Peeking In

I haven't dropped off the face of the planet. Honest.

1- Christmas, and what has become a near annual family tradition of getting sick around it, has kept me away from the blogosphere. Believe it or not, my daughter spiked a fever today and is complaining of a sore throat, just a few days after the last of us seemed to be all well and moving on. The other two have this blank deer in the headlights look about them. They have concluded that it's only a matter of time before they get sick again as well. I'm in complete denial.

2- Aside from playing nurse whilst recuperating myself, I've succumbed to a new addiction. My dear husband got me an iPod Touch for Christmas. I never thought I wanted one, but when I opened it up on Christmas morning, I couldn't contain my excitement. It was a complete surprise. Now I find that I can't put the thing down. The free game apps are way too addictive. I find myself playing "Trace" all the time now, and just earlier today, I discovered "Creeps." It's not like I need another time-suck, but boy are they fun! Number of songs currently on my iPod? Zero. It's all about the apps.

Oh, I did just start reading G.K. Chesterton's "Orthodoxy" on m iPod, and I am greatly enjoying it. There is nary a page or capture that doesn't include some pearl of wit and wisdom. I should really keep notes while I'm reading it.

3- I told myself I'd finally get some pictures on here, and sort of made that a condition for writing my next post. I have tons of pictures I wanted to share. TONS. But I can't get them onto my pretty useless laptop and for some reason, they're not loading onto the Mac. We've spent inordinate amounts of time just trying to download pictures. So for now I'll have to content myself with just sharing stuff via text blogs. Some of the pictures I wanted to share show some of the stuff the kids have been up to...stuff like needle felting (thanks to a good friend who sent us a sizable package of wool and felting needles for Christmas), digital art one daughter has created with the help of a graphic tablet she got for her birthday, and other stuff the kids have made, particularly in their art class.

4- We've been busy playing board games, watching films, and watching on-demand television. Each of the kids received a game for Christmas, and my niece's sweet boyfriend was kind enough to gift us with a few more. We've greatly enjoyed all of them, and truth be told, I've kind of beaten the pants off of everyone (for the most part), which as can be imagined, greatly enhances my enjoyment of these.

We also all received DVDs for Christmas, so we had plenty to watch this week. Of course, once I had exhausted all of those, I gave into my guilty pleasure--Gene Simmons Family Jewels on demand. Yes, I admit it. I enjoy the show. I think the Simmons kids are absolutely adorable and funny, and I mainly watch because of them.

5- We had a blizzard, and that certainly kept us from roaming about, and it was pretty darn cozy. We got about 28 inches, and while I think I've had my fill of snow, I can't say it wasn't a welcome excuse to just stay put and enjoy doing fun things at home. Yes, things that didn't include blogging.

So there you have it. I've done nothing at all substantial or constructive in the last week or so, and it's been just what the doctor ordered. There's nothing quite like taking some time to just be.