almost back to normal

Nothing like a bad cold to get you down! It's been in our house for the past couple weeks and hit me like a semi Sunday morning. Sigh. Did have a fun Saturday -- managed the ballet and piano runs, then Tom and I went to an auction for my ladies' club. Both a silent and live auction were held. The "bigger" part of the evening was the fact that we'd left the girls at home alone for the first time in the evening. Maggie took the red cross babysitting class last January, but this was the first time we'd actually left them. No problems........

Sunday, however, came on hard (and no, I didn't even have ONE drink Saturday night!). Managed to get up and take Tom downtown to pick up his car (he'd left it downtown Friday). Got home and collapsed back into bed. Woke up again about 11am, in bed with my jacket AND shoes still on. And not quite recalling the drive home from downtown. Perhaps I shouldn't have been driving???? In any event, spent the bulk of Sunday in a horizontal position. Abby went to a friend's house to practice for their school show. I stayed horizontal and watched football (go Saints!). Tom and the girls managed dinner and clean-up and I managed to get to the table to eat some of it. Nice to see them come together!

Monday I was able to take the girls to school and make a quick grocery run. Home and back to bed for a while, though I managed to sit up on the couch for the bulk of the day rather than lying on it. Tropical Storm Ida was making its way north and the news channels were in an uproar that it would come here and be horrible. So the ballet teacher canceled class for Maggie. One less trip to make. Of course, all we ended up with was a tiny bit of rain and lots of wind. And my storm shutters are still closed, making my house rather dark.....Tom is definitely "Mr. Be-Prepared".....

Tuesday I again took the girls to school and headed back home. Lazy day sitting on the couch yet again. Took Abby to violin after school and Maggie to ballet in the evening -- ALMOST back to normal....Wednesday morning I actually managed 20 minutes of a yoga video and enjoyed being out and about (and in clothes other than sweats!) at Bible Study. Errands at the mall followed, then picking up the girls for our weekly Chinese dinner. Ballet again in the evening.

Yesterday was even better -- I was able to ride the bike at the gym for 20 minutes, then ran home for a shower before heading back to the JCC for my drawing/painting class. The other two students came in and I recognized one as having a Dutch accent -- she was surprised as most people assume it's German. I explained we'd lived there 3 years. The other gal is from Belgium and her accent is sort of a cross between a French and Dutch person's (makes sense given the country's history). Yesterday we learned a bit about Matisse. Later in his life he lost his eyesight and became bedridden. Unable to continue painting, he turned to making cut-out art with scissors. Our assignment was to deconstruct one of his paintings (a portrait of his wife) into pieces of construction paper -- head, neck, ears, hair, eyes, nose, mouth, dress, collar, decorations on dress, etc. -- each with a piece of paper that we then glued onto a final piece of paper. And then the three of us evaluated what we'd done. Overall I'm pleased with my results. Our homework assignment is to sketch 3 pictures of our hand in a relaxed position with a sharpie -- no erasing allowed! Yikes! I've done two of them and given my left-brained-ness, I'm actually pleased with what they look like. In any event, the class is challenging me in ways I'm not normally challenged!

Today I'm almost back to normal. Tom braved sleeping in our bed again last night and I didn't cough too much for him to leave. I managed both riding the bike for 30 minutes AND my yoga class today, followed by a run to Michael's for charcoal and the grocery. Picked up Abby and her friend at school today (to spend the night) while Maggie dropped her stuff in the car and is spending the night at a friend's house. Tomorrow is ballet and piano. Sunday mom and dad come! Looking forward to visiting with them very much.

Anyways, no great deep thoughts today, just quite thankful for several things: that I'm feeling better, that I didn't have any sort of flu, that my family loves me, and that I have all that I need and more. Hope you are all so blessed......