Redhead Prostrate

Mother and Child by Frederick Leighton

This was me, yesterday. I was sick with the stomach flu. Except, instead of a sweet daughter feeding me fruit, picture three sweet girls jumping on the bed. Ugh. I basically slept all day and made my husband come home early from church so he could take care of everything else. Luckily, at 10:35pm, I woke up and knew it was over. I ate a couple of muffins and went back to bed.

Today, I feel fine, but weak. Not eating for 36 hours can really do something to you! On the plus side, I lost over 4 pounds! But, as effective as that weight-loss plan seems to be, I think I'll pass.

One of My Favorite Days

Valentine's Day is tomorrow, and it's been on my mind a lot, lately. Maybe it's because pink and red are two of my favorite colors. Maybe it's because I love buying little gifts for my family. Oh, and maybe it's because I was in charge of the decorations for our church's annual adult Valentine's dance! Ack!

Well, whatever the reason, I love thinking about Valentine's day. My mother always made V-day very special. I didn't realize how big a deal we made it until I went to college and was flabbergasted at roomies who couldn't've cared less about Feb 14! My mom devoted an entire drawer in the kitchen's secretary to V-day. She saved all the cards with pink or red or flowers on it that people gave her throughout the year. She bought doilies and construction paper and we all made Valentines for each member of our family.

Ummm....mine never turned out this nice, but you get the idea.

Then, that night we would eat in the dining room (always a sign of something special) and after the table was set, we'd each take a turn and put our handmade Valentines under the plate of the person we were giving them to. Mom always gave us a special gift on top of our plate, usually something red. One year she gave me red "unmentionables"! Score! Another year I got red suede shoes.


Now that I have my own family, I'm trying to create special Valentine's day traditions. We usually have a special breakfast, and we like to bake sugar cookies. (Especially since the only cookie cutters I own are heart shaped!) Well, whatever you do tomorrow, I hope you show and feel the love!

MIA

So, I've been totally out of the loop recently. I thought I would post as to why.

Before:


After:




We had a dance and I was in charge of the decor. It took all of my creative energy, hence the lack of blogging. Why did it take so much energy? Because we had a budget of $250! Ack. For that whole huge gym! Sigh. But I think it turned out well. It seemed like people had fun, which was the most important part!

The screen in the background showed a PowerPoint slideshow of romantic, black&white pics from movies. That was my best idea, seeing that it was absolutely free! Shout outs to Jenni and Julianne who helped tons, and to those other girls who worked so hard putting this together! You know who you are!

My BFFs

What do Jenna Fischer, Meg Cabot and Jane Austen all have in common? Well, to quote the crazy sister, Honey, from Notting Hill, "I genuinely believe and have believed for some time now that we can be best friends."
Needless to say, if I ever met any of these ladies I'd be a mess of quivering goo. Thank heavens for me and my sanity, actually running into these girls is next to impossible. Two of them are extremely busy with their careers and lives of their own, and live on the coasts, thousands of miles away. But mostly because one of them is unfortunately dead. Yes, I'm sad to report that I'll never get a chance (in this lifetime!) to run into Jane Austen at the supermarket or Blockbuster. Even if I was in England. Because, you see, Jane had the unfortunate occurance of being born two hundred years before me.


Yes, ladies (and maybe a gentleman or two) Jane was born last month two hundred and thirty two years ago. She was born in the small town of Steventon where she went on to pen six novels including my favorite, Pride & Prejudice.

Now, what do you think I would have in common with someone who had the unfortunate occurance of dying before my great-great-great-grandmother was even born? Well, in my mind, quite alot. Mostly, (and most importantly) we both have a love for romantic stories with leading men who love their flawed women and always end happily. So, during these uber-fab weeks of enjoying Masterpiece's Complete Jane Austen I say, "Thank you, thank you Jane for all the countless, wonderful hours of joy you've brought to me through your stories!"

Only the Best Idea, Ever!!!

Squeeeeeee! (Deep breath.) OK, I know I just posted today, already,(and please scroll down, cause I really like the post beneath this one) but I just linked on Julianne's blog and found this cool blog and post.

Anyone who has met my middle child for one minute knows her love of fairies!!!! And guess who's birthday is coming up in February? By my calculations, that's just enough time for the cleaning fairy to call the re-location company. So, watch out, A! You're gonna have a roomie.

I'm so excited about this I can hardly breathe.

Hydrangeas, hydrangeas everywhere!

I've been a little obsessed with hydrangeas recently. (See above blog title.) There's something about a flower that is actually tons of tiny flowers that just fills my soul. So I did some Google Image research for some inspiring pics!

How alkalic would my soil have to be to get this color?


I found this on an art website. It reminds me of the pics on my sidebar. All of which were taken by me. I'm artistic! Yippee!


Wouldn't it be fun to have one of these? But really, I think only my friend Katri could pull it off.


And I totally want this chair! Oh, shoot. It's a painting. Well, it's nice anyway.


But my fav would have to be this, titled "Chateau with Hydrangeas"



Which made me think, "What if I google imaged 'hydrangea chateau'?" And this is what came up:

It's a travel site that helps you rent mansions! Well, I now know what site I'll be wasting monumental time on! And they're totally affordable. Only around 2000 British pounds. Which really is only $4000. Very doable. Which leads me to my last find:

A Letter

My Own Victoria Magazine,

Oh, why did you have to jump out of my car at the hotel in San Antonio? Did you not see the big, yucky puddle in the parking lot? Did you think camping under the stars would be fun? I bet you didn't see any stars because of the rain clouds.

Did the big, burly owner of the ugly F-150 step on you? I'm sure he did. He obviously has no feeling for beautiful things or great literature or inanimate objects.

Did you miss me after I left you all alone in the cold? Did you try to call out my name? I'm sorry I didn't hear you. It's hard to hear the pleadings of something with no mouth.

But my most important, most earnest question is this: Where can I find a blankety- blank replacement for you?!? Argh.

Please reply forthwith.

Yours,

Katrina