Proof you shouldn't blog sick:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
I'll think of something.
Something to share besides the insanely high fever I have.
Something cute to tell you besides the embarrassing fact that my 5 yr old can beat me at almost all the wii sports games.
.. except bowling- I am oddly good at that, and in love with the fact it doesn't involve pinchy shoes when it is done in my own living room.
Rory spends most her time taking care of her animals on the World Zoo game we got with the wii- its cute, slightly annoying, but cute.

I'll try not to whine about my guilt of telling RI to "suck it up", that he was just jetlaggy and his typical post sick sinus infection NOT a NEW sick
... only to then catch his debilitating sick. I am a meaner.

I could whine about how I have been sick more this winter than in any year of my life. Every effing time I shake off one thing , I catch another. Since I first caught the swineflu in August, till now I think that is ,like 5 illnesses .ffs.
Darn pig


My immune system has gone to hell, and I am becoming a freaking hypochondriac because of it. I think I am dying. This isn't a fever, its the early stages of some rare disease. It's babyhellfireism- they are gonna name it after me.
When they find me huddled in a mass of shaking sweat.
The 1st symptom is body odor.
The second is the feeling of your head exploding out of your eyelids,
the third is the ability to use your body as a space heater.
It's karmic debt for the screen name.
. I should have went with some neutral temperature name

Also.
I lost my memory card.
No, scratch that,
Ri lost my memory card. At least it didn't have pictures on it.
So I don't have any pictures to share. Not that my goosebumpy , sweaty flushed sick face is anything I would share with the public.
Nor would you need pictures of the house I couldn't clean when standing started feeling like an Olympic event (Announcer : If she can make it to the kitchen upright she'll win the gold!! )
. And Ri worked all week.
Rory has been cute.and SUPER helpful and good,
..as I passed out in a heap on the couch watching Bones episodes online.

Mom came over today to bring me soup and lots to drink.
I love my mom.... I felt bad ,I didn't want to hug her and spread my ick...and that even she saw my house such a mess.

:( I am really terrified of the idea of Rory catching this high fever.

I could use a giggle:



And a vid of my nephew Nico who will be A ONE YEAR OLD soon-
Impossible!


Not at all possible. I just posted about her giving birth... He does look like a big kid.hmmm
She must have replaced him with a big kid in my sleep.
The only fault in that logic is my lack of sleep.

I did have some plan about finally getting a pic of Grace Folly- the wild gorgeous catish creature that follows Sweets around , and blogging that. Ah well.

Seems everyone around me is either stressed to the max, or sick. Fun stuff.
Yet,Underneath feeling like death warmed over, I have been in an -oddly- fairly positive mood mentally (aside from that whole hypochondriac "I'm dying" thing)
... I think its the fever talking. A mild hallucination
.. or maybe its the ibuprofen?

Ri is off work tomorrow, He is talking about packing up the wii and the kid, and escaping from my puddle of sick. We'd Wanted to have people over to play, but I would feel terrible if anyone caught this from me....or saw me.

Well- That's all I could think of.
Sorry for the lameness of this blog. :( .

Hopefully it will at least meet the approval of the anon porn bots I keep blocking comments from.
Yet, I still don't get near enough hits for google to pay me for ads.
Only just enough for them to send me junk mail. Ha My luck.



I am going to go try to medicate myself enough to sleep.
...or maybe just find some other TV show to catch up on.

PEACE AND TOFU CHICKEN GREASE,
BABYHELLFIRE

Of mantrips and temporary insanities

Well, I have a bunch of pictures to share...
Most of them I didn't take, nor was I in, - or even around for..
and I have no idea how to blog that.

Do you know that that means??
Well, in case you have no other contact with me besides this blog- it means Ri got to go on his brocation after all.. YAY!!!

After Ri went to bed, and I posted my last blog, and we had both sort of given up(Ri did half consider going on his own)- but then Ben read my blog, and joked that Ri should have called him.
We assumed with work, and a new baby, Ben was way too busy for a last minute trip.. but Ri& Ben did end up getting a hold of one another ... AND Ben was super excited to go!!!
Freaking AWESOME!! Ben did get Ri to call Ileana and make sure it was ok with her , being V-day weekend and all. She laughed,It was cute though.

But now what?
My (and the kid's)long lonely weekend was pretty boring.. and Ri took my camera so I didn't even get pics!
I tried to get Ri to step in as a guest blogger , but that is not really his thing. He will be grilled about what sort of explanation he can give to write with each picture, maybe I will break him and he will just end up penning most of this MWHAHAHAhahaha ( look out for Ri has a blog?! coming to inboxes near you ;) )

- I think am gonna just tell you what I did 1st...
because it is hella interesting, and junk.

Ri spent his last night home running all over creation trying to get last minute things, while Rory and I kicked around the house.It was hard to say bye to him. Rory and I didn't really want him to leave... excited for him- but we knew we were all going to miss each other a lot.

Rory did give me a tiny scare, waiting for Ri to leave, to have potty trouble. After her sick, I was thinking "Great. now she has an infection".. but she was fine. Just being too busy. Mostly, I just cleaned up and watched bad tv while she played. We did end up having a rough time getting to bed without Ri - so we had a slumber party on the living room floor.
I woke up in the morning to JJ at my door with Valentines Day Flowers from mom and dad- Aww! Rory checked the mail and found Momo had sent her a card ,too.Ri called to tell me he made it ALL THE WAY to Tennessee- in the worst weather EVER without stopping.Crazy.

Rory spent the day outside with Noobs digging in the dirt ,eating mandarin oranges off the tree,and having a blast in the sun- even with the cold wind.
We didn't really do much, and the house was lonely. So we arranged to stay Valentines night at moms. Rory had a blast, eating junk food , watching GIANT tv,playing with dolls and looking through old pics
- while I drank all their soda ,ate tons of carbs, and chatted with my brother JJ
because my parents have actual social lives.

Mom took Amy to a Drs appt the next day- so it was just Rory and I hangin with JJ again.
After We slept in for a long time on the SUPER comfy bed in this room-
Still decorated with Amy and Libby's stickers..
I spent sometime digging through the past , my old junk in the storage barn.. and laying in the hammock - it was sorta warm and pretty out.
Mom brought Amy and Allura there too before we left- So, I got to hold cute chunky niece , and I don't have any pictures.sorry.
JJ brought us home and we waited all to anxiously for Ri to get home-The dog and kitties were pretty mad about being left home for a whole night.
Rory pretty much crashed though.
Ri finally made home at around midnight Monday/almost Tuesday.
By then all my friends/relatives, had asked 100 questions about him- and I didn't know, the places he went were soo rural and backwoods that he didn't have enough signal to call much.I had really expected to get to chat with him more while he was gone.. I think a day longer and I may have completely lost my sanity.


So now, pictures... and Ri's half of the story..



This is a palm tree just north of Jax-
Is that not the oddest thing ever?
Ben took most the pictures.. I know I have said before, I can hand Ri the camera but I cannot make him take pictures.
Now, I am really glad it was Ben who went with him; I bet I wouldn't have any pics for this post,lol.
The horrible icy roads in South Carolina
Coming into Asheville North Carolina




Pretty!




Ri met up with his old neighbor in Greeneville Tennessee


The view from Monument Hill ,facing Viking Mountain


They met up with Ri's friends from elementary/middle school for dinner-
Yeshua ,Rusty, and Ri
.. and went out to Yeshua's cuz's bar afterwards



"Don't fuck with the guy in the jacket" look.. lol


Jello shots

Ben is huge in Japan


the bartenders

They went out to a club, and back to Yeshua's house for a bit.. and from what I hear got pretty wasted.lol.
Crashed hard at the hotel before getting back on the road..


on through Gatlinburg- aww, around where we got married

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokey's-
Ri was hoping to show Ben some of the cool stuff there , but they drove through on Valentines Day and the place was TOO packed to stop.




They made it into GA Sunday evening.. To Ri's Aunt Angie's cabin

Could barely make it up the drive.

They had a long night of debauchery and sledding- they had went everywhere in Hendersonville, and called everywhere in Asheville in search of sleds, but everyone was sold out, they ended up buying cement mixing pans, that weren't exactly sturdy enough for a grown man.


They took pics the next morning- the snow had melted a bit.

The icy road Ri slid across into a ditch on the night before-
He didn't manage to hurt the car.

They don't know whose dog that is, but his aunt says it always comes up when they are there too.


..they actually sled down this?! In the middle of the night?! - and no hospital trips
But, Ben did get a stick up his nose



.. Ri says this pic gives you an idea of the sort of roads they had to drive on to get to the cabin

Ri let Ben drive for awhile.
Ri says they got home much faster than if he was driving.
They did take some time to stop and go shopping..
Ri brought me a present-
My 1st reaction "Wow, those are hideous"


Dontcha love them?

I did sort of get him a present too.
My sis found someone basically giving away a Wii and a couple games , and got it for us( I have to pay her back)!!
We went to Lissy house and babysat Nico for a bit so she could go pick it up
He is soo big. he is standing on his own!!and walking with you if you hold his hand
He LOVED Ri's hat and loved it more when I put it on him


We spent the rest of the day looking for the accesories we needed for the wii
This guy outside walmart was awesome. He really did want smiles, he thanked us when we smiled at him ..
Driving around was stressful. Ri was grouchy and still dragging a bit from his trip and we couldn't find half of what we needed.
By the time we got home both Rory and Ri needed to be sent to bed. Ri was sick as a dog by morning. He did work a bit at nalu's to help them open back up- since his boss just got back from Hawaii.. but he called in to cowboys, stopping to pick up the last thing we needed for the Wii( a simple cord, why was that soo hard to find?)but.. we needed batteries, and Chinese food. So he picked that up before trying to get rest off the travel sick he had.

Make her stop looking so big!!!!
She is in love with this Zoo game we got with the wii!


Today, (Thursday) we spent the day relaxing. We stopped by Val's and hung out for a bit.
Rory jumped on the trampoline with purple lips but having a blast.


We got pizza before heading home. You know you have a weekly pizza habit when the pizza place knows your name by your order.

There is more funny stuff , about temporary insanities ..but it isn't fit for this blog

Ri shaved his beard tonight - it was starting to get all sorts of out of control, and he didn't want to trim it up. He says he feels like he's lost the spirit of Chuck Norris.

I think we are still in sort of recovery mode from the last few days...
Between mom's house full of soda and junkfood,, and the pack or dr.pepper I sucked down on my own my body is mad at me- Rory ate enough candy to take down a diabetic elephant,
and Ri, well roadfood enough said.

We'll get into the swing of things soon though. And it was totally worth it. I am sooo happy he got to go next time he better find away to call me more though...
no. next time it's my turn.

I just need people to stop being cranky around here. please.

PEACE AND TOFU CHICKEN GREASE ,
BABYHELLFIRE

The best plan is no plan at all, then everything goes according to the plan.

Plans suck.
Did I ever tell you about the time we tried to plan an actual wedding?
,yeah... point made.

Someone with enough social anxiety to keep her up at night pondering life, words and feelings, and their interpretations, shouldn't make plans.
I have come to the conclusion I am more of a fly by the moment, loose plans are the best plans , sort of person. ..but man, that same anxiety laden compulsive list maker sure can clash with that person. It's a sort of downward spiral into insanity from there ,isn't it?


So, anyway.. Ri is on vacation. Almost 3 whole weeks off. (3 weeks off at nalu's ,but he can pick up a few random extra shifts at cowboys). He is antsy and stir crazy..and well aware of the glorious snowpocalypse that is effecting most the country, except here. He has all this time off and he tends to feel he should do something with it.He KEPT bringing up a trip to his aunts vacation home in Georgia , and the friends(from middle school) he has been chatting with in Tennessee... I never seemed all that down with a sudden pile into the car trip through the south; I didn't jump to make lists- that was probably his 1st clue.Plus.it would be pricey to take the kid.
He tossed around the idea of going with a friend, having a bro-cation .

By Monday it was just an idea.. he threw it around to some of his friends.

We had plans for Monday though,

Ben- who is BASICALLY Ri's brother(I could mention something about the family you choose VS the ones you are born with.. you get the idea), gave us the heads up that Ileana was in town staying with his mom, so we might get to meet baby Bella!!
I like those sort of plans.

We called to make sure it was a good time and headed over..
Oh. you're jealous. I can feel it through the monitor.
And if you aren't jealous yet:

Ileana is so awesome.She spoke of pregnancy and birth as a beautiful blessing
..and really with that sort of reward ,who could argue
Oh.my.goodness. the fuzzy baby shoulders - it was enough to make my dried up husk of a "never want another child" uterus to twitch in memory of when I had a fuzzy baby.

Rory was WAY too busy playing with Emily to understand
They played dress up, and school , and house.. and maybe even hide and seek while we chatted.



I'm in love.Clearly, I am not the only one.Little girly has everyone wrapped around her little finger already

I can't believe how alert she is.She is going to be talking soo soon, I don't think I have ever heard a newborn be so verbal.

Girls...
soo cute.
They pose for one picture though before I get this:
Divas.
I am telling you now Ben, girls can be SUCH divas.
I am sure she will be too.. and if not I am sure Rory and Emily can show her how.

Then she will want to set up her toys and FORCE you to take pictures of her....

It will happen before you know it.
....


I guess Rory is good at planning.I sure hope she is better than Rian and I;
(like how did that segue back into the original subject? I am clever, or heavily caffeinated.)

Ri got it in his head he WOULD go to GA, and TN with a buddy.He reached out to his cousin,the one he recently reconnected with - and decided it would be an awesome chance for them to bond more.He even brought up the idea to a few other guys he knew would be around in case he needed another roadtrip companion.
Manroadtrip was on.
He started planning.

He talked about it to his buddy Kenny when he came for a visit,
he chatted to his friends up north
he even posted a Facebook status.

DUN. DUN.DUUUUNNNN.

Hell. I started planning. WTH was I going to do with him away, what sort of things would I need stocked??
- thinking maybe I would spend a night at mom's . Sleep over sounded pretty cool to Rory. (Though, her sleep has been so erratic it has made her almost behavior unbearable; I doubt SLEEP was the keyword)

So we were set. Ri would leave late Thursday night for a LONG weekend.
We really did hold off until the last day to get ready, in tradition with our attempt at antiplanning.

Thursday , We explained it to Rory, we switched phones (so he could trust my heavy duty phone to survive a roadtrip)We went grocery shopping for things we'd need, Ri packed his bag.
...but we didn't hear from ANY of his friends all day.
His cousin finally told him he was too sick to come.
His other friend didn't answer the phone.another was sick.. and so on,
Harvey stopped in for a bit, and was a step away from just piling up in the car with Ri , but Hether had other plans for the weekend and he couldn't.
Ri called around in hopes of finding one guy who could drop everything, and help him go out on a long weekend in search of old friends and snow..and found no one.

By the end of the night I was making cookies, and he was terribly depressed. :(
I wish there was something I could do. I wish I could force one of his friends to go. I wish I could magically have a way for it to be cheap and simple for me to go..
More,I just wish I could make him feel better. I can feel his heart is broken. I know he feels bad for not getting away on his time off.and he was really looking forward to it.

..and now. It is raining.Snowstorm in GA. Ri is sleeping off his let down of a night.. and I am up at 6am.
At least I have the support of Heritage Dr.Pepper, and homemade brownie cookies .

and now, my eye is twitching.

great.


PEACE AND TOFU CHICKEN GREASE,
BABYHELLFIRE

No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. ~Elbert Hubbard

Oh, dear, dear, dear, dear.

This is one of those moments where I haven't caught up here as soon as I should have.

Where I took many, many, pictures and have many many exciting things to share... so much

so, that I keep putting it off and it .just.keeps.adding up!!

I know that I will leave things out;

I know that you will hate me for carrying on.
But.

it's vacation time baby, Vacation TIME BABY!! (Ri has been off work since the 1st)

I know you will get tired of looking at all the pictures.. but the pictures are awesome and we have had a great time the last few days.

so,

suck it up ,Buttercup!

Feb1st.. Ri found out his friend was packing up and moving back to Texas. He decided he wanted to go help him pack up the Uhaul. and see him before he left
Harvey and Hether really wanted to go too... but they had Miranda...
I REALLY don't think Princess Rory will mind the company:



They had so much fun.
It was like a mini sleepover.
(Since it was sort of late and a school night for Miranda.)

They did make-up, dressed up as princesses, colored, and Miranda brought a snack.


By the time everyone got back they were very tired and curled up on the floor together watching tv, and pretending to sleep.


Working at the taco stand has brought Ri the ability to meet SO many St.Augustine locals, interesting people, and many new friends. Walking around town with him has become almost bizarre :it seems everyone knows him.
Well, a conversation on where we get our fresh honey locally (a stand on the road near our house)- ended with Ri regularly bringing big containers of it to this guy that works at the alligator farm.

Anyway, He got us guest passes to go to the Alligator Farm! We went on Wednesday.
He just had to show us the AWESOME nightly sight of the birds coming into the trees above the swamp.
Last time we went Rory was around 2.
Pretty impressive place-far more than just Alligators, All sorts of cute zoo critters that I love.

Rory says she wants an Acouchi(the large rodent) .. the toucan was a total show off for the camera

There are also crocs- all different sorts from all over the world, and turtles

lol we giggled at the algae covering making them look all fuzzy in the watter.
... and the many times we would look in a habitat and not see all the crocs.. like this one where I only saw the top one! :O

I love the albino alligator.. Rory thought it was extra creeepy.

There is a special place in my heart for marmosets.. Can I have one?

Sigh... I guess it isn't a good idea..

back to looking at crocs

... I forgot what this bird is called?
Any guesses? or google mastery? Pretty though, and LOUD!

The kidzone overlooked(or perhaps was overlooked by) the birds of africa exhibit.

I sort of love the Cape Vulture..
So ugly he is is pretty,maybe?

It was a surprisingly cooooold day. But Rory played as much as she could.

Ri says when he was a kid they let them ride REAL Galapagos turtles. Now, no one is allowed in their habitat but zookeepers.. lol sort of happy for that one.
"Whoa there mr.turtle"

We did get feed the swans ,and ducks, pellets from a little gumball machine. There were beautiful black swans too, but they were busy with a nest.

We did NOT feed the begging monkey, that did not stop other tourists from ignoring the signs.

There were macaws and cockatoos, too- noisy attention seeking ones . Ri says this one almost acted like he wanted to jump onto his shoulder;

Yeah. There are alligators-

Lots.
Big ones and small ones

And rooms talking all about the history and facts about them.

.. is it bad I sort of want some of those wooden masks?

Don't answer that.
also... such rooms were warm. It was cold. We read a lot.

We also got to feed the gators some kibble.

Then we went to see the DRAGONS-

komodo
and some snakes and similar critters.

Rory dug that part, but I think she enjoyed the birds more.

Last time we took her she was in a much more boyish phase and snakes were her favorite creature. Now... she still likes them but is icked out a little.

I miss the two year old who was more likely to pretend to be a pirate than a princess...

though I also love the princess, the princess that watches the movie Annie captivated . :)

We circled back around while waiting for the reptile show. Found this critter - small deer near the cockatoo and swans...

Soo sweet, he acted like he wanted us to pet him. We didn't but it was so cute standing at the gate trying to poke his tiny head through at us.

Rory thought the zebra shaped feeder was gross.yeah. a bit.

Ri made a friend while Rory played at the playground

or maybe an enemy? odd stork was trying to attack him through the glass!

He didn't attack me.. only sat still while I snapped some pictures.. isn't it, um pretty...

We made our way back to the auditorium for the reptile show..

last time we went was in summer and crowded.Rory remembered it though, it was the only thing she seemed to remember about the place .. she got to pet a snake, and she was going to do it again..

we made no promises..but she was adamant, she was going to pet a snake.

It was cold and empty this time, so empty no one else came to the 5pm show.. we ended up with a private show! It was awesome!

Rory got to ask questions, and meet and pet a pancake tortoise, AND a ball python, and this awesome skink
she was a little shy and nervous, but it was the coolest thing to her!

This is a replica of GOMEK- the giant Alligator that once lived at the Alligator Farm.

We made our way back to the swamp, and bird rookery..

Ri's friend Phil said the birds coming in for the night was the most amazing sight- we had to see.
Rory was being very tired cold and grumpy


Phil met us out there and brought us biscuits to give the gators.. it was amazing and sort of frightening

if only you could hear the HISSING as they crawled over each other to beg like dogs for the treats

We stayed with the photographers - who probably took far more amazing pictures of the birds coming in at sunset than we could-




They let us stay a little later as they closed the park, and watch the birds fly in for the night.
it was amazing. They said the birds like it because the alligators keep other critters like raccoons out of the trees.


There was seriously a lot of birds and more and more kept coming!
It was gorgeous! We had a great time. Rory was exhausted.

We went to a taco shop downtown, like horrible traitors -gasp- before heading home. The food was good, but not as good as Nalu's :) .


When we came home Rory crashed HARD, we sat talking about how awesome the last few days had been for her, with her party, having the minisleepover, and the Alligator Farm.. then Rory woke up with a fever .

It just isn't fair. She puked and felt better, but poor thing!!
We spent the next day being very lazy,watching her, hoping she would feel better.


She did get an awesome package from my friend Tata , that lifted her spirits-
Sugar cube tongs! Tata found out Rory didn't have any at her fancy tea party and got them for her..

bonus , they came in a bubblewrapped package , which Rory contently played with all day LOL.

We got our tax return Friday... but it disappeared into the oblivion before I was even aware we had it. Ri paid off ALL of our debt(save for the house and the car) . Everything. No more credit cards no more CRAP.but. that was it, not even enough left over for a wii. Sigh.

Rory did get some birthday money in the mail from Momo the same day- we took her to the store to get just what she wanted with it:

She was THRILLED!
She even tried to carry the huge box out of the store herself. I remember that feeling from my childhood, of my own special trip to the store to pick out what I REALLY wanted.
It was such a nice quiet drizzly day, and Rory just played all day with that new playset.. building a huge village around herself.
Ri went over to hang out with Kalani and Rita a bit while we played, ate the cabbage soup we had made in the crock pot- and drank some the awesome Heritage Dr.pepper


Saturday we had dinner at Ri's mom's house. Her sister , and nieces where coming over.
dinner was really yummy and we got to let the kids play :)

Amelie is soo cute !

They had soo much fun!

Sari was a bit late ,but she brought Lily over too
aww!

They will never find you in there !


Rory loves Megan and Amelie. She was laying on Megan to get Amelie to come up and play too- but it didn't seem to work. lol.Then I think she was just comfy

Sari showed off her new car- and the damage she did to the other.

There was much much much conversations.
Great convos.
Ri's aunt Angie tried to get pics of all the girls together:
lol
Aww!

She did have a little bit of luck.




lol
Yeah. we all know I am no good at the group shots either.
I have become reliant on photoshop.


When did my child become a supermodel?
Huh?
Answer me that?






..speaking of when dids-
When Did my husband get a beard?
it just popped up so suddenly.
it doesn't look bad.
Maybe he'll grow it out and I will dread it for him HAHAHAHA.
NO.

We were tired.
The conversations were many ,and long, and my level of stimulation was at its peak.
Time to head out
sooooo cute!!

We stopped at wallyworld for the quickest trip to get a present for Nova.



Sunday- Nova's 2nd birthday party at Val's house.
Rory just wanted to jump on the trampoline in the freakishly cold afternoon.

... but someone somehow managed to get all the kids in for presents and cake

ohmygosh... she is the cutest thing ever, isn't she?
She loved her phone and her backpack- Jen even recorded a happy birthday message onto the phone.cute!

Damien wanted to play with everything too.


Princess Nova!

At least someone played with the puppets we bought
Damien said he wouldn''t put his hand there...
that is where the poo is,
Seems reasonable.


Rory was being a little fussy. Everything from the dogs barking at her to Nova whining was making Rora tear up- I was half worried she was getting sick.

Cake time should cheer everyone up:

I don't think Nova quiet understood the candle thing
She was like - Why didn't you just let me eat the cake?

Oh goodness, the little circle pigtail curls are too freaking cute.

Cake&icecream.. that's better


Seemed to help Rory's mood too.

It wasn't long before they were back in the cold on the trampoline.. all the kids

lol.


Rory did NOT want to leave and threw a HUGE epic tantrum.
And another when we finally made it in the door.
We sent her to bed, she crashed. She woke up on the wrong side of bed or something.
It was superbowl sunday, and we sat around with absolutely nothing to do while she napped..
Sorry.I am not a football person.

Instead, when Rory woke up we watched some movies and tried to be warm.

Now.. it is almost 6am. I don't know what today holds.. but after this past week , I hope it is dark,warm, calm and quiet.
Maybe , I will spend the day in the tub.


PEACE AND TOFU CHICKEN GREASE,
BABYHELLFIRE