Solitary

My house was one of illness again yesterday. I am not going to name names at this point, but there seemed to be a second round of flu for the poor individual. Goodness gracious. I had already lined up a babysitter, for some much needed alone time, and decided to stick with that plan even though I may have been needed at home. It was good to get out and see the world through healthy eyes. How come two hours with a babysitter goes by so fast? I kept thinking back to my college days when a two hour anthropology class would seem to drag on for five hours. Why can't it be like that?

Some naughty indulgence to get the afternoon started! I ended up ripping off the bottoms of two donuts and just ate the tops:


Then off to a used bookstore to peruse the adventure travel section. I can't seem to get enough of this stuff. It is like being whisked away to a new place every time:


I ended up with these two titles:
I have made some great friends from Korea and am very interested in learning more about Korean history and culture. I was hoping for a pop-travel story, but all they had was a guide on customs and etiquette. You have to start somewhere:

Amazon

I still fantasize about visiting Paris:

Amazon

Jubilee

Andrew is sick again. This time it is a cold. He went to bed early so I decided to treat myself to some alone time in the kitchen.

Step 1. Pour myself a "pregnancy" dose of wine:


Step 2. Pick a recipe. My unborn, 3rd child called out for cherries jubilee:


Step 3. Be okay that it didn't turn out like the image above. Tasted yummy!

Torpid

For months now, I have anxiously waited to see this movie:

Andrew went to bed early Friday night so I logged onto Blockbuster.com and found they now have downloadable movies in an instant (fyi, the movie crashed ten minutes in, but tech support reissued my token and I was good to go). It was so nice to watch a romcom all by myself. Why hadn't I thought of this before? One doesn't have to have anyone around to enjoy a cheesy movie! In fact, I just might watch these things alone every Friday night. Sounds divine.

We inherited a new juicer and bought lots of fruit at the Farmer's Market so we can get this thing juicing again. Too bad I am too lazy to pull out the instruction booklet and figure out how it works. Maybe there is a video tutorial online so I don't have to get out of this chair!

Mmm...fresh juice:


Blake came home from his first day back at preschool with this comment, "Mommy, we had goldfish crackers and really yummy orange juice." He kept commenting on how yummy the orange juice was for days on end. I finally figured out what he was hinting to. I never have juice in the house (why am I okay with a dozen donuts, but juice is downright evil in my mind?) and always make him fresh squeezed juice from real oranges. I am glad he has things to look forward to at preschool.

P.S. I love his new teacher and am really happy with his new preschool.

Courtyard

Here is our neglected, front courtyard:


I am now itching for spring to come so we can turn it into a veggie/flower/kid garden spot.

I envision fun pathways like these:

1


2

And fun containers for the kids to garden in (too bad these are way out of price range):


Things I want to plant:

Orange Black Eyed Susan Vine


Hydrangeas


This Jury's Yellow Camelia

Pruned

Just a reminder for everyone to prune their fruit trees while they are "resting" during winter. Andrew and Blake are helping the apple tree get ready for spring:

Annoyed

Two things I am really sick of today.

1. Ant infestations in our bathroom.




2. The flu. My case has been mild, but Reade was in full flu mode this morning. Blake didn't get to go to his new preschool today because I didn't want him to spread the love around. By the way, the story below is real. Gross.

If you really are interested then click here.

2012

Happy 2012 Everyone! Last night was a hoot:

Joining the masses as we make our way north towards Paris Hotel:


Almost there:


We sit down at our wonderful, balcony seats and immediately I look over and see a penis. The guy apologizes over and over saying he had to pee so much and he was so sorry for interrupting our nice meal. With that, I quickly held up my cell phone and started taking a picture. He said, "Oh please, don't take a picture of me. Please, ah lady, don't take a picture." I asked him if there was a Facebook account he would like me to upload the photo to. No answer. The worst part of that was watching people step in and out of his pee puddle without knowing what it was:


The dinner was great. We were seated right next to the VIP elevator so we got to see Holly Madison, Good Charlotte, and Kourtney Kardashian & Husband heading up to their respective clubs to host New Year's parties. Here we are counting the seconds down:


This is how we all felt on the way to the airport this morning:


Our series of events on the way home:
1. Our flight was delayed
2. The first woman to board the plane fell down and hurt herself. When we boarded the plane, she was sitting in the front row, wrapped in bandages, and hyperventilating. Not a good sign. Paramedics arrived to assess her condition. IV was inserted. 45 minutes later, the woman is removed from the airplane via gurney and we finally get to depart.
3. Andrew barfs in the airplane bathroom due to his full-blown flu.

I have loved being healthy and it looks like 2012 is not going to be one of good health right off the bat!!! Wishing everyone a healthy 2012 (a.k.a. finding new friends because the Hursts seem to be plagued all the time).