Pictures

 Jonge's picture titled "City".

 Kado's picture of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

 Hertsje's picture - COLORS!

My picture of a bird.  Jonge suggested I add the branch, and I like it.
Oh, and I also caught the flu.  Woke up with it Saturday morning.  Sooo not happy about this.

Ugh.

Besides the fact that my WiFi is acting up, I am sick with a fever and cough.  When I return I shall have some adorable pictures of Hertsje who is now a two-year-old!

I had the time today to post pictures, but no WiFi connection that lasted long enough for me to do it. The new piece has arrived, I just don't have the mental capacity to figure it out right now.

Enough Already

Well now.  Today was day EIGHT of my being sick.  I've still got the intense sore throat and a fever that comes and goes.

Haven't seen my little people in a week now.

Kado is still sick also.

Hertsje seems to have avoided the worst of it and just has a cold.  She has also decided to bless her parents by sleeping 14 hours at night.  Her daddy slept like that when he was a baby.

Anyway, I won't bore you any more with my sad and woeful whining about my health.

I'm sure I'll be fine soon.

Oh, and THIS little doll is now NINE months old.  And already she has traveled to places I have never been.  Most recently she went to her aunt's wedding in Nebraska.  I've never been to Nebraska.  Can't say I ever wanted to go there, but still.  She's just a baby and she's already been there.

And would you just look at Zeke's face?  That dog can SMILE.

Hopefully I'll Be All Better Tomorrow

Until then, here is a pretty scene to look at.  It's the woods at John Ball Park.

A Week Without Wireless

Last Friday our wireless died.  It took until yesterday to get it all figured out.  Well, ALMOST all figured out.
I was sick most of the week, so I didn't really miss my computer much.  What did I do?  Most of my time was spent reading "Gods and Generals" and currently I'm reading "The Killer Angels".  Both books have been on my want to read list for years.
So, that's where I've been.  What's new with you?

And Tomorrow She Bakes

I've been sick since Thursday, maybe? I can't remember exactly. BUT - today I felt well enough to sit at the piano and play my two new THRIFTED pieces of Christmas sheet music.

Yesterday I thought I felt well enough to make the three dimensional stars out of music I found in an old Christmas Ideals magazine. I woke up this morning to notice that they match NOTHING that I have. Oh, well. Not everything can be ideal. ;D

I will have you know that I CAN play both Frosty the Snow Man and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. But then I broke into a sweat and had to lay down.

Presently, it seems that all I'm left with is a deep cough and an occasional low grade fever.

Tomorrow I will have four adorable grandchildren to help me all day. And tomorrow night I shall bake.
I'm not sure whether or not there were pumpkin rolls or pecan pie at the first Thanksgiving, but I shall do my best to see that there will be at THIS one!

Plans

I've been sick.

Missed some things I was really hoping to do.

It sort of feels like I've fallen behind but, ready or not, Christmas comes anyway.

And I'm happy about that.

THGGM came home from work on Friday and slept for sixteen hours straight. When he woke up he felt better.

I'm happy about that too.

It's given us a chance to huddle under quilts watching Holiday Inn and White Christmas.

Tomorrow I'm hoping that Jonge, Famke, and Kado will want to snuggle on the couch all day reading books and watching the things I have on my DVR.

I think we might have a Christmas tea for some Teddy Bears and dolls. I'll let you know.

Illness Makes the Rounds

Get plenty of rest.

If you have an owie ear a warm rice bag may help.


Drink a lot of water.

And have a bouncy baby, who hasn't slept well for several nights, jump happily up and down on you all day.

I hear that they are all just fine today. That makes me happy.

Happy while I lay under a quilt watching reruns of Design To Sell and reading from my three current books.

And coughing. And coughing. And coughing. Then gagging. Then sleeping.

Repeat.

Weekend Finds

This weekend THGGM and I had planned to go to the Allegan Flea Market.

But, it was rainy and cold. And I seemed to be coming down with something.

That is nothing new in my life. So, even though we did not make it to Allegan, we did venture out to interesting places.

At one of those places I found the Delft house on the right. At another I found the house that is second from the left. The three houses in the center are from KLM Airlines. My little Dutch town is growing!

And, I am sick. Bad cough. Sound just like my grandkids.

I added some more of my finds at www.simplythrift.blogspot.com for anyone who may be interested.

What Else?

Feeling under the weather today. Where DID that phrase come from? The weather today is wonderful - I am enjoying it from inside, under a quilt.

I am catching up on old magazines. The ones I carried into my bedroom on the Saturday before Easter and found them again when I cleaned my bedroom.

Occasionally, I will find something inspiring and emerge from under the quilt to do some rearranging.

Do you like the birds? I found them for half price at Michael's last week.

I'm really quite fond of birds. Birds were the pets of my early childhood.

But these two I purchased purely for their decorative qualities. And, they were cheap, like me.

Curiously though, a sticker on the bottom of them tells me that they are for "Decorative Use Only".

I'm trying to think of what other function they could possibly serve.

I suppose in a pinch one might be tempted to dip the tail into a sauce of some sort and then lick if off, but, even for me that would be a stretch.

How stupid have we become, when that sort of sticker is necessary?

Now I am going back under the quilt.

My Saturday

...was NOT the Saturday of my dreams.

THGGM and I had our second appointments to become blood plasma donors. Neither of us passed this time either. Last time we only lacked our doctor's approval, which he was more than willing to give.

I thought I was just nervous from how nasty the drive was to get there. And how I generally hate to leave my house.

Everything was going along just fine.

Until they took my blood pressure, pulse and temperature.

My pulse DOES tend to race whenever I do something new, like, well, anything at all actually so that did not surprise me.

My temperature was more of a shock.

We rescheduled our appointments for next Saturday, when we will try for the third time.

As we left, the roads were even worse. Cars were sliding around everywhere.

I tried all of my whining abilities to get THGGM to turn into my favorite thrift store, but, he said I was sick and should go right home. I don't think he cared all that much about my health, because, I still didn't even believe that I was sick.

So, home we went. He painted some more in the basement.

I laid down with the book, "Riding the Bus with My Sister".

Then, I slept. And slept. And slept some more.

For an unbelievably long time.

At 8:30 I decided to sleep in bed, since in addition to the racing heart and fever I ached everywhere.

After 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I woke feeling a little less achy.

Actually, I thought I was fine.

So, I ate just a little bit. A VERY little bit. Being diabetic, I cannot just NOT eat.

Let's just say I wasn't fine and leave it at that.

The Three Year Birthday Party for Jonge will still go on. Instead of making a Veggie Tales cake, we shall be buying a cake.

I'll be that lump under the quilt, not touching or breathing on anybody.

Qualms and No Qualms

THGGM has no qualms about driving through Chicago.

As for me, I was qualming all the way.

At about this point in our trip, I came down with a dreadful ailment involving copious amounts of mucous. This disgusting illness didn't hit THGGM until we reached the Cracker Barrel in Benton Harbor, MI.

Today we are snug at home, each trying to convince the other that we are the sicker, more needy one.

Thankfully, we felt great right up until the end of our trip.

Perhaps I shall find the time today to post a sampling of my delightful trip to visit the best relatives anyone could ever have.

While you wait, enjoy our drive through Chicago.

Incidentally, after the video ends, THGGM accidentally took an exit which led us deep into the bowels of our favorite city in the world. Obviously, we made it out alive, said no bad words, and no one was hurt.

(many thanks to brooks and dunn for providing the music which kept us awake.)

Please Stand By...

What a week.

I am at Daughter's house right now. I haven't been able to access anything from my computer at home.

Normally I would have time to look into such things as stubborn connections, but the nastiest flu has been running rampant through my family.

My dad was first.

Then me.

Then Jonge. He was riding in the car with his family. Oh, lucky them!

I know of six others who either had or have it.

THGGM and Famke are still healthy. One can always hope.

Hopefully, I will be back soon.

I've got a lot of pictures of our BEAUTIFUL Magnolia tree.

Oh, and when my dad went to the nursing home to visit my mom today, guess what? It was closed. This flu seems to be paying no heed whatsoever to flu shots.