MM is a great little campaigner

At the Herndon Festival he handed out lit saying, "This is my dad!", he handed out balloons, he handed out stickers.

He was adorable and worked really hard. I rewarded him with fair ware. He's now the proud owner of a red sparkly handmade snake from the quilting booth and a helicopter from the vehicles-made-from-soda-cans booth.

He also had ice cream, lemonade, and funnel cake. All-in-all, a good festival.

Before I go out to the next thing...

I need to tell you all that Jody Wagner is terrific. She's smart. She's knowledgeable. She's sensible. She's a great listener. She knows a whole big bunch about how to properly run a state. Plus, she's nice and funny and still in good spirits after a long slog of a primary campaign.

Please vote for her June 9.

Where you can find me this weekend

• Tonight: Handing out lit at the Herndon Festival. Then sleeping.
• Tomorrow: At MM's skating lesson, then handing out lit at the Herndon Festival, then co-hosting a women-only event for Jody Wagner (if you're in my area and want to come and meet Jody, let me know!), then attending an event for the League of Conservation Voters. Then sleeping.
• Sunday: UU Services if I wake up in time, then handing out lit at the Herndon Festival (this is probably the best day to come by if you want to say hi!), then the FCDC JJ Dinner. Then sleeping.
  
  We will gladly accept help handing out lit at the Herndon Festival! Please let me know if you'd like to pitch in! Here's a picture of me doing something similar 2 years ago. Handing out lit is always a fun time.

Just finished reading chapter 27 of HP & HBP to MM

He bawled.

Venting

Yes, I probably DID lose some weight. Six days of non-stop diahhrea will do that. It's not a weight-loss method I recommend.

Stuff I am learning

• I have to take my antibiotics 4 times a day at precise times. Yesterday, I knew I'd be away from home at noon, so I took my pill with me in the morning. However, I was surprised to find myself still away from home at six so needed to rush back to take my medicine. (I was supervising clean-up at the old house)

Lesson learned: I have to take an extra pill with me even if I'm sure I'll be back in time.

• The cafeteria is a long way away from my desk at work (embedding was goofy). I work in the far-right-hand building. The cafeteria is in the big central one. It's a half-mile round-trip walk. And, while normally it's not a problem for me - I'm a pretty good walker! - right now it's exhausting. I have no idea how folks who are facing mobility problems do it.

Lesson learned: Bring my food from home for a while.

More lessons posted as I learn them.

Also! I am so proud!

Give this a listen.

If you are a bit confused, here is a hint (which is a better hint than the first one I put up).

Personal Carbon Footprint: Increased.

Hand washing technique, per doctor's intructions:

1. Wash with lots of soap under warm running water for at least 20 seconds (previously used cold and turned off water while scrubbing).
2. Use paper towel to dry hands and then turn off water with the paper towel (previously turned off water first, then dried hands on cloth towel)
3. Throw away paper towel.

The bacteria I had isn't killed by anything less than warm soapy water or bleach and can live on surfaces for a long time. If you turn off the water with your bare hands, then you might as well have not washed at all. So! Question for you folks: How do I reduce my footprint without sacrificing hygiene?

Towels, sheets, napkins, and placemats must all be washed in hot water, btw.

I'm home!

Hi there! Here's Self-Portrait In Gown (taken when I was already feeling much better):

My hair is pulled into an inside-out french braid courtesy of the elastics brought to me by my good friend, DeepVoicedFirstGrader'sMom who works at HospitalIWentTo (for those of you who live near me, it's the one near and named for LovelyTownCenterWithAnOutdoorIceSkatingRink)

The Last Supper. Excellent iced tea, pretty good meatloaf and green beans, and absolutely horrible mashed potatoes and soup. I don't know how they managed that.

Nectar of the Gods. Not even remotely kidding:
And best of all, MM learned to tie his shoes YESTERDAY at PoshPlace. He showed MS and me this morning. I'm so glad I didn't miss that. Here is his very first double-knot tied all by himself.

It is very good to be home.

Most likely getting out of here this evening

If the Hospitalist ever comes around to discharge me.

I can't wait to get home to be with my boys.

ETA: They're bringing me SOLID FOOD for dinner! WOOT!

Got no strings on me!

The IV is out. Am still in hospital but things are definitely moving in a positive direction.

Am still sick

Fever and other unpleasantness. No rash, no sniffles, no sneezing or coughing.

Am drinking lots of fluids (including juice and Powerade) and have hardly moved from bed except to (ahem) deal with unpleasantness. If I'm not better by morning, I will go to the doctor. I feel, aptly, drained.

MS and MM have gone to see Star Trek. I wish I could have gone with them.

How are you all doing?

Classic pose

I've spent a good portion of today like this:

and this:

Hmmmm...looks like there's a common theme:

The top picture is me in Cape Cod, age 5 or 6. I am reading All of a Kind Family.
Underneath that is me at age...I'm going to say 17...re-reading Poirot Loses a Client.
Underneath that is me in 5th Grade. I don't know what I was reading that day. But wasn't I fashion forward?
Under that is me at The Redcoats Return Inn in Woodstock, NY. Reading, as you can see, Deenie. I think this is 4th grade. My arms have not changed one whit.

No need to gimme fever

I've already got one. 100.7, and no accompanying sneezes or sniffles or rashes.

Feh.

Roller coaster

Emotions in order of having them today:

(still) Thrilled
Bored
Anxious
Furious
Seriously annoyed
Curious
Happy
Annoyed
Tired

SQUEEE!!!!

Kvelling

My son, who beat my assets at Uno last night, did the score keeping. He took his duties very seriously and did a great job of adding up 3 digit-numbers, carrying the one, and telling us that 29 plus 35 is the same as 20 plus 34 and that equals 54.

He told his Grandy that math is his favorite part of school.

It's so much fun watching him confidently do things that he just could NOT do a year, a month, or even a week ago.

I love that boy.

Lovely weekend, lovely mother's day

Yesterday was skating lessons, followed by a practice skating session followed by chores followed by leftovers for dinner.

Today was:

Homemade prezzies from MM and Godiva chocolate ("dark, so I won't be tempted to ask you to share!") from MS, a pajama breakfast and then hurrying into nice clothes.

UU services (the flower communion), lunch at Anita's in Leesburg, dessert at South Street Under (where we saw folks we know from UU), and then a trip to Wegman's where we saw 7 people we knew before we even walked in the door. And everywhere we went, we enjoyed the fact that it was a really truly Spring Day.

Dinner at home (roasted garlic chicken, mashed taters, and fiddlehead ferns) and a rousing game of Uno which I LOST (how DARE they beat me on MOTHER'S DAY!!!).

And that sums it up.

How was your Mother's Day? I hope it was a happy one.

That was enormous fun!

Mr. Spock went to one gala, while I attended another! We texted each other during. I got the better food and the more fun company, he got the brighter stars.

Talked for a while with an elected official from a nearby district, and to his friends. Turns out we were seated at the table of a former employer of mine!

Ended up not wearing the elbow-sleeved dress. Instead, I wore a yellow flowery dress that I got for Mr. Spock's sister's wedding.

I wish I could have bid on some of the items at the charity auction, because they were GLORIOUS. But waaaaaay too rich for my blood.

They never got their act together.

I scheduled for tomorrow, but I'm going to have to reschedule for next week because I have a thing to go to and a big ol' bandage and bruised arm won't go well with elbow sleeves.

The obnoxious thing is, that the blood donation center sent me an email on Wednesday asking me to come in today because they didn't have enough platelet donors scheduled and then, when I called to schedule my donation, it turns out that the center was CLOSED today for an O neg Only event.

Left-hand, meet Right-hand. Right-hand, Left.

On the agenda for today

• Donating platelets if the blood center gets its act together.
• Paying bills
• Playing Uno
• Oh! And work.

My life is so terribly, terribly exciting.

Recommendations from my weekend in Connecticut

MangeTout in New London is delicious. Please don't miss their Black & White Chocolate Macaroon Tart. Oh. My. God. That was amazing.

And The Westbrook Inn took really great care of us, they greeted us with fresh-baked oatmeal cookies and sherry. We stayed in the cottage, which has its own kitchen, living room (with gas fireplace), and very very very comfortable beds. Their breakfast was fabulous, and their coffee was plentiful and strong.

My dad, my sister, and I had the most wonderful weekend. Very refreshing!