Blissfully Unaware of the Chaos the Surrounds Me

Norovirus and Girls' Weekend . . .

I didn't fall off the face of the earth, nor did I die from my bout with Norovirus! Yeah and yeah! 

Between the anti-nausea meds and the two liters of fluid via IV on Friday, plus some anti-diarrhea meds on route, I did manage to go on our Girls' Trip. And I am so glad I did!

I felt like death all day on Friday. When I finally decided to/was able to pack for the trip? I was huffing and puffing like a 99 year-old with pneumonia! Thankfully, my BFF still allowed me into her car (surrounded by anti-bacterial wipes, sprays and gels) and we headed towards Half Moon Bay. 

On the way, I tried with all of my might to post my Friday Phone Dump en-route.  Whilst I was relegated/restricted to the backseat. Lest my germs cross over to the driver and passenger. I was really proud that my phone dump would go up in spite of my viral near-death experience. Sadly? I couldn't get it to upload while on the road. It apparently was not meant to be.

So here it is . . . on Monday . . . better late than never! As for Girls' Trip, that clearly deserves a post (or five) of it's own. And that, my friends, is not happening right now. For beyond my Norovirus and Girls' Trip extravaganza? Today I had to return to my Redding office for the first time in several weeks. AND drive to Eastern Shasta County for a meeting. And back. Thus, I am tired. Really, really tired. But I shall leave you with a little hint of the glory that was Girls' Trip 2012:

My best girls. An amazing location. Recovery from the horrible viral beast. Fun, tears, laughter and so much more. Details soon-forth-coming. Or at least some. I can't disclose everything . . . it was Girls' Trip afterall . . . some things are sacred!

Double Ugh . . .

I had myself convinced that Halle must have just eaten something that didn't agree with her, since she only got sick once. (Knock on wood, throwing salt over my shoulder, please God, etc.)

Alas, it was a tummy bug. How do I know? Well, let's just say that I'm intimately acquainted.

So I now have exactly 12 hours to get over it. In entirety. Wipe my infectious-self clean. And get in the car for Girl's Trip. Or stay home.

I like the first option much better. BUT, I will not risk my best-est friends in the the whole world. So run your course, dang virus. Quickly. Pronto. Now. (Well, let me get the laptop off my lap first. Please.)

In the future, please remind us that we shouldn't give away all of our anti-nausea meds to friends without keeping some in reserve. We actually had 1.5 tablets of Zofran left. Halle has had two 1/2 doses in the last 36 hours. I did get a prescription called in for five more tablets, but didn't get to the pharmacy to pick them up. The remaining 1/2 dose isn't worth me wasting - I'm slightly larger than my 32 pound daughter. If the meds were at a 24 hour pharmacy? I'd be having my hubby drive across town right now to get them. But instead, we'll be at Raley's as soon as it opens at 8:00 (?) in the morning. When I say we? I mean John. Because I am apparently not going to sleep all night, so maybe I'll be sleeping in the morning.

Seriously. The timing of this deal is pretty sucky. Just saying.

Uh Oh . . .

Halle has a stomach bug. And I'm scared. Nothing scares me like a virus that includes vomiting. Really. Nothing. Especially when I am due to leave for my Girls' Weekend in 48 hours. Dear Baby Jesus, please, please, please spare me. And the boys. Pretty, pretty, pretty please! Amen.

Of course, I went back to work today. So why wouldn't my child get sick after I've just retruned to work after a six-week leave? Isn't that the way it always works? Thankfully, Halle got sick only once this afternoon and thus far, (thank you, Zofran), that's been it. She rebounded quickly and is acting like there is nothing wrong what-so-ever. "Why are you following me with that bowl, Mama?" 

So cross your fingers and say your prayers . . . please let Halle be better and please let none of us get it! The Ritz Carlton @ Half Moon Bay is waiting for me and my girls!

Weekend Wrap-up . . .

(Even having been out on disability for the past six weeks, weekend still go by way too fast!)

Let's see, what have we been up to for the past few days?

On Friday, I got to spend some girl time with my #1 girl. We were lazy. Breakfast in bed. We picked up my #1 boy and headed home for lunch. More lazy time. Just a bit of it, actually. Dylan started off his basketball tournament with a game that afternoon (win!) and we followed it up with a yummy Burger Hut dinner. John had a coupon and God forbid that we waste a coupon to BH!

Saturday morning, Dylan had to be at his first game at 8:30, so he and I took off; leaving Sis and John at home. I dropped him off for warm-ups and headed downtown to my favorite place to grab a Chai (Tin Roof) and headed back to watch him game. It was epic! Best game they've played all year in my opinion. Another win!

Back home for a short respite, then headed out to Tres Hombres for a quick lunch. No coupon for that one . . . just a major craving! I was able to RACK a gentleman while we were there and it was fun. He was obviously homeless and had come in and ordered coffee. He was also eating chips by the handful. I was able to quickly buy a $20 gift card and had the manager take it to him. We were just a few tables away, so I could peek over occasionally and see him enjoying his hot and plentiful meal. Much better than chips and coffee. It made me happy :)

Dylan's team was then up for the championship game. It was a team that we had (barely) beat once before and they came back really hard. Dylan had 10 rebounds in that particular game and sunk the ball a few times too. He was amazing! The whole team was. It was very fun - albeit stressful - to watch. Our boys rallied to win and took the championship. Playing in the "A" bracket when we are a "B" school. That's another post in and of itself, but needless to say, they showed up . . . big time!

Saturday night, John and I headed out to a fun Pub Party at some friend's. It was loads of fun. Yummy catered food, great Irish music, lots of people that we know . . . good times!

Sunday was another lazy day. (Sense a theme here?) John studied and prepped for school to start this week. Dylan played a ridiculous amount of Xbox. Halle and I lazed about and played. We watched the 49's game. Ouch. 

And that was about it. Exciting, no?

Friday Phone Dump . . .

yep . . . on an actual Friday! And in the morning, nonetheless.

From top to bottom, right to left . . . 

(1) Poor Dylan watching his beloved Packers lose last week. He was not happy. (2) A yummy wine that my friend Becky brought over to share with me this week. Great company and great wine. Bonus! (3) My "just-because" gift from John. I have been wanting an aerator ever since my trip to Napa last fall and John came through. (4) I finally bought a 2012 calendar. Three weeks into the year. It's because we still do everything on Cozi. But it is nice to see a printed calendar every so often! (5) Halle's lunch box. It looks almost identical every single day. (Other than the M&Ms . . . that was a special treat!) (6) It finally started to rain. I'm thinking that this is how it's going to look for a while. (7) Took my super-special Gram to the grocery store yesterday. She is such a hoot. Love her dearly AND love when she lets me help her! (8) Lauren sent me some pictures and KJ got me those funny cards, so up on my pegboard they went! (9) The cat. Busting into the bathroom. Again. (10) Halle ready for Girls' Weekend with all of her fur. Which is actually an annoying cat toy, but that's beside the point! As is the fact that she doesn't get to go to Girls' Weekend. Poor Sissy! (11) Dinnertime conversation starters. (12) My kids LOVE these ice cream treats. Plain vanilla. Plain chocolate. No nuts. No filling. (13) My heated throw. (14) My view of the TV from my spot on the couch - covered by my heated throw. (15) I may have watched this a couple of times this week. Without the kids. I do love this movie so! (16) Stuff for John to hang in my office. It's on his to-do list for this weekend. He's pretty excited about that. And the 47 other things I want him to hang/move/adjust/fix/etc.

And now, I'm off to enjoy our Friday. Sissy and I are hanging out this morning. I need to paint her nails, play Barbies and she would really, really like to go outside and play in the rain. But it's cold. So I'm thinking yes on the first two . . . no on the last. Mean Mama that I am. Maybe sitting in the hot tub will count? Then we're off to Dylan's basketball tournament. First game at 4:30 at Chico Junior. John is feigning for spicy bean dip at Tres AND ice cream from Coldstone, so maybe that will be our dinner plan? BBall, then bean dip and then ice cream? Can anyone say, stomachache?

Happy Friday!

Randomness and Goodness . . .

As hard as I tried to focus on a singular subject matter . . . it seemingly was out of my reach. Sad but true. So here I am . . . all over the place. Shocking, isn't it?

1. I have learned a lot about myself during this time off from work. I always thought I'd be so amazing if I didn't work. Survey says? Nope. Not true. Apparently, I would watch a ridiculous amount of trashy TV (Kim and Kourtney Take New York) and any movie on HBO (Love and Other Drugs) and do little to nothing worthwhile until about 2:00 pm. At that point, I would run around in a panic trying to get something accomplished (cleaning up breakfast dishes and at least starting a load of laundry possibly?) so that no one would realize what a lazy slob I was for the entirety of the day. Seriously. I have been having  deep love affair with my couch. And proving the fact that I work well under pressure. And realizing that I work little to not-at-all without pressure.

2. I have always used Photoshop to make my blog collages. Frankly? It was time-consuming and kind of a pain in my butt. But no longer . . . thanks to the amazing Meg of Whatever . . . I am now a huge fan of Piknic. Such an easy and quick way to make collages! Thanks, Meg for taking the time to tell me your secret!

3. Today felt like a Friday. It's amazing what a huge difference there is when we don't have basketball practice (or a game). Dylan was home. He had a friend over. I made dinner. We all ate together. We pulled cards from our Table Topics and had hilarious (and telling) conversations as a result. After Madeline went home, we put on pajamas, had dessert and watched last night's Modern Family. It was one of the best episodes ever. Seriously fabulous! And so fun to be able to relax and laugh with my family. It's so fun now that Dylan has the ability and maturity to be able to appreciate shows like this with John and I.

4.  My BFF's faux fur jacket arrived today. What/why, you ask? We decided that furs/faux furs were a requirement for Girls' Weekend. And KJ and I found a hideously ugly BRIGHT BLUE faux fur at Ann Taylor Loft. We nicknamed her/it "Cookie". Long story short? "Cookie" sold out due to overwhelming popularity - which is odd to say the least - but I found a slightly less-fugly version of "Cookie" at Macy's online clearance last week. Let's be clear, "Cookie II" is still pretty dang ugly. But KJ will look amaze-balls in her navy blue furry glory!

5. My husband is beyond exhausted. He isn't even making sense. I just accused him of having mini-strokes. Let's hope that isn't actually the case.

6. My Mama is in Maui right now. My in-laws are in Maui right now. They all manged to accidentally run into each other at a burger joint yesterday. Weirdly small world, isn't it?

7. I got my hairs did yesterday. Holly is amazing. She does some seriously good work. I am loving my hair! (Vain, I know :))

8. I am trying to find a venue for our 20th high school reunion. And I'm feeling the pressure. It's not like a wedding, people. We have no idea how many people are going to attend. We are trying to keep costs down and provide a decent event. And the whole while, I feel like we are trying to re-create the wheel. I see a business opportunity looming. Maybe. Possibly. (Said from my cozy spot on the couch.)

9. Speaking of RSVPing, I am not feeling super-motivated to attend our charter school auction. I know that we will. (I think.) But after 8 years of it being a big deal for us? I'm kinda tired. Especially when I consider that I have nine more auctions to attend, assuming that Halle goes K-8 at our school. 17 years in a row of a singular event? Yikes . . . I'm feeling weary! Even if I do love our school!

10. Our cat seems to think that he needs to push through the closed door and follow me into the bathroom. really? Who do you think you are? My child? Privacy, kitty . . . it's what I crave!

11. On top of being somewhat useless and addicted to TV on this sojourn from work? I may possibly be slightly intrigued by infomercial products. As in Wen  . . . which should be delivered tomorrow and Press Dough . . . which is just as janky and POS as you would assume . . . and the Trendy Top, (the top that's not!!!!) which is basically a band of knit material designed to hide your muffin top. I'm tempted, but have yet to order it. I do have some ability to restrain myself. (A small, small amount of restraint. Very small!)

12. I was super-tempted to try and score ticket to this weekend's 49'ers game. But as much as John loves his 49'ers? I didn't think he's adore me spending such a ridiculous amount of cash on a single game. I think. Anyway, it's too late now. Love you, babe!

13. There are a ton of movies coming out that seem awesome from the previews. And I can't wait to see them all. But I can't remember the name of a single one of them. Seriously. Who's stroking out now?

14. It's raining. For the first time in a couple of months. And it's really raining! Bring it! It's the perfect excise for me to continue in my mega-hermit mode. (Robyn, just imagine if I wasn't medicated? Crazy thought, huh?)

700 Club Interactive . . .

So . . . I was on national television. I told John that I was going to put it on my bucket list. And promptly check it off!

The back story? When our Random Acts of Chico Kindness made the the local news in December, it caught the eye of a producer for the 700 Club Interactive. (Yes . . . a spin-off of the 700 Club.) I didn't think much of it and went on my merry way. I did however, kind of think that it was a joke. Me? Me on a religious, faith-based program? All of a sudden I was in a bit of a panic. 

Was I good enough? Was I faithful enough to represent our cause? I really (and I mean REALLY) struggled. What if I was called into question and somehow diminished what we were trying to do?

God came through. (Doesn't he always?) Grace showed up. (Amen.) And I remembered that (a) it wasn't about me and (b) even if it was, I was good enough. Because the God of all creation made me. He ceated me to be who I was. Faults (oh, so many of them) and all. Ultimately, it wasn't about me. It was about what we were doing. It just took me a few minutes (days) to remember and be assured of that.

I talked with a couple of 700 Club Intereactive producers. I did a phone interview to provide background. And then I promptly forgot all about it until the day before. It was actually the night before. And I was most worried about the setting for my Skype interview. (Denial is powerful, people!) I had to actually put away the Chritmas mantle and pull it together!

Amazingly, I signed onto Skype at 7:30, did the technology prep with their a/v guy and was live at 8:00 am. I was done and taking Halle to school by 8:30. How crazy is that? What that actually is, my friends . . . is real life! National television at 8:00 am . . . preschool drop-off at 8:30. Nuts!

The long and short of it? I am so proud of our community. I am so incredibly proud that people stepped up and gave. People gave in little bits and pieces and all-together? People gave big. Really, really big.

And I am so blessed to be a part of it. Mark my words . . . this just the beginning . . . God-willing. We are going to keep giving. More. Bigger. Less of us. More of Him.

I Survived . . .

and admitedly enjoyed . . .  my weekend alone! 

I cried on Friday night. (A lot.) When I was putting Halle to bed, she got really upset about leaving without me. I held it together for her (of course), and then proceeded to walk out of the room and burst into tears. John wisely noted that he had no idea what to do or say. Smart of him, really.

Then on Saturday morning, I lost it again. I came in the house after waving them off and burst into tears. (Again.) Only to be surprised when Dylan walked in the house two minutes later. (He had forgotten his sunglasses. Whoops.)

But after a weepy hour or so? I did OK. I rested. A lot. I got some obscure drawers and shelves organized. I went and saw Joyful Noise with my BFF and one of her friends (my friend now, as well) from D.C. We also had appetizers and a couple of drinks at Crush. I spent a ridiulcous amount of time on Pinterest. I finished a memorial slideshow. I cleaned out my bedroom closet and bathroom closet. I sat in the hot tub. I spent time with my Gram. I did a lot of laundry, including things like delicates and all of the towels that sometimes get stacked up on behind-the-door hooks. I went to church. I went to a meeting at church. I watched the (incredibly dissaointing) Packers/Giants game. I started to read my book-club read. I bought a few other Nookbooks on B&N. I bought a few things on Amazon Prime (including supplies to do my own Shellac nails . . . ) thanks Shannon and Robyn for encouraging that latest purchase.

All in all? I really missed my family. There is something weird about being at home without them. But it was actually lovely. Really, truly . . . absolutely lovely. I could have gotten more done. But it was a good balance. It felt great to get a break and not have to leave my home! I'm thinking that this needs to happen slightly more often. (As in, more often than once in the last 13 years of having Dylan and never having spent a weekend at home alone!) I'd also love to have a weekend at home with my husband. That is actually more appealing that a weekend away at a hotel! 

It was the right choice for my health. John is tired. Between driving and doing fun stuff in Reno and sharing a room with Dylan and Halle? He didn't get a lot of rest. (Welcome to my world, babe!) And given that this is my last week off work? And that I need to return with a vengeance next Tuesday? I would hate to spend this week recuperating. Which is what I would have been doing if I was gone all weekend.

I love my family. More than life itself. But that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy some time alone. every now and again.

In the next week, before I return to work? I have a few things to finish. I'm listing them here to keep myself accountable:

1. Finish, upload and order our 2011 Photobooks.

2. Do my 2011 tax prep.

3. Clean out and organize our home office files.

4. Make a whole bunch of returns. (Zappos, Kohls, Target, etc.)

5. Purge and organize Halle's closet.

6. Purge and organize Dylan's room.

7. List (and sell!) a bunch of stuff on Craigslist.

8. Pack up and send my photos to be scanned. (Thank you, Groupon!)

9. Plan my collage wall above the living room couch. And order a canvas or two for it, once I know what I want to do.

10. Finish the great DVD organization project of 2012.

11. Sneak in as many lunches, coffees, glasses of wine and walks with as many of my favorite people as posisble.

Seems do-able, yes? (Maybe I should have made a list earlier in my leave!)

Happy Monday! Why is it so much easier to say that on a holiday Monday? So . . . much . . . easier!

 

Friday Phone Dump . . .

Yep . . . it's still Friday! 

Photos 1-5 were taken on Monday when we went to Sacramento to see Myth Busters: Behind the Myths Tour. Fabulous birthday gift to Dylan from his Papa. We made it extra special by going to the Melting Pot. Delicious! 

Anyone have a guess what I am wearing in Photo 6? Shannon knows . . . 

Photos 7-8 were the result of finally getting Christmas put away and randomly shoving things onto the mantle.

Photo 9 was my lunch on Wednesday. A most-delicious quesadilla, made with leftovers from taco night. Not healthy in the slightest.

Photo 10 is Dylan's new comforter. It was time. Sadly, it's not as fluffly as his old comforter, which means he needs to work a little harder at making his bed. Ouch!

Photo 11 really doesn't do Halle's outfit justice. Talk about letting go of my standards.

Photo 12 was Halle saying, "thumbs up to a pajama playdate at the Burchett house!"

Photo 13 showcases my lovely new sunglasses, courtesy of our Shannon. Perfect funeral glasses.

Kelly Thompson Larocca's order of service from her memorial this morning (Photo 14). It was such a great representation of her life. Incredibly sad, though. 

Photo 15 is the painting/drawing Halle made for John's Mom. A rainbow, complete with a pot of gold and fireworks.

And lastly, Photo 16 is my girl, after sneaking a huge chunk of a baguette and "eating the bread brains right out of it" . . . her words, to be sure!

Please for give my lack of posts this week. It's been one of those. Lots of ups and downs and in-betweens. High highs . . . and low lows. I'm trying to balance between them and find a medium ground to speak from. More tomorrow . . . 

Off the Cloud . . .

the magical iCloud, that is. So finally, here is my super-duper late culmination of missed Friday Phone Dumps:

And frankly, it's so late and so long gone? I can't even summarize it other than to say, this is a random smattering of the last three weeks of our lives. Pre-Christmas, Christmas, New Years, Lots of Other Stuff and . . . Amen! Here's to catching up and actually uploading photos on Photo Dump Friday!