bored, sick holli has the best/worst ideas

Friends, I've been sick for what feels like forever. I got a nasty stomach bug over Christmas, followed by a terrible cold and lingering effects of the stomach upset, and now a kidney infection. Luckily, the doctor was able to get me in Friday to get tested, whereupon they discovered that it was bad enough that they gave me a shot of antibiotics right then and there, plus a prescription for a full course of antibiotics, plus an appointment to come back the next morning (on a Saturday!) to make sure I wasn't getting worse. For the record, I wasn't super alarmed until the doctors were. Anyway, I'm slowly getting better, but I'm not strong enough to do too much right now except think ... which is where Mike comes in.

I have two Fiesta flowerpots, but they're both small and in use on the kitchen windowsill. One of our little goals when we moved was to have lots more houseplants (we didn't have them at the old house because the cats would find them and dig them up, no matter where we put them, and after the cats were gone, we knew we would be moving eventually so it just didn't seem worth it), and I was thinking about how much I would like to have those plants in Fiesta planters. They don't actually make large planters, so I did some research and figured out a way to drill holes in some extra pieces I have (you've seen my collection, right? I've got Fiesta to spare). Mike was kind enough to do the work for me, and he experimented on a teacup first before moving on to the bigger pieces. I'm really happy with the results! (And possibly already planning what other pieces we can turn into planters.)

merry christmas!

I caught the Christmas spirit (aka some kind of nasty flu bug) from my darling nephews last weekend, so I'm staying home instead of going to Gramps's house for the afternoon. The boys are definitely ready to go, though! Anyway, Merry Christmas from CFHQ. We hope it's a lovely day spent with your important people (and pets).

hawk-eyed

Henry was eating breakfast this morning, and I was in the living room drinking coffee. Suddenly he starts yelling. "Hawk! It's a hawk! ... Or an eagle! Some kind of big bird!" He comes flying into the living room, grabs my phone, and goes off to take a picture. Luckily for all of us, the bird was nice enough to wait while I ran to the office, grabbed my camera, and headed out the back door. I about froze my poor (bare) feet off, but look at this! Pretty sure it's a broad-winged hawk, but if any of you are better at bird identification, please let me know if it's something else.

Update: A lady at the fabric store tells me this is a juvenile male red-tailed hawk, and I think she’s probably right.

farewell to M's

We've been putting off doing anything to the basement. "It's a winter project, for sure," we told each other. Well, winter's here, so it's time to get started. It's *such* a big project, though, that it's hard to focus on any single step without despairing at ever finishing the whole. But today, we made some serious progress. Step 1: Scrape off all the decals, starting with the M&M's and then moving on to the forest decals all over the workshop area. So now every last M has been removed, and the basement looks like a chocolately crime scene. Behold:

Someday, friends, that basement will be an oasis. But sadly, that day is not today. On we go!

these kids!

Found on my door just now. “Hey Mom/Dad, Why do we selibrate thanksgiving when it was one of the greatest injusteces in history? [space for answer] P.S. When you write leave note on the inside of my door preferably by morning. Henry”