It's Friday....YESSSSS

Today is the third day in a row of my babysitting for my grandson, Brayden. At the same time, I'm trying to fight off the last of the latest round of bronchitis/cold, get through the post-Christmas stuff (putting decorations away, taking the tree down, writing thank you notes, etc.) and through Jeff's end-of-the-year Hell Weeks where he works anywhere from 15 to 20 hours a day. If you say to Brayden, "It's Friday!" he pumps his little fist in the air and says, "YESSSSS!". Too cute. But also pretty indicative of the way all of us feel about Friday! I'm tired, no doubt about it. Although, as Brayden gets older I'm not as worn out at the end of a day with him as I was when he was more of an infant. But the cold, though winding down, still has me in it's grips and my energy level hasn't survived from that yet. I did add Zinc and Vitamin C supplements to my regular vitamins, and as soon as I started on those, the cold seemed to loose it's grip. Still not gone, but at least that's not all I can think about. I feel so bad for Jeff though. He is about a week behind me with this cold, and he has a cough as bad or worse than mine was, plus he's having to deal with the stress of his end-of-year work, and the long hours. I know he's absolutely exhausted all of the time -- I can see it in his face and eyes. I wish there was something I could do to help him, but other than make homemade soups and make sure he's got a cup of tea when he wants it, there's not much I can do for him. It's been bitterly cold here all week but today it finally got into the high 30's, low 40's, so Brayden and I got out of the house for awhile. We went to the bank and the library. I had a "talk" with him before we went to the library about being quiet and staying with me (vs laughing at the top of his lungs and running through the library the last time we went!), and he behaved beautifully. Can he possibly understand at 20 months?? LOL I think he does. Books I took out today: HAPPINESS IS AN INSIDE JOB: PRACTICING FOR A JOYFUL LIFE by Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. I read self-help books like other people read topselling fiction. The title caught my eye, so I took it out. DEATH IN A PAIRIE HOUSE: FRANK LLOYD WIRGHT AND THE TALIESIN MURDERS non-fiction by William Drennan. I just thought this was an appropriate title to read after I'd finished LOVING FRANK (see column in right). I've actually had it on hold for several weeks at the library, so others must have thought the same! RUN by Ann Patchett. I can't wait! If Brayden wasn't here I'd have this half-finished by now! By the author of one of my top-ten-books-of-all-time, BEL CANTO. I have no idea what this one is about, but the author's name is enough to get me excited! With luck, I'll read through this one this weekend. The first of the weekend needs to be spent cleaning house. Between being sick, Christmas and babysitting, my house is dusty and dirty throughout. I hope to get through the upstairs on Saturday and the downstairs on Sunday, catching up on laundry throughout the weekend. The kitchen and bathrooms need a good de-germing with all the cold germs around here, and I'll clorox everything I can wherever I can. It will be a busy weekend, but the weather is supposed to be much warmer -- almost 60 degrees! - so I may even be able to open windows and air everything out for an hour or two in the afternoon. Yippy!