mucinex is not my friend

I have had a nastier-than-usual cough for the last couple weeks (but really it's been about a month). I've been to the doctor's twice and today they finally put me on antibiotics for definitely an ear infection, maybe a sinus infection, and possibly atypical pneumonia. (At least it's not strep.) Until now, I've tried various combinations of sinus & allergy meds, cough & cold meds of the drowsy and non-drowsy varieties, inhalers, homeopathic honey cough syrup, and typical home remedies. The only OTC drug I haven't tried up to this point is Mucinex, and the doc recommended it today.

It's horrible. I still need to cough, my body goes through all the coughing actions, but nothing comes out. It's like there's a hair stuck somewhere in the back of my throat. Since it's a 12-hour dosage, I still have about four hours to go.

Needless to say, I'm working at home tomorrow.

best weekend in ages

Friday night: Took Owen to the Kids' Night at the Flower show after school, which involved riding a Town Trolley to the Expo Center, seeing Hedwig the Bard Owl, petting both a boa constrictor and an alligator. Owen got his face painted with a leopard. It wasn't one of the pre-fab choices (yay!), but inspired by the leopard they had on the table.

Saturday: Visited the South Shore Model Railway Club in Hingham, for their bi-annual Open House. Yes, grown men who rent a space in former WWII storage buildings with bad lighting may not sound exciting, but Owen had a great time. Some of the tracks were still a work-in-progress, which was cool to see. Some of the model freight trains even had graf! The boy really liked the model Green Line Train (the old ones). When, when will the MBTA learn to sell toys like their trains?

Sunday: After much resistance, we made it in the nick of time to catch most of the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Southie at my friend's house and hang out with her & her family. She grew up right on the parade route, and we got to watch from the front window. And we enjoyed eating a traditional corned beef & cabbage, plus loads of sugar.
Also: I totally finished the pink boucle hat. I look almost like I did this summer with the pink hair.

Monday: Owen had the day off from school because of Evacuation Day, which just happened to also be St. Pat's day proper. Gotta love those Boston-area holidays! I took a personal day so we could hang out. It was so nice to have a long weekend. So we saw Horton Hears a Who, his first movie in the theater. We'd been reading the story, so he was OK with it, but he was way more excited to actually see a movie on the big screen. Unlike most movies, the volume was set to a normal level, not outrageously loud, which I was really happy about, even though we were prepared with cotton balls. It was a banner eating day: we shared a Shamrock shake and ate movie theater popcorn.

All that fun has made Owen a tired boy! It also makes up for the not-so-great news we got from the Boston Public Schools last week. He (we) got waitlisted for our 2 top schools. (You can pick up to 5, but you only get on the wait list for your first & second choice schools for a year.) BPS doesn't choose alternate schools for K, only for G1 (because it's mandatory the kid be in school by age 6; which is sad to think that for some kids the first time they're in a classroom could be in 1st grade). We could have gone in and frantically tried to find a seat at a school that we may not have seen or didn't feel 100% about. What a huge drag. Most of the charter schools have already just done or their lotteries/applications, and there weren't too many we were interested in. Luckily, we also applied to Catholic school! So unless 82 kids (!) at our #1 school don't go, or 8 other kids from our #2 school--which I don't think is going to happen--the BPS is out for us. Maybe we'll give it another shot next year, but I'm actually looking forward to sending him to the school we chose. What a surprise!

cables ahoy!

Last night I finally taught myself how to cable. A friend tried to teach me last winter, and I just couldn't get it. Lo and behold, thanks in part to Knitty's feature Techniques with Theresa, also to Super Stitches Knitting by Karen Hemingway, and some time alone on the couch, I was finally able to get it. Now I don't have any idea what to do the the 1.5"w x 19"l strip of knitting (steering wheel cover? sweater section?), but I am quite proud of myself.

fear of a boucle hat

My 2nd knitting anniversary has come and gone, and I recently rediscovered the boucle yarn that I bought on my first trip to Woolcott & Co. I had tried to knit it when I was first learning, and just couldn't get the hang of it. Then for Christmas, Lorie gave me a hat & scarf kit--in alpaca boucle.

I started the hat, sans the earflaps called for in the pattern. On #8 wood needles it has taken me at least a month to do (in gray Lang Bolero/ Mohair blend). Then Saturday night while watching 30 Days of Night, I started on a purse that was going to have a pink boucle border--and it grew until I used one whole ball. It's now on its way to being a hat, I think. On #11 metal needles, it flew by.

So now I think I've gotten over my fear of boucle. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it.

i confess

I have been mostly good and have only had one muffin. Of course that doesn't count the lovely homemade cupcakes from my friend Barbara Ann, the orange chocolate K Bliss bars or the 100 calorie Hostess Carrot Cake cupcakes. At least I can still fit into my skinny jeans, but I haven't lost any weight. Oh well. Still haven't joined WW, but I am working out once a week, usually followed by vermicelli bun, or cutlets & anko donut.

Tak & I got out for a night out to see the English Beat (which is really a Red Bull pounding Dave Wakeling & a new band). He still sounds the same, and the show was almost 2 hours full of skanking goodness.

Just finished the sequel to Peeps called The Last Days. One of my favorite things about it was the chapters are named after bands.