Update, updated

So, I'm still sick, but at least as of tonight feel like I am on the mend.  Last night I felt better than the morning, and had the energy to pull out the girls' clothing bins and get out the winter clothes and put away the last of the short sleeved/warm weather things. 

You might be wondering why I waited this long; well, I had already done it partly, putting away the really summery things and getting out things suitable for fall.  But here on the Bay Fall is often the warmest, most gorgeous weather, and can get up into the 70's and even 80's through mid November!  So I had to leave some things out for those days.  But it is also the season where the weather will go from warm and sunny to cool and rainy to cold and overcast--and the last two and a half weeks we had all three.  But with the trip to northern CA upon us for the holiday weekend, I really needed to get out the cold-weather clothes--the pretty sweaters and velour things we only really have need for about two months out of the year. ; )  So let's make the most of the opportunity to wear them!

So, last night's clothing sorting (including girls trying on things to make sure they still fit) took all my energy, and I felt worse again this morning. But tonight I am doing pretty good--and that's after a regular day of laundry (lots!), dishes, errands, the usual mom stuff, etc.  I was doing all that stuff yesterday too, but must say it is so much more pleasant to do when one is feeling better!

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

Oh, and yesterday was my birthday too.  I don't make much fuss of birthdays.  In fact, I always meant to blog about my birthday last year, because it sucked (the actual day pretty much) and I was turning 40 and that sucked too.  The trouble stemmed from remembering so vividly when my parents turned 40, and those black-balloon and crepe paper themed "Over The Hill" birthday parties were all the rage.  So 40 always seemed like the true beginning of old to me.  I realize now the grown-ups had so much fun teasing one another about being "over the hill" because 40 is still medium young.  But the idea still stuck in my head, and I had a really hard time reconciling the girl I was then celebrating my parents old age with the girl I am now, stuck in this increasingly downhill body. 

ANYWAY, so it was fine with me to be sick on my birthday.  DH worked from home so he could get new tires on our car before our travel this weekend, and he offered to take the kids on that errand.  They were gone for hours, which was lovely because I got to wash dishes and fold laundry and sweep in a quiet house. : )  It's funny how peaceful those chores become in an empty house!  And then he brought home dinner from a local organic vegetarian restaurant (how spoiled are we to have such options!) and even picked up some milk.  And he had bought me a gift too:

My favorite steampunk earrings!  Aren't they adorable?!

OK, so I told him about them one night a few weeks back, and conveniently left the page open while I stepped into the bathroom to get ready for bed.  And I happened to email the Etsy shop owner responsible for these beauties to ask if we could retroactively apply the free shipping offer she had sent me, which my husband forgot to enter the code for.  I also, coincidentally, ordered a second pair of earrings in that correspondence, to show her my appreciation for her excellent customer service:

And because I am also my own Santa. 

Anyway, it was a good birthday.  And one more good thing that came of this illness:  experimenting with the various things in my fridge to flavor all the hot water I was drinking, and discovering that fresh lemon steeped in hot water with coconut water added is delicious.  And nutritious!

.   .   .  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

Final piece of news.  BEHOLD, my new rainboots for Winter 2012:

Not what you were expecting, eh?  To be honest, not what I was expecting either.  I read all your comments on my last post, your wise words and helpful perspectives, and had decided upon the brown Merrell boots.  But the 8.5 I had tried was uncomfortable against my ankles, as if it was a little too big there and so creasing in a wrong way, and I had Zappos re-send the original size 8 I had tried, because I remembered it being comfortable with my thinner socks, and I thought that would be a fine compromise.  Well.  Thanks to Zappos excellent free and practically overnight shipping, I had the size 8 boots today by 3 pm--and discovered they were also snug!  GAH!  Maybe my feet are swelled from all the home brews I've been drinking, but I distinctly remember the first pair being more comfortable.  It must have been a fluke of that pair.  The pair that arrived today were not comfortable.

So.  That left the Sorels, above.  But I remembered the wise musings of Susan in the last post, when she wondered if I should get a pair of boots my MIL might hate, since they were supposed to be from her.  Excellent point.  I like those boots, but was undecided enough that I certainly did not want to hinder our relationship over them.  So, I decided to let MIL decide!  I send her a link to the boots today, and asked her opinion.  Ok, I guided the asking a little, to tip it over to a favorable view--I did not just say, "What do you think of these?"  Instead, I invited her to contradict me, and expressed my thoughts that these boots were a little more "fashion forward" than I normally wore, and I was worried they were too young for me and I could not pull them off.  Well!  This led MIL to call me and tell me that I was most certainly not too old for such boots and she thought they were cute and thought I could wear them even on days when it was not raining just to keep my feet warm. 

So, now not only is the boot decision made (yay!) and I know MIL is not going to hate them (yay!), but she and I even got to  bond over the boots (by affirming one another's fashion sense and youth) so that the boot decision even had the unanticipated result of being relationship building!  YAY!

Thank you for all of your comments, friends.  I really used them to make this decision.  Terry happened to stop by today to drop off some school things, and while we chatted for a moment on the stoop, I showed her the boots and she said they were much cuter in person. : )  They really are gussied up galoshes--but isn't that exactly the need I was really needing to meet?  My feet will now be warm and dry this winter (and many winters to come), and I am content.

And the icing on the cake was getting the two Zappos boxes re-labeled and back to the UPS store by 5, so they are not sitting in the middle of my living room all weekend!

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

And now, because most of this post has dwelt upon my pathetic First World problems:

May you all have a blessed time of family, laughter, love, and thanksgiving this week.  Or the closest thing to it. 

God bless.