Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor

Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers Probably

Had more than 50 books in your childhood home

Had more than 500 books in your childhood home

Were read children's books by a parent

Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 An art class when I was 14

Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18

The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively

Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18

Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs I lived at home while I went to college so I had no residence/room & board fees so I guess this applies to me **edited to add that I paid for all of my tuition and books

Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs

Went to summer camp YMCA day camp and also a sleepover bible camp

Had a private tutor before you turned 18

Family vacations involved staying at hotels

Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18

Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them

There was original art in your house when you were a child Yes, my dad was an artist

Had a phone in your room before you turned 18 Yes, it was installed for my 16th birthday but I had to pay the monthly bill

You and your family lived in a single family house

Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home

You had your own room as a child Yes, after my sister moved out of the house when I was 14

Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course (n/a in Canada)

Had your own TV in your room

Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College

Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16

Went on a cruise with your family

Went on more than one cruise with your family

Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up I remember going with them to see "King Tut" at the ROM

You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family (oh, I *so* knew how much it cost to heat our house which was kept about 65 degress and we always wore slippers and "put a sweater on" was always the answer to "It's freezing in here!"

TGIF

This seemed like the longest week EVER. All week long I thought it was one day later than it was. I woke up disappointed yesterday when I realized that it was on Thursday. I think part of it was due to the fact that Cars' v-day party was on Wednesday yet I knew v-day was on Thursday.

Aaargh, as I was writing this, holding my laptop on my lap, my very lovely, sweet 4 year old jumped on me to give me a hug and promptly snapped my wireless mouse dongle off the laptop. Serenity now!

I have to go to the school later today to sign Jax's 504 Plan because it needs to be renewed. Apparently the current one "expired" but no one told us and it was only when I went to the school to look into starting the process to get a 504 Plan for Cars for his food allergies that the school counselor told me that my signature was required on Jax's. I wonder if I had not gone to the school if/when they would have ever told me about Jax's!

Also, the school counselor told me to start the process for Cars, I needed to speak to the school nurse. The school nurse then told me that I needed to speak to the school psychologist. The school psychologist was not in that day so I emailed her. She replied that the school counselor needed to be contacted, since the counselor is the 504 coordinator at the school. But, the psychologist has scheduled an eligibility meeting for May 20th. I forsee another clusterf*ck in getting this done.

I cried tonight during Project Runway when Chris was chosen to go to Fashion Week (well, chosen to compete against Rami again before Fashion Week but I know Mr. Draper will not win). Anyway, I cannot wait for the next episode! (And while I do love Chris, I want turtle-slow Jillian to win the whole thing).

For some reason I have been overly concerned about looking old and getting wrinkles. I am "blessed" with oily skin (zits still at age 42!) and fortunately I do not have a lot of lines on my face but I have been obsessed with making sure I do not get anymore. I have been using Lancome eye cream (free with online purchase of foundation that has been discontinued but is still available online - it is pricy so not sure what I will use when the freebie is gone!). I found some Almay "anti-aging" moisturizer and 15 minute facial that I have been using too. BTW, both Almay products were purchased when Bartell's had all Almay products 50% off.

I also made note of a lot of products listed by posters at a forum that I frequent (as a lurker). Again, however, many of the recommended product$ are pricy! So, I want to look young but I want to look young inexpen$ively!

So, I have decided that I must do facial exercises so I won't need all of those beauty product$, right? For a few years I have been doing one for my eyes and brow (directions can be found here. I don't do it regularly - usually for about a week or so every few months. I have decided to do it everyday now though. I have been scouting YouTube for other examples of facial exercises and I will combine them all together to get a routine (for free!) for me. So far, besides the eye/brow lift, I have found exercises to define my jawline, tone my neck and work on the bags under my eyes. Pretty soon I will have a very toned and younger looking face to go along with my...grey hair...and flabby abdomen. Hmmm...

Why can't I get this obsessed about working on my abs?!

Driving home from the club this morning, I had on either JackFM or the local oldies station on the radio and I heard the song "Sweet City Woman". OMG! I don't think I had heard that song in over 20 years. I don't understand why not - I mean how many great songs prominently feature the banjo? I belted it out and was wracking my brain trying to remember who sang it. I decided it must have been a Canadian band since I had not heard it in recent memory (I've lived in the States nearly 15 years). When I got home I looked it up and found out that it was indeed a Canadian band - The Stampeders. And that automatically made me think of one of their other "famous" songs - Ramona since it is also the name of my bff. Anyway, I had a blast watching videos of them singing their songs on YouTube. And if you are so inclined, here is "Sweet City Woman" and "Ramona". BTW, The Stampeders also sang "Hit the Road Jack", "Carry Me" and "Wild Eyes". Surely one of those songs must have been a hit in the States.

One of the things is that Canada has "Canadian Content Rules" for radio (and TV). I forget the exact percentage but it is something like 50% of all music played had to be "Canadian Content". As a result, we heard the same songs over and over again. And Canadian bands are sometimes HUGE in Canada and barely known outside of the country. An example of this was back in the early 90's the Barenaked Ladies were so popular in Canada. On tour they were selling out entire stadiums. However, in 1995 they were touring the States and we had tickets to see them at the Minnesota Zoo. A venue that maybe holds maybe 800 people. That day there were about 300 people there but the concert was called due to a tornado! We did get a chance to chat with Ed Robertson as he noticed us holding signs that said "I went to your high school" (I did but graduated the year before he and Steven Page started).

Stephen went to a conference once in Nashville and he found out one night that Blue Rodeo was playing at a local club. He convinced everyone that they had to get their early

Here are some hits by other Canadian bands/singers. Do you recognize any of them?

Chilliwack: My Girl
Anne Murray: You Needed Me
Barenaked Ladies: If I Had a $1000000
Triumph: When the Lights Go Down
Rush: Tom Sawyer
Max Webster: Paradise Skies
Rough Trade: High School Confidential
Teenage Head: Some Kinda Fun
Kim Mitchell: All We Are
Alannah Miles: Black Velvet
kd lang: Constant Craving
Leonard Cohen: First We Take Manhattan
Blue Rodeo: Til I Am Myself Again
The Pursuit of Happiness: I'm an Adult Now
Tragically Hip: Courage
The Guess Who: American Woman
Burton Cummings: Break It To Them Gently
Dan Hill: Sometimes When We Touch
Trooper: Raise A Little Hell
Bryan Adams: Run to You
April Wine: Just Between You and Me
Sweeney Todd: Roxy Roller
Celine Dion: Where Does My Heart Beat Now
Sheriff: When I'm With You


Ok, I guess I could go on and on. I just had a fun um, hour and half looking up songs on YouTube.

Nothing much happening. Dex's service project on Saturday (assembling boxes for the homeless living in Tent City). Today I went to IKEA looking for ideas to create a "mudroom". Our entrance from the garage into house is a wreck! I have a plastic bin filled with hats/mitts, a 15 hole shoe holder (does not fit 15 pairs!), two racks of hooks for coats and backpacks. We have way more shoes than fit in that space. I want to create a really nice mudroom area without spending a fortune. I was looking at the lockers from LLBean but I think they would be quickly outgrown. I would love something like this or this. If Stephen were handier, he could make them. Well, I guess if he really had the desire he would make them too but that desire is not there so I will have to figure out what to do and buy what I need. He'll install pre-assembled stuff (or easy-to-assemble things like I might buy from IKEA).

edited to add this link. I cut this article out of the paper the weekend we moved. This is my ~dream~ mudroom.

Other news this weekend is that my ATM card was canceled because someone attached a skimming device to our bank's ATM machine. I almost NEVER use the ATM machine (I prefer to get my cash from Safeway using the cash-back option when I purchase something) but once back in October, we were near the bank and we needed money for the weekend so I ran into the bank. Just recently people have noticed money disappearing from their accounts (several people with whom Stephen works were hit as this ATM machine is near their company and the bank caters to Hi-Tech employees). Anyway, I received a letter in the mail on Friday stating that my card would be canceled effective Friday and a new card would arrive in 10 business days. That is a long time to be without an ATM card. I had to buy groceries today and charge my AMEX card (though I guess I could have written a check - never thought of that since I have used an ATM card for groceries for the past 12 years!). Anyway, we've checked our account and it does not seem that we have any fraudulant transactions. I hope my new PIN is easy to remember (and I shall now always cover the keypad when I use one - I used to think only whacks did that but apparently if they were whacks, they were security-conscious whacks!).

Friday Friday

Once again it is the weekend. Kicked off nicely with Cosmo Friday. Tomorrow Dex has to do his service project for his 1st Reconcilliation. I need to make it to The Container Store sometime this weekend too. And we are thinking about the summer and if we are going to take a vacation. We have a couple of places in mind so all we need to do it figure out where to go and start planning!

Very Random Thoughts

Just a bunch of random thoughts...

- Art Start tomorrow in Dex's class and the kids will be making fingerprint beads necklaces for Art Gallery Night. The kids will just have three fingerprint beads on their necklaces then we will string them on black plastic lacing. We will make a full necklace for the teacher (end-of-year gift) with one fingerprint from each child

- I am also in charge of Art Gallery night for Jax's class. We are scheduled to to the project next Friday and I have absolutely NO IDEA whatsoever about what to make. Help!

- I have been trying to ease a toxic friend out of my life but sometimes it feels like she is trying to hang on like a dog with a bone. I wish I were the type who could come right out and say it. However, if she weren't so toxic I would not feel the need to do this. And why do I feel guilty about this?

- I have given up candy and cookies for Lent (but chocolate is exempt since it is the definite cure for PMS)

- I did not get what I wanted for Christmas and I feel so selfish and greedy for pouting about it. Yes, I did get a lovely camera but it was not what I wanted

- we bought a lithograph in the summer and the artist died last month. I keep wondering if the print is now worth more

- this spring will mark the 9th anniversary of me being a SAHM. I often wonder where I'd be if we had not made that decision

- I wonder how long spell check on blogger will be broken (it has been over a week now)

- Why can't I find regular cinnamon-flavoured Trident gum anywhere? I don't care much for the chiclets-type Trident

- I am dying to know what colour rhodies I have at our new house. I asked the neighbour but she claims they have never bloomed because the previous owner was such a crappy gardener

- The new owner of our old house wants to meet me. I am nervous. She wants to talk art (she apparently liked my paintings and she is an artist)

A day and a half in bed and I am mostly all better. I probably should have spent all day in bed yesterday but we had a Super Bowl party to go to. What an exciting game!

We had a good time at the party but the real excitment for me was that Jax ate food there! L talked to him about all of the food and reminded him that it is mostly all things he had had before. Foods he was unfamiliar with were still all peanut-free. Last week Jax told me that he would eat a couple Glutin breadsticks because they are peanut-free. L made sure she had some (she is allergic to wheat so we often have these sticks at Cosmo Friday both here and at her house). So, Jax had some of those, one Dare chocolate creme cookie, some carrots, one pig-in-a-blanket and some pretzels. TOUCHDOWN! That is the most he has eaten at anyone else's house since Thanksgiving. He is working so hard at overcoming this. I am so proud of him!

On the mend

I am feeling a bit better today although my ears are plugged so my balance is a little off. We are still planning to go to the Super Bowl party today but probably will not stay until the end. Go whichever team wins!

Stephen is still sick but the fever is gone so of course he went to work.

And because it is the weekend, I am allowed to be sick. I have a sore throat, sinus congestion and an achy body. I am off to bed as soon as the boys are home from school.