I Opened The Window and In Flew...

...Enza. Which is what I got. And believe me, it is a hateful thing to have. I slept away most of Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and was pretty miserable all Friday and Saturday night. But I did manage to dope myself into a presentable state for a Saturday night adult dinner that we didn't want to postpone. Other than that, though, I was pretty well out of commission all weekend. Still, things did happen. Among them, these:



T selected from her closet an ensemble that will long be remembered, above all, for its subtlety.

That was Friday evening, I believe, before we settled in for pizza and movie night, and the movie this week was "Akeela and the Bee". I was skeptical, thinking it would be over the kids' heads, and, frankly, a feel-good movie about a spunky 11-year-old that wasn't animated wasn't exactly what I was in the mood for. But I rolled my eyes and settled in.

And I loved that movie. So, so, SO well done, raising so many important issues that are great to talk to kids about, doing so in a subtle-enough way that you can sort them out in the interludes between scenes. Q was shouting out letters for Akeela at the end, T was cheering like crazy...Just a fantastic family film. We may end up buying it, just because I like to reward excellence, and excellence that accomplishes important work, wherever I find it. Even if it means rewarding someone who's doubtless already a millionnaire many times over.

T went along with Mami to do the shopping Saturday morning, and clamored at Stop & Shop for some fingernail polish. Janneke, adopting my favorite strategy, caved, and T is pleased as heck with the way they turned out:



Here's the close-up, where the glory of Janneke's manicure skills is made blindingly manifest:



Even we who are sick must live in clean houses, so I tipped Mongo over and vaccuumed underneath him. Q and T, of course, being children, were contractually obligated to pile up Mongo's cushions around him and make a cave, undignified as Mongo himself might find the whole procedure. (And he does.) The results:



We had a team meeting Saturday night for Milk of Amnesia - Brad and Betsy and Mark and Ronadh came over for dinner, which was delicious, even if I do say so myself.* Dessert involved whipped cream, and the wee ones enjoyed the cleanup process:



Flattering shots of both, I know.

Before they were sent packing off to bed, Brad sat down with Q and showed him how to jam the blues:



We adults, hopped up on Theraflu and Excedrin, played ping-pong late into the night, but toward the end there my teeth felt itchy and I think I was actually hallucinating. I probably should have called it an early night, because I was pretty miserable today. So Janneke took the kids (and Colton, Q's friend from school) skating this afternoon, while I stayed at home, recuperating. But Tie took ill and had to come home with a stomach ache. So the boys finished out their play date with some hand-to-hand combat. Hit the "play" button on the music embeded below the video player, then hit the "play" button on the lower left hand corner of the video. It's a mind-blowing experience.





You can see me in the background there, with a pouting papoose perched on my paunch. Which asserted its primacy over the rest of my physique when I got down on the floor and tried to show the boys how to do a fireman's carry. Just can't bend over and roll around like I used to. Between the bad thumb, the flu, and the general decrepitude, it was a pretty uninspiring lesson, which should pretty much seal the deal on whether Q (or Colton, for that matter) ever goes on to wrestle. Or, frankly, to acknowledge me in public. Old, stiff, sick...Quite a figure I cut these days. I tell ye, that Janneke, she's a lucky gal.


*(Those of you with even a passing familiarity with our family will recognize the passage referred to as a joke. Congratulations to Janneke on another spectacular meal.)