I haven’t blogged because I’ve been sick.  Sick, sick, sick.  Lily started out being sick on Monday. Turns out she had an ear infection with no ear pain.  It took me until Wednesday to take my poor eldest daughter to the doctor.  I kept thinking her fever would break. It did - after we started antiobiotics.  After Lily went back to school, my mild cough turned into what sounded like tuberculosis or something. I sound like a raspy, chain-smoking sex hotline operator. It is not attractive.  I am still hacking and wheezing but I think it’s getting better.  Just one more comment before TMI:  I had no idea that one body could produce THIS MUCH PHLEGM.  Egads.

Yesterday we went to Pumpkinpalooza at Byrd park with Lily and Arden.  Jennifer had found out about it and dragged Tracy and her cute little witch daughter, and we invited Emma, Lily’s bud from Rainbow Station. Her dad was very good-natured and suffered through a lot of heat and whining.  It was weird to have the girls in their Halloween finery when it was 80 degrees out.  Arden, the crankiest giraffe on the planet, was quite warm in her full-body giraffe suit. 

I stole pictures from Jennifer because I am irresponsible and forgot my camera yet again.  So for those of you who read Jennifer’s blog, you will be sadly disappointed that the pictures are the same as what Jennifer already posted (below). 

Today we had a “Red Room Reunion” at Short Pump Mall.  All the teachers from Arden’s classroom last year got together with the kids from red room and we all chatted, rode on the train, and took a lot of silly pictures.  Guess what?  I forgot my camera, again.  Someone, please glue that thing to my forehead.  Arden had a great time hugging and monopolizing Windsor.  She also told Windsor, “I’m the BEST, Windsor . . . and YOU’RE THE BEST!”  This was the way she butters her up.  She tried to get Windsor to take her home with her, but Windsor isn’t entirely snowed by Arden’s charms. 

On a more exciting note (at least for me), Mike and I are getting away for 24 hours of childless fun.  Well, 23 for him - we’re going to the corner of southwest Virginia for a hearing he’s got.  I’m tagging along to go to the Martha Washington Inn, which looks fabulous, and it’s basically a free trip.  We decided we’d upgrade the rental car to a convertible if it’s availble and really throw caution to the wind (when he goes farther than a couple of hours away from Richmond, he rents a car to cut down on the miles on his car).  Whooo hoo! Mom and dad are watching the girls and will hopefully be alive when we return - Arden is quite grumpity these days but we are hoping she will behave while we are gone.  Mike and I have barely been speaking over the past two weeks. Between my horrible bubonic plaguge and his work, and obsession with the Red Sox, we haven’t seen each other much, or spent any quality time together.  We really need some time to reconnect.  Or at least, I do. 

Back to reality on Wednesday . . .