Need a smile?

Then watch this...

Obessions

Part of Emily's "Your blog is fabulous" post included a list of her current obsessions. I didn't include my list with my Fabulous blogs post, but her list did get me thinking so now I present you with a list of obsessions -- some long-standing and some new:

1. Lipwear. I am on the constant lookout for the perfect color and texture lipwear. This includes the perfect lip balm (still the original Chapstick in my book), the perfect lip gloss, and the perfect lipstick. I own a ridiculous number of each. Any trip to Sephora or other cosmetics store includes the purchase of some kind of lip wear. Recent purchase include: Bobbi Brown Lip Gloss in Tangerine, Neutrogena LipSheer in Peach Sorbet, and Chapstick True Shimmer in Botanical Berry. I'm not a big lip liner fan though.

2. Twitter. To me Twitter is one of the most fun things to come out of the whole "social networking" web stuff. I love keeping up with my friends. I love keeping up with those who tweet informative stuff in the news and sites like makeuseof.com (MakeUseOf) -- they find the most interesting things on the web. And I love the fun stuff like the National History Museum Whale (NatHistoryWhale). I check Twitter frequently and I tweet frequently. If you want to follow me, I am marcyjill.

3. Mayfair Jelly Eggs. These are the cheap Easter jelly beans they sell at Stop & Shop. They are so bad they're good and I am sure they are the reason I am not losing weight like I would like to be despite trying.

4. My iPhone. When all the crazy stuff happened at work back in December my work-supplied Blackberry was taken away. I decided that having lived with a "Smart" phone for so long, I could no longer do without one and decided to replace it with an iPhone. A gadget I had long been coveting. I cannot go anywhere without it now. It is my everything device where I get email, text messages, twitter, internet, facebook, train schedules, , GPS, camera/photos, games, notes, calendar, to-do lists, shopping lists, ebooks, music, audiobooks, movies, TV show episodes, and, um, oh yeah, phone calls! In my book it is the perfect gadget.

5. Hotels.com Ever since I planned our trip to Dallas in the Fall I have been really into this website. I know the need for hotels doesn't come up that often, but even just fantasizing about getting away can be fun and this site makes it easy to explore hotel options just about anywhere. The ratings and reviews are generally on target and I have not been disappointed with any of the hotels I have found through the site.

6. Pandora This is the coolest music site out there. I am completely obsessed with fine-tuning my station which I have tried to make into my personalized version of the Sirius satellite radio station, The Spectrum. Which basically means just like The Spectrum, but no U2 or Bruce Springsteen. If you haven't tried out this site, you should. I can even share my station with you -- just let me know if you're interested.

I am sure there are other obsessions currently crowding my brain, but there you have my top 6.

Your Blog is Fabulous

The wonderful Emily has selected me for a "Your blog is fabulous" award. And considering the other bloggers she chose, I am extremely flattered to be in such good company. If you haven't read her post about this award you should and then you should check out the other bloggers on her list. But, back to me, I feel I must share what she wrote:

Few people in the world make me think, "Well, maybe having a child isn't such a bad thing after all." (Of course, if I could guarantee having a child like Zoe...) I'm pretty sure it's because she is so incredibly honest about the whole "motherhood experience." Oh, and despite what you might think, she isn't all about Zoe. She gives you plenty of other hilarious (and sometimes poignant) observations about this thing we call life.

Wow. Thanks again!

OK, so now I get to give out the award myself. My awards go to the blogs that inspire me. Here we go...

1. traciedesigns -- I love the design inspiration she shares regularly along with her down to earth view on life. Tracie is just all around fabulous from blog to friend to shoes!

2. It's Sara with no H -- I've never met Sara in real life, but I am sure that if I did we'd be instant friends talking endlessly over coffee or drinks or something. I feel like we share a similar point of view on marriage and motherhood.

3. Musings from the sofa -- The musings range from books to husbands to England and back again and they are all excellent posts with an independent point of view that I admire. I've learned a lot about Ms. Musings and a lot of English-speak and English spelling along the way. I always look forward to her posts. She also has the best tags for her posts!

4. Noble Savage -- Again, I've never met her, but I am sure we would be fast friends and have much to discuss. Her adventures in motherhood and as a strong feminist woman are inspirational. Her rough patches remind me I am not alone, her good times make me smile, and her strong point of view motivates me.

5. Telecommuter Talk -- I guess it is cheating to award the person who awarded you, but I simply could not leave Emily off this list. Her blog makes me laugh out loud, inspires me to action, inspires me to read, inspires me think, and of course inspires me to memes. Emily is not only Queen O' Memes, she is Queen O' Blogs! I love that our blogs have brought us closer together as friends too.

Thank you all for the regular inspiration! My awardees are welcome to pass along the award.

Fashion Innocent

Among Zoe's many lovely birthday presents from family and friends was a grey DKNY zip up sweatshirt. It is a cute hoodie that has the big DKNY logo on the front. (Honestly, I didn't know DKNY even had a children's line. License of the name maybe?)

When Zoe pulled it out of the wrapping paper she held it up, examined it and said, "Those aren't my initials."

It was 7 years ago today...

Zoe was born!

This picture was taken just minutes after she was born. The first of thousands and thousands.

25 Most Influential Authors

I was tagged by Emily for this one and was therefore compelled ...

Here are the instructions:

"Name 25 writers who have influenced you. These are not necessarily your favorite writers or those you most admire, but writers who have influenced you. Then you tag 25 people.”

I don't think I will tag 25 people because Emily tagged just about everyone I know already, but if you weren't tagged and you want to do this, consider yourself tagged.

Children's authors
1. Beverly Cleary -- The Mouse and the Motorcycle was one of the first books I really loved.
2. Laura Ingalls Wilder -- I think I read them all multiple times.
3. Judy Blume -- Loved her! Even read Forever and can't wait until Zoe is ready for some of her books.
4. Francine Pascal -- I admit it, I read a lot of the Sweet Valley High books.

The classics
5. Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird really moved me.
6. Jane Austen
7. Goethe -- That Faust guy shows up everywhere!
8. Fyodor Dostoevsky -- because I thought I kind of liked Russian authors -- or should like them -- until I read Crime and Punishment and then I realized I hate them.

The playwrights & poets
9. William Shakespeare (also a classic, of course)
10. Edward Albee
11. Sam Shepard -- yes he's an actor, but he is a much better playwright.
12. Walt Whitman
13. Henrik Ibsen

Short stories
14. Raymond Carver -- After reading Cathedral I understood just how incredible a short story could be.
15. Lorrie Moore -- if you haven't read her and like short stories, start with Birds of America.
16. Flannery O'Connor -- hated her the first time around in school, but I have grown to really appreciate her work.

Modern Fiction
17. Tom Robbins -- I think I've read all of his books except the latest. He's so weird and wonderful.
18. John Irving -- I read The Hotel New Hampshire at around age 11. I was kind of freaked out, but I never stopped going back for more.
19. Anne Tyler
20. Jay McInerney
21. John Krakauer
22. Milan Kundera

Other
23. Maureen Dowd
24. Steve Martin
25. Malcolm Gladwell

Race Day

Sunday morning Zoe ran in her first race. It was a 1/2 mile kid's "fun run." She was pretty nervous about it, but when it came down to it she ran her heart out and was really happy with herself after. It was so much fun to watch and even better to see her feeling so proud of herself when the run was over.

Here she is just seconds from the finish line:

Butterflies are free

Butterflies are free , originally uploaded by Marcyjill.

We had a family field trip to the Museum of Natural History this weekend. My favorite exhibit is usually the Hall of Ocean Life where my friend NatHistoryWhale hangs out, but we managed to catch the butterfly exhibit this time (something I always seem to miss) and I have to say it was pretty darn cool.

The Pants 180

For the last year, maybe longer, Zoe has almost exclusively worn "soft pants" or their shorts equivalent. "Soft pants" are stretch pants, but they are not as tight as leggings. They are like yoga pants, but they are not wide-legged either. I know this because of all the "soft pant" rejects that crowd the bottom drawer of Zoe's dresser. This fall Old Navy was good enough to produce the perfect "soft pants" and for once I was smart and I bought them in every color except pink. Pink anything went the way of skirts, dresses and all other pants at that same moment last year.

For the most part I let Zoe pick out what she is going to wear each day. I let her pick her pants and then help her choose a shirt that matches. On Thursdays I get to select her outfit and as long as it is not a skirt or a dress she usually wears the outfit I select. I almost always choose the one pair of jeans that she owns and a shirt she rarely wears. Every week since school started she has complained about these jeans and sometimes has even managed to talk me out of selecting them.

This week on Tuesday night when we were picking out clothes for Wednesday Zoe said I should pick and that would mean I wouldn't get to choose for Thursday. I agreed to that and immediately reached for the jeans. She happily wore her jeans to school on Wednesday and then on Wednesday night when we were getting ready for bed and about to choose Thursday's clothes she informed me that she wanted to wear jeans every day from now on. Excuse me? Did I hear that correctly? Apparently so because when I explained to her that her one pair of jeans was dirty she asked me to please wash them so she could wear them again. I agreed because I am sick of the "soft pants" and what is one more load of laundry anyway. At the risk of her changing her mind, I had to ask her why, after all these months and months of wanting to wear nothing but soft pants, did she suddenly decide it had to be jeans?

Her answer: Because I am an artist and all artists wear jeans everyday.

I have absolutely no idea where that came from and I didn't even ask.

Reading Material

My husband tends to use our bathroom as a mini library where he stores an assortment of reading material. Every time I use the bathroom I am then subjected to a microcosm of his reading tastes and proclivities and I wonder how 2 such opposite people share the same living space. We both love books and magazines, but that is where the similarities end.

I usually read only one book and one magazine at a time. I don't like to be reading too many things at once. This is not the case for Rob. I tend to treat my books quite well. I would never dream of dog-earring a page unless it was an extreme emergency. The other day when Zoe fell out of the tree she was climbing at the playground I still put my bookmark in place before rushing over to her. (She was fine and did not fall from very high.) I would never ever leave a book in the bathroom and subject it to the humidity of days of showers and the curious fingers of the child who shares our bathroom. I couldn't. I also tend to buy mostly one genre of book -- fiction. Occasionally I dip into biography and history, but I generally stick with fiction.

When I get a magazine I read it (or at least skim it) and then pass it to someone else or recycle it. I do not leave magazines lolling about for months at a time nor do I ever re-read them. Once in a blue moon I will save a particular issue of a magazine, but that is so rare that I only have 4 magazines (3 New Yorkers and one New York Times Magazine) saved and I have never re-read any of them.

Rob's reading material in our bathroom includes:

A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life -- warped hardcover with every 3rd page dog-eared
Latin Can Be Fun -- Seriously. And with the "Bargain" sticker still on it, of course
The February 2008 issue of Cigar Aficionado -- which has been in the bathroom since February 2008 and is barely holding together as a magazine anymore
The November 2008 issue of Outside Magazine -- see above
The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook with Zoe's drawings added to some of the illustrations
The most recent issue of Cook's Illustrated -- a magazine he subscribes to and yet I have never seen him cook one recipe from it.
The American Van Catalog -- also dog-eared which scares me since he is supposed to be getting rid of the van next month
The Selected Poems of D. H. Lawrence -- no complaints with that one

Interesting portrait of the man, isn't it?

A Broken Promise

One year ago I promised that I would not write and complain about my braces in this blog ever again, but I lied. I have decided that one full year of braces wearing entitles me to one more post complaining about them.

It seems like ever since I hit that one year mark last week (February 27) I realized just how much longer I have to go. I know I should be thinking that I am halfway there. Woo hoo! But, no. Another year feels like a really long time to have to deal with the following:

• Concern for what food particles are lodged in my teeth after every single meal. This is particularly exacerbated when eating out at a restaurant where I often spend post-eating time either not smiling or covering my mouth with my hand when I do.
• Awkward smiling. Almost every time I do smile my lips have to navigate their way around these things in my mouth.
• Seeing them on my smile in pictures. Yuck.
• Waking up every morning with the insides of my mouth dried onto the braces and gently having to peel them apart.
• Rubber bands. No one told me about the rubber bands. Miserable little things.
• The random moments when the inside of my cheek catches on part of the brace. Ouch!
• The never ending string of orthodontist appointments. Seems like every time I turn around I have to go back there. I like my doctor and most of the people who work at the office, but every 3rd time or so I get the assistant who takes at least twice as long as the others to but the bands back on and it is like torture.
• The smell of popcorn that I cannot have. I don't miss most of the other banned foods, but popcorn is really tough especially when I am at the movies.
  

OK, I think that is it for my complaints. I can no longer promise, but I do hope that my next post about braces will be when I get them off!

Questions for Mom

Seems like lately Zoe speaks in questions and they all tend to start with "Mom?" Heard in a typical day:

"Mom? Can I watch TV?"

"Mom? Can I have a snack?"

"Mom? What's 23+23?"

"Mom? Did you see what I made?"

"Mom? What does this say?"

"Mom? Can I mail this letter to Sophia?"

"Mom? Can I have a playdate with Hannah?"

"Mom? Can I have more milk?"

"Mom? Can I be done?"

"Mom? What is your favorite color?"

"Mom? Can I have dessert?"

"Mom? How do you spell airplane?"

"Mom? Where's my journal?"

"Mom? Can we get that?"

"Mom? Can you take me to the bathroom?"

"Mom? When is my birthday?"

"Mom? Did you know that a baby kangaroo is called a Joey?"

"Mom? Can I have 5 more minutes?"

"Mom? Where's Daddy?"

"Mom? Can I have some more?"

"Mom? Can you tuck me in?"

"Mom? When are we going to be there?"

"Mom? When can we go?"


Luckily, just when I am getting exasperated I get this:

"Mom? I love you."

Pictures of Puerto Rico

Zoe in the surf, originally uploaded by Marcyjill.

We're just home from Puerto Rico one day late as Mother Nature thoughtfully provided us with a snow storm on Monday and forcing us to prolong our stay. That extra day was a really nice treat. Coming home to 25 degree weather, but looking at the pictures tonight has brought back all the sun, warmth, and relaxation.

I have a bunch of pictures, but some of my favorite are here.

Words for Wednesday:

I almost forgot and it is only my second week back! OK part of the reason is because I couldn't think of a good song this week. I'm in a comfortable, but enjoyable rut listening to the same playlist on my iPod over and over as I work and I probably have already posted the lyrics from the best of those songs already.

The other part of the reason is because I have the song "Free to be... You and Me" stuck in my head. Zoe has been playing it a lot lately. Over and over and over actually. Does anyone else remember listening to this as a kid? The one by Marlo Thomas & Friends? I loved it so when I saw it at this year's book fair at Zoe's school I had to buy it for her. At first she wouldn't listen to it -- most likely because I love it so much and want her to like it too. Now that she's given it a shot, she's hooked just like I was.

Unfortunately, as an adult, the songs get a little annoying after awhile. Especially the chorus of the title song, but overall it is still good.

So, here's the words and if any one's interested in taking a walk down memory lane, let me know and I'll send you a copy of the CD.

Free to Be... You and Me
Music by Stephen J. Lawrence, Lyrics by Bruce Hart, Performed by The New Seekers

There's a land that I see where the children are free
And I say it ain't far to this land from where we are
Take my hand, come with me, where the children are free
Come with me, take my hand, and we'll live

In a land where the river runs free
In a land through the green country
In a land to a shining sea
And you and me are free to be you and me

I see a land bright and clear, and the time's comin' near
When we'll live in this land, you and me, hand in hand
Take my hand, come along, lend your voice to my song
Come along, take my hand, sing a song

For a land where the river runs free
For a land through the green country
For a land to a shining sea
For a land where the horses run free
And you and me are free to be you and me

Every boy in this land grows to be his own man
In this land, every girl grows to be her own woman
Take my hand, come with me where the children are free
Come with me, take my hand, and we'll run

To a land where the river runs free
To a land through the green country
To a land to a shining sea
To a land where the horses run free
To a land where the children are free
And you and me are free to be
And you and me are free to be
And you and me are free to be you and me

ZoesMom ... in a Wordle

Give it a try, but be warned it is a bit like crack. http://www.wordle.net/

A Couple of Connecticut Yankees

A new meme is sweeping through my blog roll and I am loving it! I was officially tagged by Emily for this one. And here goes...

What are your middle names?
Mine is Jill. Thus Marcyjill in case any of you were ever wondering. Jill is the name I was supposed to have until my great grandmother, Mary, died 2 weeks before I was born. In the Jewish tradition I was named after her, but since my brother was already around and named Jon, my parents didn't want to round out their nice Jewish family with Jon and Mary. Rob's middle name is Frank. For 33 years or so he thought it was Franklin until we showed his mother the proof for our wedding invites when she told him his middle name is actually just Frank. This was corroborated by his birth certificate. I'm not sure how you get to be 33 without knowing what your middle name is, but Rob did.

How long have you been together?
Since June of 1997.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met in 1989, the summer after my freshman year in college. Rob was my brother's friend.

Who asked whom out?
He asked me out first about 6 months after we met. He never called me after that date. We ran into each other here and there because he was, as I mentioned, friends with my brother. So we had about 3 more first dates just like that where he asked me out and then never called over the course of 7 years until that date in June of 1997 "took."

How old are you?
I’m 38, he's 43. I love that he calls me his "child bride."

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Rob has 2 brothers and I have one and all three live within a half hour of us. We see one of Rob's brothers and one of mine with about equal frequency. The other brother not so much.

Which situation is hardest on you as a couple?
Rob has his own business. As a result he often agrees to what I consider insane work hours without giving much thought to my schedule or Zoe's. He leaves all that to me arguing that he has to take the work when it is available. It is our biggest source of argument, frustration and other difficulty. (I've noticed that almost every one who as answered this has cited work-related issues as the thing hardest on them as a couple. Just and observation.)

Did you go to the same school?
No, but our high schools did play each other in sports. College wasn't even close.

Are you from the same home town?
Nope. He's a Norwalk boy through and through and I grew up in Monroe and hated every moment of it.

Who is smarter?
Rob is no dunce, but I am the smart one.

Who is the most sensitive?
It depends on if you mean physically or emotionally. Rob is a big baby when it comes to being sick in any way. If he has a paper cut, it is the worst paper cut ever requiring band aids and neosporin. He will sleep for 3 hours just because he has a headache. I am from peasant stock and generally just get on with things as much as possible when faced with physical ailments. Emotionally, unless it is from his parents, Rob is mostly unaffected by any real or imagined slights, insults or other bother. I, on the other hand, obsess and have been known to ruin perfectly lovely evenings because I am insecure, obsessing, or insulted.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Wild Rice. It is walking distance from our house and it is really good, but reasonably priced Asian food. One of our favorite dates is walking to Wild Rice and then going to the bookstore afterwords. This winter, however, we've been driving there more.

Where is the furthest you have traveled together as a couple?
Mileage-wise it has to be Italy, but I think our drive to Dallas is the trip that really qualifies. Either way, we always travel very well together and have been planning more and more trips lately.


Who has the craziest exes?
Hands down that goes to Rob. His craziest ex has done pounds of cocaine as well as jail time for "soliciting."

Who has the worst temper?
Again, Rob. I boil over more often, but when Rob does it is scary. He once made Zoe wet her pants by just yelling at her. I am really glad it doesn't happen often.


Who does the most cooking?
Until this year that would have been Rob. Over the course of our relationship he wins, but in 2009, I win.

Who is the most stubborn?
He is, and nothing you can say can convince me otherwise.

Who hogs the bed most?
He does! We have a king size bed and sometimes even that doesn't seem big enough.

Who does the laundry?
I do. I am particular about my laundry methodology so I have banned Rob from the laundry. I know my particularness makes me seem crazy in his eyes and so be it. I like my clothes washed, folded, and even put away with regularity.

Who’s better with the computer?
Me. Rob is getting better, especially since he bought his Mac, but I have always been more tech savvy with computers and most forms of technology.

Who drives when you are together?

He does. Many years ago we were going somewhere with my mother and there was a couple in the car next to us and the woman was driving and my mother commented, "never trust a man who doesn't drive." Rob has generally felt it to be his duty to drive since then. I don't really love to drive so I gladly accept his being the driver.

Tagging: Tracie, Sara, and Courtney.

Charlotte Interviews Me

Apparently "the interview" is an oldie, but it is new to me. I discovered it when I read Charlotte's (of Charlotte's Web) interview and I liked the idea. Happily Charlotte agreed to interview me. So, here goes...

1. One of your resolutions this year was to cook more often. Tell us about something you have cooked this month, and how it was received by your family.

I have been doing some cooking, but nothing too adventurous. The best meal I prepared was sauteed chicken breasts with green beans, corn and corn bread. The corn was frozen and microwaved because Zoe won't eat green beans, but everything else was made fresh. Zoe would only eat the corn and the cornbread, but my husband ate every bite so I took it as a good sign. I have to admit I liked it too. Much of the point of my cooking is so that my family and I eat healthier meals and I feel like this meal was a success on that front too.

Here's some photographic evidence of this meal:

2. You trained as a costume designer, and now work in a completely different industry. How do you channel your creativity?

These days I find my creative outlets to be either writing or photography. That is one of the reasons I love blogging so much -- it is a great space for both. I dream of someday doing some drawing and painting again and I have some interesting collage ideas in my head, but I right now life is so busy it is hard for me to make time and space for that.

3. Money is no object. What is your dream vacation?
That is a tough question because I am not sure if my dream vacation is in one spot or if it involves multiple locations. Either way it involved 5 star accommodations. I love beautiful hotels.

So if I had to choose one place I think a month or two in Barcelona staying a suite with a beautiful view would be divine. I would do it all, immerse myself in the Barcelona life and hope to get mistaken for a local by the end of the trip.

A traveling vacation would probably be the Pacific Northwest of North America. I'd like to start in Seattle, WA and explore north and west of there. I am sure I would need a month or two for that as well.

4. You love reading. What was the last book you read, what are you reading now and what is next on your TBR pile?

I just finished a book called Smart Girls Like Me by Diane Vadino. It is slightly above chick lit on the fiction scale of quality. Can't say I would really recommend it, but it is not a bad book.

I am currently reading The Saturday Wife by Naomi Ragen. I have only read the first chapter so far so I can't comment on it yet.

Next up is The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. This is my bookclub's next selection.

5. The Michelle Obama Vogue cover. Discuss.

I think Michelle Obama is a gorgeous woman with great fashion sense and the Vogue cover certainly backs that up. I don't have any issues with her being on the cover of Vogue -- I think it is fabulous. It shows her to be young, relevant and "with it." The role of "First Lady" is strange and ambiguous in my opinion, but I have high hopes for Mrs. Obama's definition of it.


Rules:
1. If you want to be interviewed, leave me a comment, and I will send you some questions.
2. Update your blog with the answers to the questions and link back to the original post.
3. Include the rules in your post.

Words for Wednesday: Crowing

It has been over a month since I posted a "Words for Wednesday" post. I've thought about it, but mostly forgot about it until I read Emily's post from last night about her music discussion with Bob. That very funny story motivated me this morning so I am throwing my hat (or my blog) back into the ring.

This week's song is "Crowing" by Toad the Wet Sprocket. I have loved this song since the first time I ever heard it -- especially since at that time I was going through a particularly painful heartache. It used to bring tears to my eyes and even today I still get a tingly kind of feeling when I hear it.

Overall I think the song is about not being able to change someone, a lesson that can be just so hard to learn sometimes. The chorus is all about that. "You give him love and affection but you couldn't keep him there." At the same time it says that you can't make yourself into something you're not "And the more skin that you shed the more that the air in your throat will linger when you call him your friend," says that so perfectly.

Crowing

Been waiting
To find
You could've been happier
Given the time
If he'd make up his mind
You'd give yourself to anybody
Who would cross that line

chorus:
And it was never question
He was crowing for repair
You'd give him love and affection
But you couldn't keep him there

Get over regrets
While you were sleeping with the angels
He was under the bed
And the more skin
That you shed
The more that the air in your throat will linger
When you call him your friend

chorus

Staring at a cold little hand
Reading fault lines
Of a shell of a man
You were waiting for a word from above
Wouldn't you know it
No answer ever did come

And it was never question
You were crowing for repair
You'd give him love and affection
But you couldn't keep him there

Zoesmom's Oscar Poll

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Sick Boys

Why are men such babies when they are ill? This week my husband has the virus that just about everyone has been passing around. You would think he was dying of diphtheria the way he has been carrying on. Moans and groans and get me tissuse, soup, Nyquil, etc. Not moving from the couch where he has covered himself with ever throw blanket we have and littered dirty tissues all around.

Zoe and I had the same thing two weeks ago. It is a bad one virus, that is for sure, but do you think I got much sympathy when I was sick? When I asked him to stay home one day to help take care of and Zoe so I could go to the walk-in clinic he gave me a look that said I had to be out of my mind and of course he had more important things to do. And when I asked him to please get me some cough syrup he rolled his eyes so far back into his head, I am surprised they didn't get stuck there.

So yesterday I told my feeling better husband two things:

1. The way you have felt the past several days is exactly the way Zoe and I felt 2 weeks ago. Please try to keep that in mind next time I ask you for help when I am feeling ill.

2. Just because he has been sick, he is not excused from buying me a Valentine's Day gift and calling in an order for flowers will not do.

Not sure I will have much luck with the the first thing, but he did come through on the second so I will forgive him -- this time.