I wanted to go outside

Bat boxes

Every year as winter starts coming to a close, I start freaking out; summer is coming.  Summer is a time when we avoid the outside as much as possible.  A time when I grow weary of applying sunscreen and the smell of the pool.  A time when I just tell myself that I'm going to be sweaty for the next six months so I should just get used to it.

This year, the freak out is possibly more potent considering I've spent the last two months on the couch watching every episode of lots of shows.  All that time that we could have spent enjoying the glorious Arizona winter and the not-so glorious Arizona wilderness!  (It's very pokey.)

I made the decision that we'd go on a hike on Saturday, a decision that I knew was doomed to fail, but I wanted to try anyway.  The preparations took FOREVER because the children, I suspect, have formed a cabal to wage war against brushing teeth and putting on shoes.  Also, it had rained pretty hard in the early morning but looked like it was clearing up.  Maybe. Just in case, I decided we all needed rain-proof jackets.  This meant several minutes spent looking through boxes to find a slicky jacket with a hood that would fit Ethan.  "I get to wear PINK, just like Lillian!"

Before we even got on the freeway, it started pouring rain.  Like, monsoon-level downpour.  "Maybe it won't be raining over by the mountains," I offered.  Tyler knows better than to rain (haha) on my parade so he offered a quiet, "maybe."

Not only was it still pouring when we got to the mountain, but the website provided inaccurate directions (that's what I'm going with) so we couldn't find the trail head.  It looked sunny across the valley where Madera Canyon is, so we asked the kids if they wanted to find a different mountain, or if they wanted to go to the children's museum.  They all wanted a different mountain so we headed off across the valley.  It was a miracle; it rained and rained and rained our whole drive, and then cleared up a mile or so away from the canyon.  We were able to have a lovely hike and we didn't get rained on one time!

Lame

I thought the nausea was gone last week.  I was so excited, I cleaned my house for 5 or 6 hours over 2 days. I suspect that some women do this on a regular basis, but it's definitely a special occasion for me because I have probably cleaned for 5 or 6 hours total over the last month.

But, the reprieve was short-lived. Yesterday and today, I have spent most of the day on the couch with my throw-up bowl nearby. I may or may not have watched 10 episodes of "30 Rock."  But the worst part is how the nausea is my own natural Antibuse against sugar.

Antibuse is a medication the alcoholics take that causes them to become violently ill whenever they drink. I'm not sure how well it works because I've never met anyone who has taken it, but I have had several patients who get pancreatitis whenever they drink, a condition which will land you in the hospital for several days in excruciating pain, and that doesn't seem to stop them.

Anyway, this whole time I've been sick, eating sugary things has made me even sicker. This is one of the worst things that has ever happened to me. Wait, maybe best things. I don't know. I can't eat cookies, brownies, ice cream, or candy.

This was how I suspected that my good-feeling wouldn't last: to celebrate all that cleaning, I ate a Cadbury egg.  I love Cadbury eggs.  I'm always super excited for January to roll around and I can grab one at the cash register on my way out of the grocery store.  I mourn when Easter is over. I saw Facebook evidence that they came out with green eggs for Halloween and I searched my store every time I went and told a checker that they needed to get them when he asked me if I found everything OK.

But I ate the egg, and then I threw it up, and then I felt sick for the rest of the afternoon.  So now I'm back to an 8 on the Throw Up Scale wherein I feel like I could throw up if I stand up to quickly, or have to wipe any bottoms, or chase down a squirmy 2-year old, or make dinner, or clean.

I have to go to the store tomorrow because we're out of food.  You can bet I'll be bringing a ziplock Baggie so I can throw up by the frozen food like I do, and also I'll give a stink eye to the Cadbury eggs and I check out.

That's Some Bookshelf

Teerrffiiccc! Radiant! Humble.  One shelf to shelve them all.

In Case You Forgot...

In case you forgot, here's a little reminder:

Tyler is a superdad.  He put 3 kids in the car, drove them 2 hours, and then played with them in the snow BY HIMSELF.

I had to work last Saturday and while it does snow in (parts) of Tucson, the snow is not a season-long thing.  Tyler was afraid that it would be gone by the time we could both get up there in a week or two.

So he just did it.  They played all morning.  We didn't have proper snow boots for Lillian and her galoshes were very good for scooping up snow and packing it around her feet, so I think she was the first to crack.

Other than that, I think they had fun, and Nora told me that snow is her new favorite food.