Doozy

Well, it did snow. It snowed and MODOT put salt on the roads, which helped a little, but the temperatures were so low that the freshly melted snow just turned into ice. It wasn't the greatest for driving on, but everyone I know made it through just fine. I couldn't go to taiko because Josh's mom and dad said the conditions by their house weren't the best.

But you want to hear about Abbie's birthday, don't you?

Well! I spent the morning bathing kids and stuff. I was making the tea when people started showing up. Molly's little cheesecakes were beautiful, and she made a heart shaped one for Abbie's birthday candle. Molly is fantastic. Jenn, Bill and Carter (and Larry) came, too, and Heather and Renee, and Mackenzie, and the Kieths from down the street (Kirk didn't remember to return my book), and Big Chris' family and Johnny and Wyatt. That's a funny story. Josh called him that morning and asked, "Um..did I invite you to Abbie's birthday? It's today at 2." And he came.

The jasmine tea was a big hit (not surprising) and I probably should have made it in a bigger pot, but it just looked so pretty in my bamboo pot from China Pete's in Tokyo! We also had plenty of sweet treats, and to prove that I can also be healthy, I had a bowl of olives, and a plate with baby carrots and dried cherries and I had cashews in the square "nut bowl". My mother always put nuts in it, so I do, too. In addition to the jasmine tea, I had English breakfast, too, and I made a pot of hot chocolate from the Penzey's mix that dear Caroline gave me. The kids mostly drank apple juice.

Renee wore her witch costume, and Bree came as a pirate. Carter was a taiko drummer in a blue happi coat, Grant was a knight and Abbie was a butterfly for a while, until she decided to take the wings off and just be a princess. Wyatt didn't come in costume, and Zoi accidentally spilled milk on hers on the way, so she was costumeless, too. When she first came in, Abbie screamed, "BABBY ZOI!" and ran up and tackled her with hugs and kisses. Zoi cried. But she got over it later, and had a marvelous time. She loved Jake. Even Carter, who doesn't dig dogs at all, really seemed to like Jake. He almost went home with several of our guests. I was expecting Little Chris and his three girls, but he forgot and took a job. Woops.

The party was great! The last guests were leaving around 8pm, and I was wondering if I should try and run out to Helena's birthday when it started. Sneezes. Lots of sneezes. And then - I was sick. It's the worst head cold I've had in years. I slept badly. Yesterday I spent miserable and in bed. If I lie down, my back gets sore. If I get up, I get dizzy. And no matter whether I'm lying down or standing up, I can't breathe. And if you are me, that means you can't fall asleep. Why am I like that? I absolutely can't fall asleep unless I can breathe through my nose. So I got about 45 minutes of sleep last night. I have yellowish skin, big dark circles, swollen lymph nodes...I could go on, but you get the idea. I'm pretty much sick and in need of sleep.

The taiko guys told me not to come and infect them. Well, they were probably right.

I watched movies yesterday. Music and Lyrics = pretty cute. Coraline = too scary for kids. Really. But I liked it. I'm not sure Josh did. We saw Ghost Town the other night, and it was different enough to be worth the watching. Didn't make my immediate list of favorites, but I enjoyed it. The kids didn't really dig me and Josh hiding in my room all morning, so I told Josh we could all watch something in there together after dinner. We had traditional Robinson "sicky" soup. It's the Liptons instant noodle soup with real chicken broth. For our movie, the kids got to see the second Harry Potter move for the first time. Abbie's favorite part is the baby mandrakes, and Grant's favorite was when Harry gave Dobby the sock.

It's snowing some more. My mother just called. She heard my voice and told me to go to bed. Well, after lunch I might just do that.

Tomorrow I am going to be all healthy. We have a meeting instead of taiko practice. And I want to not be sick. :(

Mom says that Dad is behaving himself more than expected. When he realized that he would be able to go camping with my uncle in March if he follows the doctor's orders, he decided to follow them. So he's being a good patient....for him.

Hope your week is starting off well. I'm gonna go be sick now.