Keeping Sane with Swine 'Flu

The Swine Flu has finally made it to our home. Miss Scarlett was diagnosed today with it. She is running a fever and has a nasty congested-sounding cough. All I can say is thank goodness and the Good Lord that she doesn't have the stomach problems that usually go along with the 'flu.

So, the problem is how to keep a sick five-year old entertained when she can't go anywhere. Here are some of our activities today:

• Playing go Fish
• Watching cartoons
• Going to the doctor (ok, so this wasn't all that fun)
• Taking a nap (fun for me!)
• Farming on the virtual farm with Facebook
• Reading books
• Playing Crazy Eights
• Making a fort in the den

We plan on piling up on the couch this evening to watch Dancing with the Stars. This is one of our family's favorite shows. Can't wait to see who Scarlett picks this season as her favorite.

Trying to make the best of a bad situation.

A Good Day

Today was a good day. I spent all day with Miss Scarlett - mostly just the two of us. We started the morning off doing laundry. I never knew how exciting laundry was. Scarlett loved helping sort clothes, spray stains, and toss in the washer. And getting to put in the detergent, well, let me just say that she was almost as giddy as she is when she gets Chinese Potstickers.

We decided to grab a quick lunch at McDonald's. (Those Happy Meals tend to make her happy.) Then we took off for a birthday party of a little friend from church. There was a Hello Kitty, Hannah Montana theme going there. Too funny. I highly recommend partying at a children's museum. Great idea!

Hubby's alma mater had a win today. That always makes for a happy hubby. He came home from the football game glowing - both figuratively and literally, as he was sunburned. I doused him with white vinegar, and he was a happy man. Smelly, but happy.

We took Scarlett to Party City to let her peruse the Halloween costumes. So far, she will not commit. I see another Mulan Halloween in our future. Or maybe Dora the Explorer.

Today was not an exciting day, but it was fun. Sometimes it's the little things that make for memorable times.

It's Friday (Thank goodness!)

• I am so glad that this week is over! It has been a particularly stressful week at work and at home. Not bad, but just stressful.
• Did I just figure out how to do these bullets? I've tried FOREVER to get this to work. It's working!!
• Phineas and Ferb are on right now. I am thinking a platypus would make a cool pet. You know, they don't do much.
• Farmville is more fun when Miss Scarlett plays it with me.
• UT Football starts tomorrow. Although I am not a huge fan of football, I do enjoy all the hoop-la and pageantry.

Let the weekend begin!

Halfway through (Thank goodness!)

• Today marks "hump day" for the work week. As weeks go, I am glad this one is on the downhill slope.
• One of Miss Scarlett's classmate fell and broke his arm yesterday - just the second day of class! Poor little fellow was back today sporting a black cast.
• I worked with our young miss on her writing skills today. Not too bad, but definitely need to continue practicing her letters.
• Grandparents kept Miss Scarlett yesterday afternoon. She came home with freshly manicured nails and a haircut. Nana and Poppie RULE in this child's mind.
• I received a phone call from a neighbor today. She wanted to know if she could put things in our yard sale if she gave us half the income from it. As much as I didn't want to fool with another person's stuff, I told her "sure" and that she could keep all of her proceeds. How do I get into these things?
• Decided I needed another moniker for Miss Scarlett besides Miss Scarlett. Getting too long to type. A friend named her girls Lightening and Thunder. I need something easy like that.
• Considering "possum" for her moniker. What do you think?
• Still wanting to forgo the yard sale this weekend and just haul everything to Goodwill, but hubby won't let me. BIG sigh.

Random thoughts for the day...

• I am glad today is over!
• Decided we needed more family devotion time, so I bought the Family Devotions book by Josh McDowell. It's excellent.
• Wondering why all the sudden that Miss Scarlett is afraid to be out of our sight.
• Learned that her daycare teacher told her about vampires! Vampires! We will have to have a little talk with said teacher.
• Floor tile is not as easy to pick out as you would think.
• Neither are tennis shoes for five year old girls who think they are Stacy London.
• I am hoping that I can figure out how to keep the left justification with bullets on the blog. May have to get with my friend M. on this.
• Made copies of photos from a recent trip to Georgia and sent to our friends. Gosh, how we miss them!
• Wishing that we were able to get together with some folks from our China group more often. Some we have not seen since China.
• Thankful for the internet so that I can stay in touch with friends and family that are far away.
• Ordered a chocolate malt from Sonic and it was not chocolate or malty. Went home and added Ovaltine Chocolate Malt powder and was happier.
• Thankful for family that gives us hand-me-down clothes for our girl. Older cousins ROCK!

First Day of Kindergarten

Monday was Miss Scarlett's first day of kindergarten. It was a bitter-sweet day for me. I was a little sad to see my girl pass yet another milestone in growing up, but at the same time excited for her.

She was absolutely a clinging vine when we first entered the school. There were loads of kids milling around. Her Daddy and I walked her into the cafeteria, where she immediately spied some friends of hers. Then it was all downhill from there.

So to the left here is her before friends are spotted.

Fast forward to getting ready to go into class. She is super excited to have an awesome young teacher, Ms. Blanton. Can life get any better for a five year old?

Maybe having a school aged child won't be so bad after all. May all your school days be good one, my dear child!

Love, Mommy

Surviving Monday

I had a very emotionally draining day today. Starting with:

• Sweet talking the daycare into letting Miss Scarlett's best bud, Romy, into going into class with Scarlett.
• Discussing Miss Scarlett's impending kindergarten schedule with daycare instructor. I am SO not ready to see my little girl start school.
• Trying to concentrate on work while dreading two major Health and Life Insurance exam looming over my head later in the afternoon. THEN...
• Taking the exams one after the other. I felt like I had never seen most of the questions before in my life. Apparently, I guessed well because I passed.
• If that weren't enough, I had to go back to work and finish out the day, totally drained of all energy.
• On top of this, I am desperately trying to figure out the perfect birthday gift for my dear husband. He's a jewel and deserves so much more than I could ever afford to give him. I have it narrowed down to clothes (yawn), a new DVD/VCR recorder combo (still not sure about that one), or a new laptop for him to play with.

I am glad today is almost at an end. Hopefully, tomorrow will be an easier day.