mulligan stew

My little clean-up project is taking longer that it could have. I have hit a few walls (the bag of unsent and returned "address unknown" Christmas cards) and managed so far to climb over them. I see now that this is going to be the absolute toughest room to clean, especially if I want it to be really organized rather than the usual "fake organized". 

Oliver is home sick today with the stomach flu. In our house, flu sufferers possess the distinct ability to awaken at 2:00 a.m., traverse yards and yards of hallway, climb or descend stairways, and pass one or two bathrooms on the way to my bedroom, where they stand just inside the doorway, announce that they don't feel so good, and proceed to spin in circles, spraying projectile vomit all over my bedroom. I am now so experienced at this type of clean-up, I tell myself, "What a wonderful opportunity to disinfect my floor and bedskirt and furniture and walls!" On the plus side, David and I had trouble falling back to sleep after all that middle of the night action so we stayed up telling funny stories and laughing for an hour until we drifted off. It was like a surprise  date. Ollie is a precious little buddy, trying to stay cheerful and optimistic while he pukes away throughout the day. 

I am happy to be going to yoga class tonight while Annika is at ballet and then out to dinner with my sweet girl at our favorite Monday night restaurant, Cafe Manna. This place is wonderful and the fare is entirely healthy. I always feel great on the way home.

As February wanes, I find myself dying to make something, sew something or do just anything creative. Historically, I have always made time for creativity, but this has not been the case for the last two years. I saw this cute book Pretty Little Pincushions at the library, so once the pantry is cleaned out, I think I'll treat myself to making a little pincushion. There are some very fun ideas in the book, including an entertaining voodoo doll pincushion. Don't worry, I probably won't make that one.