Getting there

A few weeks ago, my boss called me at the store, and asked for a 'favor'. She needed me to cover for everyone [except Bibi who would come on Wednesday] for the whole week, as well as cover a booked birthday party for 6 girls. I was glad to oblige, thinking that I'd recover my loss from the previous week off from the gym due to a nasty cold. What I had forgotten about when I agreed, was that my dad was arriving on Monday for a short visit. But it all worked out in the end. Too bad I overdid it though, made it that much tougher to kick some Flu rear end the FOLLOWING week... Which of course led to my taking yet another week off work. So much for financial recovery... Ah well, I got to spend the week with my sick hubby! Fun times man... Fun times...

So, thankfully, everything was already set up for the girls. Here I am, armed and ready to go.

I look like some deranged maniac wielding my pliers.

Jewels, giving some artistic design pointers.

All the girls playing with their beads.

Everyone finished their necklace, even the little girl who showed up a half hour late.

The rest of the week went by quick. On Tuesday, Dad came to work with me, which made the day go by so fast. We had a good time just hanging out and chatting all day. Wednesday we got to spend the whole day gallivanting, going to the Book Depot and the Butterfly Conservatory. Thursday was supposed to be his D day, but we had a very sick child to contend with (white as a sheet, and sudden vomiting) which led us to an emergency appointment with her pediatrician who assured me that she was quite alright, if not a bit tired, and maybe dealing with a little flu bug... So she came to work with me on Friday, and Saturday, and was pleased as punch to be my 'insistant' for the day.

Mimi at your service.

I'm still keeping busy with the crochet. Oddly enough, I haven't touched a bead in weeks. Don't know why, just haven't felt any desire to bead. Which is really weird for me, and I don't know if it's just that I need to do something different for a bit, and just take it all in stride, hoping that I'll get back to it soon... Or if it's 'cause I've been so sick, and tired for the last little while. Anyway, I made this gorgeous little yellow chenille beret for Mimi.
I still can't read crochet patterns (for some strange reason...) , and so I didn't follow any specific pattern for this hat, I just went with the flow... with lots of trying it on Mimi's head and the frog stitch. She wore it plain for a few days, then started asking for '... lots of flowers to put all around it." I loved the idea of flowers, but not having them all around. We settled on 3 flowers. What she didn't know was that I was going to layer them:

Don't you just LOVE it???
Tellement Française!
J'adore ça!

Dad brought me a few pieces of furniture from home. A 'secretary' desk from mom, who had bought it for me back in 1991 - and I only got it NOW!!! LOL! And an old glass-door armoire which had once belonged to my mom's mom, and had been at my dad's place. This is a childhood piece which hold many memories for me. Dad didn't think I'd really like it, since it looked so beat up (his words), but I explained that it had a lot more value to me than any polished piece he imagined me liking better.
These pieces are beautiful, and will fit right in to my 'bohemian' decor. (Just my fancy way of saying that absolutely NOTHING matches in my place. Mostly hand-me downs and rescued curb-side items)

The secretary now resides in my bedroom, and has become my very own, super duper vanity!
It houses all of my beautifying tools AND my stationary.
You know, there's just nothing better than having everything find it's place, is there?
Gives me such a fantastic feeling to see the clutter disappear.

This is the armoire before its much needed bath. It had been in the shed for a while, and so I had a few unwanted guests to contend with. Namely that little white spot on the glass: A spider's egg sack. Lucky Moi...

I'd say there was a significant improvement here. It's found the perfect spot in a corner of my dining room.

It's also become my new bead area. My little storage cabinets sit perfectly atop it, and I mean perfect as in flush against the edges. The thick wooden shelves can hold a lot of weight, so I was able to store all of my bead related books and store them in there. I can even use the drawer to store MORE beads!!!

So I guess if I'm not playing with them, at least I'm keeping them organized. ;)

Well, it's late. I've had a full day at home, and a fantastic few hours with my dear friend Maria and her mom. I'm still full from our lunch. But I've really got to hit the sack now. My eyelids are droopy and the anti-nausea medication I took is starting to kick in - I suspect I may have overdone it with the coffee today, I've got a mild case of gut-rot. Not nice...

Well, I just wanted to leave you folks with something more than just another "Oh woe is me! I'm still sick! Sick! Sick!" post, and give you something nice to read.

I sure hope you are ALL doing fantastic, and that this nasty flu hasn't reached any of you. So far, all who've been afflicted have mentioned the same symptoms:
Migraine
Coughing/sneezing
Severe body aches (and I mean SEVERE! To the point where you can't even move...)
Upset stomach
Lethargy (total KILLER. Couldn't sleep enough)
Fever (I hovered near 102 for about 3 days. 101.8 to be precise. My mild delirium led to hubby taking my temperature.)

So, I gotta go. Old gal needs her beauty sleep. One more day home for the kiddo tomorrow, P.A. day. Then, it's back to our regularly scheduled program. Hopefully. ;)