At Home

I have come down with the Norwalk virus.  When asked yesterday how I knew what it was, well, I answered that some things you just know.  You 'just know' that the pregnancy test is going to be positive.  You 'just know' you didn't put enough yeast in that bread.  You 'just know' you aren't going to get that job.  And frankly, you 'just know' that you have the Norwalk virus.  The signs are, um, fairly hard to miss.

Anyway, because of this, I've turned into the world's laziest person.  I'm feeding the children cookies as a meal option.  And I'm being as contrary as I can be - my morning included a hot bath in a dark bathroom with the window wide open to let the cold air in, which was my solution to feeling both hot and cold at the same time.  Strangely, it worked well.

So, in the spirit of random contrariness, welcome to everything I've been thinking about while cloistered in the bathroom or groaning in pain in bed since yesterday afternoon.

I finally managed to get a decent picture of Caterpillar.  He lived a short life with us, sadly.  I'm not sure what happened at the end but he had clearly lost the use of a few legs and when I went to check on him next he had passed away.  So, thus ends our experience with attempting to rescue a February caterpillar.

Samuel and I spent some time this week working with buttons.  Sorting them into piles, arranging them by colour, etc.  He loved it, and it's an activity I'll definately pull out again.  The only problem is that he can only play with them when Clara isn't awake.

In other news, we're 'growing' carrot tops in our kitchen.

And Samuel and David's birdhouse, which they have carefully nailed and glued together using a kit we purchased (their very first father and son woodworking project) has been painted.  All that's left is attaching the chain to hang it by and filling with seed.

Last week's big exciting task was this ^ one.  Shampooing the carpets.  Well, actually all I managed was our bedroom, the hallway upstairs and a quick run over the livingroom.  But all the weird 'diaper changes that didn't go as planned' and cat vomit and blue freezie marks are no more.  This makes me feel like such a productive housekeeper.

Random Wintery Pictures...



Clara and Samuel on the way home from church.



Playing with the fish eye effect on my camera.

I had a horrific nightmare last night that I somehow felt I needed to get a job, and so I got one at Sears.  And halfway through the first day I realized I didn't want to work at Sears, and then went through a crisis about whether or not to quit.  I'd tell you more but it doesn't get much more interesting than that.  Although there were bad guys.

Somehow that nightmare has worried me all day.  Other things I've worried about included:  I can't find my mailbox key.  Samuel threw up last night and maybe he's getting sick.  I don't spend enough quality time with my children.  I haven't washed my hair in two days and people are going to start to tell soon.  Maybe I should go back to school.  The compost bin that has frozen solid instead of decomposing like the composting website said it would.  There are tire tracks and footprints outside my house that must have happened since I got up but no one knocked on my door - who was it?

I think the worrying has to do with my plummeting blood sugar levels.  I get dizzy when I turn my head to look at something.  My mother's helper is coming tonight and I am going to get her to play with Clara upstairs while I take Samuel to the basement and do some laundry.  We can talk and I'll feel better about having spent quality time with him while in the coolest part of the house so my body stops feeling like it's on fire.  And my helper and Clara love each other so they'll be fine upstairs.  Plus the excessive vomit laundry will be kept at a dull roar, so that's good.