Greetings from Sick World!

Now we have flu in the house. Who knew that even if one gets herself vaccinated and vaccinates both of her children, she can still get the flu? I admit, I knew on some level that the vaccine didn't cover every strain of flu, but I figured the odds were slim to none of catching something. We think I caught it from the neighbor's boy, who was actually taken to the ER for his because it caused a terrible asthma attack. Anyway, between that and the lingering Cold of Doom that keeps going around our house, there hasn't been much motivation for me to blog lately. I'm just praying that neither of the kids comes down with it, because there was much vomiting involved and I really don't want to go through that again, even as a bystander.

In other news, I have a few new interests that I want to share. First, I'm really excited about joining Ravelry.com, which is a forum for people who love to knit and crochet. I'm still on the waiting list for my invite, but I should be on-line there some time next week. I've found several projects to put in my queue and I'm currently working on two knitting projects and a crochet project. A bunch of the cool ladies from my parenting forum are already on line and we've been talking about and trading projects already, so I think belonging to a forum dedicated to needle arts will be fun! I bid on a set of 15 pairs of bamboo knitting needles (0-17) in anticipation and won the auction for $14.97 (including shipping). All of my old needles were destroyed in the Great Flood of Our Basement in 2006. So I encourage everyone who knits to join and friend me once you get on (or e-mail me to let me know if you're already a member). C'mon, it's fun!

My other interest right now is decluttering. My mom found a great blog where a woman is trying to get rid of 365 things in a year by donating, selling, free-cycling or throwing them away. I think it would be fun to document my own attempt to declutter, so I may start posting about that once a week. It will be a motivation to get rid of all our extra junk. I'm proud enough that I emptied and organized (1) our nightmare of an office; (2) the guestroom closet; and (3) Lily's two bedroom closets. This is the first time all of the closets on the first floor are neat enough that I wouldn't mind a stranger walking in and opening them. Even better, when I need to lay my hands on something, I can quickly find it in one of my anal-retentively labeled IKEA storage boxes! It gives me an overwhelming sense of omnipotence, I have to tell you.

My third interest is collecting Adams Calyx ware in the Regent pattern. You can see several examples of it here. The pattern was my great grandmother's, and she gave my mother all of her china. Since the pattern I chose at 23 when I got married no longer matches my taste, I decided I would add to my mother's collection. After a couple of months of eBay, I have 4 complete place settings (teacup, saucer, bread plate, salad plate and dinner plate). I've found I can get them much cheaper on eBay than on Replacements.com. I think I'll save Replacements for those items that are particularly hard to find, like the cream and sugar set and the salt and pepper set. I'm going to ask Jim to buy me the teapot for my next birthday/Mother's Day/Wedding anniversary extravaganza! It's a little dear, so I figure it could count for all three presents.

Anyway, these are my latest obsessions. The crocheting project (a sweater for me) is the only thing keeping me sane as we enter week 8 (or is it 9? 10?) of being bound to the house by sickness and/or bad weather.

Also, I know I keep mentioning all of the terrific pictures I have to show here and upload on my Snapfish account, and then leaving you all hanging. Someday soon I'll gather the fortitude necessary to get them on my computer and uploaded. You know from experience that uploading pictures to my blog can become an epic battle between me and the force of evil that is Blogger. The thought of doing it now just makes me too tired for words. I have a movie to show you, too. I'm really nervous about that one because I've never tried to upload and post a movie before.

AND....now that you have patiently waded through my personal news, here's what you were all really waiting to read: Two stories by Lily as well as an in-depth interview!!!

The Bird

Once upon a time there was a bird. He flied in the sky, but he was hungry. He saw a berry tree, he went down to it. He liked the berries on that tree. He was so happy he called his friends over. The end.

lily mama (typed by Lily herself. I believe it is meant to show that she made up the story and I typed it for her.)

Lily: I want to tell about a good thing. I want to tell another story.

The Shy Kitten

Once upon a time there was a shy kitten. He would not go near a house. He knew somebody would get him out because that was a house where no one liked kitties. So he went to see his friend, Butterfly. And he helped Butterfly gather nectar for his family. Then he helped him gather the flowers. He went through the flowers and took some flowers for his mom and gave them to her. The end.

lily mama (typed by Lily herself)

Interview with the Author, Lily Deeds

Mama: How did you like having Emma (her neighbor friend) overnight this weekend?

Lily: I liked it.

M: What did you do?

L: I played with her.

M: what did you play?

L: I played makeup.

M: How did you play makeup?

L: We put it on by finger, but we washed it off.

M: What else did you play?

L: I liked playing with her.

M: What time did you go to sleep?

L: I don't know.

M: Did you stay up late?

L: No, we stayed up all night.

M: Were you tired the next day?

L: Yes.... No.

M: Is it yes or no?

L: No.

M: What is your favorite color?

L: Pink.

M: Why?

L: Because I like the color it makes.

M: What is your favorite food?

L: Ice cream and cake! (Makes slurping sound) Lots of sweet stuff is what I like!

M: What is your favorite cartoon show?

L: Whatever you say my favorite cartoon show is... Secret Squirrel and Adam Ant. I like Secret Squirrel, he's secret!

M: What do you think about your brother Jack?

L: I think he is a very odd baby.

M: Why?

L: Because I like how funny he is.

M: What does he do that's funny?

L: He pretends to go to work. He pretends to go to work.

M: What is your favorite book?

L: If you say so, my favorite book is Lily's Plastic Purse.

M: Why is that your favorite?

L: Because she has glasses with a chain like Mr. Slinger, her teacher, and she has shiny coins that are jingly, and when her purse is open it makes music!

M: Are we done with the interview?

L: No! Ask me another question, like "How do you like your cat?"

M: How do you like your cat?

L: I love him because he's a soft friend.

M: How do you like having parties here?

L: Because I do like them here, because there's cake and there's always a balloon to take home.

M: What do you think will be different about you when you're five?

L: Because I'll be five years old and I won't really know. Because I'll be bigger than four.

M: What do you think kindergarten will be like?

L: It will be fun but I haven't got used to it yet, so I'll try it a few more times.

M: What's your favorite thing to do at preschool?

L: Color!

M: What kind of things do you like to color?

L: Paper, but they have lots of drawing inside things.

M: Are we done with the interview?

L: No.

M: What kind of things to you draw on the paper?

L: Lots of fun things, but there's lots of things to color inside of.

M: Who are your friends at school?

L: All of my friends. All of the friends in school are my friends.

M: If you could buy any outfit, what would it be?

L: It would be a pretty dress. A white dress with pretty yellow flowers and a tiara that was purple with pretty little gems on it. If my cat wored [sic] a dress it would be so funny. I would like it if my kitty Oskar would wear a dress. It would look do funny on him!

M: What thing to you hate the most?

L: I hate the most because... because I don't like to go to bed.

M: What food do you hate the most?

L: I hate the most dinner, because it doesn't taste as good as dessert.

M: What color do you hate the most?

L: None.

M: What clothing do you hate the most?

L: None.

What's your favorite number?

L: 4. Because it's me, I am four!

M: What's your favorite letter?

L: Oh, L. It's in my name!

M: Is there anything else about you that you'd like to tell

L: Yeah, I like how pretty my hair is.

M: Is that it?

L: Yeah. Now you can write some of your stuff. You can write a story or something.