We museum’d it up today, boy did we! What a fun day. First we started with greasy spoon type breakfast. Then…Three museums; The Morean, The Dali, and The Museum of Fine Arts. Plus a nice Italian Linner (that’s lunch and dinner). Finished with a walk to the park and Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake. That’s an awesome day. Happy Birthday Denise.

Okay, now that I’m feeling better- so much better. (right now anyway.) I can breath a sigh of relief. Ugh! I hate being sick. Especially when I want so much to be out there (out of my bed-off the couch) doing other things. There are times, I’ll admit, when I have wished for a mild cold or stomach virus to “save me” from some dreaded thing- whatever that thing may have been, but I have recently been on a get off my ass- kick, so NOW was not the time. I was going to be active and productive. I had this really great plan of doing double hikes. One solo one with la familia. After which I’d shower and hit the paint table… Until chow time. Of which, I had a well organized list of dinners. Mostly revolving around tomatoes and cheese- when bam! Slapped into bed with a virus type thing of great unpleasantness. Headache, body ache, fever, type deal. You know- headache so bad you want to throw up and you know you should sleep but you can’t sleep because your head hurts so bad you can’t even get comfortable….WAHHH!!!! But (singing choir of angels) then… you get better. And you are so happy. But afraid at the same time, because the people you live with….nay…the people you love….are probably going to get this thing too. And you know there is nothing you can do to stop it. And nothing you can do to make it better once it comes. Ugh! The helplessness continues.

Oh, but on the plus side, I may, in theory- be done with the flu season early. (cross fingers, knock on wood.)

You know…the usual. Eating. Breathing. Living. Laughing.

I’m starting a new project. I’ve done three pages so far. Here’s a sneak peek.

I made this Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes recipe tonight….drool. The icing alone is worth making.

I used grape seed oil instead of butter and a full can of pumpkin while reducing the milk. The spices are just right and the cake is nice and moist. Lucky for me I went on a hike tonight so I could eat my cupcake guilt free.

We’re back to back to school, which means (once a year) I, the mean (grrr) and terrible, unschool unleader, printed out the nasty and ever dreaded packets of work. It’s basically print-outs of math and grammar and a touch of history. Work sheets for the boys to complete. It makes me feel compliant with the undo suffering we put on children and it makes the children feel rightfully put-upon. It’s awesome! I think it’s important to know how to “fill out forms” not to mention I, think it looks good in our unhomeschool files to have worksheets filling the 5th grade and 7th grade slot. Ahhh! Meaningless paperwork. It’s the stuff of life, is it not? It must be, or we all wouldn’t do it. Would we?

Meanwhile. in real life………I painted. Danny created. Cory computed and Brian awesomed. While eating take-out.

We’re trying out what we hope will be a new tradition called No-tech Sunday. So yesterday we unplugged from the computer and iPods and ipad. It was hard and liberating. We did things together as a family. Hiked, shopped, had dinner and talked. I’ll admit there where times when I tried to rationalize how I could get online to check my email, while everyone else stayed unplugged. After all they have the real problem. I can stop anytime. (lol! I might be the worst of us all.) I also found myself thinking in blog as I did my no tech activities, like oh I should post a picture of that on the blog. Or that should be the song of the day. By the time the tech ban was lifted and I checked my email, facebook, reader and calendar, it occurred to me I don’t do all that much online for all the time I spend thinking about it. I think the Internet is an amazing and cool tool. I’m glad it is and I’m glad we get to be a part of it. I’m also glad we can opt out when we want to be a part of the rest of the world.

Five senses Sunday…
Taste: bar-b-q bacon cheddar burgers (vegetarian for me)
Touch: raindrops falling from branches on our hike
See: watching McKitty watching the gerbil in it’s cage
Hear: Fleetwood Mac record- You can go your own way.
Smell: homemade cinnamon bread

I can’t wait to see what next Sunday will bring.