A cracking sound

We had a bad storm last night. Gary had a meeting, so he wasn't here.

I could tell a storm was coming, by the wind picking up and the trees swaying.

After the kids were in bed, I sat down at the table minding my own business, when it started to rain. And either the drops were enormous and loud, or there was a bit of hail mixed in. I moved my delicate plants away from the edge of the porch.

Sitting back at the table I decided to light the oil lamp, in case the power went off. Within several minutes, the power went off. At this point it's thundering and lightening, blowing and raining. And thankfully the kids are sleeping through it.

Then I heard a cracking out back. I grabbed the flashlight and saw that the tree closest to the cabin had cracked halfway up and started falling. It was caught in a neighboring tree. I started freaking out. Crying and freaking out, I called my dad. Remember Gary isn't home and isn't phone accessible. I also heard cracking across the road, to the left and the right of the cabin.

Dad didn't quite know what to say to help me. He couldn't really do much 2 hours away, but just talking with him calmed me down.

I didn't know what the wind would do with the top of the tree, leave it alone or send it straight into the cabin. And it was hard to see whether it was actually a danger, since it was night, the power was going on and off, it was pouring down rain, and I was freaking out.

Gary did call me to let me know he was trying to get home, but downed trees were making it hard. It ended up taking him an hour and a half to get home, when it should have taken about 15 minutes. He told me to get out of the house. I asked him where I should go?

I woke the kids, and we ended up sitting in the basement waiting for him to get home. After he assessed the situation and realized my description of the tree was worse than it actually was, we went back into the house.







But we did all sleep in the living room that night.

The next morning we called a tree place to come chop it down. When they finally made it here, tree triage put it at the bottom of the list. Apparently trees actually on houses are more of an emergency. It is currently still stuck in the other tree and will be taken care of on Tuesday.




In the calm of daylight and storm free weather, one can see that the tree is not really a danger. It isn't actually cracked all the way through.

Eleven Years

Usually Gary and I go away for our anniversary weekend. Usually we stay at a bed and breakfast. Usually we have family to watch the kids. Usually. But not this year.

Usually has changed in the last two years. For lack of money we've stayed at the cabin. This year we still don't have any extra money, and now we don't have any family near by to take the kids for the weekend.

This year friends of ours agreed to take the kids overnight. This year, we had dinner out (thanks to Myrtle,) the beginning of a movie (we got too tired to finish it) and a morning to ourselves.

Then we had to go pick up the kids and we were mommy and daddy again.

New job for Gary

Gary got a second job. He is now a stringer for the The News Eagle, a Hawley newspaper, covering township meetings. Here is his first article. And his second (he took the photo, too.)

And in case you are wondering about the term stringer, click here.

Knoebles

We took the kids camping last weekend. Gary's mom came along. It rained.

I love roller coasters and was very excited to take Ellie on the roller coasters. She was excited to ride the grown up ones for the first time.

Ellie and I got in line for Twister. Josh was too short to ride and was very upset. We waited in line for over twenty minutes. Never did Ellie have a second thought about riding. She picked the first seat in the first car. Off we went.

She grabbed my arm for dear life. The first hill wasn't even the biggest one. I'm not sure if it was scared, fear, or terror on her face. She slid down under the bar. I told her to sit up; she said she couldn't. It isn't easy to hoist a child, while spinning crazy fast.

We got off and she declared the ride scary. Then she answered me that yes, she wanted to go again. The second time we sat in the last car. She liked the second ride even less.

But even so, later on that evening she rode the other wooden coaster, The Phoenix, with me. Meanwhile Gary took Josh on the kid roller coaster, something Gary wasn't doing again. I had taken him on that one earlier, and I thought he wasn't going to make it without freaking out. But I held onto him and he grabbed onto me and we made it through.

After the ride, Ellie decided she was ready for the kid roller coaster and we went in that direction. I rode it with her, than passed the kids onto Gary and ran off to ride The Phoenix two more time and Twister once more, by myself.

The kids rode a bunch of kiddie rides as well. Gary's mom, also not a rides kind of person, rode The Whipper with us. And we all rode the the train ride, at Josh's request.

It had rained in the mornings, and a hour or so in the afternoons. The camper has been sitting all week in my parents' driveway to dry out. Except it's been raining all week, so it hasn't actually dried out yet.

Going herping

I didn't know there was a name for looking in vernal pools for tadpoles, frogs and such. But there is . . . herping.

There are programs at Promised Land State Park, one being In Pursuit of Amphibians. I thought the kids would enjoy looking for frogs. I signed us up.

We loaded snacks and rain boots in the car. I enjoyed myself as much as the kids did. It reminded me of my college days when I took Aquatic Biology.

These photos are from the first sight. I like the wood setting.

The second sight was a meadow filled with ticks. I didn't so much care for the second sight.

In all, the group of us found a couple of salamanders, some frog eggs (I found one blob,) a wood frog, a bull frog, and a spring peeper, a leech, some whirligig beetles, mosquito nymphs, tadpoles, and probably other creatures I can't remember.

I wanted to go buy rubber boots for me the next day and take the kids out again.

Throwing rocks

Josh and I went on a picnic lunch to the beach area of the lake.

Josh getting ready to throw his next rock. He spent the entire time after we ate throwing rocks. He kept asking for the biggest rock, so he could make a big splash.

Underneath the water in the middle of the photo with Josh is the rock we are sitting on in the other photo.

As you can see the lake's water level is very high.















The two of us. I sure do like a timer on the camera.







Here is the rock that Ellie and Gary sat on to go fishing last year. It was completely out of the water then.







Josh watching a stick.

Planting

The deer are the main reason for strategic planting. Because they might think that the flowers are their new salad bar. Which they are not.

I looked up which plants help deter said deer from munching on my Mother's Day flowers. Rosemary and columbine are two such plants. I still need to purchase rosemary and plant the columbine.

To keep it simple with the tomato plants, I just put them in pots on the porch. The empty pots next to them will hopefully be morning glories. And the plan is for them to grow along the poultry netting (that's how chicken wire is labeled now at stores) around the porch and be very pretty. One variety I bought is a night bloomer with a nice scent.

We also put up our bird feeder, which you can see from the kitchen or bathroom window.

My Day

I was greeted yesterday afternoon with two little flower bundles and a balloon from my children.

Today I was presented with plants. I received a bleeding heart plant from Gary, tomato plants from Ellie and pansies from Josh. There was much excitement on the children's part. Ellie also gave me the gifts she made at school. She tried to give them to me on Friday when she got home from school, but I asked her to wait until today. And I received carnations at church.

Ellie did the artwork on my card from Gary. And Josh made a smiley face on it.

I sort of had the afternoon to myself, while the rest of the crew took naps. Ellie never actually took a nap, but tried several times to be excused from, in her opinion, such nonsense.

We then packed up dinner and went to Promised Land State Park for a cook out. The kids played on the playground while
Gary grilled. We ate and the kids went and played again. Then we took a walk, then a drive and came home.


Gary and the kids finally made me my apple crisp. I chopped some wood, discovered and disposed of the dead mouse we suspected was somewhere in the living room. Gary still thinks we have another one around.


Now I'm typing and watching the Phillies.



We also made sure to call our mothers, and I texted or called my mother friends.

Good times today.

Cleaning leaves

I decided to spend some time outside today with Josh. We did a little yard work. We planted alyssum seeds in our two hanging baskets and we cleaned the leaves out of our flower beds. He helped me for a while. But when we found a red toad in the one bed, Josh became the toad's caretaker. He had to keep it safe from creatures, he told me. He also found two worms that also needed his care. The leaf removal was not important anymore.

I use the term flower beds loosely, since there are no flowers in the beds. The deer eat them, so all we have are transplanted ferns and ornamental grass.

Here is where we feed the deer and other creatures. It is our compost pile. And pile is also used loosely. We just stand on the porch and fling the food scraps into the woods. Sometimes we take aim at the trees.

Half-Marathon

Gary suggested we participate in a half-marathon in September. The D&H Distance Run. I said to sign us up. You can walk it or run it. We talked more about it tonight, and Gary made up a training schedule. I'm getting excited. We are going to run it.

We need someone to watch the kids, but I think that will be an easy task compared to the training.

You need to understand, Gary and I don't run. He's joked that he only runs if he's being chased by an animal or unsavory characters. He just said the last time he tried to run, he thought he was going to die. I don't think he paced himself.

I feel like I could run, that I should run, that I should at least exercise in some fashion. But I usually just sit around and think about exercising.

But not anymore. We are going to do this.

And I get a new pair of sneakers, too.

Scalpinng

I tried my hand at shaving my boy's head tonight.


I don't have enough skill to try Gary's hair yet, but it's a goal.

The princess inside

Prince William and Kate were married today. The event has intrigued me. I feel compelled to watch the coverage, to find out information. Kate is now a princess.

I think that there is a small part inside each woman that wants to be a princess. It's inside girls as well, but is much more obvious and they are less inhibited to let others know.

I also think that the part of me that wants to be a princess is the reason for the fascination with the Royal Wedding. And even looking up other royal stuff.

I am a princess. I may not have a title, but I have a family and friends that make me feel like a princess.

It's back

The CRV is back where it belongs. Parked out front. Gary drove it home to see how it shifted. When I got behind the wheel, I told the car that I missed it. It is much nicer to drive than the Subaru.

We like our mechanic. He's a nice guy. His shop is conveniently located on the way to Gary's work. He does have one issue. Beware if you have a partially full wiper fluid tank. At least three times he's charged us to fill the tank. We've never requested this service. Gary mentioned it to him, and he said that he's required to make sure it's full when he does inspections.

I went looking through our bills (which I have neatly filed.) On the three that I found with washer fluid charges, only one was an inspection. When Gary dropped the car off, he made sure that the tank was full and he stuck the washer fluid bottle on the front passenger seat. We weren't charged.

He is however allowing us to pay half the bill now, and the rest in two payments.

Cassette tape and a transmission

I was just wondering what I would play my Billy Joel cassette tape on if I did happen to dig it out of storage, since I don't have a cassette player that isn't in storage. Well, I could play it in the car, I guess. If I had the car.

We will hopefully be getting the CRV back tomorrow. Two Saturdays ago, the malfunction light came on. I already knew something was wrong with the transmission, since it wasn't shifting right, but that light confirmed it.

We'll be without two cars for 11 days. Which is hard up here where everything is not close.

Picnicking

With a high of around 89 degrees (which seems unbelievable, but that's what the digital thermometer says) the kids asked to have dinner outside tonight.

[Please ignore my laundry hanging in the background.]

I figured we would just set up the card table on the front porch.

Ellie had other ideas. She started clearing off the picnic table on the side porch. She came in to get a cloth and a cleaner to wipe off the layer of dirt from over the winter. She set the table, and Josh helped us cook.

It was nice to eat outside on a beautiful day, and since cooking raises the temperature inside too many degrees.

Time to get rid of . . .

the candy in this house, or at least stash it where the kids won't see it. The kids have gone way overboard with wanting candy. And other sweet stuff. I need to do something about it.

Also, I am at my wits end with feeding my girl lunches. She likes it, then she doesn't. She eats it, then she won't. Packing her lunch is a frustrating processes. And I really don't like when it comes back home.

The kids like to have a snack after Ellie gets home from school. They want fishies or pretzels. I'd like them to eat something more nutritious. But I can't think of anything, or we don't have anything, or they don't want it, or I don't feel like preparing it.

So my goal from now on with this next shopping trip is to buy more nutritious items, stop my lazy streak and make stuff more appealing to the kids.

Before I search online, any suggestions?

We finally did it

We joined a CSA. We will be getting our produce this summer from The Ant Hill Farm. I believe we will have an adventure with it, because even with a half share, I think it will be more produce than we usually buy, and definitely a larger variety.

I know we need to eat more vegetables, and a larger variety will be welcomed.

Billy Joel

In an attempt to drown out the calls of the kids for one more thing before they go to sleep, even though they were fine and didn't really need anything, and last night I told them that I wasn't going to respond to their "Mommy, I want . . . " (I guess they think they need to work on their procrastination skills) I brought up YouTube on the ole' computer.

I looked for the loudest most obnoxious song I could think of, but came up with Piano Man by Billy Joel. It was on my mind from an episode of Bones that I recently saw, where a bar singer sings it the night his competitor is murdered.

Gary was surprised I knew the song, let alone liked it and can sing it.



And from there we've been listening to Billy Joel song after Billy Joel song. I think we have actually agreed on a singer that we both like! But of course we have our favorites that aren't the same. Good bedtime music for the kids, eh?

I'll have to go dig out my Greatest Hits cassette tape from storage. On second thought, maybe I'll just buy it from iTunes.

Stupid cold . . . again

Back in the beginning of March, I had a cold, that included a fever and such. It turned into a sinus infection. Really, I've been having colds all winter. We all have. More than usual.

So, surprise when I say I have another cold. This one is not nearly as bad. I have no infection, the um, nose stuff is clear, and my nose is not completely blocked. I do, however, have a nasty cough.

Around dinner time I started with the shivers. After taking my temperature with the electronic thermometer and only getting a temperature of 98.6, I pulled out the mercury-but-not-mercury thermometer, which registered my temperature at 100.2.

I am currently on the couch blogging, while the children play make believe with laundry baskets, and Gary makes brownies. I firmly believe brownies will make me feel better. If not help my cold, at least make my mouth happy.

Here you see the kids in their cages, which started out as cars, complete with tires and steering wheels.

At some point the baskets became cages for these loudly meowing cats. In their play, they requested that someone buy them. I paid 1 million dollars each for them.

I got me some priceless cats.

P.S. Gary's brownies are delicious. I feel better already.

T-ball

It's t-ball time. The kids finally made it to a t-ball practice tonight. They had fun throwing, catching and hitting.

And they were excited about their uniform. Really, a uniform? For t-ball? Yes, they received a shirt, complete with their name on it, pants, socks, and a hat. They both wanted to get into their uniform as soon as they got it. We let them put their shirts and hats on at the field, their socks on in the car, and the pants on at home.

Aren't they cute? And pay no mind to Josh's sad face. He likes the uniform, he just doesn't like his picture taken. As soon as I clicked the photo, he came to look at it all smiles.

A warm day

Today starts hanging-laundry-out season. We just love the smell of fresh hung laundry.

It got up to 78 degrees today. I had about five shirt changes as it warmed up today. It wasn't just warm, but humid too.

We walked to pick up Ellie. It's nice to get out and walk.

Gussied up

Ellie took charge of my hair and did it up nice. She had me put on a necklace and bracelet too. She wanted me to look pretty for Daddy.

Rummaging

We took a trip to the storage unit today. We were looking for Gary's suit and accessories. We took our lunch and set up the little table that came with the CRV. The kids thought that lunch on this table was a great idea.

The kids were great and entertained themselves nicely. After an hour and a half we accomplished our goal and found some other things to take back with us. The kids eventually made their potty declaration, we looked at each other and said time to go. We put everything back that we had to pull out to get in the unit, plus the stuff we moved to get to the boxes we needed to open.

Christ be praised the wardrobe boxes were right near the front, although I had to go up, over and down to get to them. If you saw the 30' storage unit and all that's in it, and know we had no idea where the wardrobe boxes were, and that they could have been anywhere, it is a miracle I found them at all. They were only marked on the top, and they were the bottom boxes of stacks four boxes high, and they were behind items I couldn't move.

Here I am standing on the dining room buffet table. Not the best step stool, but there it is. Behind me is 20' of space full of stuff, floor to ceiling. The first 10' of space is the stuff we know, that we kept track of, the rest is . . . . . who knows.

A happy boy

I bought a package of C batteries. And Josh is a happy boy.

You see, most of his trucks run on C batteries. And three have been silent for a few weeks. Until today. Today they got new batteries and my boy is almost as happy as when he first got the trucks.

The house is shrouded in as much darkness as the curtains allow and the trucks are making their noises and Josh is driving about with Thomas the Train, his Hess firetruck and his Sunoco racecar carrying tractor trailer.

He also has every other truck, car and vehicle he owns spilled out on the living room floor.

Again, with the snow

Although it snowed last night and is still snowing, Ellie sits in her classroom today. There was no delayed opening either. The ground was not cold enough for the snow to stick enough to make road travel too dangerous.

Two days ago we were to get 5-10" of snow. We were in a winter storm watch that was to last 24 hours. But the storm went more east than expected and there is to be not much accumulation.

I was looking forward to sleeping in. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

A long hike

Note to selves: When taking children on a hike, it is best to check the length and terrain of said hike.


Although is was in the 30s today, it was bright and sunny. So we decided to take a hike. We chose the trail on Shuman Point on Lake Wallenpaupack.


There were no trail maps at the trail head to take with us, but there was one stapled to the info board. We took a look and started the hike uphill. The children didn't care for the uphill portion. We encouraged them and arrived at the top.

The trail went along the lake shore for most of the hike, and there is a point where a side trail leads to the water. I wanted to go to the lake's edge as much as the kids.

I thought the bushes in the water with ice blobs on them were pretty nifty.

Gary showed Ellie the fine art of rock skipping. She tried skipping a few rocks.


At this part of the hike we thought we were about half way. That was not the case.

And soon after we started on the main trail again, the children were wanting to be back at the car. They had enough of the great outdoors.

But on we all hiked. We came to another hill, and at the top, the trail went back into the woods a bit.

As we came to another turn and saw the lake again, we knew we had a much longer hike than we thought.

But on and on we hiked.

We finally made it back to the parking lot and drove on home.

I looked up the trail for writing this post and read that the trail we took is 3 miles long. The kids do not care for three mile long hikes with two hills.

The last snow day?

Another day off. A Saturday of sorts. All four of us stayed home. Slept in. Well, no the kids didn't sleep in. They were up early. When they have to get up, that's when they try to sleep in.

We had a fire all day. The kids and I were out in the snow.

Josh and I sledded. On the one run Ellie and I did, we went over a rock and cracked the sled.

Ellie and I made a fort out of the tree branches from a fallen tree. Ellie called it fairyland. She also made a fire using leaves and branches and she wanted to hang a pot over it. Quite creative. I was able to find sticks to make a spit.

Laughing at Spring

Winter is laughing at Spring. It is not done with us yet. The kids have another snow day. And if Gary had left 15 minutes later for work, he could have stayed home too.

Ellie seemed upset that we had snow. She said that it's Spring and we are not suppose to have snow.

But she's quickly warmed to the idea of no school today.

Josh saw the "tow" and started stripping off pajamas to put clothes on for going out to play. But when Ellie asked to watch TV, he thought that was a better idea and going outside could wait for later.












And I was obviously mistaken about my previous thought that there wouldn't be a need to plow the roads again.



We did go out later, and the kids ran around a bit and we went sledding. We tried a new section of hill across the street. I was lamenting yesterday that I didn't see it sooner when we had snow.

I got a second chance today. Here are the kids going down. They are quite tickled about Ellie saying a word we tell them not to use. They watch the video and crack up when she says "butt."

.

Through the woods

We took a walk through the woods around the cabin today.














The high today was 52 degrees.

Josh still felt the need to wear a scarf, hat and snow mittens.

Tumbling stones

More of the stone wall along the driveway fell. Since we probably won't have anymore snow, I can stop using the driveway, park in the street, and Gary can fill the driveway with the stones to rebuild the wall.

Numbers

13 days, 13 hours, and 33 minutes until the Phillies home opener.

I thought it was interesting the difference in population between here and Lansdale. Here are some numbers.

Over 20,000 people live in Lansdale borough; about 2,000 people live in Salem Township.

Lansdale Borough is 3.1 square miles; Salem Township is 31.5 square miles.

13 elementary schools in North Penn School District; Essentially 2 elementary schools in Western Wayne School District.

Courageous

The creators of Facing the Giants and Fireproof have a new film coming out in September - Courageous. Click to watch the trailor.

And if you didn't realize it, their first movie was Flywheel. It never made it to the big screen and it was definitely not a big money production, but it is still a very good story with a great message.

Finally . . .

. . . I am feeling better.

Gary's mom is visiting us this weekend. It's always nice to have family visit.

And today we went to Promised Land State Park for an outdoor adventure. We packed a lunch, and planned to hike a bit.

The sun went in by the time we got there, and it was colder and breezier there than at the cabin. We ate in the car.

Is spring on it's way?



We took a track finder booklet with us and hunted for animal tracks. On the way back from our hike we found some tracks. We think they were either bobcat or coyote. They were in the snow and did not have the best definition.

The kids were very excited to find tracks to look at.

And Ellie was most excited about her sleepover birthday party tonight. She bought a gift, wrapped it, and wrote in the card. She packed her bag and kept asking if it was time to go yet.

She barely remembered to say goodbye to me when I dropped her off at her friend's house.

Ash Wednesday

I went to two Ash Wednesday services today. I received ashes on my forehead twice, as well. As did Josh and Ellie.

The history behind it. It is a humbling experience.

The imposition of ashes on the foreheads of Christians is an ancient Christian practice, going back at least to the 10th century. Biblically, ashes are a symbols of purification and penitence (see Numbers 19:9, 17; Hebrews 9:13; Jonah 3:6; Matthew 11:21, and Luke 10:13 ).

In the early church, people who had been separated from the church because of serious sins might seek to be re-admitted to the fellowship by observing a formal period of penitence during Lent. These people were generally sprinkled with ashes or given rough garments sprinkled with ashes as a sign of their sorrow for their sins.

Beginning in the tenth century, the observance of Ash Wednesday became a general rite for the church. The ashes, which were a symbol of purification in the Old Testament, remind us that we are mortal. In many churches the ashes are made by burning the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday. Ashes are placed on the forehead, usually in the sign of a cross, in a ritual known as the Imposition of Ashes. As the ashes are placed on the forehead, words such as these are spoken: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return," recalling God's words to Adam in Genesis 3:19.

-- Lynn W. Gilliam
Editor of Pockets
The Upper Room

Rip roaring

That's how my new doctor described my sinus infection.

I knew I had to see a doctor today. Last night not sleeping was too much. But since moving up here, we haven't found one. They aren't on every corner around here. One I did call was not taking any more patients.

But while driving home from Dickson City, I passed a building that used to be my grandparents' doctor's office. I saw "family practice" on the sign and turned around at the next road. I called Myrtle to look up the number since it wasn't on the sign and Josh was sleeping. They could take me right away, so I woke Josh and went in.

The doctor was very friendly, and I liked him right away. He asked if I got infections often. I do. He took a look at my sinuses with a nose scope thingy. I didn't so much care to have something go up my nose. He did however find that I have a deviated septum and could have medical surgery (meaning covered by insurance) to fix it.

And not have as many infections.

Upon leaving the doctor's, I headed straight for CVS. I am now armed with an antibiotic, probiotics, and a nasal decongestant to fight this wretched infection.

Here I sit

I've been up for 3 hours. I can't sleep very well, since I can't breathe through my nose. I am exhausted. I haven't been able to sleep through the night for four nights. I usually never wake up, unless there's a child issue.

At 1:30 am, I decided to stop trying to sleep.

For four days and nights, my sinuses have been blocked. It's a little wearying.

Right now, finally, sitting up is actually working and I can breathe through my nose enough to not dry out my mouth.

I've spent my wee morning hours watching Law & Order: SVU.

But now, I think I just might get some sleep with the one side of my sinuses open enough to breathe through.

Picnic

Today was another snow day for Ellie. And I mentally prepared myself for a day with the two of them together all day.

The morning was limited TV time and pretend play.

Around lunchtime they started acting secretive. And even though they were hardly keeping any secrets, I played along, like I didn't know that they were dragging a table and three chairs outside. Or making the plates and cups disappear.

It was a big surprise when they led me outside with my eyes closed to discover our picnic lunch on the porch.

And although it was sunny, it was NOT picnic weather. It was only 35 degrees and breezy. But they had been outside playing and thought that eating out there would be fun too. In the photo, Josh looks to be in pain, but he's really smiling his goofy smile. That's generally all I get these days from him, if I'm lucky.

It was a quick lunch. Josh actually finished inside. And Miss I Can Stand It, took off her coat to prove it.

A few hours later, I decided it was time for a proper outdoor activity. The kids suited up in winter gear. And proceeded to go play in the water in the ditches. I hadn't even gotten outside to join them before they had wet feet. Snow boots do not keep feet dry and warm when immersed in water.

Our big outdoor activity was suppose to be a walk, but it turned into an investigation of all the area water ditches. Their idea was to see where all the water goes. We got out our plastic boats to watch them float down the hill. The boats were too big, but the kids didn't give up trying to give them a voyage. They both paid no mind to foot or hand getting dunked. Just sloshed right through the water.

Both had drenched boots, socks, and mittens. But they didn't complain about wet appendages and would gladly go investigate the water again tomorrow.

They just might request rain boots instead.

My turn

I had a fever, sinus headache, body aches, sore throat and complete unhappiness this morning. I didn't get a good night sleep, from waking what seemed like every hour from the sore throat and stuffiness. And the stupid cat walking all over me.

Gary got me some drugs and I started feeling better. Not great, but more like a person. And my fever broke.

I had some time to myself, while Gary took the kids to buy Josh the vehicle he saved for. But Josh came back empty handed, because Toys R Us didn't carry what he wanted at the store, only online.

We think Target has it, but if not we'll have to order it online. Ellie saved for a gum making kit, which will be an online purchase.

Now I am sitting here about to go to bed, and I am not looking forward to it. I anticipate waking too much from being unable to breath and getting a sore throat again.

Optimism.

Fever

Ellie's been sick for four days. Josh picked it up yesterday.

Here's the poor boy asleep, snuggled in the chair last evening.

I noticed the laundry hasn't been piling up. But when several members of the family spend their days in PJs, there's less to wash.