In Which I Search For The Pause Button...

Life has been moving in fast forward motion these days...at least for me. Rick, on the other hand, has made good friends with the living room couch. He's been sick for a couple of weeks with a bad cough. He seemed like he was a bit better at the end of last week - he even worked a couple of days - but over the weekend he got a lot worse and ended up going in to see the doctor on Monday morning. Diagnosis: pneumonia. He came home with a big bottle of cough syrup with codeine and a small bottle of antibiotic pills in a funky green hue. Last night, armed with the codeine and the first dose of the antibiotics he had a fairly decent night. And today he is feeling a little bit better although his breathing still full of yucky sounding gurlgies. So, we are hopeful he is on the mend. But, his butt needs to stay on the couch so he can rest and get better. He's not the kind of guy who likes to sit on his tuchus and relax so he doesn't generally make a very good patient.

So, with Rick on the couch I've been trying to keep things moving along as best I can. I'm beat but it has actually been helpful to have him here at home this week. I've been able to get some time to go shopping without any kids in tow while the girls were in school because I was able to leave E home with Rick for an hour here or there. Sometimes she's been napping while I'm away and sometimes she's been awake but able to keep herself amused so that Rick could just veg on the couch and keep an eye on her. So, even though things have been crazy-busy, they could certainly have been a lot worse!

So, what's kept me so busy?

*I've been busy finishing up the holiday shopping - which I'm about 98% done with (phew). The next step will be the dreaded job of wrapping everything. It's 8:30 and the girls are still not asleep but I hope they will be soon so I can get started. Rick just went to check on E who was crying and found that the older two were still awake (ugh....). R was still reading in her bed and A was just restless and not yet asleep for some reason. They are usually conked out by this time so I have no idea if it's the excitement of Christmas coming or what but they are certainly wound up!

*I have been busy baking. After making the pizzelles for our neighbors I whipped up another batch to bring along to last night's book club meeting. We had a great night drinking wine, eating cookies and other decadent treats, and discussing the book "Patty Jane's House of Curl" by Lorna Landvik. It's a good, quick, fun kind of read - just the kind of book we like to pick for our December selection since it's a busy time of year. I recommend it highly if you want something not too deep or thought-provoking that is a fast read. Our January book is (I think...LOL) a novel called "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" by Marisha Pessl. It's certainly one of the books we'll be reading sometime between now and May but I can't remember if it's the January book or not. I should probably find out soon so I can get the right book ordered and start reading. But, back to the topic of baking...I also made quick breads to hand out to some of the teachers at R's school later this week. I made some apple pecan and some sour cream gingerbread quick breads - yum. I made them into mini-loaf sized breads so I was able to keep a couple for our enjoyment and they came out so yummy (if I do say so myself). For R's classroom teacher I am going to put some of the quick bread into a basket along with some treats from Trader Joe's, and a Trader Joe's gift card. The other loaves will be going to other assorted teachers like her art, gym, and music teachers, the librarian (who I have been volunteering with this fall), and I'm thinking that I'll just bring in a few loaves and some cookies or candy and leave it in the front office for the administrative staff to share. So, I have a bit more baking to do tomorrow but not too much. I'm usually in the school on Thursday mornings so I will plan to bring in the treats then and have R join me in handing them out to her teachers.

*I've been busy knitting (I bet you could guess that one!). I finished R's socks and immediately started in on a pair of socks for A in the same yarn. I'm about 95% done with sock #1 and hope to finish it and its mate before Christmas - wish me luck! And of course, I have other projects waiting in the wings, but they are not slated to be Christmas presents so there is no rush on those, thankfully.

And then there is just the miscellaneous stuff of everyday life - cleaning, laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, preschool drop-off/pick-up, etc., etc., etc.... Today was actually A's last day of school before the holiday break so that takes a bit of a load off...but having her home allllll daaaaayyyy adds a load of a different kind...I put the word out at preschool that we are available for playdates this week and I'm hoping that something pans out to keep her from careening off the walls in psychotic anticipation of Santa's impending arrival.

Lately, I've wished more than once that I could find the Pause button so I could get off the Merry-Go-Round of Life for a minute to catch my breath, or even just the Slow-Motion button that will allow time to stretch out a little and give me more room to breath, and a few times I've even wanted there to be a Rewind button so I could relive a sweet moment that I shared with a friend or family member or to take back a harsh word that was uttered by the stress monster from within. Alas, life does go on at its annoyingly steady pace and I just have to figure out a way to keep up. But, if you happen to locate any time warp buttons be sure to let me know!

All is quiet - for the moment... Time to go be productive!