Eggsasperated

Chloe spent another day at home with a fever.  She is feeling better and is well enough to attend the half day before Thanksgiving Break...how convenient.  This morning she decided to spend some time cuddling with her kitty, Marsha.  The day zoomed by as I sat on my computer trying to figure out the "user friendly" version of my school e-mail interface.  Later Chloe asked me if I got all my work done and I sighed, "No, I couldn't find any of my archived e-mails and so I spent three hours trying to find e-mails and e-mail addresses." I'm not as technologically challenged as I sound.  I did go to school to teach my two classes while Chloe did her homework in the waiting area at the school.

We get home and I start dinner.  I made my husband's favorite.  BBQ spare ribs, mashed potatoes, and corn.  I left green vegetables off the menu ON PURPOSE.  Prior to dinner I fed the pony and put the chickens away.  The sun was almost down and I had a hard time feeling around in the next boxes for eggs.  I get 11 or 12 eggs a day.  I feel the first box.  Nothing.  The second box.  Still nothing.  This continues as I check all eight boxes.  NO EGGS!!  Oh no you don't!  Recently a friend of mine told me about her chickens having stopped laying eggs.  Three weeks and no eggs.  Uh, I don't think so CHICKENS!!!!  I don't say sweet things to them and treat them like chicken princesses for them to stop laying eggs!!!  My friend, Nicole, sent me a link to help with the laying problem from one of my favorite chicken sites.  Backyard Chickens is a great hobbyist website full of information and encouragement.  The link she sent me suggests putting cayenne pepper in their feed.  Hmmmm.  Ok, I will try it.  Sounds crazy.  Par for my course!

  Maybe you recall the orchid Thadd brought home this week, well meet a smaller orchid he has coaxed to bloom for another year.  To the right is the one he bought and to the left is the one he gave me years ago and he manages to get it to bloom annually.  If you look closely you will see some blooms further down the stem.  I remember when Thadd and I first started dating I gave him a cyclamen plant.  They are hard to grow.  I told him the plant was our relationship and if he could keep the plant alive he could likely keep our relationship alive.  I was kidding, but he kept the plant alive for many years until he actually moved to Connecticut to be close to me.  In our first home, knowing how much I like the flower,  he planted an entire flower bed of cyclamen.  If you are familiar with the plant they like the cold and grow very well in the snow.  He was able to grow a full flower bed of cyclamen in South Texas and keep them alive through the very hot summers.  I think as far as keeping things alive, he gets an A+.  I love reminiscing about when we were first married.  The things we did for each other because we only had each other.  Those little things are still special to do and also to remember.  Our lives change so much when we have children, yet our affection and attention to one another should not disappear.  Take time to sit with one another and talk about the silly things you used to do together.  Some will make you laugh, some may make you cry, and some will make you wonder how God trusted you ever to be parents!

I'm preparing for a week long vacation with the kids.  It is Thanksgiving Break and I am certain it will be full of fun, food, and family.  Although I'm sad Chloe missed school most of this week, I'm glad she avoided being sick over the holiday.  Sick kids during the holidays makes for NO FUN!  I'm sure there will be many adventures to share and hopefully some egg laying.  I thought my biggest problem was not having egg cartons and now I realize it is not having EGGS!!!!  I want to know why THIS is not the topic of CNBC or Squawk Box.  These are the real problems plaguing the American people!!!   Ok, I'm off my soapbox!  Goodnight Friends.