I had planned to write an entry yesterday so I'd have one dated 02-02-02 but I fell asleep cuddled on the couch with Ed and when we woke up at 1am, writing a diary entry was about the last thing on my mind. Oh well.

Yesterday was beautiful. The sun shone and the view of Mt. Hood against a clear blue sky was nothing short of stunning. I wish I'd had more energy, though. I couldn't seem to get myself moving. True, I'd only gotten about 6.5 hours of sleep but I usually have more perk than that. I just couldn't do much of anything. It was pathetic.

I did get moving when I made yummy French toast for Joey, Grandma and me for breakfast and then took Grandma home. Joey had a birthday party to go to so I took her to buy a gift. When we got home, I called my neighbor (who was hosting the party) to ask if the kids were meeting there or at the YMCA (which is where they were going to go rock climbing), the husband said he didn't know. I asked to speak to Diana, his wife, and he said she was out of town. Huh, I said. Isn't she going to the party? What party, he wonders. Ashley's birthday party.

Turns out that even thought Ashley's birthday was the 2nd, the party is *next* week, the 9th. I only looked on the invitation for the time, not the date. I can't believe I can be such a bonehead sometimes! Joey was a little disappointed but when we arranged a playdate with Rachel, she was happy.

I spent the rest of the day (ok, weekend, it seems!), doing nothing except grocery shopping and then going out to dinner with Cherri, et al. It was a lovely dinner--the little girls were wonderfully well-behaved. It's a delight when you can take not one but two 8 year olds out to a very nice restaurant and know with confidence that they won't embarass you or be loud or obnoxious or anything else. I like that. I love that.

My throat hurts a bit, though. Last night I had some bad post-nasal drip that was making me feel like I was drowning. I kept waking up feeling like I was underwater. Criminy--I hate that feeling. It gave me a very restless night's sleep. I spent the day in my jammies. I love spending the day in my jammies. I'm thinking of taking a shower sometime tonight. And then I'll put my Jammies. Back. On. Because this girl loves her jammies. New, soft, cotton jammies.

So I keep wondering if I'm coming down with something or is this allergies? I'm leaning toward allergies because I don't seem to have the typical cold symptoms, just some sneezing, upper sinus congestion, post-nasal drip and some asthma coughing. And what is the culprit in February? Hazelnut trees. They bloom in January and February. Some unlovely years, they start blooming in December. Alder trees are blooming now, too. Do you know who is the #1 hazelnut-producing area in the world? Oregon. What trees surround my development? Hazelnuts. What other trees are in large supply in the northwest? Alder. As if my massive alleriges to grass and jute and hamsters isn't enough. Now I'm allergic to hazelnut tree pollen. Arrgh!

But I could be getting a cold, too. My lymph glands are tender in my neck. I sure am complaining a lot. wah wah wah!

Tonight I whipped up some chicken tetrazzini for dinner. Joey was so cute--she just loved it. Not a lot of things get such high praise from eight-year-olds that aren't covered in cheese sauce.

Just one more thing to complain about...STILL NO FREAKING DSL!!! I'm so disgusted. Ed asked me if I wasn't going to try Earthlink tech support again and I told him I didn't think I had the energy to go through their helpful button-pushing session to get through to the hold line for an hour before I talk to a real person. When I call to cancel, I'm going to find out the name of someone I can write a customer DISsatisfaction letter to. And cc that person's manager, too.

I have a few spotted bananas. That means banana pecan chocolate bread. (I have to confess that I bought more bananas than I knew Ed would eat just so I'd have an excuse to make some banana bread.) We haven't had any for a long time. I love banana bread, but only with this one recipe. It's from the Sunset Basics cookbook that I bought when Ed and I were first married. I've tried several recipes but this one is the tastiest and moistest. I wish I could claim it as my own recipe, but alas, I cannot. I can't even take credit for adding chocolate chips because that's one of the suggestions at the bottom of the recipe. ::sigh::

We're watching the Wonderful World of Disney. I remember almost every Sunday of my childhood, sitting in front of the fire while my wet hair dried after my bath, watching the Wonderful World of Disney with my whole family. Just like tonight. The fire is going, Joey's hair is still wet from her bath earlier, and we're all watching it. The show is Pocohontas, which we have on videotape, but somehow Joey finds it more interesting to watch if its a broadcast.

We made Shrinky-Dinks today. Man, that was fun. I loved watching them curl up, shrink and then flatten out again in the oven. Isn't it amazing what can fascinate you? I wanted to do more and more and more! I remember making them out of the tops of chicken liver containers when I was in Girl Scouts. We made Christmas ornaments. These are much better, though.

Now is the time in Lobotomy Land when we repair to the kitchen to create a banana culinary masterpiece. Freaking masterpiece, I tell you.

Ta!

--L